Advertising-free cricket and a run out that wasn't
Plays of the Day for the third Champions League Twenty20 game, Chennai v Central Districts
Sriram Veera in Durban
11-Sep-2010
Suresh Raina should get used to being bounced • AFP
Stop showing cricket! Where are the adverts?
The local Supersport channel doesn't have many adverts at all. It feels surreal, coming from India. They don't jump to an advert as soon as the wicket falls. Hell, they show an action replay too. Who would have thunk it?! It's so surreal that I ended up watching Matthew Hayden walk all the way back to the pavilion on TV instead of watching him in flesh and blood at the ground.
The local Supersport channel doesn't have many adverts at all. It feels surreal, coming from India. They don't jump to an advert as soon as the wicket falls. Hell, they show an action replay too. Who would have thunk it?! It's so surreal that I ended up watching Matthew Hayden walk all the way back to the pavilion on TV instead of watching him in flesh and blood at the ground.
Raining bouncers again
You were startled when Suresh Raina got a gentle full-pitched delivery on the legs first ball. You quickly dropped your eyebrows when the next two deliveries got progressively shorter. And you weren't surprised when the next delivery was a snorter which Raina gloved to slips. Durban, Chennai or Brisbane, wherever he goes, they are going to bounce at Raina. And why wouldn't they?
You were startled when Suresh Raina got a gentle full-pitched delivery on the legs first ball. You quickly dropped your eyebrows when the next two deliveries got progressively shorter. And you weren't surprised when the next delivery was a snorter which Raina gloved to slips. Durban, Chennai or Brisbane, wherever he goes, they are going to bounce at Raina. And why wouldn't they?
Run out but not out
Doug Bracewell hit one straight to long-on and walked off. It was a no-ball though. Muttiah Muralitharan removed the bails to run him out but the umpires called him back. If the Australian batsman Dean Jones was watching he would have jumped out of his seat. In 1990-91, in Georgetown, Jones was bowled off a no-ball from Courtney Walsh and walked off, not having heard the call. Jones was about to return to the crease, having realised what had just happened, when a fielder threw down the stumps and he was given out by umpire Clyde Cumberbatch. He shouldn't have been given out then. And he definitely wouldn't be given out now. The 2000 code changed the Law 27.7 which now clearly instructs either of the umpires to call it a dead ball as soon as a batsman who is not out is seen to leave his wicket under the misapprehension that he is out when he is not.
Doug Bracewell hit one straight to long-on and walked off. It was a no-ball though. Muttiah Muralitharan removed the bails to run him out but the umpires called him back. If the Australian batsman Dean Jones was watching he would have jumped out of his seat. In 1990-91, in Georgetown, Jones was bowled off a no-ball from Courtney Walsh and walked off, not having heard the call. Jones was about to return to the crease, having realised what had just happened, when a fielder threw down the stumps and he was given out by umpire Clyde Cumberbatch. He shouldn't have been given out then. And he definitely wouldn't be given out now. The 2000 code changed the Law 27.7 which now clearly instructs either of the umpires to call it a dead ball as soon as a batsman who is not out is seen to leave his wicket under the misapprehension that he is out when he is not.
Matthew Hayden
It didn't look like his night after he got out for a first-ball duck. It wasn't all that bad in the end, though. He took a sharp reflex catch when Mathew Sinclair reverse swept Murali - he actually connected pretty decently - but Hadyen intercepted it smartly at first slip. He later dived to his left also at first slip to take the last wicket to fall for the night. He had begun the day with two hours of surfing in the sea at the North Beach. Despite his batting failure, it hasn't been a bad day in Durban for Hayden. Surf for two hours. Bat for few seconds. Field for less than two hours. Day over.
It didn't look like his night after he got out for a first-ball duck. It wasn't all that bad in the end, though. He took a sharp reflex catch when Mathew Sinclair reverse swept Murali - he actually connected pretty decently - but Hadyen intercepted it smartly at first slip. He later dived to his left also at first slip to take the last wicket to fall for the night. He had begun the day with two hours of surfing in the sea at the North Beach. Despite his batting failure, it hasn't been a bad day in Durban for Hayden. Surf for two hours. Bat for few seconds. Field for less than two hours. Day over.
Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo