well done sri lanka!

we, sri lankans, are proud of our achievements as participants, hosts, and fans, of icc cricket world cup 2011.

wish all the best for our team in today's final against india in mumbai!

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cricket world cup predictions before tournament meaningless +bookie odds

i don't get ppl (esp the so called experts) who make predictions about who will win the icc cricket world cup.

i am not referring to ppl who wish and hope their favorite team will win, but ppl who make 'serious' predictions. anyone who knows cricket knows that luck plays a big part in the game, as much as capabilities of players and teams.

in fact one can define cricket as a game where result depends on how each team cope with turns of the wheel of fortune through a match.

some teams (like australia is recent past, but not at present) were good at coping with anything dealt, so in last two world cups it was safe to predict to a certain extent.

once the tournament starts to progress, we can judge each team's current coping abilities, then predictions will make more sense.

so i am not going to predict while wishing the best for sri lankan team.

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btw for what its worth (and given that these ppl bet actual cash, that 'worth' in not negligible) here is a screenshot (from oddschecker.com taken just before this post) for odds offered by various bookmakers for winner.

click to enlarge
sri lanka is second favorite with 1 in 4.5 to 1 in 5.6 chance of winning.

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my twitter - http://twitter.com/sittingnut
this blog's twitter - http://twitter.com/llibertarian

"world cup" - google fail

almighty goog's search algorithm sucks.

do a search for 'world cup' from google.lk (to which all searchers from sri lanka are automatically directed) and confirm.

even though 2011 icc cricket world cup is upon us and sri lankans do not care much for soccer, of the first 10 web results, 8 are for fifa world cup, 1 (at no 10) is for rugby. only the 6th is for icc world cup (tournament schedule from official site hosted by yahoo).

as you can see from the screenshot (click to enlarge ) news results are better.
image results shitty.


google.co.in is only marginally better. instead of 6th, official cricket world cup site is at no 1 (one cannot but suspect that results produced by algorithm were overridden to insert this at no 1; google has done this in past notably to counteract google bombs) and wikipedia's entry for 2011 icc world cup also puts in an appearance lower down, but rest is for fifa.

other search engines (yahoo, bing, etc.) are no better.

if this is the case for "world cup" imagine the quality of results for other searches by south asians.

if google does not wise up, there is a business opportunity here for some one else. remember that google was a latecomer to search, others like infoseek (now unrecognizable as go.com), altavista etc., which once dominated, failed bc they couldn't produce the results ppl were searching for. google is already falling behind in east asia.

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my twitter - http://twitter.com/sittingnut
this blog's twitter - http://twitter.com/llibertarian

well done and thanks, sir.

i will leave others to write lengthy tributes to muttiah muralitharan. i will just say as i have done before here;

very well done and thanks.


thanks also for the example you set by retiring from test cricket with your powers still undiminished. an example ppl in all walks of life may do well to emulate.

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my twitter - http://twitter.com/sittingnut
this blog's twitter - http://twitter.com/llibertarian

sangakkara and muralidaran top batting and bowling rankings

after the last test kumar sangakkara joined muttiah muralidaran (who was there for some time) at the top of international cricket council (icc) test rankings.

top ten

batsmen:

1. kumar sangakkara (sri), 938 points

2. ricky ponting (aus), 936

3. jacques kallis (rsa), 935

4. mohammad yousuf (pak), 885

5. mike hussey (aus), 874

6. kevin pietersen (eng), 848

7. younis khan (pak), 816

8. matthew hayden (aus), 803

9. shivnarine chanderpaul (wis), 762

10 michael clarke (aus), 751

bowlers:

1. muttiah muralitharan (sri), 910

2. makhaya ntini (rsa), 808

3. dale steyn (rsa), 775

4. stuart clark (aus), 769

5. matthew hoggard (eng), 733

6. brett lee (aus), 726

7. shane bond (nzl), 724, anil kumble (ind), 724

9. shaun pollock (rsa), 701, shoaib akhtar (pak), 701

icc website is migrating to yahoo so is not quite complete but the main rankings are there.

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Muttiah Muralitharan

murali regained the world record today.
well done sir!!!

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we should win the test matches against australia

equation is rather simple. without (quite unlikely) interruptions there will be two results in the two test matches. question is who will win?

because we have the better bowling attack we should. (for the same reason, in theory we should have better results from tests than one day matches during next year or two generally; longer the match format better results we should have) while our batting is not at its best and not quite up to the standard of australians (esp. without kumar sangakara) it has more than enough talent and experience to post the scores required to get australians out twice.

if we lose, it will be our fault, period. (yes luck plays a part, but that is why there are two innings, thus two dice rolls, in tests)

ps
i personally don't agree with the way that marvan atapattu was included in the squad. he is a valuable and even necessary addition imo. but i shouldn't have any say on that decision, nor should the minister or the public at large. selectors and captain should have the final say and the responsibility. if they did not want to have atapattu (which i doubt) they should have had the freedom to leave him out.

as i have said before, cricket team is not a government and should not be a politically correct democracy or a popularity contest. if it is, we will end up with a team full of dull dependable mediocrities (a bit like the south african team or in another context american idol/sirasa super star) that always end up in the middle ranks of tournaments and league tables that actually test ability.

anyway i don't think it will have a big effect on these two matches since all the ppl involved in this instance are hopefully bigger than that.

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kumar sangakkara, time to let the bat do the talking

before the world cup i said in another blog that all the members of sri lankan cricket team, especially mahela jayawardene who was going through what is called a "bad patch" at that time, must perform if we are to go all the way. and they did. champion teams shouldn't have "passengers". this is especially true when it comes to twenty20 cricket.

unfortunately, in spite of my great respect for kumar sangakkara, i have to say he is looking like a passenger at the moment.

here are his stats for current icc world twenty20 tournament
Kenya v Sri Lanka - 30(18)
New Zealand v Sri Lanka - 14(19)
Pakistan v Sri Lanka - 18(10)
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka - 20(29)

overall strike rate (sr) is 107.89%. all the other sri lankan batsmen have 125+ srs for this tournament. without the kenya match he would have a below 100 sr.

in t20 it is unacceptable for a batsman to have a below 100% strike rate whatever the conditions. in fact preferably they should have a 150+ rate. in the last game against Bangladesh sangakkara ate 9 balls (one and half overs, 7.5% of the innings) for nothing and most of that in the first 6 over power play. this also creates pressure on other batsmen, especially on his on field partner. after 3 dot balls and a single other batsman will feel the need for a boundary in the next ball, to get the team through. at the end of tenth over during which he got out, sri lanka were 61/3 (at 101 sr) but if we deduct his 9 dots the rate is 120. we scored 86 runs (at 140+ sr) for 2 wickets in the next 10 overs

so it is time he lives up to his (well deserved) reputation and perform. otherwise we won' go all the way even if we get through tomorrow.

hope we meet pakistan at the final (and south africans or indians at the semi final) if we go through.

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some observations on t20
sour grapes?
australians are are already coming out with lukewarm statements about twenty20 cricket. hope we do not follow them down that sour grape path if we get kicked out. yes test cricket is the best, but t20 is good, as is 50 over cricket. more the better imo.

momentum index?
presentation of stats has to be updated for t20. runs per over (rpo) and required rpo rates are meaningless here. (for example, if a team scores 20 runs in the tenth over, run rate goes up by 2, and required rate goes down by 2; an index with that kind of volatility cannot mean anything). same goes for crude projections they currently use.

what is required, in addition to balls and runs comparison, is a momentum (thus volatility) indicator. while run rate for last 5 (or less) overs may do, for a really valid one, we need calculus (duckworth-lewis already uses calculus). anybody wants to create one? fans do not need to understand how it is calculated as long as it works and informs.

blue vs silver
whose bright idea was it to change sri lankan colors? new uniform sucks imo, though australians fared worse. back to royal blue please. (btw imo new sl grey/silver and indian light blue are quite different though most ppl will not realize that until they see the two teams together).

ads and sirasa/shakthi/mtv
problems with maharaja broadcast of t20 matches to sri lanka continue. as theena reminded me, it is true that others had similar problems (especially with regard to screen crowding advertisements) but this is by far the worst. others usually miss only the first ball of the over and sometimes they did interrupt the ad midway if it was eating into the ball. however at sirasa, in addition to the first ball, they cut to the ad, before the last ball of the over is fielded (so we do not know see the runs, the fielding, and sometimes the wicket). we miss the last ball completely in case of a wide or a no ball, or if the idiot on duty at sirasa do not know how to count beyond 5. so far not one ad was interrupted.

as a result of all that, we are forced to watch cricketers talking about insurance in place of their performance on the field. sri lanka insurance (among other advertisers) should be mindful about how their ads are presented.

if we go to the final and this continues, we should publish a list of brands that deprived sri lankan cricket fans of their full enjoyment during that match. only problem with that plan at the moment is that i would probably use some other method to watch it ad free

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ps
talking of ads; most of them are for cement, insurance, and other financial services. did anyone say we are in an economic crisis? may be such ppl should observes the reality.

england, pl send australia home!

request to english tewenty20 team;
in the name of cricket, please please kick the "rusty" (! as if that is an excuse) australians, in their ridiculous figure hugging dresses, out of the tournament.

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ps
hope unprofessional idiots at mtv/sirasa/shakthi can show at least few matches without losing several balls due to ads and screen blackouts. today during a 5 over period of english innings against zim, during which i kept count, they managed to lose at least 5 balls including one wicket and one chance. then again that should be expected, they are habitually unreliable (look at their so called "news"!). we better figure out how to get mobile cable tv.

a test match and a spanish woman

finally a test match! yes it is only bangladesh, but so what?
after 2 weeks of almost non stop work i decided to take a (temporary) break and watch the match last afternoon. then went to sleep. just got up.
btw any comments about russel arnold's commentary?

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there is a lot i want to blog about, but cannot be bothered at the moment. so i will quote a passage that struck me before going to sleep yesterday. it’s from that strange book "on love" (de l'amour) by stendhal (his the red and the black, and the charterhouse of parma are two of my all time favorites) with its 'interesting' theories on love and assorted thoughts and anecdotes (real and invented)

The prettiest woman in Narbonne is a young Spanish girl, barely twenty, who lives in seclusion with her husband, an officer on half pay. Some time ago the latter was obliged to slap the face of a certain coxcomb; the following day the coxcomb saw the young Spanish woman arrive at the place appointed for the duel; he burst out with a new torrent of affectation: 'But really, this is scandalous! How could you have admitted to your wife ... I suppose Madame has come to prevent us fighting?' 'I have come to bury you,' replied the young Spanish woman.

part of fragment 98, "various fragments", book two
translation by gilbert and suzanne sale

of course the book is full of 'more' quotable quotes (for instance, the fragment 1 says “Everything can be acquired in solicitude, except character.") but above struck me.

anyway that is all for now.

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new icc cricket committee packed full of sri lankans

sri lankan cricketers' professionalism and the respect they generate can be gaged from the make up of international cricket council's newly constituted cricket committee, which will meet for the first time on 30th and 31st may in dubai.

there are 3 sri lankan captains (mahela jayawardene, duleep mendis, ranjan madugalle) in the 13 member panel, as well as recently resigned sri lankan coach tom moody. committee also includes four australians (including moody) and two west indians. others are from different countries. of course sri lankans are not there to represent sri lanka as such; they represent various interest groups in cricket (see below as to who is representing who). before this reconstitution, committee was made up of the nominated representatives from "each of the full members (boards and players) and leading associate members".

according to icc "the remit of the icc cricket committee is to discuss and consult on any cricket-playing matters and to formulate recommendations" "relating to cricket-playing matters to the icc chief executives' committee (cec)".

the committee:

chairman - sunil gavaskar (former india captain and opening batsman and icc cricket world cup winner in 1983)

past players (2) - ian bishop (former west indies fast bowler) and mark taylor (ex-australia captain)

representatives of current players (2) - mahela jayawardene (sri lanka captain; kumar sangakkara, the sri lanka wicketkeeper-batsman, was the original nominee for this position but he is unavailable due to commitments playing county cricket in the uk) and tim may (ex-australia off-spinner, icc cricket world cup winner in 1987 and now chief executive officer of the federation of international cricketers' associations)

full member team coach representative (1) - tom moody (former sri lanka coach)

member board representative (1) - duleep mendis (former sri lanka captain and now slc chief executive)

umpires' representative (1) - simon taufel (member of the emirates elite panel and named umpire of the year three times in a row at the icc awards)

referees' representative (1) - ranjan madugalle (icc chief match referee and former sri lanka captain)

marylebone cricket club representative (1) - keith bradshaw (took over as the mcc's secretary and chief executive in october 2006 in succession to roger knight; former first-class cricketer for tasmania in australia. mcc is the custodian of the laws of cricket)

statistician (1) - david kendix (a statistician/scorer and the man responsible for the creation and development of the lg icc test and odi championships and nominated by the icc to sit on the committee)

media (1) - michael holding (former west indies fast bowler and now part of the commentary team for sky sports in the uk)

associate representative (1) - craig wright (former scotland captain)

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very well done! we are proud of you

sri lankan cricket team, which did a great job in proudly flying the sri lankan flag on the way to the final, did the same in the final even though they lost. they showed great character in never giving up to last.

great work and thanks.

congratulations to australia! gilchrist in particular. he made the difference and we did not have any answer, though we tried our best.

we will have to wait four more years to taste kangaroos meat it seems. grrr... here i was waiting to take big bite of that :-)

as for the rain delay, bad light, etc.
first , i think 38 overs was the wrong length after the delayed start.
it is clear that even without the second brief rain interruption, or any cloud cover, 38x2 overs could not have been bowled before darkness fell. they should have reduced the no of overs further from the start or carried the match to reserve day if they wanted a longer game.

secondly, it was certainly ridiculous to start after the second interruption without formally reducing the overs and setting ( and informing all concerned ) the new target .

that second interruption and the confusion was partly responsible for our loss imo.

thirdly it was wrong of australians to celebrate before the match was formally over. i am not quite sure but according to a friend of mine umpires cannot stop a match bc of bad light.( if anyone know better pl correct me) as such even though they made a mess of it, umpires were at least following the law.

all that left a bad taste

but it was great match as far as cricket is concerned and australia won it fair and square.

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ps
terrorist pussies were up to their usual tricks tonight. typical behavior. what more can you expect? does anyone really think talking peace and appeasement of such people will work? esp. when we saw tonight the results of that part appeasement, the cfa? they will carry out attacks even when they are reduced to handful. a sustainable peace that respects the principles of democracy, justice, human rights, and freedom, and ltte as it is now, are simply not compatible. as such there is only one way to go.
anyway will write more about this later

saturday night here and there

sweat dust and pluck
scent of blood ... blue david roars
warm night rumbles

before i get too 'civilized' or something for my own good;

ඇර ලංකා, ඇරෝ !
කැංගරැ මස්, කනෝ !

:-)

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prediction:

mcgrath will get the man of tournament ... as a consolation.