Best of DeepBackwardPoint 2011: Charts, Statistics
I collected all the charts I’ve built in the 11-ish months the blog has been running for your Friday/weekend pleasure: Read the rest of this entry »
Deep Backward Point
Blog against the machine.
December 8, 2011
219
438 is just a number. So is 400*. And 99.94.
As is 219.
∞
The running meme is that Tendulkar is God, and he’s made as good a case as any for divinity. In my book, however, he’s more the chosen one than an actual God.
Sehwag, on the other hand. I could make a case for Sehwag.
But I won’t. Sehwag is no God.
No. Sehwag is a prophet. Sehwag is a way of life.
∞
I wanted to show you the scale of this record. What 219 means. It took 26 years to go from Viv Richards’ 189 to Sachin Tendulkar’s 200. Gradual– 11 runs over 26 years. A year later, Sehwag blew the record out of the water by 19 runs. Tendulkar’s 200 was like breaking the four minute mile. Once others believed it could be done, they smashed past it.
Take a look:
Highest Individual ODI Scores Over the Years
December 7, 2011
In Which Mr. N. Srinivasan Interviews Mr. N. Srinivasan
Here at Deep Backward Point, we are very proud to bring you the first in our series of interviews with the power players of the world of cricket. Today, you are in for a special treat.
Our interviewer for the day is Mr. N. Srinivasan, renowned businessman and owner of the IPL champion Chennai Super Kings.
He will be interviewing Mr. N. Srinivasan, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Let us begin:
CSK owner Mr. N. Srinivasan: Good morning, sir!
BCCI Secy Mr. N. Srinivasan: Good morning.
CSK owner Mr. N. Srinivasan: My you are a handsome gentleman.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: So are you, if I say so myself.
<awkward pause>
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Ahem. So let’s begin. How did you get involved in cricket?
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: I’ve always been a great lover. Of the game. What a sport it is. Chess is my favorite sport.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Chess? Two part question: one, did you mean cricket? And two, is chess a sport.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Err.. yes, cricket. Cricket! That’s right. Jolly good sport. Chess is for.. err… nerds.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: But you’re also the president of the All India Chess Federation, right?
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Nerds, I tell you! Golf. Now that’s a real sport. As President of the Tamil Nadu Golf Association, I always say-
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: You mean cricket.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Ah yes. The one where you swing at balls. That one.
<awkward pause>
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Don’t look so smug. How did you get interested in.. err.. cricket.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Well, I’m really a businessman. Got cement running through my veins. Really, a heart of cement– that’s what you want in a man. So anyways, a good friend of mine runs the BCCI– err, that would be you— and you told me they were selling some IPL teams and they would be a good investment for the company. So we put some money in to buy a team.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: That’s it?
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Yeah. And I always wanted to see Dhoni dressed in yellow.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Well of course!
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: And that was it. I don’t know why everyone thinks it’s a shady deal. It’s not like you benefit from this.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Of course not! I am an office-bearer in the BCCI.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Right. And I’m a simple managing director at India Cements.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Exactly, just a little managing director. Nothing more.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Err.. well, I’m the vice-chairman too.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: VICE chairman. VICE.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: And our.. that is, my father started the company.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Minor detail.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: And it’s not like I can do anything financially inappropriate with CSK. The BCCI would rake me over the coals, like Kochi and Punjab.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Well, I’d never let that happen.. honest.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Shush!
<tape goes silent>
Earlier on DeepBackwardPoint:
December 6, 2011
Pakistan’s Weakest Link, Revisited
In March, when this blog was a pretty, young thing, I wrote a short article titled “Pakistan’s Weakest Link”:
Shehzad has a career ODI average of 27.50. Barring his one (exceptional) century, his average is 20.0 for his remaining innings. But he’s young, he’s only played 13 matches. Hafeez, on the other hand, has an average of 22.22 after 68 matches. That is untenable.
Pakistan’s run of opening partnerships over the year until that article was:
26, 8, 12, 6, 82, 7, 31*, 2, 43, 20, 14, 11, 28, 16, 5
Since then, Hafeez has been part of two century , one double century and another three fifty partnerships. Hafeez in 2011 has been a revelation, scoring over 1000 runs at an average of 37. All his career 100s came this year, as did almost half his runs. And that’s before we get to his bowling. 32 wickets at 25 runs a piece this year, including his new role opening the attack. So I take back my words. Hafeez is tenable. Not just tenable, he’s necessary. ∞ And to the inevitable griefer who comes by to say “his runs/wickets came against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, West Indies”, let me tell you what a math teacher once told me.
See. <grand pause> Silly answers are infinite.
Previously on Deep Backward Point:
Link | December 5, 2011
The Old Batsman on Sehwagology
Just plain great writing from The Old Batsman, waxing poetic on Sehwag:
This week, David Warner made his Test debut. Sehwag was more right than most of Australia. Warner does not have Sehwag’s talent, but he shares his worldview. There will be many more who do in the years to come, and then it will become the new orthodoxy. That is Sehwag’s true legacy. He has shared an era with Lara, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ponting, Kallis, yet he is not one of them. As great as they are and have been, they are the old order, more connected to the past than to the future.
I fear that Sehwag is a once-in-a-lifetime event who is treated like a role model by the next generation. One can imagine approaching the performance of the old order (Dravid, Ponting, Kallis) through talent, coaching and practice. How do you train the new order? You can’t coach “don’t overthink it”. At least, I don’t thin you can.
Previously on DeepBackwardPoint.com:
December 5, 2011
Comprehensive Statistical Analysis of Why Irfan Pathan Should Play in Australia
Comprehensive Statistical Analysis of Why Pathan Should Play in Australia
Aside | December 5, 2011
New Design
Sneakily introduced a new design here a few days ago. Let me know what you think. Primary focus is readability. Don’t care if you notice the gadgets and gizmos in sidebars and dropdown menus. You read, I’ll keep writing.
Link | December 5, 2011
Occupy Fenway Park
Jarrod Kimber goes after every cricket board in the known universe and wants to Occupy Lord’s:
Maybe it’s time cricket’s 99% had more say. Maybe it’s time we Occupy Lord’s. Let us show those in charge know that we are the people who finance this game, and our voices should be heard. Sure Lord’s isn’t really the ICC home anymore, that’s now nestled in cricket’s heartland, but it’s the ground that calls itself the home of cricket, and it’s a far more grand statement than occupying some soulless building in a non cricket loving country.
It’s great writing, it’s honest and best of all, it ends with a call to action.
However, the good news is you don’t have to travel down to St John’s Wood with your sleeping bag, a few tins of fair trade baked bins and a guitar you can’t play. You can just email the ICC’s independent governance review here governance.review.icc@uk.pwc.com.
Unite. Unite all you deep, backward, short and silly fans of the game.
∞
The title of this post borrowed from an idea from Matt Becker’s response to Kimber’s post, titled Occupy Bryn Mawr Park:
As you start to dip your big toe into the American Sporting Waters, you will be tempted to dumb the game down for the unwashed masses: don’t do this. And, in fact, stop doing this everywhere else, too.
What I mean is: test cricket is cricket at its very best. Full stop. And this is coming from the uneducated cricket loving American. [..]
Other than that, remember this: it is a beautiful game. Full of villains, and history, and magic. I fell in love with it instantly and deeply, but only by accident. Stop being so insular, celebrate your game, as it really is for everyone.
Uneducated cricket-loving Americans. We’re adorable and naive, aren’t we?
December 1, 2011
Twenty20 Hindsight, the Tshirt
On a whim, I had designed a t-shirt. I have one. You’re free to buy one too. Or not. Lots of colors, sizes, genders, species available.
Enjoy and let me know what you think. Read the rest of this entry »
Link | December 1, 2011
ESPNCricinfo and Conflict of Interest
This notice started appearing in ESPNCricinfo articles starting October 11, as far as I can tell:
*ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.), the parent company of ESPNcricinfo, and News Corporation Limited (STAR)
I won’t take credit that it happened after my Cricinfo article, but it did happen two days after Jarrod Kimber’s article on conflict of interest on Cricinfo.
Previously on DeepBackwardPoint.com:
Deep Backward Point 