The controversies begin

You know the ICC is shittier than shit when you hear something like,

' We have only four hot spot cameras which means we can only use them after the quarterfinals. If we were to have hot spot cameras available for the group stages as well, we would have had to order them in January or February of this year.'

Then why didn't you?

Which organization does last minute planning for their most prestigious event? And if funding is the problem then you should probably fire everybody in your Fundraising department because the money for something as important as this should have been ready at least over a year ago. I have never run such a big organization like the ICC and even I know stuff like this!

So they fucked up and now we have to sit and wonder what hot spot would have shown. That is just unfair not only on the teams, but on the fans as well. I am not a big fan of the UDRS but I really like hot spot as it's conclusive most of the time. It is the one that SHOULD be there, specially in such an important tournament. But who will knock that sense into the ICC?

They are not even trying to find some alternative to the problem to at least partially solve it. I don't know what such an alternative would be (neon balls? outfits that change colour when the ball hits?) as I don't get paid big bucks to think about these things. But it would be nice if the guys who do actually come up with SOMETHING.

Put your thinking cap on Dave! Give us a good World Cup. It happens once every four years!

Bangladesh postpone Kiwi test

I love tests, but let's face it, Bangladesh really need to work very hard on their one day skills if they are not to lose to Ireland and Netherlands again in WC 2011. I also know that this opening sentence is making you wonder why Bangladesh get to play tests in the first place and even postpone one one top of that. Well they do, and since every argument for and against has already been made in the past, all I am going to say is : if Bangladesh is stripped of their test status you get the pleasure of watching more India vs Sri Lanka series, as none of these teams want to travel far. Nor do they want to travel to Pakistan. Hence, Bangladesh is doing you a service.

But back to the topic at hand. This was a smart decision, which is oh so rare for the BCB. Unlike some other countries we have actually had a good couple of years in terms of playing a variety of teams. Sure we still managed to play Sri Lanka the most (The Lankans need to expand their country vocab a little), but overall it's been good exposure in the test level. But now the WC is only six months away (YAY!) and we don't even have a stable one day team.

I personally feel good about Bangladesh's chances of making it to the second round in this World Cup, because it's the World Cup and it distorts all logic and judgement. All you want to do is be blindly behind your team. So any move they are making in an attempt to at least meet that expectation will be supported by me.

Of course, I am still looking forward to the test against the Kiwis afterwards. The last time they met in February, the bloody 'series' had only one test. It's about time we finish it.

Harro plans his WC campaign

I kid you not. Paul Harris has left the Titans in order to play MTN40...so he can prepare himself for the upcoming World Cup. Paul Harris wants to play in WC 2011 in the subcontinent where there will be no fifth day turning pitches. In fact, I am pretty sure that there will be no pitches that can make Harro's ball turn. Why? Well, because such pitches don't exist yet.

He wants to add to his 3 ODI's and 42 List A games. He has taken about 3 wickets in the 3 ODI's at a stunning strike rate of 60 and an average of 27.66. But at least his economic rate has been 2.76, which is not too bad. However, his case can only be made through his List A figures:

42 matches, 1251 runs, 47 wickets, average of 26.61, strike rate 37.2 and economic rate of 4.28. He even has a five wicket haul. But fuck me if that isn't rubbish. ROFL's strike rate in List A is at least 8 lower and the bugger has 97 wickets from 63 matches. I'll refrain from making a comparison with Botha because his figures are even worse than Paul's.

Yet Botes is in the ODI team.

So should the Saffers go for the man who has more experience playing ODI's or the man who has better List A figures? Dropping ROFL is out of the question of course, because his alien friends might eat Majola. But I suspect Botes and Harro will have to battle it out. Except this is the fucking World Cup and really, shouldn't we be judging Harro by ACTUAL ODI's? Even if he has only three of them under his belt, he was clearly terrible. And they were all played against Bangladesh in..wait for it...BANGLADESH!

Where is the World Cup taking place? Yes, I believe Bangladesh is one of the hosts. They may not play there but it's the fucking sub-continent! And Harro has played only 3 god damn ODI's there!

Plus, Harro isn't much of a bowler...but you already know that so I don't have to repeat all of it again. Lastly, I suspect that by the time the WC gets here, everybody will have figured out how to belt the shit out of him.

As if they haven't already.

Showing us who they are

I found this video on Mary Jane's blog, about AB De Villiers. It's in Afrikaans so Brandon has to translate it for me. But from what I saw, AB seems to be shooting a video for 'Show them who you are' with Ampie Du Preez. They are both dressed like Siamese twins in white t-shirts and jeans, standing on top of a rooftop and singing. The situation concerns me. I hope this is a phase that AB is going through. He is easily one of the best cricketers of the new generation and smoking hot, on top of being excellent at everything he does. But this is one department where what he touched did not turn into gold. I don't know how the song has been doing in SA or how many people are actually dying to watch the video, but it is HORRENDOUS! AB sounds like a bathroom singer and the lyrics make you cringe. The video looks equally painful. Even AB's dashing looks will not be able to save this one...unless maybe, you put it on mute. Maybe.

I implore you AB, do not follow Brett Lee and become a joke. We are being subjected to his atrocious singing at the World Cup 2011 opening ceremony, which is taking place in Bangladesh. It's been officially marked in our calendars as Dooms Day. We always knew God would punish us for our bad deeds, but we had never imagined that the our last memory on Earth would be of a blond, Australian fast bowler crooning to the Backstreet Boys.

AB's baby pics, shown later on in the video, do look cute though. The guy was a born heart-breaker. I tried to find some pictures online for your aesthetic pleasure but the search was a failure. So you will have to go through the video to see them. Don't pretend like you won't. You too think he is hot and want to know what AB De Villiers has that you don't. Enjoy!

Thanks MJ!

He got to Sanga too! Lee is a contagious disease!