The F1 season kicks off this weekend and it is suggested that the cost cutting of about 30% and new rules could make F1 more competitive. I would love for that to happen as it is tiring for it to be McLaren vs Ferrari with Renault thrown in. The other teams have just been completing the grid.
Hamilton downplays their chances and hits Warne for a few sixes. Mallya wants a point from Force India
BTW on an unrelated note and sport, Saina enters QF -- if you are Hyderabad, do try to watch her live.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Will SRT vote?
Just wondering if any of our cricketers who are idolized and put on a pedestal, are going to request permission to come back and vote? After the hue and cry over Dhoni's name on the rolls, I wonder if any of them are planning to fly back to cast their vote?
Compromises
The IPL will start on Apr 10 Apr 18 -- * Compromise *
The English players will be available for less than 2 weeks -- * Compromise *
Huge losses in hosting it outside India -- * Compromise *
No home/away concept -- * Compromise *
Significant crowds unlikely for weekday matches -- * Compromise *
Double headers on many days meaning poorer TV ratings for early matches -- * Compromise *
Only SA, NZ and SL will participate for any length of time -- *Compromise*
Perhaps the entire squad will not be able to travel -- and once again fringe Indian players may not get to experience IPL which was supposed to be one of the altruistic goals of the IPL.
-- If so many compromises could be made, wouldn't a truncated schedule have caused lesser disruption (and perhaps lesser financial loss overall) -- It surely would have been better than this?
What is puzzling is that franchises don't appear to be asking tough questions of the IPL organizers. This leads one to wonder whether things were thought through or they expected to muscle their way through obstacles.
The English players will be available for less than 2 weeks -- * Compromise *
Huge losses in hosting it outside India -- * Compromise *
No home/away concept -- * Compromise *
Significant crowds unlikely for weekday matches -- * Compromise *
Double headers on many days meaning poorer TV ratings for early matches -- * Compromise *
Only SA, NZ and SL will participate for any length of time -- *Compromise*
Perhaps the entire squad will not be able to travel -- and once again fringe Indian players may not get to experience IPL which was supposed to be one of the altruistic goals of the IPL.
-- If so many compromises could be made, wouldn't a truncated schedule have caused lesser disruption (and perhaps lesser financial loss overall) -- It surely would have been better than this?
What is puzzling is that franchises don't appear to be asking tough questions of the IPL organizers. This leads one to wonder whether things were thought through or they expected to muscle their way through obstacles.
Monday, March 23, 2009
A team of captains
With this novel idea from the coach, I would like to know 2 things
who is going to keep warne waiting for the toss?
which "captain" is ultimately going to take responsibility for a loss?
----
So how do you think that idea is going to play out? Don't you need one person in-charge on the field regardless of who helps him?
"Equally, it’s possible that the captaincy could be rotated during the period that the team is on the field"
Powerplay captain: Opposite team 24 for 3, -- great start
Under 10 overs captain: who manages to use up their death bowlers and allow the opponent to get to 100 for 4.
10-15 overs captain: reins it in little bit and it is 130 for 5.
Death overs captain: finds that there are only part-timers remaining and the final score is 210 for 5....
How will this work?
who is going to keep warne waiting for the toss?
which "captain" is ultimately going to take responsibility for a loss?
----
So how do you think that idea is going to play out? Don't you need one person in-charge on the field regardless of who helps him?
"Equally, it’s possible that the captaincy could be rotated during the period that the team is on the field"
Powerplay captain: Opposite team 24 for 3, -- great start
Under 10 overs captain: who manages to use up their death bowlers and allow the opponent to get to 100 for 4.
10-15 overs captain: reins it in little bit and it is 130 for 5.
Death overs captain: finds that there are only part-timers remaining and the final score is 210 for 5....
How will this work?
Exhausting for players?
I am okay with the elections getting priority and the IPL being scheduled around it, truncated or even shifted to another country (my preference would have been a truncated IPL) .
However with the shifting of the IPL, I am surprised that the latter half of the IPL could not be held in India? Why can't the last couple of weeks be held here with each team getting atleast 2 home matches?
Modi's reason is that the players will be exhausted. It is puzzling that the NZ series finishes on 7th and IPL starts on 10th does not cause exhaustion but a 10 day gap between the IPL final and T20 world cup is not enough to overcome any exhaustion caused by an additional trip back to India? Do you buy that line or is there more than meets the eye?
However with the shifting of the IPL, I am surprised that the latter half of the IPL could not be held in India? Why can't the last couple of weeks be held here with each team getting atleast 2 home matches?
Modi's reason is that the players will be exhausted. It is puzzling that the NZ series finishes on 7th and IPL starts on 10th does not cause exhaustion but a 10 day gap between the IPL final and T20 world cup is not enough to overcome any exhaustion caused by an additional trip back to India? Do you buy that line or is there more than meets the eye?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Let's help them
More than a decade of the D/L system, we can safely say that the majority of the cricketing world including spectators don't understand it. We have now reconfirmed what we knew earlier, that even identifying the winning score is a tough job. So it is time for fans to come up with creative ideas to help teams.
So I have seriously come up with some:
- Build an application, that senses that captain or coach is about to do something crazy -- it needs to send out a high pitched shriek, like a car alarm, that is to warn all in the vicinity of impending disaster. It would be wasted to build a system that just computes the current score, the alert system prior to the wrong action is imperative.
- Automatic chopper - that will chop away pieces of the paper that are no longer relevant -- so that you don't look at columns for earlier overs or lesser wickets.
- Have a D/L chief strategist - has to be part meteorologist and will assess the ground conditions, light situation, weather conditions, team capabilities and come up with a detailed strategy for each match. While this goes beyond identifying the right score, it is obviously not fool proof either, because it needs to be communicated to the players in the middle.
-So hire a speedy runner to run in between overs, communicating to the players important messages like - "if either of you plan to get out, you will need 10 runs in this over, if neither of you get out, you will need only 1".
-The above is also problematic, as the runner may forget the numbers and send a different message, so the last solution is to hire either Duckworth or Lewis to be in your team -- to compute and identify the right score and communicate it. And if that fails and the team feels done in by the D/L method (rightly or wrongly), a D/L chase can have a new meaning.
So I have seriously come up with some:
- Build an application, that senses that captain or coach is about to do something crazy -- it needs to send out a high pitched shriek, like a car alarm, that is to warn all in the vicinity of impending disaster. It would be wasted to build a system that just computes the current score, the alert system prior to the wrong action is imperative.
- Automatic chopper - that will chop away pieces of the paper that are no longer relevant -- so that you don't look at columns for earlier overs or lesser wickets.
- Have a D/L chief strategist - has to be part meteorologist and will assess the ground conditions, light situation, weather conditions, team capabilities and come up with a detailed strategy for each match. While this goes beyond identifying the right score, it is obviously not fool proof either, because it needs to be communicated to the players in the middle.
-So hire a speedy runner to run in between overs, communicating to the players important messages like - "if either of you plan to get out, you will need 10 runs in this over, if neither of you get out, you will need only 1".
-The above is also problematic, as the runner may forget the numbers and send a different message, so the last solution is to hire either Duckworth or Lewis to be in your team -- to compute and identify the right score and communicate it. And if that fails and the team feels done in by the D/L method (rightly or wrongly), a D/L chase can have a new meaning.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Hello again
It is karma -- my last post was about dusting off decade old winter clothes, and lo and behold, I had to travel to places were sub zero temperatures were the norm. The sweaters were inadequate and so the preparation itself took more time than the trip!
I did not ski (don't know how to ski), but went on a sleigh ride. I played a lot of Wii (can we treat it as a sport or atleast get some credit for exercise?). It is addictive and I would have been tempted to buy one but for cost and the fact that my nephew bet me with great regularity and ease, despite my pleading with him to go easy on me.
I heard that the Indian cricket team is playing well, though the only match I watched recently was the last NZ ODI, which makes me wonder if that is true?
Will Dravid return to form?
I did not ski (don't know how to ski), but went on a sleigh ride. I played a lot of Wii (can we treat it as a sport or atleast get some credit for exercise?). It is addictive and I would have been tempted to buy one but for cost and the fact that my nephew bet me with great regularity and ease, despite my pleading with him to go easy on me.
I heard that the Indian cricket team is playing well, though the only match I watched recently was the last NZ ODI, which makes me wonder if that is true?
Will Dravid return to form?
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