The good, the bad and the ugly

The good…

The third Ashes test seems a distant memory and it feels like a fresh start to the series. It almost is! The two sides have had a welcome break. Shaun Tait provided a spark in the bowling missing in any Aussie bowler whose name is not Mcgrath, Warne or Lee, and England have had time to give the over-worked Flintoff and Harmison a breather. Trent Bridge promises a fast pitch and with four bowlers on view on either side who can top the 90mph mark, the toss and the first day might prove to be crucial. But then again, a fast pitch and if England bats first, they won’t be backing away from another Edgbaston-like assault on the first day. The Aussies might be prone to be a little more circumspect given their worrying batting form throughout this series. In six innings, only once have the Aussies been able to hold on; the last innings at Old Trafford, and they only barely held on. Hayden, Gilchrist, Martyn and Clarke have some catching up to do. England on the other hand need to shake off the Old Trafford disappointment and come back firing because the murmurings have begun again…the Aussies are below-par and England are playing their best cricket…and the series is still 1-1.

The bad…

India is in Zimbabwe on a series where they have nothing to gain and plenty to lose. Well, nothing to gain might be an exaggeration, but the whole controversy surrounding the captaincy issue, the unsettled look to the team, Tendulkar’s inclusion when he is less than confident about his elbow, some strange omissions from the side and a botched up itinerary, all paint yet another woeful picture of the working of the BCCI. New Zealand has been in Zimbabwe pretty much on a holiday. While their test credentials are suspect, they remain a strong one-day unit and with Shane Bond back at his fiery best, the Indians and Ganguly in particular have a lot to worry about. Ganguly looked totally out of sorts against the 140kph deliveries of Darren Powell and Jermaine Lawson in the Indian Oil tri-series. Shane Bond is in a totally different league to these bowlers in terms of speed and accuracy. This is a no-win situation for Ganguly. He needs to win the series and have a good performance with the bat to hold on to his captaincy and a place in the 11. A bad series with the bat and say a shock defeat to Zimbabwe in one of the ODIs and he might be handed the pink slip. This Indian line-up is still too suspect and the return of Ajit Agarkar suggests that the bench strength is worryingly bare.

The ugly…

Zimbabwe. They have stooped to whole new level of hapless and desperate. The return of Streak, Blignaut and Carlisle doesn’t seem to have helped much as NZ slaughtered them in the first match of the tri-series. You can’t help but feel sorry for Tatenda Taibu. He has been the one bright light in his side for a while and shows genuine potential to be a world class wicket-keeper batsman. He is captain of his team at an age when cricketers are still fine-tuning their game and have strong senior players to guide them. And much as we admire Heath Streak and Taibu, it is hard to ignore the fact that cricket in Zimbabwe is dying a slow and painful death. Bangladesh still has strong public and financial backing to sustain the game and they have unearthed a few genuinely talented cricketers. Zimbabwe on the other hand has the last of the players who are still involved for the love of the game and pride in representing their country. A pride which is slowly being eroded with every heavy defeat…

Ashes 4th Test Coverage
Videocon tri-series coverage