Thank you Cape Town, Johannesburg and Mumbai

 I get sad when I notice a huge amount of dissatisfaction among the younger generation regarding Test cricket. I get annoyed when I hear some of the modern day cricket experts to announce the death of Test cricket. Death of Test cricket? Seriously, how can a cricket expert, announce such? The meteoric rise of Twenty20 cricket and a crazy money train called the Indian Premier League have cast a magic spell among the younger generation and some of the lusty cricket experts.  

Suddenly the concept of Test cricket is so old-fashioned! Test cricket seems to have out-lived their usefulness to many. But, hey, the longevity of cricket’s oldest format is long enough. Its existence is for eternity. The classic Test matches in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Mumbai have proved the true worth of Test cricket yet again.      

Both the Cape Town and Johannesburg Tests are a part of cricket’s folklore and Mumbai have made the candle of Test cricket even brighter. Such epics are just made once in a generation and I was privileged to witness an epic. The Mumbai Test was supposed to signature Tendulkar’s 100th international 100 but it’s now a part of cricket’s unique family, the drawn-tied Test match. It’s even greater than an individual’s personal landmark.

And the Test matches in Cape Town and Johannesburg? It was overall a thrilling-ride. The global audience experienced nerve-wrecking moments and rediscovered the true beauty and charm of Test cricket which a Twenty20 match can never gift.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Peter Roebuck - Rest in peace

This morning I came to know the sad demise of Peter Roebuck. I was taken aback for a while and when I gained all my attentions I had to realize that a person who has made us many fall in love with the words to fall in love with the game has left this beautiful earth. Peter Roebuck is no more in this world to charm us with his intellectual and beautiful writings on cricket.

Roebuck started his career as a cricketer but it seemed that he was born to write on cricket’ beautiful and critical insights.

Live telecast at present speaks a thousand words about cricket, but, words too, have an ability to paint pictures in a wondrous collaboration of the writer’s craft and imagination. And in modern day cricket literature, Peter Roebuck was among the best to paint the pictures in the finest manner to catch the imagination of a reader.

TV has taken the charm and beauty of cricket literature but still men like Peter Roebuck’s fine and astonishing ability to graft words in the most beautiful way has made cricket literature survive the onslaught of TV.

According to Sambit Bal, "TV has had an influence on the way the game is written about. Perspective has replaced description; perspective has replaced description. Instead of recreating the day’s play, writers are continuously challenged to make sense of what happened. From expansive and expressive, the accent has turned to thoughtful and interrogative, and in the quest of the broad pictures the writers sometimes overlook the small endearing moments".

But Roebuck seemed not be affected by this. He was never to miss those small endearing moments, but used to describe them in a rather thoughtful and interesting way. He had been the ideal combination of Lara’s graceful aggression and Tendulkar’s class in the field of modern day cricket literature; beautiful words mixed with graceful aggression, never stepped back to paint the truth with beautiful words.

Cricket has lost a word artist. Cricket will miss his words’ beauty, his knowledge and his thoughts on the game.

Rest in peace sir!

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

South Africa v Australia - Were the Australian and South African batsmen mentally cluttered?

It was just an unforgettable day of Test cricket. History was created on 11/11/11 when 23 wickets fell for just 294 runs and both teams batted twice in a day, a feat that has occurred only twice in the previous 2015 Tests. Both the  Australian and South African batsmen were found wanting. 

The Cape Town track did have the ingredients for the pace bowlers, but I don’t think that there were demons underneath the pitch to pose a threat against the likes of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jac Kallis or Michael Clarke. But surprisingly, the batters of both teams exhibited some abject batting display. Were the batsmen mentally cluttered? Otherwise, how can such a madcap day be scripted? 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

South Africa v Australia - Michael Clarke, way to go!

Well, what a hundred it was from Michael Clarke! It had all the ingredients of a champion and of course, such sort of hundreds are so rare these days. At present, we witness batsmen only to score  hundreds only on placid tracks rather than the pace-bowling friendlier ones. In my opinion, scoring hundreds on batting friendly pitches is too dull and less-manly. Come on mate, be man! Just go out there, face the chin music, feel the heat and then, score a hundred.

Surely, Michael Clarke was the man in Cape Town on the first day. The track was hostile for the batters and the attack was venomous. It demanded enough character from a batsman and Clarke proved his worth not only as a batsman, but the perfect choice as the Australian skipper.

Australia were reeling at 40 for 3 when Clarke entered into the scene. Immediately, his mental-strength was tested by a red-hot Dale Steyn. Clarke decided to take on the attack to Steyn and co and went for a counter-attack. On such a testing pitch, it’s not an easy task to have a go at bowlers like Steyn and Morkel; but Clarke was not to care about reputations like Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor. He was in mood to dominate the proceedings and he did it in a commanding manner.   

He saw his partners depart cheaply, but still he continued to play with impunity. There was no fear of the situation. His stroke-play and astute footwork was a matter of joy for me. The drives were powerful but that had an element of crisp timing and his footwork was simply immaculate. The Australian captain could not do anything wrong on that day. It was a hundred to remember for cricket fans like who relishes those who are hard nut to crack.

Way to go Michael Clarke! You made my day!

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Brendan Taylor - The unsung hero of modern cricket

Brendan Taylor’s name will never be mentioned along with the great cricketers of modern era. He is a shining star but sadly, we are not well aware of his brightness. He possesses all the tributaries of a champion, but still he is not considered as a champion.

Since his introduction to international cricket, Taylor’s advancement has been steadier. And during his younger days he had already proved himself as the life saver for the Zimbabwean team. In August 2006 he smashed 17 runs from the last over of a run chase - including a six to win off the last ball when five were needed - to give Zimbabwe a 2-1 lead in the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Taylor hit the jackpot at Cape Town on September 12, 2007, when his cool and composed 60 not out carried Zimbabwe to an incredible five-wicket win over Australia in the ICC World Twenty20.

While at the crease, Taylor will always be the dominant figure and will dominate the proceedings with immense will-power and guts to blunt the best attacks in the world. His favourite stroke is the full-blooded front foot drive which lacks art but more power, yet his pulls and cuts, especially the uppercuts have always been beneficial for his team.

The political turmoil in Zimbabwe let their Cricket Board to take a break from Test cricket for five years. They could only play the limited-overs cricket and despite the limited opportunities, Taylor has always been productive. He had been the star for Zimbabwe in the recently concluded ICC World Cup for the 50 over format.

Zimbabwe have returned to Test cricket this year and Taylor was being made captain and immediately under his leadership the Zimbabweans made an immediate impact by stunning the Bengal Tigers in both Test and ODI series. Captaincy has galvanized Taylor into a more responsible batsman. The aggression is still there but it’s more controlled and well measured. At the start of his career his foot-work wasn’t astute but in course of time he has made it even better.

 Against Bangladesh in the Test match, he scored a 71 and 105 not out. His bat failed against the Bangladeshi new ball bowlers, except a hundred in the fourth ODI for a losing cause and was short worked by Saeed Ajmal in the Test series, but in the ODI series against Pakistan, his inspiring 84 in the first ODI almost took Zimbabwe in the brink of victory but fell short by just five runs, in the second ODI, again he scored a fifty. But the Pakistanis proved too strong and thus won the ODI and Test match with the rubber remaining un-stretched.

Against New Zealand, Brendan Taylor had been astonishing. In the three-match ODI series against New Zealand this year, Taylor had scored 310 runs at a staggering average of 310.00 with a strike rate of 106.89. In the third ODI at Bulawayo, his aggressive 75 off 65 balls had set the tempo to chase down an impossible 329.

In the one-off Test match against New Zealand, Taylor’s bat again shone with a 50 and 117. His dazzling knock of 117 in the Bulawayo Test match almost helped Zimbabwe to script one of the daring chases in the history of Test cricket. But sadly, history could not be scripted.

Just imagine Brendan Taylor playing for India or Australia! How the response would have been. But he represents a minnow who hardly plays enough cricket to express their abilities in front of the world.

Brendan Taylor is a cricketer who makes a substantive, yet unrecognized contribution; a person whose bravery is unknown or unacknowledged, the unsung hero of modern day cricket.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar