Perennial Chokers

International cricket’s recurrent chokers lived up to their billing and handed a finals spot to the well oiled Aussie machine. Who would have thought though that the manner of choking would be of such magnanimity? I could not believe my eyes as one after the other, South Africa’s batsmen threw away their wicket, playing like primary school children. Australia bowled well, but there was nothing in the bowling to justify a score of 27/5 after 10 overs. No score attained after this would have been enough to defend and especially against a team like the Aussies. So South Africa came to the Caribbean ranked as the number one team in one day internationals. They return home with their reputation of choking on the big stage and especially in World Cups enhanced just as New Zealand go home after falling once again at the semi finals stage.

Sri Lanka versus Australia, Kensington Oval, Barbados, April 28th- can the exciting and likeable Asians defeat the arrogant Aussie juggernaut?

West Indian Turmoil and a Sri Lankan Demolition Job

Sri Lanka completely dismantled the New Zealanders today to reach their second World Cup final. It was an outstanding performance and they dominated from the time they won the toss and decided to bat. Any attempts by New Zealand to fight back were strongly resisted and the captain led from the front with a perfect example of how to pace a one day international innings. He followed that up with some excellent captaincy, reflected by his decision to bowl Dilshan when New Zealand was trying to wrestle control after the loss of two wickets. Besides Jayawardene’s performance, that of the umpires and in particular Rudy Koertzen stood out but for differing reasons. Two extremely poor decisions went against the Sri Lankans when they were batting and I find it hard to believe that two top umpires can make such huge mistakes. Koertzen added to his howler in Sri Lanka’s innings by denying them an extremely close LBW call and then singling out Fernando for shocking treatment. To warn a bowler twice in his first over for running onto the pitch without speaking to him before was a bit harsh and I felt that New Zealand was playing with 12 men on their side today! While Fernando had a bad day at the office, the rest of Sri Lanka's varied attack all did well. Vaas bowled his normal line and length, Malinga was fiery and Muralitharan hiw wily self; will this bowling attack be enough to stop the Aussies in the finals? I am assuming that they will beat South Africa tomorrow although I would so love to be wrong!

While the Sri Lankans celebrate, West Indies cricket continues its downward spiral. Lara’s retirement was followed by the resignation of the coach Bennett King and rumours that the WICB President, Ken Gordon, had also resigned. Ken Gordon has since stated that he has not resigned but there has been confusion over the selection of the team to tour England, with Gordon, in response to Lara’s comments in his press conference that he had met with selectors to select the team to England and had selected himself, claiming that the selectors did not meet to select a team. To add to all of this, the WICB and WIPA are locked in another battle; this time it is over the WICB seemingly going back on its agreement with WIPA on the status of the England tour in relation to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme.

Amongst all of this, Ian Bradshaw has announced his retirement. Bradshaw may not be the most naturally gifted player in the team, but he has made the most of his abilities, is a thinking cricketer and has shown total commitment to the West Indies. The West Indies waited until Ridley Jacobs was in his 30s before deciding to select him and it is obvious that they did not learn from that situation for they waited until Bradshaw was 30 before handing him a maroon cap. All manner of undisciplined, uncommitted players were given a chance but Bradshaw, a shining example of hard work, discipline and civilised behaviour was kept out. When he was finally given the chance he performed admirably. Unfortunately his form dipped in this World Cup and he only played three matches. West Indies needs many more players with his attitude.

So what does the future hold for our cricket? I am, to be honest, pessimistic. The WICB cabal/politburo has stubbornly resisted any type of meaningful reform and continues to function almost like a secret society. Unless there is a revolution in the way the game is run in the region, our cricket will fail to lift itself from the lowest ground it has now reached. Rawle Brancker was supposed to deliver the Sir Frank Worrell Lecture tonight on the topic of the WICB. I am looking forward to hearing what he said.

Of Nor'easters, Irish Upsets, South African Chokers and Salvaging the World Cup

As I write, the nor’easter that has been pounding the East coast is still raging outside. I just watched the news and there has been record rainfall, flooding, damage, cancelled flights and trains and chaos in general.

I was watching the cricket this morning when I got a call. It was one of my sisters in Barbados. She was at Kensington Oval and asked me if I had just seen her on tv! The organisers were forced into making admission free today in light of the consistently poor sales and attendance at all the matches this World Cup and so two of my sisters took advantage of the “freeness” and took their kids. Unfortunately she seemed to have been on tv just when I had stepped into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I guess they took the kids for the experience and to give them something to do. Hopefully it stimulates some interest in the little ones. They seem to be much more engrossed in playstation and cartoons! However, if I was in Barbados, there was no way I would have gone, even if they had paid me! Besides the actual play on the field, the World Cup has largely been a flop. There are a few main reasons and there are quite a few people who are to blame. They are now trying to salvage something from the tournament by giving away tickets and relaxing the regulations which had taken the Caribbean element out of the venues and deterred fans. I feel insulted by all of this and if I was there, there is no way that I would have dignified them by attending.

In the battle of the giant killers today, Ireland came out on top, convincingly dismissing the inconsistent Bangladeshis. While Ireland has had a hard time in the Super Eights, Bangladesh has been hot and cold. Whippings by New Zealand and Australia were followed by a win against South Africa and a close lost against England. Even if winning consistently against top teams is too much to ask of the Tigers, they should have won today. Instead they played like an Associate team while Ireland performed like a team of seasoned professionals. From the time the Irish captain took the bold decision to bat first so as to negate the threat of Bangladesh’s left-arm spinning trio, they dominated the game and thoroughly deserved their victory.

The World Cup has had its fair share of highs and lows (for us West Indian fans, largely lows) but as the Super Eights has progressed, it has become much more interesting. The results from the last few games mean that the match between England and South Africa on Tuesday assumes quarter-finals proportions. Speaking of South Africa, they continuously justify their tag as the perennial chokers of international cricket. They came into the World Cup as the number one ranked team in one day internationals, but have suddenly began to look very ordinary. They almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Sri Lanka, lost to Bangladesh and put in a dismal performance yesterday against New Zealand. South Africa is not one of the teams I like, but at this point I am supporting anyone who may somehow halt the Aussies. When the South Africans returned to international cricket after their ban was lifted, they were right there at the top of the list of teams I dislike. A post-apartheid South African team still full of players from the white minority was a definite no for me! I did feel sorry for them in 1999 when they somehow managed to lose to Australia in the semis, but not when they botched up the Duckworth/Lewis calculations in 2003 and had to exit in the first round. As their team has become a bit more diversified (it still doesn’t reflect the country’s racial composition) I have somewhat thawed towards them, although their captain Graeme Smith remains one of the biggest whingers in cricket!

Don Imus, Hip Hop Culture and a Sri Lankan Stroll

The controversy over Don Imus’ comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team has dominated headlines in NYC and the US in general this past week. While his comments were disgusting, at least a real issue was being discussed by the media instead of some silly celebrity event. After protests and pressure led by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, MSNBC dropped the simulcast of his show on Wednesday and CBS finally fired him today.

Imus has apologised profusely but his punishment is deserved. If he had made this sort of comment about another prominent New York minority group, he would have been immediately fired. It is time that people like Imus realise that you cannot make nasty, racist and sexist remarks, then apologise and expect life to go on like normal. Imus and his morning show crew have repeatedly made similar remarks, including calling African American sports columnist Bill Rhoden a "New York Times quota hire" and African American PBS anchor Gwen Ifill a "cleaning lady", often referring to Arabs as “ragheads”, suggesting that Serena and Venus Williams were animals better suited to pose for National Geographic than Playboy, and stating that Palestinians mourning the death of Yasser Arafat were "stinking animals" upon whom the Israelis "ought to drop the bomb right there, kill 'em all right now...".

However, in all the uproar over Imus’ comments, what needs to be highlighted is that many black people use terms like those Imus used and today’s hip hop culture is synonymous with words like “nigger”, “hos” and “bitches”. The artists who have made these words acceptable need to be criticised and whipped into shape just as much as Imus. Imus should never have said what he said, but hip hop culture has in many ways set the standard for words like “hos” to become part of conventional vocabulary. Will Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson now lead a campaign to reform the hip hop industry? I doubt it.

Sri Lanka clinically disposed of New Zealand today. The Black Caps have been playing excellent cricket this World Cup but met up with a Sri Lanka team that came out with all guns blazing and once they had gained a stranglehold in the first over, refused to let it go. Interestingly, the Sri Lankans were without their key bowler, Lasith Malinga. At this point it seems as if the semi-finalists will be Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa. After being brushed aside by the Aussies and barely winning against Bangladesh, I cannot see England beating South Africa to gain a semi-final berth. On current form, it also seems as if the Aussies will win the World Cup for a third consecutive time. Can Sri Lanka stop them? I hope so!

Sharpeville Massacre 1960, Inzamam and the End of a Glorious Career

On March 21st, 1960, policemen of the apartheid South African state opened fire on innocent civilians participating in a Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) organised protest against the notorious segregationist pass laws. The demonstration which numbered around 5 000 - 7 000 was a peaceful one but turned violent when the police force, unprovoked, opened fire and slaughtered sixty-nine people, including eight women and ten children. Of the 180 people who were wounded, thirty-one were women and nineteen were children. Many of the bullets fired had hit the victims in their backs, further indication that they had been trying to escape and were not attacking the police as the government claimed. The massacre was followed by protests and demonstrations and on March 30th, 1960, the apartheid regime declared a state of emergency and detained thousands of people. It also banned the PAC and the African National Congress (ANC). The Sharpeville Massacre was also greeted by international protests.

While the years leading up to Sharpeville had seen a marked increase in resistance against apartheid, the massacre proved to be a watershed as black South Africans realised that non-violence could not solely be relied on to defeat the forces of the apartheid regime. Speaking during his trial in October 1962, Nelson Mandela stated: “Government violence can do only one thing and that is to breed counter-violence. We have warned repeatedly that the Government, by resorting continually to violence, will breed in this country counter-violence among the people till ultimately if there is no dawning of sanity on the part of the Government, the dispute between the Government and my people will finish up by being settled in violence and by force”.

On this day also in 1992, a young man playing in his first World Cup would slam a 37-ball 60 against New Zealand and lead his team to a win in the semi-finals. He may not have reached anywhere near his heights of 1992 in subsequent World Cup campaigns in 1996, 1999 and 2003 but in the fifteen years since, Inzamam ul Haq proved himself over and over as one of the all time one day international batting greats. His test record is even better! Exactly fifteen years later to that semi-final game in which he announced his arrival on the big stage, Inzamam played his final one-day international. It was a far cry this March 21st from that March 21st in 1992, as this World Cup has gone from bad to worse for the great man and his team: defeated by West Indies in the first game, embarrassed by minnows Ireland and then the suspicious death of their coach Bob Woolmer in his hotel room. As captain, Inzamam may be public enemy number one in cricket crazy Pakistan at the moment, but I am sure the sight of him walking off the field in tears as he bid farewell to the cricketing world today would have softened hearts towards a man who give so much to Pakistani cricket. He was a joy to watch when in full flow and beyond his cricketing prowess he was a character, from the chubby beardless young man prone to running out his partners to the bearded elder statesman who began all his interviews and press statements with a “First of all thank you to Allah” and interspersed them with numerous “Inshaallahs”. Thank you Inzamam.

The Cricketing Price of Living in NYC

A colleague from our Consulate here in NYC provided us with the information on how we could watch Cricket World Cup in the so-called capital of the world. Basically, it will cost $450 if you don’t have Dish Network- $250 for installation and rental of equipment and $199 for the cricket! The price one has to pay for living in NYC. If I was home, it would have been on tv for free. I will have to resort to watching it on the internet which will cost me $199.

I watched a Globe Trekker feature on Venezuela with Ian Wright, one of my favourites of the Globe Trekker team. It’s a beautiful and physically diverse country. There are so many places on my list of countries to visit, from Venezuela, Brazil, Mali and Kenya to Italy, Algeria, Mongolia and New Zealand and everywhere else in between. I love travelling, exploring and learning about different peoples and cultures and one of my dreams is to take a year or two off from work and life and just travel around the globe. Anyone willing to sponsor me? I can guarantee thousands of photos and volumes of journals!

I had my cast changed on February 19th. There was no real improvement but the doc said this was normal after only three and a half weeks and that when I came back to have it checked in another three weeks- March 12th- he expected to see a marked change. I hope so because I really don’t want to have to do surgery and be stuck home for even longer. At the beginning there wasn’t as much itching as I had anticipated there would be, but in the past two weeks it has flared up. I have been using a wire hanger but sometimes it can’t reach certain spots so I just sit and swear like I was doing a few minutes ago!