Ashes

A sports memorabilia article

THE BLOODY ASHES

Bodyline series

The season of 1932-33 saw one of the most significant events in cricketing history, an event which would strain the Anglo Australian relationship to the very limit.

It all began with a conversation in the Piccadilly hotel London between England Captain Douglas Jardine (Notts), a player who was obsessive in his will to win, Captain Arthur Carr, (Notts), and two skilful fast bowlers Harold Larwood, (Notts)  and  Bill Voce, (Notts).

Top of the agenda that day was the subject of fast leg theory, a highly controversial bowling technique which involved bowling a short fast pitched ball on the leg stump with a circle of usually at least five fielders set close in on the leg side. The reasoning behind this was that the batsman could usually only play the ball to the leg side often causing leg side deflections off the upper edge of the bat, ready to be caught by the quadrant of fielders behind square leg.

The reason behind the meeting was the style in which Australia had toured England in 1930, Don Bradman’s batting had run riot with the English attack, and an average of 140 runs saw Australia win the test series 2-1. Sports memorabilia from this test series is very collectable

Studies from cine film and player opinion had been made of Bradman’s batting and it was noted that he seemed to be uncomfortable addressing deliveries which pitched short,  bounced high and rose towards him in line with leg stump, a style of bowling seen by many to be both intimidating and physically threatening.

In an attempt to curb Bradman’s skilful batting prowess Jardine decided to utilise this form of bowling attack in the forthcoming encounter, later to become known as  Bodyline series.

The fast leg-theory attack had been tried at Trent Bridge – and also at Kennington Oval the previous August. Not everybody who saw it admired it however Jardine decided it was the very thing to solve the Bradman dilemma

The following two seasons of county cricket saw Larwood and Voce practicing their talents both in the nets and on the pitch much to the discomfort and occasionally fitness of the opposing batsman.

England’s pace bowlers were ready now for the hard fast Australian bowling surfaces.

With the1932/33 Australian test series underway it was not until the third test of the series at Adelaide that the wicket was considered ideal for this form of delivery and the tactics were successfully used by the England team.

Widespread condemnation quickly followed as a number of Australian batsman  left the crease  either injured or having made disappointing scores, it was after a particularly unsavoury incident in which Bert Oldfield was rendered unconscious by a  head strike resulting in a fractured skull, that the crowd became angry and a near riot broke out.

I currently have an autograph of  Bert Oldfielf which is part of my sports memorabilia collection.

Bradman for his part dealt with the bowling attack in the unorthodox manner of moving around the crease towards the leg side, away from the  line of the ball, cutting the delivery into the relatively unoccupied  offside mid field.

Bradman averaged 56.57 in the series, an average which although below par for him was still an enviable performance.

The final outcome was a 4-1 England win; the scorecard shows Larwood’s bowling averages 19.51 per wicket having taken 33 wickets.

At the series end relationships between the teams were at an all-time low. The Australian Board of Control were soon to contact the MCC proclaiming their indignation and suggesting relationships between the two countries were in jeopardy as a result of this form of gamesmanship.

The MCC passed a resolution in 1935 that ‘any form of bowling which is obviously a direct attack by the bowler upon the batsman would be an offence against the spirit of the game’.

It was a quarter of a century later that measures were taken restricting the number of players allowed to be placed behind square leg to two, this effectively put an end to a potential revival of bodyline tactics.

As time went by relations between the two countries were restored and now the Ashes series is much looked forward to and enjoyed all over the world.

On his retirement from cricket Harold Larwood emigrated to Australia where he lived in Sydney until his death at the age of 90.

Cricket Memorabilia from the controversial bodyline series is highly sought after and signed scorecards, handwritten letters, advertising material, photographs etc. are always in demand.

Tony Selby

cricketcollectables.net

Sports memorabilia

India the Next World Champion of Cricket

Mumbai: Final of World Cup 2011 starts dramatically with twice a time toss , on both tossing Sri-Lanka won. Jayawardane who never scored solid in whole world cup as in the finals and ends up Sri-Lankan innings with more than  100 not out . Sri Lanka gives target of 275 in 50 overs to India.

India loosing first wicket on the 2nd ball of their innings and soon after they lost wicket of Sachin Tendulker . Virat and Gautham gives a solid recovery to India and Dhoni ends with the six . Glory comes to India .

Without any doubt India was not capable to win the World Cup of 2011 , but they won due to amazing captaincy of MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni declared to be the man of the match. Yuvraj Singh declared man of the series and ICC President passed Trophy to Indian captain.

Cricket World Cup Final 2011

World Cup 2007 begins and in the very first round India drops from the World Cup . ICC bears the loss of advertisement and assures this that India will be given more favors in future World Cups . Today 2nd April 2011 India is in finals of World Cup 2011 and ICC so called International Cricket Council is more like Indian Cricket Council.

Money Talks!

Yes, this is the bitter truth which we have to realize more money is coming from India to ICC and ICC don’t want to disappoint Indians for this . Regardless of caring the sentiments of other nations fighting hard for playing entertaining cricket.

In a TV show on ARY News , when Basit Ali (Former Test Player Pakistan) was asked who will win this Final encounter he said “IPL”. He also hinted this is a signal for wise that IPL will take this cup. Sri Lankans might be given huge amounts so they could also come to IPL after this world cup. , otherwise stage is banned for Sri Lankans.

This is the history of sports since 50 years , many of the closed notches had been settled in wealth and need. As , Brazil comes to settle in 1998 Football World Cup for France  might this could be another France.

Hope for the fair game.

However , Aussies are always to be a great team to comeback. And , this come back will might effect India in quarter finals.

“The adrenaline will certainly be flowing and playing in front of their home crowd in Ahmedabad will be exciting and a challenge for us,” Nielsen Australian Coach said. “We’ve got no fear now; we know we’re in the knockout stage.

“It’s exciting … a mini-grand final in itself. If you came here and thought, ‘What would be the best result? It would be great to make the final against India’. Well, we’ve got our final against India in the next few days. I’m sure if we’re on our game, they won’t necessarily be looking forward to playing against us. That’s something in our favour.”

Shoaib Akhtar will retire from the international game at the end of Pakistan’s World Cup, bringing to an end one of cricket’s most compelling and mercurial careers. He told his Pakistan team-mates of the decision at the Premadasa Stadium on Thursday morning, during an emotional gathering in which he delivered a farewell speech and was embraced by fellow players and support staff.

Shoaib made his first international appearance in December 1997, against West Indies. He shot to fame in 1999, when he bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in 1999 in the Asian Test Championship game against India, and continued that form into the World Cup where he was one of Pakistan’s most effective bowlers.

But since then, issues pertaining to his action, discipline and injuries severely curtailed his career. In a little more than 13 years in international cricket, Shoaib managed just 46 Tests, but performed impressively, picking up 178 wickets at 25.69. He was a more regular feature in ODIs as Pakistan’s spearhead, and picked up 247 wickets at 24.97.

-Jago News-

Salman Butt in London

INDIA Level Series

An inspired India made amends for the drubbing at Centurion with a sensational 87-run victory against South Africa in the low-scoring second cricket Test to level the three-match series 1-1 here on Wednesday. After setting a target of 303, the Indian bowlers put up a disciplined show to dismiss the hosts for 215 in 72.3 overs about an hour after the lunch break to record only their second Test triumph on South African soil.

It turned out to be an extraordinary Test with fortune fluctuating from one team to the other but the Indians eventually tilted the balance in their favour on a bouncy Kingsmead track which saw 40 wickets fall in three and half days.

The Indians, who had lost the first Test at Centurion by an innings and 25 runs, showed great character and resilience to demolish the Proteas in their own den and in conditions tailor-made to suit the home team.

The Indians players jumped in joy and hugged each other after last man Lonwabo Tsotsobe was run out to bring about the moment of glory while coach Gary Kirsten and the other support staff stood up at the dressing room to applaud the players.

S Sreesanth (3/45), Zaheer Khan (3/53) and Harbhajan Singh (2/70) were the pick of the bowlers for India while Ashwell Prince was the top scorer for the South Africans with an unbeaten 39.

It was India’s second Test triumph in South Africa. The 123-run victory in the first Test at Johannesburg in 2006 was their first Test victory on South African soil.

The two teams will now travel to Cape Town for the third and final Test starting on Sunday.

Both teams had an equal chance of winning the match when play began this morning with South Africa needing 192 runs and India needing to scalp the seven remaining wickets.

With plenty of time at hand, South African batsmen adopted a cautious approach in the morning and were content in playing the waiting game against some disciplined Indian bowling.

Resuming their chase at the overnight score of 111 for three, both de Villiers and Jacques Kallis found the going tough against the Indian attack and scored in ones and twos before a ripper from Sreesanth broke the dangerous-looking 41-run fourth-wicket stand.

Zulqarnain Missing - Threatened to Lose Final Match

Dubai: Pakistani wicket keeper Zulqarnain Haider went missing on Monday 8th November , 2010 since 6am.

Today is the final counter of Pakistan and South Africa at 4:30 Pakistan Standard Time. According to reports, Haider was threatened to lose the match. He left a message on Facebook Profile saying “leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game“.

Haider brother told that he has not talked to him since last night. Director of Media Pakistan Nadeem Sarwar confirmed that Haider is missing. Whereas, Intikhab Alam said he cannot comment and confirmed anything yet on this situation.

Now who will Keep the Wicket?

Umar Akmal has started preparations to replace Haider for the final match.

Please state your opinions!

• PCB is responsible?
• Zulqarnain Haider is responsible?
• Whole Pakistan Team is responsible except Haider ?
• Or Dubai Management?

Pakistan missed to Win the 3rd ODI

Dubai: Pakistan lose the third one day International by 2 runs. South Africa gave target of 229 runs while batting first. Pakistan starts with good momentum but suddenly they drops themselves from one day gear to Test Match gear. And , cashing that moment South Africa becomes the beneficiary.

Pakistan Major team unable to stand against South African fast bowlers. Except Imran farhat and Fawad Alam 59 not out. Unfortunately, Fawad Alam unable to peace up the innings and missed many good chances to hit fours and sixes.

Lets see what would be the strategy of Pakistan team in coming 4th ODI.