Cricket Tournaments

They may have won the first ODI at Vadodara, but there is not a lot of good news coming out of the Australian camp on the eve of the second match, a day-night affair, at Nagpur. The Aussies will miss the services of speedster Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes. Lee developed a right elbow strain during the opening game and managed to send down only six overs while Hopes pulled a hamstring. There are also doubts over another all-rounder Mitchell Johnson’s participation, but, thankfully for the Aussies, he is still in contention and might end up taking the field at Nagpur.

In the meantime, New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques has been called up by the Australian team management as a standby. He will stay on with the team till the fourth match of the series after joining them on Thursday in Delhi. Post the fourth game at Mohali, a final decision would be made regarding whether Henriques will continue to be a part of the squad for the entire tournament or be relieved, depending on whether Hopes is fit.

The all-rounder recently featured in the inaugural Champions League T20, which New South Wales won. He was highly impressive in the tournament and garnered a lot of praise. Hence, the call up wasn’t all that surprising. Prior to that, Henriques also took part in the IPL, but that ended up being a rather disastrous venture, with his franchise – The Kolkata Knight Riders – finishing at the bottom of the table.

This is not the first time Henriques finds himself in such a situation. A similar thing happened during the series against minnows Bangladesh last year. He was also impressive during Australia A’s winter series against Pakistan A and has been on the fringes of selection since.

Coming back to Australia and injuries, the list only gets longer for the kangaroos. Lee, Hopes and Johnson have now joined Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin and promising youngster Callum Ferguson, all of whom had to give this tour a skip due to various injury-related problems.

West Indies evened the four ODI series against India in 2nd ODI of the series at Sabina Park on Sunday, 28th June. Re-called Rampaul rampage the pitch and ruined the India to the push it off the verge to chaos. Indian batsmen were nothing better than mannequins, silently observing Indian team to eventual defeat. West Indies were superior both with bat and ball and gave not a single chance to India for the comeback. West Indies restricted India to 188 runs off all out in the 48th over. Gayle and Gayle’s company again brilliantly finished the follow up in the 35th over consequently winning by 8 wickets.

Everyone expected India to be tough competition after their mouth shutting win over Indies in 1st ODI but contrary to all the expectations India came out loser. Dhoni’s guys were even worst comparative to gully cricket players. Top order batsmen were playing sneaky shoots and it was apparent with their batting they don’t possess any knowledge about the technicalities of batting and foot work. Trio Rampaul, Taylor and Bravo most often deceived the batsmen by forcing him to take silly shoots to the slip and gully and often succumbing to in swing Yorkers. Indies trio took the toll over the Indian batsmen; Karthik (4), Ravindra Jadeja (7), Harbhajan (7), including three ducks Gambhir, Rohit and Yusuf. Dhoni’s 95 runs innings was well received which dragged out India out of the mayhem when India was crumbling at 82 runs at the fall of 8 wickets.  Partnership of Dhoni and RP Singh stabilized Indian innings while in the middle order Yuraj singh (35) was the sole contributor of double figures. India aggregated only 188 runs of all out in the 48th over; 189 runs target was easily achievable for the team like West Indies.

Indies bowlers were outstanding and Indies Trio (Rampaul, Taylor and Bravo) flabbergasted Indian batsmen. Indies trio were acquainted of the Indian team vulnerability to shot pitched bowls and often they succumbed to it.  Indies trio caught the weakest point of the slip area of Indian batsmen and also found them to be inept in foot work thus Indies trio consumed this weakness of Indian batsmen. Return of Rampual came as the rejuvenating spirit to the Indies bowlers that enhanced their support and skills.  Inexpensive Indies trio Rampaul took 4 wickets and Taylor and Bravo took 3-3 wickets.

Indies got the 189 runs target which was too easy for the Gayle’s company and they achieved it without any hindrance. Gayle charged with 64 runs coming off 46 bowls hence giving the West Indies innings head start. In the 15th over Gayle got out then Sarwan (15) but the damage was done and nothing but the formality was left for Indies to end the match. Not out Runako Morton knocked 85 runs off 105 bowls and not out Chanderpaul knocked 18 runs off 41 bowls finishing the match in the 35th over leading Indies to 8 wickets win.

Critics in cricket may argue the fact that WAGs are required to travel with international cricketers in some of their tours, but if you closely analyze the rigors of international cricket, it is now days a must. Cricket players on the international circuit travel and play non-stop cricket throughout the year. This takes a heavy toll on their mind and body particularly during long competitive tours. During that time, they do require the presence of their wives or girlfriends to provide them the required warmth and care, which is otherwise missing.

Cricket the gentleman’s game is not an army mission or merchant navy kind of job where a person needs to stay away from their family members for a long time. In fact, cricket offers a great opportunity for the intermingling of different cultures by introducing activities for WAGs while the cricketers play it hard on the field. Just imagine the wife of a Sri Lankan player having a conversation about her daily schedule with the wife of an Australian player. This is something unique that would bring a positive and important edge to cricket. It can lead to important cultural exchanges between the countries.

It is not essential that the WAGs can only be busy when the cricketers are around. They can go for a host of activities like organizing of fund raising ceremonies, exhibitions, and other similar activities, which can help raise funds to support charity work across the world. The respective cricket boards of each country can plan a schedule that offers enough activities for the WAGs to keep them busy during the tour. In between, they can even catch a glimpse of their man toiling hard on the field. The most important thing is that not all the WAGs are available for travel with the cricketers during their tour. Some may have personal commitments to work and their family life. Therefore, those WAGs who can commit to support their man during the tour should be provided special attention.

However, it does not necessarily mean that the attention from cricket will be diverted in any ways. In fact, the presence of the WAGs can help the cricketers relax and put their focus on cricket. All other distractions can be handled by these WAGs. The old days of cricketing culture, where the captain and the board members refused to allow WAGs to meet the cricketers is gone. No longer, do cricket boards around the world look at WAGs as something causing distraction. In fact, in this era of high intensity cricket, the WAGs are essential to offer moral and emotional support to the cricketers.

In this era of modern cricket, the cricket boards want to offer the newly married players or cricketing couples with a chance to be together. This is something, which is essential to create a strong bonding between the cricketers and their WAGs. No board wants to disappoint their promising young cricketing stars, who otherwise will have the tension of juggling around with two tasks such as playing cricket and managing their personal lives. This initiative by the boards to allow WAGs to be along with the cricketers provides a great deal of encouragement towards the welfare, stress management, and relationship development for the cricketers. They can now focus only on cricket whereas the board takes care of all other activities along with the WAGs.

It may not be possible to allow cricketers the opportunity to go for a vacation and fulfill their family commitments, as the international cricket calendar is jam packed with tours and competitions. In such a scenario, a cricketer may have tough time convincing the WAGs to stay committed to them. Therefore, it is essential to allow the WAGs an opportunity to be with their man and understand their daily schedule during a cricket tour or tournament. This brings in a lot of flexibility in the lives of the cricketers for the future cricketing activities. The WAGs can also spend some quality time touring the place and checking out its attractions. They can also spend time while going out for shopping and purchasing souvenirs from that place. Overall, the presence of WAGs stands out to be a good proposition for international cricket.