Ananth

I watched the England vs West Indies game today.Sarwan and Chandrepaul were superb.Do you think these players would get in the India side?
India appear to be well on top in the test weather permitting.

I think India will do well in England.The condit

Hi Robert,
I have a feeling the Indian side is jinxed as far as the weather is concerned. The world cup was rain and now with the test matches its rain once again. The match was washed out today. The redeeming factor was that the Indian batsmen seem to be getting back into their groove and finding their touch. It was heartening to see Sachin and Saurav get their centuries and Dravid as usual played his role as "the wall". Kartick was a doubtful for the match as he it seems he is a better keeper then Dhoni but the one dayers put a bit of a spoke into the team selection with Dhoni getting the Man of the Series. Kartick has also shown his mettle as an opener with a good fifty. A new weaphon to the Indian fielding is a youngster just turned 18, who I understand is one heck of a pacer. He has been flown in place of patel - who I do not think will last too long in the business as he spends more time with injuries then on the field. All in all - I think India are regaining their confidence and this will def. help them with the upcoming series against England.
England too have revived a lot and are doing a great job - the Indian series will be very interesting - which will mean I get to sleep late and wake up late as the matches will start at about I pm our time.
Its really crazy as to what I can tune onto as there are matches going on all over the world and I do not want to miss out on any of them. It would be great though if I could get your views on the strengths of the England side and what do you thin the outcome of the England - Indian series will turn out as. The west Indies meanwhile are slowly but sure finding their feet and will be soon a force to reckon with. Pakistan will have to do a lot of hard work with all the inhouse politics they have going on.
Oh - how I love this game!!!!!

Hi all you Cricket lovers,
It seems rain is playing a spolisport in the India/Bangladesh Test series but at the same time I think the Lankans are getting a trashing that they never really expected after the world cup - against the Pakistanis and the English are having a ball making life hell for the Windies. How the fortunes change so fast - amazing its'nt it?

Ananth

The weather forecast England is poor again.It is likely that days 3 -5 will be badly affected by rain.

India are piling on the runs in Dhaka but they need to watch the weather also.

Ananth ,I watch a TV channel called NDTV.I think ND stands for New Dheli.The other day they had a feature on soccer and how popular it is becoming

In case you missed this - MCF's PBMCA cricket match.

Dr Joshi

Those are great Pics.I could have sat there all day with that scenery.

Dear Robert,
First of all, I am quite sure that the Indian side must have recovered a lot of confidence with hitting the daylights out of Bangladesh and all the top four Bats scoring their hundreds ( a new record ). Even though its against Bangladesh, they are slowly turning out to be a good team and the team is full of youngsters who show a great amount of promise. Now that things are more of less in place the forthcoming series are going to be interesting as I am quite sure all the players will be raring to go.I undetstand they have taken on Whatamore, the Bangldesh coach for a year but in all I think Ravi Shahstri has done a great job.
We have two main channels purely for news in English ( Indian channels - we also have BBC and CNN ). They are very good and some of the topics they discuss are really worth watching. I feature pretty often on debates on this channel. They have a segment only on sports and it just does not cover cricket but football or soccer with as much enthu. as cricket. The younger genertaion are crazy about the football being played in Endland and other countries and they do lay bets on the odds. Almost all the matches are shown live and though the Indian football side sucks - the interest in the game is overwhelming. You will be surprised in West Bengal, Calcutta in particular they are so crazy about the game that if the side (say Liverpool) looses a match it is chaos with the crown hurling stones at passin cars, fights breaking out and its a full pitched battle.
The Government has downgraded Hockey to be a normal sport and no longer the National sport. Its cricket all the way.
I am not sure if you get ESPN/ Star Sports/ Neo or Sony which give us the live telecasts of all the matches be it cricket or football.
It seems Vaughn has finally found his form and hope it continues and if Fredie continues what he was when he started off it is going to be a world beating side (I forgot to mention Kevin). I honestly think its time the pack of wolves ( the Aussies ) are disbanded by some good cricket and get them off their high horse. There are countries that can do it - its the mid set that lets them down. At this moment I think England and India are the sides to contend with. Sri Lanka seems to be sinking and the Widies getting better all the time.
I am really looking forward to the cricket - a lot of it - that is due to be played in the coming months.
Warm regards,
Ananth

Hi Gang. What do you think of the current set up now in the England 1 day squad? I think its an inventive idea to have Paul Collingwood captain and i hope he can be well supported by the team and media and supporters. Hope Panesar can get a good run in the 1 day team.

Hi Gang. It was great to see my county Durham winning the Friends provident trophy. I think it proves that Durham are definately on the way up and one player i feel has done enough to earn a tour either in the full squad or academy or an a tour. Phil Mustard. I think that game proves how once Pietersen got into the England team he doesnt give 100% for Hampshire. Any thoughts?

Hi Russ,
Good to have you on. I can only comment on the 3 ODI and can only say that England deserved the victory. I do not understand why Rahul opted to bat second on a great track and especially if he knew he was going to field two spinners. I think India would be better off if they did what they did ( win by a whisker! ) by batting first. However, I also feel that had Sachin and Kartick fired as Sachin has been doing so regularly of late the target would not have seemed so far. Saurav and Dravid are class but then the two cannot win all the matches on their own. If one is going in with five of some of the greatest batsmen - you would expect at least four to fire. Unfortunately - both Sachin and Kartick did not and crazily enough the rest actually gifted their wickets. But well done England!
Collingwood has become a captain who has earned the respect of his mates and one can clearly see that with all the efforts each one of them contributes - with the bat/ball or fielding. However, I also feel at the same time he and Bell are the main stay of the line up. Piterson has not been able to cope with the Indian attack and its surprising how he gets out - waiting for the ball to turn but unfortunately it just comes on. He must be feeling pretty miserable.
Lets see how the fourth goes with England now leading with 2 to 1. I have a feeling Sachin is not going to take to his getting out the last time too nicely and may just decide to cut open and if the three bat the way they did in the second ODI - I do not think England will stand much of a chance.
Monty - our dear friend. I liked the way he actually told Ganguly in hindi " Please dont hit me around too much as I am like a child to you all". It was funny but very predictably he cannot be a match winner against India or Pakistan. He has got to pull his socks up and get some more batting and fielding practise under his belt. The team cannot rely just on his bowling. However, there is no doubt he has that in built thing of being one of the best spinners and I do hope he does become one.

Lets see what happens in the next ODI. Its going to more then just interesting!
Take care and a big bear hug to you and all reeading this post.
Ananth

Dear Robert,
I must have missed out something in between. NDTV is basically a 24 hour news channel. We have five sports channels and get almost all football, soccer, NBA and Cricket matches live. Star sports and its sister ESPN are one, Neo sports have two channels and 10 sports have another two. If nothing works we have our government run Doordarshan - Sports, which only someone who is totally desprate will watch.

I understand you can subscribe to all the channels now both in the UK and USA though I think the Indian movie channels are on the more expensive side. I am not sure but am assuming so.

So lets catch up soon just after the 4th. ODI and compare notes. What would the British side do? Play the same side? India - what are they going to do as most of the batsmen are in great form but the bowling department and the catches dropped have compensated for all that the batsmen do.

Till later and with the hope it will be another ODI with no rain and plenty of sunshine.
Take care and lol,
Ananth

GO MATHEW HOGGARD....PRIDE OF YORKSHIRE!

Hi Gang. I would like to congratulate India on their 1-0 series win against Pakistan and it would have been 3-0 if it had not been for Misbah-ul-Haq. What a bizarre run out involving him. Glad to see Youvraj getting a chance in the test team and taking it. Looks like England will finish 1-0 down against Sri Lanka and it was a shame Hoggard was injured as he is a key bowler for us. Shame the pairing of Hoggard and Harmison cant get back together as they have done brilliantly in the past bu never mind Sidebottom has done a good job since his recall in the summer. Well Done Muralithuran for breaking Warnes record. All the best to everyone for Christmas and New Year.

Dear Russ,
What do I do - thank you on behalf of all the Indians I guess - as its the first time in 21 years that India have managed to win the series. As a lot of people pointed out - the spark that is normally associated between India and Pakistan matches was missing - so winning or loosing did not play a major role. However, the positives were there to see - as you mentioned Misbah - he had to wait like eternity to get selected for the pakistan team and proved his worth. Yuvraj has always been a class apart and will keep growing in stature and will turn out to be one of the best all rounders. I am also glad that the top six have all fired the salvo - but I also feel they could have won the last test had Kumble declared a bit earlier. I just about manage to get the news on BBC so am able to keep abreast with the latest.
Why do you feel Hoggard is the best bet for England? I think it Freddie who is the key player - only I really feel he has to mature. Both hoggard and harrison are work horses and can go on pitching the ball excatly where they want it to trouble the batsmen - but as you mentioned its a shame that they cannot pair up.
Murali may have broken Shane Warnes record on the number of wickets - but the edge that Shane still has and will always that he retired from cricket some time ago and his tally remained constant. It had to be a matter of time before murali caught up - I dont think it is much of a deal - though Murali is a a fantastic bowler.
Kumble all said and done , I think was the ideal choice for the top position as he has the experience, the killer instinct and the respect of the entire team. Somehow, I have this feeling we are going to witness some changes in the scales in the forthcoming series against Australia and I am looking forward to that. The Indians are in full flow and are all contributing very well( Pathan for example). Lets see how it goes.
Merry xmas to you and all also - may you all have a great time.
Tons of love,
Ananth

Hello to the cricket gang,
England is in deep problems with the Lankans - having been bowled out for their lowest score ever. Honestly speaking I do not think any of the players are playing upto their potential - especially KP, Freddie, Hoggard and Harmison. Collingwood has shown a little more maturity and does not just throw away his wicket.
India seems to be well on their way Down Under- and I have this feeling the Aussies are going to have a hardtime this series as Kumble is a very clever an wiley cricketer and is handling the team very well.To add a little more - the Indian lineup is really looking good and the team is not depenedent on just a player or two. The lineup goes right down to the 8th. wicket. Lets see how it goes.
Any bets?
Love,
Ananth