A blog-site about anything and everything to do with cricket, contains a variety of content relating to cricket and is updated on a regular basis. All visitors are welcome to browse, leave comments and spread the word about my blog. If you have any requests you want me to make within my blog-site please leave a comment detailing your request and I will attend to it as soon as possible :)
It is with great pleasure that I announce the 1st anniversary since the creation of this site. It originally started as just one page to attract people that also liked cricket but turned into a whole site with content that regularly updates and has become a big interest of mine. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time on this site collating all the information and at the same time learning about the various cricketing countries and players I have put on the site.
This year I plan to revamp this site and create it on my own platform and hosting base as I am studying web and advertising design. I will be able to make the site easier to navigate around and with the vast array of resources and software avaliable at my disposal it will be bigger and better for all of you visitors out there.
So keep your eye out on more up and coming content and future updates :).
In the meantime here are some links to some of my most popular articles:
The Twenty20 Champions League is an international Twenty20 cricket competition between clubs from Australia, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa. The Twenty20 Champions League is chaired by Lalit Modi, who is the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League and Vice-President of the BCCI. The competition was launched in 2008 as a response to the success of national Twenty20 domestic cricket leagues, most notably the Indian Premier League. The first edition was set to take place from late September to early October 2008 in India, after the tournament organisers resolved various teething problems that had put the inaugural tournament under some doubt, but it was later announced that the tournament would be held from December 3 to December 10, 2008. The tournament was postponed again following terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 and later cancelled, with the first tournament now scheduled for October 2009. Background: An international tournament for domestic cricket teams is believed to have been first mooted by Lalit Modi, vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 1996, Lalit Modi is also the chairman and commissioner on the IPL. The launch and subsequent success of Twenty20 cricket some years later was the influence behind a serious effort to get such a tournament off the ground. Twenty20 cricket was launched by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. Its launch was a result of a long-term decline in the popularity of county championship and domestic limited-overs cricket. By reducing the number of overs per innings to twenty and by placing a three hour limit on matches, the format was designed to attract a younger crowd and to boost attendances. Twenty20 proved a success, with an international version launched in 2005 and a World Twenty20 Competition held in September 2007. This proved much more popular than the 50 over Cricket World Cup had been just five months previously. The following year, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was launched, proving that there could be a market for a big-spending domestic Twenty20 cricket league. The success of Twenty20 and the IPL lead many commentators to suggest that other forms of cricket would suffer, with some worrying about the effect of the popular fast-paced 'slogging' game on players' abilities in Test cricket.
Immediately after the end of the first series of the IPL, the cricket authorities in England, India, Australia and South Africa entered into discussions to create a new international club competition, to capitalize on the this success. The new tournament's £2.5m winning prize was described as "unprecedented" in cricket. A number of different formats for the tournament were considered, with original proposals containing a much lower prize fund. The T20 Champions League's creation was announced on 7 June 2008, along with the announcement of planned restructuring of some of the domestic cricket tournaments involved, including the introduction of franchising in South Africa, England and Australia. Pakistan's participation was always mooted, but not confirmed when the tournament was first launched. Following a series of discussions and the announcement of the creation of a Pakistan Super League from 2009, it was confirmed that two Pakistani teams would compete. Qualifying: Although the 2008 tournament was originally rumoured to only include teams from Australia, South Africa, India and England, it was announced on 4 July 2008, that two teams from Pakistan's domestic tournament were also invited. At the same, time England's participation was also put into doubt, following differences between the ECB & BCCI over the inclusion of rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) players. Eventually, it was arranged so that the 2008 Twenty20 Champions League would have consisted of 8 teams from 5 countries. The qualifiers are:
The winners and runners-up of the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash in Australia (Victoria Bushrangers and Western Warriors).
The winners and runners-up of the Standard Bank Pro 20 Series in South Africa and Zimbabwe (Pretoria Titans and Natal Dolphins)
The winners of the Twenty20 Cup in England and Wales (Middlesex Crusaders). (Note: Runners-up Kent were not invited to participate in the inaugural tournament because it contained two players who have taken part in the rebel Indian Cricket League, a competition that is not recognized by the BCCI).
The winners and runners-up of the Indian Premier League in India (Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings).
The winners of the RBS Twenty-20 Cup from Pakistan, (Sialkot Stallions in 2007-08).
This format is expected to change to include 12 teams for the 2009 edition.
The Tournament: The 2008 Twenty20 Champions League was to have been played over an eight day period, consisting of two divisions competing in a round-robin format. This was to have been followed by an elimination round of four teams, the top two of each division, and then the final. If team numbers change for 2009, the format is likely to alter.
Links to more information on the Twenty20 Champions League:
The Slovenian cricket team is the team that represents the country of Slovenia in international cricket matches. The national organising body in Slovenia, the Slovenian Cricket Association, became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2005.
Early days: It is thought that cricket was introduced to Slovenia in 1974, after Borut Čegovnik, then a 13-year-old boy from the mountain town of Mežica, was introduced to the sport on an extended visit to his penpal in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent. He received extensive coaching from his host's father, and went back to his home with a selection of cricket equipment having decided that cricket was just the thing for his town. Seventeen, mainly single-wicket, tournaments were held between 1974 and 1982, with 24 local boys playing. The game was played in the village until 1982, when several of the ringleaders moved to the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
Modern era: Cricket resurfaced in Slovenia in 1997 when the Ljubljana Cricket Club was formed. The first game was played between a Slovenian President's XI and a visiting club from The Hague. That game was attended by the then Slovenian president Milan Kučan. Friendly games against sides from various countries and the British Embassy continued, and Ljubljana Cricket Club began to compete in Austrian club cricket.
In 2000, the Slovenian national cricket team made its debut in the European Representative Championships. They finished fourth in the tournament, and came second in 2002. They hosted the tournament in 2004, again finishing in fourth place. This tournament was replaced in 2006 by the Division Four of the European Championship, where Slovenia finished in fourth place out of the four teams. They will retain their Division Four place in 2009. Leading figures:
Robert Crawford (born February 26, 1960) is an English-born Slovenian cricketer. He has represented Slovenia since 2002.
He has played for Slovenia in the ECC Representative Festival of 2002 and the ECC Representative Championship of 2004. Most recently he has appeared with his team in Division Four of the 2006 European Championship. He is an opening batsman and slow bowler.
Borut Čegovnik played for Slovenia in the ECC Representative Championship of 2004 and is the President of the Slovenian Cricket Association.
Brad Eve (born November 11, 1967) is an Australian-born Slovenian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium-bowler who has played for Slovenia since 2000.
He first played for Slovenia at the ECC Representative Festival of 2000, where in four matches he had an average of less than one run per innings. Two years later he played in the same competition, and, in 2004, he played at the ECC Representative Championship.
Most recently he has played in Division Four of the 2006 European Championship for his adopted country.
Tom Furness (born November 8, 1978) is an English-born Slovenian cricketer. He has represented Slovenia since 2004.
He has played in the ECC Representative Championship of 2004, and most recently appeared with his team in Division Four of the 2006 European Championship. Furness has appeared as an opening batsman since his introduction into Slovenian cricket, and now shares this position with Robert Crawford.
Egon Jakofčič (born October 31, 1967) is a Slovenian cricketer. He has played for Slovenia since 2004.
He first represented the Slovenian team during 2004, when he made five appearances in the ECC Representative Championship, as a lower-order/tailend batsman, and, two years later, appeared in the Belgium-based European Championship, for which Slovenia were placed in Division Four. He is also a right-arm medium bowler.
Robert Jakofčič (born May 19, 1970) is an Australian-born Slovenian cricketer. He has played for Slovenia since 2006.
He appeared as a lower-order batsman in two matches during the 2006 European Championships.
Mark Oman (born September 5, 1966) is an Australian-born Slovenian cricketer. He has captained Slovenia since 2000. He is an opening batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler.
He first represented Slovenia at the 2000 ECC Representative Festival, contributing in his first match to a second-wicket partnership of 72 before a Slovenian batting collapse. He later represented Slovenia at the 2002 Representative Festival and the 2004 Representative Championship, and has most recently played for his adopted country in Division Four of the European Championship.
He has made significant contributions to the development of cricket in Slovenia. Links to more information on Slovenia Cricket:
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricketer. He was born in Kingaroy, Queensland to Laurence and Moya Hayden. He was educated at Marist College in Ashgrove and he is an Australian and Queensland representative cricketer.
Hayden (nicknames: Haydos, Unit) is a powerful and aggressive left hand opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels. He is particularly proficient when hitting down the ground. Hayden currently holds the record for the highest scores made by an Australian batsman in both the Test (380) and One Day International (181 not out) arenas. He formed one of the most prolific opening partnerships in world Test cricket for Australia with Justin Langer, and in ODI cricket with Adam Gilchrist. He is currently partnered with Simon Katich as an opener in the Australian Test team. Test career: Hayden debuted for the Australian team in the 1994 March 4-8 Test Match against South Africa in Johannesburg, scoring 15 and 5. His next Test selection was in the 1996/7 season, with three each against the West Indies and South Africa. He made his debut century (125 against WI in Adelaide) aided by multiple dropped catches by the West Indies side. His average of 21.7 was not enough to keep his position in the Australian side, and in particular openers Mark Taylor and Matthew Elliott. He was dropped from the team, and it appeared his international career was over, compared occasionally to that of Graeme Hick, a fine domestic performer with not quite enough to make it at the highest level.
During these years Hayden was a prolific batsman for the Queensland first-class cricket team. Weight of domestic cricket runs and persistence resulted in a resurrection of his international career for the 1999-00 tour of New Zealand. In the subsequent 2000-01 tour of India he averaged a Bradmanesque 109.80 with 549 runs, an Australian record for a three-Test series. Since then, he has been an automatic selection for the Test side. In the 2007-08 series against India, Hayden scored three centuries, raising his tally of centuries against India to five. He currently has thirty test centuries to his name, the first left-handed opening batsman to achieve this feat.
In 2001, Hayden scored a then-Australian record of 1,391 runs in Test matches in one calendar year, and subsequently won the Allan Border Medal as the best Australian player of the year. He picked up where he left off the following season with a seven-hour 119 against Pakistan in the Sharjah heat, which approached 50 degrees celsius.
He scored over 1,000 Test runs in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005, the first man to achieve the feat five times. He was selected as one of Wisden's five 2003 Cricketers of the Year and briefly held the world record for the highest Test score, 380, which he reached at the WACA against Zimbabwe on 10 October 2003, having batted only five sessions. As of July 2008, Hayden had the third highest conversion-rate in history, with a Test century every 3.13 Tests played, behind only Don Bradman at 1.79, and Clyde Walcott at 2.93.
Despite these achievements, Hayden has received criticism from some quarters for being a "flat-track bully". Critics have contrasted his ability to score big runs on ideal batting pitches against weak attacks, with how he was troubled during the 2005 Ashes by the less batsman-friendly English conditions. Against a high-quality swing and pace attack, the "fantastic foursome" of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones, he averaged a meagre 35.33 across the five-match series. With his Test spot under pressure going into the Fifth Test at the Oval, Hayden rescued his career with a hard-fought 138 from 303 balls. His 21st Test century signalled a return to form for Hayden for the the Australian season of 2007/08, scoring three centuries in three consecutive Tests against the ICC World XI and West Indies. Hayden scored one century during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, and another in the away series in South Africa played in March 2006.
Hayden played in the highly-anticipated 2006-07 Ashes series, against England. He failed to reach 40 in the first three innings of the series, but again returned to form with scores of 92 in Perth, and 153 in the Boxing Day Test. The century at Melbourne continued Hayden's rich vein of form at the MCG, being his fifth in eight Tests there.
Hayden's defenders point out that he was not alone in finding England tough-going in 2005, as even Australia's captain and talisman Ricky Ponting averaged under forty, while other big names such as Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn failed to impress with averages near twenty.
Hayden has also been a regular and successful slip fielder for Australia, and has taken the thirteenth-most catches by a non-wicketkeeper in Test history. He also shares the record for the most catches by a non-wicketkeeper in a single Test Match, with seven against Sri Lanka in 2004. His most notable fielding partnership was with Shane Warne, with the "caught Hayden, bowled Warne" dismissal being the equal third most common partnership for a non-wicketkeeper and bowler: their 39 wickets are behind only "caught Taylor, bowled Warne" and "caught Dravid, bowled Kumble".
Hayden's most notable opening batting partner was Justin Langer. The opening pair represented Australia in more than 100 Test innings. The pair made 5654 runs while batting together in partnerships, with an average of 51 runs per partnership; only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes of the West Indies have scored more Test runs as a partnership, with 6482.
ODI: Hayden also played in the Australian side that won the 2003 One Day International Cricket World Cup. He was dropped from the ODI squad because of poor form after The Ashes in 2005, though he could not be kept away from the ODI squad for long. He returned to the Australian squad in the 2006-07 Australian season after Simon Katich fell out of favour and Shane Watson was injured. He dominated the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies as the tournament's best batsman in 2007, scoring three centuries before the completion of the Super 8s section of the tournament.
On 20 February 2007, Matthew Hayden posted his highest ODI score (181 not out) against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Australia posted 346 for 5 wickets and New Zealand replied with 350 for 9 wickets and won the Chappel-Hadlee series 3-0.
Hayden hit another milestone against the Kiwis when he become only the third person (the others being Mark Waugh and Sourav Ganguly) to hit 3 centuries (101 vs RSA, 158 vs WI, 103 vs NZ) in a single World Cup tournament on 20 April 2007. The century against South Africa came off just 66 balls and is the fastest World Cup ton ever beating the previous record set by John Davison. The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis awarded Hayden with honorary citizenship after the match.
Hayden also became only the second player in World Cup history to surpass 600 runs in a single tournament. He needed to score a further 52 runs to equal the record that was set by Sachin Tendulkar in the previous World Cup but fell short by 14 runs. He ended the tournament with 659 runs at an average of 73.22.
In September 2007, Hayden was named ODI Player of the Year after his dominating performance throughout the World Cup. An extraordinary performance considering his place in the Australian side was in jeopardy during the Australian VB Series against England and New Zealand. He officially holds the record for being the top runs scorer in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, scoring 265 runs in the whole tournament.
Matthew Hayden played for the Chennai outfit Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) in April 2008. After a poor run of form in the Test arena during 2008, Hayden was dropped from the ODI and Twenty20 squad in January 2009. It still remains unclear as to whether his test career is continuing after so many recent failed test match innings.
England County: Hayden has played in the English County Championship, first with Hampshire in 1997 and prominently as captain of Northamptonshire in 1999-2000.
Controversies: He was a party to the controversy that emerged from the Second Test, 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy racism charges pressed by Australia against India, and was one of the witnesses for Andrew Symonds` charges against Harbhajan Singh.
As a fallout of that instance in February 2008, Hayden was charged for a code of conduct violation by Cricket Australia, for calling the Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh an obnoxious little weed, and for inviting Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma for a fight, during an interview aired on Brisbane radio station; he was also heard to mimic Sharma`s Indian accent in this exchange.
He was reprimanded for his comment by Cricket Australia, but maintained his innocence.
He was strongly criticized by the BCCI and former Pakistan team captain Wasim Akram for reportedly calling India a third world country. Back home after a 2–0 series defeat by India, Hayden spoke about, what he perceived, poor ground conditions and inordinate delays during the matches "that happen in Third World countries".
Personal life:
In 2000, Hayden's boat capsized whilst sailing near North Stradbroke Island; he and his two companions (one of whom was Queensland and Australian teammate Andrew Symonds) were forced to swim a kilometre to safety.
In his spare time, Hayden is a keen cook and occasionally prepares meals for his team-mates while on tour. A collection of his recipes was published in Australia in 2004 as The Matthew Hayden Cookbook. A second book, The Matthew Hayden Cookbook 2, was published in 2006.
Hayden uses a Gray-Nicolls bat with a fluorescent pink grip, to highlight and support research into a cure for breast cancer. This is at least in part inspired by his team-mate Glenn McGrath's wife struggle with this illness.
He is married to Kellie Hayden (née Culey), and they have a daughter named Grace (born June 2002), and two sons named Joshua (born 15 April 2005) and Thomas Joseph (born May 2007).
Hayden is a devout Roman Catholic and says "When I’m in trouble, I ask: ‘What would Christ do?'"
He is patron of Parent Project Australia, a charity fighting for a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Matthew Hayden is an Ambassador for World Youth Day 2008. Links to more information on Matthew Hayden:
Sledging is a term used in cricket to describe the practice whereby some players seek to gain an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating their opponents. The purpose is to try to weaken the opponent's concentration, thereby causing him to make mistakes or underperform. It can be effective because the batsman stands within hearing range of the bowler and certain fielders; and vice-versa.
There is debate in the cricketing world as to whether this constitutes poor sportsmanship or good-humoured banter. Sledging is often mistaken for abuse, and whilst comments aimed as sledges do sometimes cross the line into personal abuse, this is not usually the case. Sledging is usually simply an often humourous, sometimes insulting attempt at distraction. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh referred to the practice as 'mental disintegration'.
Origin: According to Ian Chappell, the use of "sledging" as a term originated at Adelaide Oval in either the 1963-1964 or 1964-1965 Sheffield Shield competition. Chappell claims that a cricketer who swore in the presence of a woman was said to have reacted to an incident "like a sledgehammer". As a result, the direction of insults or obscenities at opponents became known as "sledging". Despite the relatively recent coining of the term, the practice is as old as cricket itself, with historical accounts of witty banter between players being quite common.
WG Grace: Former English batsman William Gilbert Grace who was one of England's best batsmen of the 19th century, was notorious for his humourous quips. On one occasion having been clean bowled, he stated: "Twas the wind which took thy bail orf [sic], good sir." The umpire replied: "Indeed, doctor, and let us hope thy wind helps the good doctor on thy journey back to the pavilion."
On another occasion he was out leg before wicket but refused to leave, claiming: "They came to watch me bat, not you bowl". However perhaps the best instance of sledging involving Grace was by bowler Charles Kortright. Repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to dismiss Grace by the umpire who refused to give him out, Kotright finally knocked two of Grace's stumps out of the ground. As Grace reluctantly began to return to the pavillion, Kotright farewelled him with: "Surely you're not going, doctor? There's still one stump standing. Viv Richards: The great West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However in an English county game, one bowler attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at four balls in a row. He told Richards: "the ball is round and red and weighs about six ounces, why don't you try and hit it?" The next delivery was hammered by Richards straight to the fence for four. He quickly replied: "You know what it looks like, now go and f---ing find it."
Merv Hughes: Sledging is common at most levels of the game in Australia, but one Australian with a particular reputation for sledging was former fast bowler Merv Hughes. His intimidating and aggressive bowling style was often accompanied by a mixture of humourous witticisms, and vitriolic abuse. On occasions he crossed the line from sledging to insulting. However there are numerous occasions of classic sledges delivered by Hughes.
On one such occasion, Hughes was bowling to Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad, who informed the overweight bowler he looked like "a fat bus conductor". The very next ball, Hughes bowled Miandad, screaming "tickets please!" as he ran to celebrate with team mates.
Harbhajan – Symonds incident: Sledging came into the media spotlight during the 2007-08 Indian tour of Australia when Harbhajan Singh was accused of alleged racial abuse towards Andrew Symonds. The allegation was not proved and a proposed three-match ban on Harbhajan was lifted. He was instead charged with a Level 2.8 offence (abuse and insult not amounting to racism) to which he pleaded guilty and was fined 50 per cent of his match fees, although the Appeals Commissioner later noted that had he been aware of Harbajan's prior record, a one-Test ban would have been issued. Symonds admitted that it was he who started the abuse between the two players by using offensive language.
To find out more information about sledging feel free to explore these links below:
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Its obvious that from this site that cricket is right up there for one of the passions in my life :) I got hooked it on it when I was knee-high to a grasshopper when in the early 1990's I watched my first test with my dad (New Zealand vs Pakistan), and I can remember at the time I was paying attention that Salim Malik was batting, and since that match I was instantly hooked :) The thrill of getting boundaries or getting wickets sends a huge sense of delight through me and the odd backyard game of cricket with some beers and something to eat on a brilliant summers day is really the life:) Not to mention the gorgous girls watching us play! Have broken many a window and lost many tennis balls and cricket balls and when we couldn't find them we stole spuds out of the vege garden and use them instead! They are brilliant for seaming and very unpredictable hahaha!
Hope you all enjoy browsing through this site and if you want to do a link exchange and be in my blogroll feel free to let me know by leaving a comment or mailing me:)
Cheers, and long live Cricket, the brilliant game!
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