ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

Just seen list of players nominated as ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, declared by the ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat. I am really amazed to see that the players like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Brain Lara and Sachin Tendulkar are not there. There are many other great players which are not in the list but these four players are exceptional. In my views, It is really injustice with these players, you can view ICC record books online to see their achievements in the cricket.

I would also like to say that it is really a very good step by ICC to provide the means of recognizing the historical contribution of old legends of cricket. During an interview Mr Lorgat said: "We have studied numerous halls of fame in other sports to see what works and shat doesn't and how best we can achieve our goal, to recognize the game's greatest achievers. We want to ensure that as many of the game's stakeholders as possible, including current ICC Cricket Hall of Famers and members of the public, get the chance to have their say in the process of choosing the game's true legends."

New Hot Spot Technology in Cricket

Hot Spot is another great invention in cricket to show whether the ball has hit the bat, pad or glove. This technology has been used by the military to track jet fighters and it has 100 percent accuracy. To see how this technology works, please see the link: http://www.9perth.com.au/News/item126.aspx

This technology can be used to determine whether the ball has hit the batsman's bat or pad and can help the umpires to make the correct decisions. In one of my post, I have mentioned about the snickometer but hot spot has an advantage over snickometer as it clearly shows where the ball hits. It can be used for both caught and LBW decisions. Umpires usually have confusion on whether the ball has strikes on the batsman's bat first or pad first and this technology can give you a clear idea about it.

The Downfall of Great Aussies

The Australian cricket team will definitely lose the first spot in ICC ranking after their defeat against South Africa. The historic win of South Africa over Australia has really shattered the confidence of the Aussies. It seems that the descend of great Aussies has been started and the whole blame is on the captain Ricky Ponting. Some people are saying that the leadership of the Ricky Ponting is not good. Surprisingly, no other member of the Australian team has been blamed.

It seems that Australian team can't perform well in the absence of players like Shane Warne, Glenn Mcgrath & Adam Gilchrist. Ricky Ponting has blamed the senior members of the team that they are not playing as per expectations. Australia badly need the quality bowlers like Warne and McGrath otherwise they will have to rely on their batting to win the matches against the teams like India and South Africa. The confidence of the entire team has also been shattered and they are also not performing well in the batting department especially they are expecting good performance from Hussy and Hayden.

It was really a very disappointing year for the Australian cricket and it seems that the downfall of the great Aussies has began.

Role of Technology in Cricket

You can notice a significant differences in current and old cricket, if you watch the highlights of any old cricket match on television. As i am a cricket fan so i have watched a few of old cricket matches live on television. But now, when I watch those highlights, one thing that strikes me is, how much the technology of Cricket has evolved in the last few years: the action replays from multiple angles, the stump vision, the statistical information bytes, the third-umpire, the wagon wheel and other visual aids, frame-by-frame replays, etc. These technologies have improved the experience of watching the cricket match on television. They have really contributed very well to the popularity of cricket telecasts.

As we are talking about the use of latest technology in cricket, in my view, the best tool available for cricket is Hawkeye which observes the trajectory of a delivery at various points, till say it hits the batsman's pads, and then predicts its trajectory past that point based on various additional factors, like speed, how it got off the pitch, etc. It has really helped the professionals to eliminate the errors in decisions and it has also proved to be effective for LBW decisions. Another tool named snickometer is also very helpful in judging a thin edge or in distinguishing an edge from bat hitting the pad.

Since cricket has become a high-profile game which is viewed by millions so all these technological advancements has really improved the cricket experience.

Two Pakistani Teams

Recently, we have seen the pakistani international team in action after some time. A three-nil victory over west indies was really impressive. On the other side, Lahore Badshaw team has also proved their brilliance and excellence during the ICL tournament. Now, a question comes into the mind that which team is better, Lahore Badshaw team seems to be more experienced after the arrival of Muhammad Yousaf in the team. The team has good balance of experienced and young players.

Our international team had struggled in the last few months as they were unable to play even a single test match. I believe that pakistani team is capable to beat any other internation team in one day internationals but this team is not good enough to beat good sides like Australia in the test match. They need players like Muhammad Yousaf & Abdur Razzaq to be in the test squad of pakistan team. In my view, the exclusion of the ICL from offiicial cricket and the punishment of cricketers is an international disgrace and it caused some big problems for the cricket team of pakistan.

Impact of ICL on Cricket

In the last few years, twenty 20 cricket has changed the complexion of the game. Especially the emergence of ICL (Indian Cricket League) has guided the international cricket in an entirely different direction. Now, people who were previously not interested in watching long duration cricket matches have started taking interest in the shorter version of the cricket. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the credit goes to ICL because it has not only revolutionized the cricket style it has also encourged International Cricket Council to start their special event like IPL (Indian Premier League).

Indian Cricket League has also organized their strict training process at academies. Their training would include skill based - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual modules. This training would be provided by seasoned professionals. It shows their commitment and proves that ICL aims to produce quality individual in the cricket.

ICC officials are hopeful about the issue of recognition by International Cricket Council. They are in the process of conversation with the ICC officials to resolve the issue. Although ICC has not given them recognition but people around the world are loving this event.