October 23, 2009
romance is as dead as chivalry
and it had to take a bunch of Australians to prove it. As upset as I am about the loss, it really was kind of inevitable. I’ve been told on numerous occasions that if it sounds too good to be true then it is. As was the case with the Trinidad & Tobago fairytale.
I just can’t understand why Australian sportsmen are so damn good. I hate it.
Anyway, no need to fret. T & T should be proud. They’ve achieved what nobody expected them to. And they’ve opened the floodgates to talent in the West Indies.
Daren Ganga for president and West Indies captain. Kieron Pollard for mafia boss and assault master. Lendl Simmons for the cute poster boy. Add to that Nikita Miller as disco DJ to leave opposition in a spin and we are on our way to a great West Indies team.
I just had half a bottle of peri peri sauce with dinner because I wasn’t concentrating.
On a different note, I am very happy to have found somebody who shares my love for Daren Ganga. Check out Maiden Bowling.
October 16, 2009
Trinidad & Tobago do it again
Not only do they have a sexy captain but they are definitely the most exciting team in the Twenty20 Champions League.
Trinidad & Tobago are dynamite!
Kieron Pollard should be charged with assault. 54 from 18….holy mother. Daren Ganga actually managed to score some runs this time around – good on him. While the Aussie bowlers toiled and fumbled Pollard was having a field day.
Good to see Phil Hughes back in form and Dwayne Bravo still taking wickets and even better to see a normal West Indies side do so well. Ah, it arouses me, it does. I hope they win this tourney. Seriously. They deserve it more than Slumdog Millionaire deserved the Oscar.
And I hope that the West Indies selectors get some sense in their thick skulls. There is light at the end of the tunnel for West Indies cricket. If the administration can stop being little girls then I firmly believe that Caribbean cricket is well on its way to the good old days. Then I can finally retire to St. Kitts and open that beach bar…
October 15, 2009
balls to the wall and a little more action please
I got to watch my first game of the Twenty20 Champions League last night. IPL Champs Deccan Chargers against surprise-Standford performerss Trinidad & Tobago.
I must say, I was pleasantly surprised and reminded, in the most delightful manner, just why I do enjoy a bit of hit and giggle from time to time. This game really has the potential to be entertaining. That’s, of course, if you are amused by men with sticks slapping balls around in big open spaces.
I really enjoyed Trinidad & Tobago, though. As fellow blogger Kit Kat pointed out, these guys have got the entertainment factor down to a T. Couple that with Daren Ganga and his sexy accent on the mic (Da men chan’t all hea me so I haaf to be patient) and some good performances by Dwayne Bravo and you’ve got a pretty good formula for a really good match.
What makes it even better is that Trinidad & Tobago aren’t some moneybags team who have managed to rope in the best players money can buy. No. They’re simple boys with raw talent from the Caribbean. I’ve got a really, really soft spot for the West Indies. Lendl Simmons could be their saving grace – this boy is going to go far. It’s a real delight to see a West Indies side doing well after all the strike drama and after they copped a bollocking against Bangladesh (sic).
Forward and onward West Indies cricket!
Poor Deccan. They have not won a single match on their home turf. It’s a bit masochistic, perhaps.
October 1, 2009
Miss Field makes her bow
All hail Twenty20! ODIs are dead!
While that’s a statement that will leave most purists cringing and the rest turning in their graves it’s one that rings true.
The Champions Trophy, which is currently taking place in South Africa, has been a load of utter bollocks. Aside from the Pakistan versus Australia game, it really hasn’t dished up anything other than the usual.
Sub-continental teams being under par out of the sub continent, a South African exit (not even a choke this time, just a plain crap performance), England performing when nobody expects them to and West Indies proving that cricket will never be the same in the islands again.
Testament to this was the thousands and thousands of empty seats at most of the games. Granted that the ICC cocked up organizing the whole thing (finals on a Monday?) but for the weekly day-night games the interest was well below par for a massive international tournament.
When I was just little, there was nothing more exciting that big cricket tournaments happening in my own backyard. The chance to see my heroes perform live in front of my own little eyes was a prospect that led me to annoying and nagging my parents until I’m blue in the face. Nowadays, One Day Internationals is the last thing anybody cares about. With the T20 overload we had to endure during the IPL and the upcoming Champions League, nobody really gives a hoot about Mohammed Asif making his return to international cricket.
ODIs have become the ugly stepchild. And it’s a middle child too. The worst possible place to be stuck. It really hasn’t done much for the game in terms of generating fans or profit.
T20, on the other hand, has had such a tremendous impact on the way even players approach the game. Tests have become absolutely riveting with captains taking a much more attacking approaching and, at times, even riskily declaring. The opposition are likely to attack mammoth targets and we’ve seen some Tests fetch run rates of about 5.something an over. Five runs an over! In a Test? By golly, that’s like Tottenham Hotspur winning the league in colour!
The fact of the matter is that ODIs either need a drastic overhaul or it needs to be scrapped. It currently serves no purpose. With most players calling for a Test Championship (yes, please!) and the rest of them retiring to focus on the more exciting short format stuff…who really needs the ginger middle child?
xoxo
Ms. Field
tales from the offside 