Ashes First Test : A feeling of Deja vu!!

After an electric first day, in which the honors were more or less even, Australia re-asserted their status as world champions and the storyline had a very familiar touch and feel to it. It is very clear that Australia's dominance over the last decade has been a function of the form of their two bowling superstars - McGrath and Warne. They have done badly or rather poorly by their own standards where these two have either been absent or have been rendered ineffective for some reason beyond thier control. One such series was India's tour of Australia a couple of seasons ago when both these gentlemen were absent injured. Their replacements (Williams, Bracken, Bichel and Macgill) and their current colleagues (Gillespie and Lee) were rendered toothless as India piled on the runs and never allowed Australia to dominate them.

It will be interesting to see what Australia's fate will be if any of these great bowlers is unable to play in the remaining tests. In my opinion, that would give England a real chance at winning a match. Until then, if they continue getting dismissed for less than 200 in both innings they stand a very small chance of threatening Australia in this series. A sense of deja vu is very ominous!

Ashes First Test First Day: First rate cricket!!

There is certainly nothing better in any sport than to see the underdog flex its muscles or spring a surprise or two. True, England had competed very well in the one -day series preceding the Ashes, they were underdogs by a distance. The ICC cricket ranking and ratings were realistically reflective of the dominance that the Aussies have enjoyed over the last decade or so. The English bowling certainly turned the tables on the Aussie batsmen on the first day of what promises to be a truly promising series in prospect.

The battle was symbolized by the blood dripping down Ponting's cheek (see photo) caused by a Harmison bouncer that evaded his bat and slipped through the visor of his helmet. Its been a while since Ponting and Co. have been pushed to the backfoot so comprehensively by any team. However, the champion side that they are the Aussies still managed to get to 190 and what happened after that was further testimony to the fact that the Aussie dominance just could continue through this series and there is one solid reason for that - Glenn McGrath.

Kevin Pieterson was standing amongst the ruins of the English innings at the end of the day. He will be eager to try out his hard-hitting stuff early on the second day in order to get England as close to 190 before he runs out of partners. There is one more thing that is to be noted about this English side compared to the sides of the recent past - the fighting qualities of the lower middle order as typified by Geraint Jones and Ashley Giles in this Test and Paul Collingwood in the one dayers. This fighting quality and the new found aggression in the pace attack have brought the English side so close to overcoming the Aussie dominance that has had a stranglehold over the cricket summit for quite some time now.

My selection for the first ICC World XI one dayer

The team for the one-dayers between Australia and the ICC XI certainly needs to be a little younger and obviously needs a bit of dash beyond what the test team has. The one-day specialists selected - Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi, Razzaq, Herchelle Gibbs, Sangakkara and Chris Gayle do bring the power of youth and dash that could make the ICC XI an unbeatable side. Based on current form and the factors mentioned above, here is my pick for the ICC World XI side.

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Herchelle Gibbs / Chris Gayle
3. Brian Lara (Captain)
4. Inzamamam-ul-Haq
5. Jacques Kallis
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Kumara Sangakkara
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Steve Harmison
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Muttiah Murlidharan
12. Shahid Afridi (super sub)

This team would give Lara the option of using 5 front-line bowlers and three all-rounders - Kallis, Sehwag and Gayle (if he is played) plus the option of using the superstar supersub - Shahid Afridi. Even without Afridi, the side has plenty of batting firepower in Sehwag, Gibbs, Lara, Inzy, Flintoff, Sangakkara and Razzaq. All these batsmen can really hit the ball and score freely. Australia will be hard-pressed to beat this side.

Irfan Pathan: The next Kapil Dev or the next Debashish Mohanty?

One cricketer whose performances are bound to come under close scrutiny this season is Irfan Pathan. After a near-dream start to his international career in Australia and then in Pakistan, he had an ordinary season last year - which in no small way contributed to India's average fortunes in the season gone by. The clamour and the hype that surrounded his performances in his first year that he was India's next Kapil Dev has died down. In fact, the end of the last season saw him dropped not just from the playing eleven against Pakistan but altogether from the squad of fourteen. This does beg the question - was it a case of his not being a hundered percent fit or was it a case of someone who needed helpful conditions to succeed at the international level?

About a decade back, India had seen the advent of a similar swing bowling talent who had gone on to make an impression in helpful conditions in Toronto, England and Australia but petered out in not-s0-helpful conditions back home - Debashish Mohanty. Mohanty was unplayable in helpful conditions and took wickets by the bagful. But his lack of genuine pace (120's) proved his undoing. Irfan also has had a great deal of success, but he too suffers from the same problem - his lack of genuine pace. I do hope for India and crickets sake, that Mohanty's story does not get repeated with Pathan.

Super-sub rule: Boon for sides bereft of allrounders?

The super-sub rule is a welcome change in one day cricket and does bring an element of excitement to the game that was starting to become mundane. Apart from everything else that is being spoken about how good it is for the game, I think the rule is bound to benefit sides that lack quality allrounders more (say India & West Indies) than sides that already have a bunch of quality all-rounders like Pakistan and South Africa.

Take the case of India. If it bats first and like always packs its side with 7 batsmen. During its innings it can retire a batsman like Dravid or Kaif and subsititute one of them with a bowler to give them depth in bowling. This would level the playing field with a team teeming with allrounders like Pakistan - which typically on any given day can call upon 3 top-class allrounders who bowl decently - Razzaq, Afridi and Shoaib Malik. These all-rounders are better than a lot of non-regular bowlers. Mind you a player who has been substituted can still field - so India does not lose Kaif in the field if he is subsitituted.

If it bowls first, India can quickly bowl out one bowler on the trot at the beginning of the innings and bring in a batsman. I am not sure of this interpretation of the rule . Does anyone else know better?

My selection for the first ICC World XI test

20 players have been announced as probables for the ICC XI test team to face Australia. Out of the 20 announced, i would leave out the following 9 - Sachin Tendulkar, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Younis Khan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Andrew Flintoff and Graeme Smith. Tendulkar and Pollock lose out on current form. Brendon McCullum loses out to Boucher on his batting. Ntini would be the third fast bowler if a game is played in Perth. Chanderpaul and Younis are not in the same class as the other batsmen. Flintoff loses out to Kallis because of Kallis's better batting record while Graeme Smith loses out the opening slot and the captaincy narrowly to Vaughan on experience. Ntini would also be a cover for Shoaib Akhtar for the second test (assuming Akhtar's injury record holds).

So the team in batting order for the first test would be

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Michael Vaughan (Captain)
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Inzamam-ul-Haq
5. Brian Lara
6. Jacques Kallis
7. Mark Boucher
8. Anil Kumble
9. Muttiah Murlidharan
10. Steve Harmison
11. Shoaib Akhtar
12. Makhaya Ntini (12th man)