Umpiring Howlers help Aussies down Windies

Melinda Farrell in ESPNcricinfo, 6 June 2019, where the title is “West Indies’ fury at ‘dodgy’ decisions as Australia get rub of the green”

Michael Holding has slammed the umpiring during West Indies’ loss to Australia as “atrocious”, while Carlos Brathwaite described some decisions as “frustrating” and “dodgy” and suggested that West Indies players are on the wrong end of decisions more often than their opponents. He denied, however, that the decisions had cost them the match in a hard-fought 15-run defeat to Australia at Trent Bridge.

The umpires, Chris Gaffaney and Ruchira Palliyaguruge, had four decisions overturned between them and Gaffaney also missed a blatant front foot no-ball from Mitchell Starc that preceded the delivery that claimed the wicket of Chris Gayle. If the no-ball had been called, Gayle would have had a free hit on what was ultimately the wicket-ball.

When India surprised the Mighty West India in 1983 World Cup

Item in Outlook India, May 2019 with this title “Howzzat! Clive Lloyd’s West Indies Vanquished! Thr Fascinating Story of India’s First Limited Overs victory”

March 29, 1983 is a milestone in Indian cricket. India defeated the mighty West Indies by 27 runs in the second outing of a three-match series to register their maiden victory in the limited-overs format. This fantastic win helped India believe that it could play this format. Effectively, Kapil’s Devils went on to win the Prudential Cricket World Cup in 1983 at Lord’s. Veteran journalist ASHISH RAY remembers this epic win in his book “Cricket World Cup: The Indian Challenge”.

Kapil’s Devils beat heavy favourites West Indies in the final of Prudential Cricket World Cup in 1983 at Lord’s to effectively change the history of the sport ….File Photo

One-day cricket was introduced domestically in England in 1963 to arrest falling gate receipts. In 1975 this format evolved into the inaugural World Cup. But the BCCI was indifferent to limited overs cricket and public interest in India in the shorter version of the game was also lukewarm. More crucially, Indian cricketers experienced very few one-day internationals and were not inclined towards these either. Indeed, they performed disastrously in the first two World Cups. So, what triggered the dramatic transformation in ability and mindset in the third World Cup in 1983? Here’s the intriguing, little known story in CRICKET WORLD CUP: THE INDIAN CHALLENGE, an eye-witness history of the tournament from an Indian perspective by ASHIS RAY, the world’s senior-most still active cricket broadcaster, just published by BLOOMSBURY. (Complete Cricket World Cup 2019 coverage)

Appraissal of the Ten World Cup Teams …. In Brief

Item in OUTLOOK INDIA, 16 May 2019, with this title “ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Strengths And Weaknesses Of All Ten Teams”

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played in the United Kingdom from May 30 to July 14. Ten teams will play a round-robin league with the top four advancing to the semifinals. Australia are the defending champions. Here are the strengths and weaknesses of the teams.

All the 10 teams competing in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 are fully prepared. While the Indian cricket team players were busy fulfilling their IPL commitments, hosts England are busy playing a ODI series against Pakistan while Ireland is hosting a triseries with West Indies and Bangladesh. (FULL ICC WORLD CUP 2019 SCHEDULE)

Uncensored! The Cricket World Cup Squads

Editorial Team, ESPNcricinfo  and/or Cricket Country Staff , 22 May 2019, with this title  “Cricket World Cup 2019 – Final 15-member squad of all teams for World Cup 2019″

England and Pakistan made late changes to their preliminary World Cup 2019 squad while the remaining teams are unlikely to announce further changes from the their preliminary squads, announced a month earlier. Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh have been forced to make changes while India, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have struck to their prelim squads.

When India won the World Cup in England in 1983

October 29, 2014: 1983 Till the victory over Zimbabwe, India had looked shaky. After that, under Kapil’s leadership, they had the confidence to overthrow any team that came their way. ©Getty Images

Courtesy of http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/gallery/475151.html

Rex in Q and A with Michael Holding …. Whispering Death

Rex Clementine

The countries that possess weapons of mass destruction are feared by all and sundry. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the most dreaded man in the world at the moment as he is believed to be armed to the teeth with nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological weapons. So was Clive Lloyd. He ruled the cricketing world with an iron fist capable of striking at anytime. His weapons being – Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall.  “How the **** could you get back into form when you were playing Roberts, Holding, Garner day after day,” Ian Chappell once lamented during World Series Cricket.

Holding was said to be the fastest. He was nicknamed ‘the Rolls Royce of fast bowlers’ for his smooth run-up and delivery. The batsmen who were troubled by him, however, had other names. Geoff Boycott called him, ‘whispering death’.  “He bowled at lightning speed but his run up, you couldn’t hear him coming. Normally a fast bowler comes up with lot of aggression, power and lot of effort, but Michael you just didn’t realize he was coming. That’s the whispering part. Death, boy, he could hurt you,” Boycott once said.

Gayle: Incredible 77 in 27

George Dobell, at ESPNcricinfo, March 2019 ‘It’s been an honour to wear the crest’ – Chris Gayle bows out on home soil with flamboyant farewell”

It looked like a goodbye. And, as Chris Gayle reflected on his remarkable ODI series against England, it started to sound like one as well. Gayle had just rounded off his incredible series – 424 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 134.17 – with an innings of 77 in 27 balls that included the fastest half-century (19 deliveries) by a West Indies batsman in the history of this format. He hit 39 sixes from the 316 balls he faced in the series – a record in either series or tournaments of any length – meaning he hit, incredible though it sounds, every 8.10 balls he faced for six.