Thanks for the memories Shep

The great David Shepherd, proudly showing off his Bacon and Egg MCC tie
The passing on of David Shepherd is a sad event for cricket lovers the world over. The man was an icon in the cricketing world, and will be greatly missed. He had the immense respect of players and his colleagues and was probably the only Englishman in cricket of any note in the 1990s.

His talent was probably very well matched by several of his contemporaries. Daryl Harper, Rudi Koertzen and Steve Bucknor are probably umpires in about the same class. But it was his unquestionable integrity that set him apart. In his own telling, he was once devastated when he gave 3 English batsmen out off no-balls. He was about to call it a day in Cricket, but such was the man's aura that he was forced to stay on. On the contrary, the great Steve Bucknor felt he had been sacked due to the BCCI's financial might after he 'Bucknored' them to a loss at Sydney.

He was no ordinary cricketer either, scoring a ton on first-class debut. He was lovable, but also tough on disciplinary issues when it was demanded of him. Ask Sourav, who was issued a stern warning for running down the pitch or the indomitable Steve Waugh's who had to be ushered aside for his antics with Brian Lara, and they'd probably tell you the same.

The man had a certain character about him. His portly appearance made if him one of the most conspicuous men on the Cricket field. Who can forget that characteristic "Nelson" hop at 111 and multiples thereof, much to the amusement of the crowds ? Not long ago, I was reminded of him when Owais Shah for out on 99 when the score was at 222-2. His sense of humor was lovely too. I remember Zaheer Khan once throwing the ball back to the keeper from Deep backward square led, finding the massive Shep in his way. Shep turned around, and first waved a yellow sheet of paper and then a red sheet, as if to suggest to the fielder that he was being sent off.

I'm glad Shep was around to see the resurgence of English cricket. He must have been a very happy man to see the otherwise docile Englishmen win 9 series in the last 5 years, including 2 Ashes series. Bigots like Hair and Emerson will soon fade from public memory. But this wonderful man, of whom no one ever had a bad thing to say about will live on , along with all the wonderful moments he gave cricket lovers. No more will we have that distinct English accent shouting 'Gentlemen, Play'. Thanks for the memories Shep. You'll be greatly missed.

Whatever....

The Sky'er' is the limit

I remember the first time I played with a cricket ball, sometime when I was 11 or 12 in a 7A vs 7B match, scoring 10 odd. Back then,while fielding. the sight of the ball hurling towards you, at presently innocuos speeds, would cause you to move your hands away from the ball in the last second- obviosuly a very very stupid thing to do. The high catches were especially scary. I remember how I'd wriggle my hands in pain, thanks to some awful catching technique.

The catches weren't even remotely high back then. It's just that we were scared- and scared as hell. Personally,a lot has obviously improved in the 13 yrs since then.

So has the equipment( though I haven't used this stuff and would love to). Check this thing out- it's called the Fusion Skyer- a new and revolutionary practice bat, made from some patented German rubber cut into a smaller bat two-thirds the size of a regular cricket bat.

The rubber apparently causes the ball to bounce off the surface to all kinds of heights, aiding fieldsmen to practice at par-match conditions. It apparently helps for infielding as well, with the ball traveling at great speeds for just the smallest of touches. And at under 1 Kg, sounds like cricket's own ping-pong paddle.

The catch here is the price. Each one of these costs an estimated $160. There is a cheaper version called the Skyer Boom that comes at an estimated $50, but is obviouly not as effective as the regualr piece, and comes in a terribly gay pink.

By the way, remember the kinds of suggestions that would keep passing around in our schooldays about Jayasuriya's bat having a spring in it that helped him hit sixes( or still worse, those contact lenses he wore to make the ball look like a football :D ). Well, here it comes my friends.

And oh yes!! There's another reason to like it. It's orange :-).

Whatever...

New reason to like the Indian Railways and Team India

I have always liked the railways in India. Now, I have a newfound reason to like them.

Photo Credits-http://chennaidailyfoto.wordpress.com
I picked this image up on Ram's blog, and found this ticket vending machine painted in Orange and Blue. Now, that's cool.

That's no it. It gets cooler. The Indian team jersey is also Orange and Blue now. I guess it's now time for the Men in Blue to be called the Men in Orange and Blue.

The University if FLorida is in Gainesville. The Gatornation is everywhere. Or, so they say .

Whatever....

The beginning of the end

This post is dedicated to my closest inner circle of friends- the people I have had the most fun with, hung out the most with, played the most with etc. etc.

"Deepak, Anuj just got engaged. He's getting married soon", said Harsh over the phone- WHAATT? That was a little incredible, given the fact that all these guys had bluffed me a few months ago that Sid was getting married.

This time, sadly, it was true. Sad, not because the wedding is happening- It's cool that it’s the first wedding in the bunch. Rather, it's sad that it marks the beginning of the end of all the good times we had together. And with a couple more weddings (and God knows how many over that) lined up for later this year and next year, it certainly makes for a recipe for the end to be scripted.

Guys, I won't have a chance to lock Anuj's grandma up in the loo again. We wont have a chance to take a pic of Kundra (you know what I am talking about :D). I cant spit out a whole bottle of water on Sid. No more teen patti while Kundra and I sleep and get pillow bashed . Anuj, save that door latch dude :D .

Sourav gone. Sachin, Dravid and Zak will be gone very soon I guess. The people that made your childhood- your friends and heroes, wont be the same any longer. It's a very stark realization that it's all coming to an end.

Whatever...

We need answers for Bombay please- NOW!!!

It's becoming routine, but we've very clearly had it as a nation now. Pakistan have no money themselves and are begging the IMF for a bailout, but at the same time have gone as far to violate India soil with this dastardly act.

This attitude towards India has been historic, right from the vitriolic Qurban Ali doctrine, which proposed the balkanization of the Indian state with a 100 cuts along its length and breadth, to wage that war in Kashmir for the past 20 years to Kargil to the Kandahar episode to the Parliament attack to this now, and not to forget the myriad other bomb blasts that have happened. And every time, we respond with a few angry months, and then a meeting to thaw relations seems to cosmetically make the relations up. Manmohan apparently was angry in his national address- I had to find out from the news- how wonderfully plastic

The thing is, we need no friends. We have no friends, and need no friends.
On either side we have 2 radical Islamic states, one of them clearly a failed state, just short of being another Somalia in our backyard. To the north are a people that are not even remotely similar to us culturally or racially (or economically, except the jokers in the left who are easily the most anti-national elements), and have had the audacity to encroach on our territory some 130 and odd times in the last year, and supply nukes to our avowed enemy. And a handshake and a repeated attempt by the foreign office to emphasize Indo-Chinese friendship clouds everything. Clearly, history doesn't seem to have taught us a lesson. It's a national shame

Pakistan is clearly an enemy- that's something you and I know. That's something our politicians, especially the Congress know. We're repeatedly dishonoring lives of the men that have died for the country. Pakistan claims to not know anything, but it's obvious that this kind of ordnance and training will have to have been provided by the army. Lets also not forget that the '93 blasts were organized in Pakistan. Clearly, certain sections of Indian politics have , should I put it profanely, tried to SUCK up to the minorities by showing them they care. Mohd. Afzal is a very evident case

Cut off all relations with Pakistan-diplomatic, sporting and cultural-NOW. The scumbags need to be taught their place. The people of my country have had enough. Do something than just say "we condemn these cowardly acts". We dont need Cricket with them while such events keep happening. Boycott anything Pakistani or Chinese( you are more likely to find a lot of the latter(

I have always recommended following the Israel model. We're similar ..we have ONLY enemies in our neighborhood. Remember what they did after the Munich Massacre? If you don't , go see the movie. We need something like that- hit squads, reprisal attacks or any such thing.

Jai Hind

Watever...

Brilliant read....

Whoever said cricket ain't British any more .....

Read this :)

Paines Prairie trip

My friends and I went on a road trail to the Paines Prairie reserve on US 441 some 8 miles from Gainesville,FL. Chari threw in idea, and Phani joined us. We took a bus up to Florida Works and walked from there.

The suck-up here is that RTS buses dont have room for more than 2 bicycles, and we were 3 people walking with 2 bicycles :D ( reminds you of the father, son and donkey, doesn't it?)

Good trip all in all. A few dead snakes on the way, and Phani (which incidentally means snake in Gult) was dead against photographing them. Then there were the usual gators, and we saw one ruffling up a nest and eating it's eggs while two birds watched on helplessly.

Thought I'll upload a few pics here. You'll find the whole bunch on my Picasa page soon

Phani and I at the preserve



Gator( unfortunatley still, and hence no GO GATORS!!)



Phani and Chari

You'll find the pics on my Facebook page as well/ And oh!! BTW, we're planning on biking even deeper into the preserve to see a little more wildlife. People are welcome to join us. Make sure you bring along a bicycle .

Whatever....