It was a son et lumière worthy of the Sphinx or Grand Canyon. The opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League, on a shirtsleeve evening in mid-April in Bangalore, was the most spectacular that cricket has seen. I sensed the same ingredients of success at the first official day/night international, between Australia and West Indies, at Sydney in 1979: people hurrying to a ground to see the cricket they wanted, of the duration they wanted, at the time they wanted.
Brendon McCullum lit up the night sky as brilliantly as the fireworks by hitting 158 from 73 balls, and most of the major talents in world cricket joined in over the next six weeks. While there were initial doubts about whether Indian crowds and television audiences would identify with an Australian or South African, and a sizeable proportion of each crowd was admitted free, city-based cricket soon became as popular in India as soap operas. In spite of the poor television camerawork, and advertisements that shaved many overs to five balls, tens of millions - perhaps hundreds of millions - watched, for evening after evening, live cricket.
The IPL is a clever mixture of ingredients because its administrators have understood their market - their mass market. Although it is impossible to be sure from such a recent perspective, it looks as though the supranational IPL is the single biggest change in cricket not merely since the advent of the limited-overs game in the 1960s but of fixtures between countries in the 19th century: that is, since the invention of international or Test cricket.
Above all, until the time of writing, the IPL has had luck on its side. As the world went into economic crisis, the IPL gave every appearance of bucking the trend. The two auctions of players which it staged, the second on February 6 this year, must have appealed to anyone who has played Monopoly: they gave the franchise-owners the feeling they had power over the world's finest cricketers, and everyone else the illusion. At a time of the most serious recession since the 1930s, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen were signed for two years at $1.55million per six-week tournament (or pro rata for the number of games they played). The IPL radiated wealth, wellbeing, exuberance, and prospects for future growth: in a word, hope.
It was during the third IPL match, in Delhi, that the principal defect of 20-over cricket became apparent. Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals against the Delhi Daredevils - and was anonymous. It was not simply that his bowling was ineffective on a flat pitch, or his innings brief, or his captaincy unable to avert a large defeat. The defect was that he had no time to manifest his personality.
Warne's strength of character soon made itself felt, as he turned what had seemed in Delhi to be a bunch of Indian club cricketers into the first IPL champions. But on the field, such is the bustling pace of the 20-over game, Warne had no time to transmit his personality to spectators or television viewers; and the interplay of personalities is the essence of drama.
A 50-over game can sometimes allow the necessary scope: remember how Warne, gradually but inexorably, bent the 1999 World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston to his will. But although a Twenty20 game offers plenty of action over three hours, and an exciting finish almost as often as not, it lacks the drama that a full day of intense cricket provides. As the novelty of 20-over cricket wears off, it will be seen that cricket's characters can only be formed in longer versions of the game.
Administrators could not cash in quickly enough. The ECB announced the English Premier League, with 20 teams, to start in 2010 (when the recession bit, the two overseas teams were quietly dropped, along with other modifications). An alternative business plan of a nine-franchise league, based at England's international venues, was proposed by Keith Bradshaw, chief executive of MCC, and David Stewart, Surrey's chairman; but it was seen as the thin end of a wedge which would have driven half of the 18 counties out of existence.
I am in favour of 18 first-class counties, provided - and it is a provision far from being fulfilled - they devote much more of their resources to promoting cricket within their own communities, instead of relying for recruitment on public schools and the southern hemisphere. These two breeding grounds each supplied about one third of England's county cricketers last season, while Britain's inner cities remained mostly untrawled waters.
The Pro-Active South London Schools Survey 2008 should ring like a fire alarm at the ECB's offices. More than 26,000 children at secondary schools were asked which three sports they would like more access to: football was first, badminton eighth, cricket 21st. Even among boys alone, it ranked no higher than twelfth. A major factor is the virtual disappearance of Afro-Caribbean cricketers. Such findings show that the hold on the public imagination which cricket had in 2005 has been lost completely.
As well as the midsummer English Premier League, which was a good idea, the ECB announced a late- summer 20-over competition, which was not. Filling up the domestic season with four competitions is the surest way to prevent an improvement in standards. It is only right that the counties should want to do more to stand on their own financial feet, to be less dependent on the £1.5million that the ECB distributes to each one, but two 20-over competitions cannot be right - especially as August is the time to stage 50-over cricket, not May when the ball seams around and powerplays are irrelevant.
The only point in favour of the second 20-over competition was that the 40-over league had to be abolished to make space. Launched in 1969 as a fun afternoon to follow the Sunday roast, it had long since outlasted its purpose and become the ball and chain around the legs of English cricket, choking the calendar, preventing the pursuit of excellence, draining intensity out of the system - and the single biggest reason why England, alone among the major Test-playing countries, have never won a global one-day tournament.
Source: The times
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Liverpool left on the ropes after Branislav Ivanovic lands one-two combination
The resident disc jockey opted for a Beatles classic at the final whistle. We Can Work It Out sounded like wishful thinking on Liverpool’s part at the end of an evening when the fortress of Anfield was not just stormed but ransacked, but, to put it in another context, who can possibly work out the remarkable transformation that Guus Hiddink has managed in only two months in charge of Chelsea?
It cannot be rocket science, just a case of restoring some much-needed confidence and tactical discipline to a team who had lost their way under Luiz Felipe Scolari. Given the way that Chelsea capitulated at the same venue just before his arrival, though, the Hiddink effect is looking like something close to alchemy. Only not alchemy, since Chelsea, after crowning a superb performance with two goals from Branislav Ivanovic and one from Didier Drogba, are dreaming not of gold but of silver and, specifically, the European Cup that has proved elusive during the Roman Abramovich era.
Hiddink called Chelsea’s performance “perfect”, at least after they had recovered from the blow of conceding a sixth-minute goal to Fernando Torres. At that point it seemed as though Liverpool’s momentum was propelling them towards yet another Champions League semi-final, but as Michael Essien began to relish his man-marking assignment against Steven Gerrard and, as Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Drogba and the rest warmed to their task, it became a quite outstanding Chelsea display on an evening when they finally cast aside the caution of the José Mourinho era.
Chelsea’s performance contained certain parallels with Liverpool’s tactical masterclass in winning 4-1 away to Manchester United last month, a result that stripped the losers of their aura of invincibility. It remains to be seen whether this result will have such a demoralising effect on Liverpool in their bid for the Barclays Premier League title, but, as Drogba tormented Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher much as Torres had given the runaround to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, it was easy to see why Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that the winners of this tie would pose a far greater threat to United on the domestic front than the losers.
With three away goals to his team’s name, Hiddink was even asked afterwards whether John Terry’s suspension for the second leg, after he was booked for an overzealous challenge on José Manuel Reina, might now be regarded as a blessing in that it would free him up for a semi-final against, one presumes, Barcelona. Hiddink was not too keen to follow that particular line of inquiry, but, given the manner in which Terry exchanged barbs with Gerrard, his England team-mate, in the heat of the battle, the Chelsea captain might just be able to see the logic behind that argument.
It was a glorious night for Terry and his team-mates. They have suffered at Liverpool’s hands in the Champions League in recent years, as well as tasting two defeats in the Premier League this season, but they dealt with everything that Rafael Benítez’s team could throw at them. By the end, Gerrard and Torres looked frustrated and the fervour of the home crowd had been reduced to a whimper — a far cry from the opening minutes, when Torres seemed to have lit the fuse for another of those Anfield glory nights.
Hiddink had identified Gerrard as the main threat to Chelsea, but the Liverpool captain had only a fleeting involvement in the goal that gave his team the lead. It was his lung-busting run into the penalty area that forced Alex into a wild clearance, but then came a surprisingly deft piece of control from Dirk Kuyt and an even better reverse pass into the path of Álvaro Arbeloa on the overlap. Arbeloa surged into the penalty area and picked out Torres, who, neglected by Alex, had the time and the space to steer a cool shot past Petr Cech.
For Chelsea, it was the nightmare start, but their recovery was almost immediate. Within 60 seconds Salomon Kalou harried Fábio Aurélio into a mistake and set up Drogba, who should have scored but shot straight at the advancing Reina.
Drogba then squandered an even better chance on the half-hour, shooting high into the Kop after a perfect first touch, from Ballack’s cross, had taken him away from Jamie Carragher in the penalty area. Drogba’s moment would arrive, but first came not one but two goals from a player who could not get close to the Chelsea teamsheet 12 months ago, let alone the scoresheet.
For the first eight months of his Chelsea career, after his arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow in January 2008, Ivanovic looked destined to go down as the new Winston Bogarde, but his contribution last night will not be forgotten. Five minutes before half-time Florent Malouda swung in a corner from the right and the Serbia defender escaped the attentions of Xabi Alonso and then rose between Skrtel and Albert Riera to beat Reina with a firm header. In the 62nd minute he repeated the act, this time getting between Gerrard and Arbeloa to score again.
Questions will be asked about Liverpool’s zonal marking from set-pieces, as they are on every occasion that they concede from such situations, but Benítez will be more concerned by the way that Chelsea outmuscled and outplayed his team. The third goal was a classic, Ballack releasing Malouda, who hit a superb cross into the six-yard box, where Drogba, attacking the ball ahead of Carragher and Sktel, slammed the ball past Reina.
The closing stages were played out to near-silence until the home supporters responded to questions about the atmosphere by asking “where’s your European Cups?” — note the plural. The Chelsea fans had no answer, but more of this and their players may soon be able to provide the perfect riposte, Barcelona notwithstanding.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina — Á Arbeloa, M Skrtel, J Carragher, F Aurélio (sub: A Dossena, 75min) — X Alonso, Lucas Leiva (sub: R Babel, 80) — D Kuyt, S Gerrard, A Riera (sub: Y Benayoun, 68) — F Torres. Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, S Hyypia, D Agger, D Ngog. Booked: Aurélio.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, Alex, J Terry, A Cole — M Ballack, M Essien, — S Kalou, F Lampard, F Malouda — D Drogba (sub: N Anelka, 80). Substitutes not used: Hilário, R Carvalho, M Mancienne, J Belletti, J O Mikel, Deco. Booked: Kalou, Terry.
Referee: C B Larsen (Denmark)
Source: The times
It cannot be rocket science, just a case of restoring some much-needed confidence and tactical discipline to a team who had lost their way under Luiz Felipe Scolari. Given the way that Chelsea capitulated at the same venue just before his arrival, though, the Hiddink effect is looking like something close to alchemy. Only not alchemy, since Chelsea, after crowning a superb performance with two goals from Branislav Ivanovic and one from Didier Drogba, are dreaming not of gold but of silver and, specifically, the European Cup that has proved elusive during the Roman Abramovich era.
Hiddink called Chelsea’s performance “perfect”, at least after they had recovered from the blow of conceding a sixth-minute goal to Fernando Torres. At that point it seemed as though Liverpool’s momentum was propelling them towards yet another Champions League semi-final, but as Michael Essien began to relish his man-marking assignment against Steven Gerrard and, as Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Drogba and the rest warmed to their task, it became a quite outstanding Chelsea display on an evening when they finally cast aside the caution of the José Mourinho era.
Chelsea’s performance contained certain parallels with Liverpool’s tactical masterclass in winning 4-1 away to Manchester United last month, a result that stripped the losers of their aura of invincibility. It remains to be seen whether this result will have such a demoralising effect on Liverpool in their bid for the Barclays Premier League title, but, as Drogba tormented Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher much as Torres had given the runaround to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, it was easy to see why Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that the winners of this tie would pose a far greater threat to United on the domestic front than the losers.
With three away goals to his team’s name, Hiddink was even asked afterwards whether John Terry’s suspension for the second leg, after he was booked for an overzealous challenge on José Manuel Reina, might now be regarded as a blessing in that it would free him up for a semi-final against, one presumes, Barcelona. Hiddink was not too keen to follow that particular line of inquiry, but, given the manner in which Terry exchanged barbs with Gerrard, his England team-mate, in the heat of the battle, the Chelsea captain might just be able to see the logic behind that argument.
It was a glorious night for Terry and his team-mates. They have suffered at Liverpool’s hands in the Champions League in recent years, as well as tasting two defeats in the Premier League this season, but they dealt with everything that Rafael Benítez’s team could throw at them. By the end, Gerrard and Torres looked frustrated and the fervour of the home crowd had been reduced to a whimper — a far cry from the opening minutes, when Torres seemed to have lit the fuse for another of those Anfield glory nights.
Hiddink had identified Gerrard as the main threat to Chelsea, but the Liverpool captain had only a fleeting involvement in the goal that gave his team the lead. It was his lung-busting run into the penalty area that forced Alex into a wild clearance, but then came a surprisingly deft piece of control from Dirk Kuyt and an even better reverse pass into the path of Álvaro Arbeloa on the overlap. Arbeloa surged into the penalty area and picked out Torres, who, neglected by Alex, had the time and the space to steer a cool shot past Petr Cech.
For Chelsea, it was the nightmare start, but their recovery was almost immediate. Within 60 seconds Salomon Kalou harried Fábio Aurélio into a mistake and set up Drogba, who should have scored but shot straight at the advancing Reina.
Drogba then squandered an even better chance on the half-hour, shooting high into the Kop after a perfect first touch, from Ballack’s cross, had taken him away from Jamie Carragher in the penalty area. Drogba’s moment would arrive, but first came not one but two goals from a player who could not get close to the Chelsea teamsheet 12 months ago, let alone the scoresheet.
For the first eight months of his Chelsea career, after his arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow in January 2008, Ivanovic looked destined to go down as the new Winston Bogarde, but his contribution last night will not be forgotten. Five minutes before half-time Florent Malouda swung in a corner from the right and the Serbia defender escaped the attentions of Xabi Alonso and then rose between Skrtel and Albert Riera to beat Reina with a firm header. In the 62nd minute he repeated the act, this time getting between Gerrard and Arbeloa to score again.
Questions will be asked about Liverpool’s zonal marking from set-pieces, as they are on every occasion that they concede from such situations, but Benítez will be more concerned by the way that Chelsea outmuscled and outplayed his team. The third goal was a classic, Ballack releasing Malouda, who hit a superb cross into the six-yard box, where Drogba, attacking the ball ahead of Carragher and Sktel, slammed the ball past Reina.
The closing stages were played out to near-silence until the home supporters responded to questions about the atmosphere by asking “where’s your European Cups?” — note the plural. The Chelsea fans had no answer, but more of this and their players may soon be able to provide the perfect riposte, Barcelona notwithstanding.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina — Á Arbeloa, M Skrtel, J Carragher, F Aurélio (sub: A Dossena, 75min) — X Alonso, Lucas Leiva (sub: R Babel, 80) — D Kuyt, S Gerrard, A Riera (sub: Y Benayoun, 68) — F Torres. Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, S Hyypia, D Agger, D Ngog. Booked: Aurélio.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, Alex, J Terry, A Cole — M Ballack, M Essien, — S Kalou, F Lampard, F Malouda — D Drogba (sub: N Anelka, 80). Substitutes not used: Hilário, R Carvalho, M Mancienne, J Belletti, J O Mikel, Deco. Booked: Kalou, Terry.
Referee: C B Larsen (Denmark)
Source: The times
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