Why Kallis is Greater Than Ponting

As we witness the ongoing duel between Australia and South Africa, two of the greatest cricketers of our generation have come face to face perhaps for the last time, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting.  It should be no surprise though which of the two has chalked up scores of 147, 49 and an injury filled 58, and which has scored 0, 4 and 18.  Equally its no surprise that which castled the other on the first morning, and his injury helped lead to absolute carnage later that day.

Ponting may have (ridiculously) won the award for the best player of the 2000s, but the truth is Kallis is far far better. Here's why:

1.  Kallis didn't have the luxury of Australian bowlers

Yes Pollock, Donald and (much later) Steyn were there, but the South Africa bowling attack was never quite up to the mark set by the Australians.  Even if Ponting's batting flopped it could be easily disguised as McGrath, Warne and Lee ripped apart the opponents, and on the flip-side its much easier to come out and belt a century after these bowlers have reduced a team to a sub-200 score.

What happened when the bowling attack all retired in one big bang? Ponting's numbers fell dramatically while Kallis's numbers were always consistent.

2.  Kallis didn't have the luxury of Australian batsmen

Wouldn't it be nice to walk out after Hayden and Langer have softened up the opening attack? And that too surrounded by the likes of Martyn, the Waughs, Symonds, Hussey and of course Gilchrist. Kallis had buddies in the form of Smith and much later de Villiers and Amla, but for the majority of his career he has had to fight a lone hand and single-handedly prop up the batting efforts.  On top of that, he has a superior batting average and that too having to face the mighty Aussie attack.

3.  Kallis can bowl

Nearly 300 test and ODI wickets of bustling fast-medium bowling. He could nearly make the South African team on bowling alone with an average consistently in the low 30s, this is an extra burden that Ponting has never had to deal with.

4.  Kallis can play in India

A batting average in India of 26 and a place in history as Bhajji's only bunny. Enough said.

Its fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A © Getty

5.  Kallis has to deal with the 'fat and lazy' tag

Just take a peek to any Kallis Youtube video and the abomination known as the Youtube Comments Section.  The scum of the earth reside here, and you will see endless tirades about how Kallis is flabby, unfit, lazy and above all boring.  This is a guy that can bat all day, take very good slip catches and then charge in and bowl at over 130km/h. Injuries have hardly been an issue in a career that started in 1996, good luck finding anyone fitter than that (aside from the machine known as Courtney Walsh).

6.  Kallis has to deal with the ch---- tag

Ah yes, the bane of every South African cricketer including Kallis.

© AFP, Getty

Imagine if the Saffa's scampered home to victory, that would be 13 years of emotional hurt, constant sledging and World Cup choking vanished! Just look at what Shaun Pollock had to deal with.

In a nutshell then...

• Kallis is the best all-rounder of our generation and at least top five in the history of the game, he is a player who gets far too little respect.  
• The 'Player of the 2000s' Ponting has usually been riding the wave of an amazing team around him and never had to deal with the added psychological pressure. 
• Both are very good world class players, however there is no question which of the two is superior.

Dear Sachin Tendulkar, It's Time to Retire

Starting a sporting career is not complicated, with a bit of luck and a lot of skill you'll get a break. You can proceed calmly with the knowledge that only your performances are in your hands, the rest is dependant on other individuals such as favourable coaches and corrupt selectors.

The hard part is stopping, when should an international cricketer retire? There are several routes that can be taken:

• The Australia Method - Retire when on top so that your legacy continues to live on fondly, notable examples include Gilchrist, Hayden, Langer... well everybody from the glory days except Ricky Ponting.
• The Kiwi Method - After a ludicrous amount of injury layoffs and comebacks, there comes a time when its time to finally throw in the towel.  The most endangered species of all cricket are New Zealand fast bowlers, just look at Shane Bond, Dion Nash and Geoff Allott. Tragically unfulfilled careers.
• The England Captain Method - Retire at the first sign of trouble after a few years of good work.  When the England zorb threatened to come crashing down the hill (thanks South Africa), Andrew Strauss opted for the gentlemen's exit so he won't be at the bottom picking up the pieces.  Smooth timing.
• The Pakistan Method - Where retirement often means a quick holiday in the name of an angry protest against a rogue selector.  The beauty of this method is that it comes free with an un-retire and re-retire add on.  Just ask Shahid Afridi.

Yep I retired again, see you in a month!   © AFP

But there is one guy whose epic career continues to trudge on despite many of the symptoms displayed above.  He has had years of golden runs with the bat despite a dodgy run at being captain, a horrible run in the last 12 months, an injury lay-off or two somewhere in there.  He has been there and done that.  At the risk of having The Cricket Musings burned down by angry protesters (or rather by being spammed to death with profanities in the comments section) I am going to brave the internet world and say it.

Sachin Tendulkar, your time is up.  Time to embrace the setting sun.

You have been playing cricket since 1989, which means you have been batting for India longer than the entire under-19 World Cup fleet even came into existence as a single cell organism.  

You have painfully but surely climbed the one hundred 100s mountain, you have won an ODI world cup on your sixth attempt (!) and you have seen India to the top of the Test rankings, something they won't do again any time soon.  Enough is enough. You are quickly becoming that unfortunate uncle who everybody is too polite to get rid of, with the consequence that your tenancy is taking up precious other vacancies for younger promising cricketers.  

There is literally nothing else to achieve, you have arguably the most accomplished career in cricketing history with dozens of innings that are forever etched into our memories.  The problem with you staying on is that you are soiling those lovely memories of trouncing Glenn McGrath with images of being castled by Doug Bracewell.  

There was a time where I ate Kiwi's for breakfast.  © Assc Press

So dear Sachin, please say your goodbyes so we can thank you for more than two decades of great cricketing memories.  Don't tack on an extra half decade of pain.

(Oh and give commentary a miss too).

Australian Cricket, The Romance Is Over

This is it.

The pits, the crypt, the absolute bottom of the barrel. Since their ridiculously efficient 2007 world cup victory, Australia cricket slipped slowly as their champion team started to age while all warning signs were ignored. The ultimatum is now with us.

Here in 2011 it surely cannot get any worse than this. This, a loss to the New Zealand test team, and in Australian territory. Look back in recent history and forget the Ashes collapse, the world cup loss, even the dreadful 47 all out... one certainty was that the Kiwis *always* lose to Australia in test cricket. 18 years since any loss to them, 25 years on Australian soil.

Ok boys, your best fake smile now.  © AFP

To lose to what is mostly a sorry New Zealand line-up means it is official, that the romance is over. Australian cricket is dead. You would even feel inclined to sympathise with them, if they hadn't piled on the misery for so many years. Its laughable now to hear these one-eyed commentators attempt to immortalize the likes of Phillip Hughes.

It was predictable in many ways, they had an embarrassment of riches and created an egotistic bubble and a winning culture that made them seemingly invincible. They were the team that everyone loved to hate, the only ones allowed to make stupid series predictions and single out batsmen as targets while the rest of us lived in the fear that they were probably right. The resulting aura meant that most opposition wilted at the very sight of their line-up.

They had the right to talk it up, and that right is gone. There is no aura left and they are being exposed brutally for what they are, eleven mere mortals. Lets take a moment to compare the old Australia to these ho-hums...

1) Matthew Hayden vs Phil Hughes - A batting butcher who would swing his meat cleaver and carve up any attack resembling weakness. Hughes is Chris Martin's bunny, enough said.
2) Justin Langer vs David Warner - The silent accumulator who never gave you an inch and played out his innings with nothing but patience. Warner is a Twenty 20 cricketer, and his daft handling of the tail help cost Australia the New Zealand match.
3) Ricky Ponting (young) vs Usman Khawaja - Would come in and happily smack around any loose bowling at a great strike rate. It was all so natural for Ponting, who has been replaced by a Chanderpaul like character. Khawaja has fight but will quickly disappear unless he starts producing.
4) Damien Martyn vs Ricky Ponting (geriatric) - Martyn was the definition of a touch player, a subtle batting technique built on precision timing and a hearty slice of Mark Waugh like cockiness. The current Ponting is built on reputation alone, and never ceases to look rusty.
5) Michael Clarke vs Captain Michael Clarke - A young buck who used to go out there and make batting look easy given he had the perfect batting order around him. He is currently their best batsman, but he is no captain. Australia badly need a skipper who gives slackers a smart kick up the rear.
6) Michael Hussey vs Michael Hussey - The law of averages is inevitable. Hussey was no Bradman but he was responsible for a lot of rescue acts. Too bad that he has smacked harsh realities given his real moment of need.
7) Adam Gilchrist vs Brad Haddin - Any advantage that a bowling team had got blown away by the man who redefined lower order counter attacks. As an able wicket-keeper he was essentially two players. Haddin's idiotic shot selection needs to stop being defended with the Sehwag inspired comment "that's how he plays". Sehwag makes runs, there is a difference.
8-11) Warne/Gillespie/Lee/McGrath vs ???- That bowling quartet ensured that there was constant pressure at every angle. You had the full works, pace, bounce, accuracy and quality spin. In the current crop, not a single player would have even made Australia A of the 00's. Peter Siddle shows that Australian spirit but nothing more, while Mitchell Johnson has invented himself as the bowling equivalent of Ashraful.

Australia clearly forgot about the next generation, and a team with enough depth to fill three squads suddenly can't even find eleven players worth mentioning. What happened?

1. The IPL, and hence the ugly love child the KFC Big Bash. Its a strange mix of dodgy shots and Rugby League commentary.
2. The overcooked swansong finishes. While the endless praise and tributes went on and on, did anyone stop to promote the next generation?
3. The never ending finishes. Ricky, you are done... stop embarrassing yourself.
4. The crazy axe. You got away with sending Bevan and Hodge on their way, but to drop Simon Katich was unforgivable.

Somebody fire my script writer.  © Getty Images

And so Australia now has a generation wide gap to fill, and the current source is the horrid T20 format. At this rate the Indians should arrive here and walk away laughing, especially if there is a fit Zaheer Khan available.

The recovery road for Australia cricket will not be easy. Heck it might even be West Indian.



Related Reading:
The South Africa Collapse
The Angry Ricky Ponting

World Cup 2011 - One Empire Falls, Others Stay Down

We said our goodbyes to the minnows, now it is time to watch the big names in cricket to depart from world cup 2011, to face their media at home and heal the scars over the next four years. The teams that left us however were no small fries, these were four of the biggest nations of the game.

West Indies
What can anyone say about these guys. They did a Bangladesh on us for a little while, flattering to deceive, convincing us that after throwing away winning positions against England and India, that they at least had the mettle for a fight.

Lies, all lies.

We have seen it for ten years. The fun, futile Gayle bash, the classic Chanderpaul grind, and the others blown away like the first two little pigs. Dumping players does not replace lack of mental strength, I see no answer. This once proud cricketing nation will continue fumbling about in its own ruins.

Australia
This is the end of the Aussies, the final nail in the coffin. Having already lost the prized ashes both home and away, they never looked like retaining crickets holy grail for a fourth time. Savour this moment:

© Associated Press

It is symbolic in many ways, the wounded Australian, fighting tooth and nail to only come up short. We hadn't seen this in the Australian empire that lasted nearly fifteen years, Australian sides almost never came up short. Ponting played his ugliest, most determined hundred of his career, the others around him simply lacked the skill to cope. One might even feel sympathetic, if they were not so brash and abrasive when on top.

Rather than the grinning, leaping Australians, we have crunched eyebrows and chin scratching amidst Salman Khan impersonations behind them. The powers have shifted from the arrogant empire to the Bollywood empire.

South Africa
I did warn South Africa, but even I was surprised at the clockwork. The key ingredients were a freak Amla dismissal (sheer dumb luck), some outstanding fielding and a de Villiers run out worthy of mention among the Klusener of 99. From that point on it was just a matter of bowling tight, holding catches, and watching South Africa machine disintegrate in its own madness.

 A pinch of salt for your wound? © Associated Press

Sledging is fun to watch, but I don't agree one bit about this war of words from New Zealand. For a team renowned for its sportmanship, often only that, this is just getting a bit silly. There is no need to slide back into the Adam Parore days, in which the Black Caps were essentially Australia in disguise, minus the wins. These two teams have a history of getting on each others nerves, probably starting out when Fleming really getting under the skin of a young Graeme Smith. Maybe that had something to do with it?

But that's hardly the point here. The point is that South Africa have never won a world cup playoff match. Ever. Since their return to cricket in the early 90's, there has been no such thing as a weak South African team. They are rightfully gobsmacked, as we all are, how can they simply fail to win, every single time? This is the empire which has done nothing but underachieved.


England
Will make like the English football team and bemoan their injury list as their token excuse for 2011, but there are no excuses. They never had the strength, mentally or skillfully, to win this world cup. The way Strauss in particular heaved and ho'd like the drunken master really illustrated where they are at right now.

Heading in this direction.

Losing by ten wickets, especially with a 200+ score, is inexcusable really. This is the nation that gave birth to this game, their ODI status has remained constant for many a year. They will always remain a collection of top county cricketers and overseas players rather than anything resembling a team.

World Cup 2011 - The Angry Punter

What on earth has happened to you Ricky Ponting!

A few years ago you were an unlikeable but admittedly top quality #3 who grinned away as your merry men cleaned up all the opponents and silverware. You marched on confident, cocksure, and usually cool headed barring the time you gave Duncan Fletcher an earful for abusing the substitute fielders rule (to be fair you had a point, and England still do it).

But how thats all changed. Losing pretty much your entire winning team exposed Michael Clarke, the 'future of Australian cricket' for what he really is, and it meant that you only had the irreplaceable Mike Hussey to help you out. The Ashes are gone, the Indians claim to be number one, the South Africans are no longer scared of you, it all went horribly wrong didn't it?

Come the 2011 World Cup, you returned from injury looking grizzled, beaten and demoralized. And above all, angry, with a real bee in your bonnet. Not that classic Steve Waugh kind which translates into runs, oh no, this is the frustrated, throwing-toys-out-of-your-pram anger. Your innings so far have been listless, often getting dismissed to poor shots, even when the match is in the bag. But lets see what really stood out:

The Mpofu Run-Out
Smashing up an LCD TV because you were run-out is probably not that new or surprising, given the Australian history of smashing stuff up in the name of 'venting'. Ian Chappell made me laugh hysterically when he asked people to get off your back, as if vandalizing public property is as right as rain. What truly amazed me was the fact that it was a brilliant throw that caused it. There was no mix up, no hesitation, you ran hard and went for a second, and you lost out.

What on earth are you venting for Mr. Ponting? Cursing a brilliant piece of cricket? Well gee, running with that  attitude would leave a fair few bashed up dressing rooms at the hands of your boys over the years wouldn't it now? For every McGrath edge? Every Warne LBW? Every one of your direct hits? Both you and Mr. Chappell need to grow up.

Stop playing QUALITY CRICKET! © dawn.com

The Steven Smith Spat
This was even more strange. It was a near collision with a team mate for a catch, happens a lot really. Usually players collide, dust themselves off and have a bit of a yarn about it. I've never seen somebody hurl the ball into the ground in blind fury and blast their own team mate! Again, justify the anger. You're angry because your fielder was hungry for the ball and looking for the catch? You're angry at a little extra commitment? He is a young man in your team, a fine role model you are.

How dare you attempt my catch. © adelaidenow.com.au

Keep throwing the fits Punter, give me a few free laughs before you and your boys head back home without a World Cup.

World Cup 2011 - Interpreting The Big Talk

And so less than a week away from the opening of the world cup, we have the inevitable bravado and tough talk coming from the various camps. Some of it is justified, some just laughable. Lets take a look at what some of the big boys of world cricket had to say, and how far up in the clouds they are.

Shahid Afridi
"Realistically, with the kind of team we have, we should really make the semi-final and of course we want to play the final and win it - everyone does - but we should make the semi."


Rarely is there a weak Pakistan team on paper. In every World Cup it is the case where they *should* get there, so that point is just media talk according to me.
Cloud Score: 6/10


Virender Sehwag
"This time I'll try to bat 50 overs if I can. I have been trying for 10 years, I'm still trying."

Sehwag is aiming to break the individual 250 barrier. Maybe against the Dutch.
Cloud Score: 8/10

I declare this world cup free of useless cameos. © AFP

AB De Villiers
"We are not focusing on what happened in the past. We have a different look now. In recent times we have been the opposite of chokers."


Oh dear. Look at http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2010/engine/match/463151.html. This was a pretty decent sized choke if you ask me. Don't say these things before a world cup. De Villiers could do with a bit of media training.

Cloud Score: 9/10

Daniel Vettori
"There is not much you can do about what's happened in the past but hopefully we can reflect back on the last game, which was a win against Pakistan, and bring that confidence over to the World Cup."

Poor Vettori, only he could scrape up a positive from a streak that reads 14 losses from 16. The man handles the media well, managing to massage the journalists sound optimistic in a team resembling fish in a barrel. 
Cloud Score: 6/10

Hey we won the toss didn't we? © Getty Imanges

Yuvraj Singh
 "It was a tough phase, I've gone through it, definitely my body is feeling better and I'm feeling 100% fit at the right time, which is the World Cup."


Fitness doesn't include being overweight and hopelessly out of form apparently.
Cloud Score: 8/10


Ricky Ponting
"Our lead-up couldn't really be much better, having just beaten a pretty good English side 6-1 at home"


Actually, this is a bad omen for the Aussies. They usually go into world cups with issues and a string of losses. (Last year it was a 3-0 loss to New Zealand). 
Cloud Score: 6/10


Chris Gayle
"The West Indies have a legacy of winning and I want to give my best to win matches for us" 
"I'm going to give it my all, give it my best shot. I am looking to try and dominate the World Cup"


That "winning legacy" ended in the 80's Chris. He may dominate the world cup, the real problem is getting his boys to follow suit.
Cloud Score: 7/10


Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive

'Confident of corruption-free World Cup'

In the land of the IPL? Seriously?

Cloud Score: 10/10