A must read for cricket lovers- Review 'Bodyline Autopsy' by David Frith

Genius with a tactical masterstroke or villain who broke the spirit of the game?. Was leg theory acceptable or truly despicable?..These questions about Douglas Jardine and his extraordinary 'Bodyline' bowling form the crux of this superbly researched book..

Frith is an eminent historian and his sense of facts and trivia is brilliant and well in evidence throughout the book. The author has woven a superb tale around cricket's biggest controversy and the plot is presented with exceptional attention to detail.

Frith starts with talking about the significance of the series fifty years on and recollects views of one and all. He does adopt a fairly neutral stance with occasional references to how much he loathed Jardine and the tactics..He does however point that similar bowling has been on view in modern times as well referring to the intimidatory tactics of the West Indian pace barrage. The origins of 'leg theory' are brought to notice with mentions of early hostile bowling by Jack Gregory and even as early as in the 19th century...

It is however, unfair to say that this book is an attempt to describe only the series and analyse it. Frith has not only reconstructed the entire fateful tour chronologically, but also provides the reader with rare facts and information about the players, the team and the venues..

'Bodyline', as a tactic was devised to stop the run glut of the prodigy Don Bradman, and he remains the central figure in much of the discusssion..The detailed description and analysis of the tour, primarily the Test matches is a must read..Stan McCabe's surreal 187 against the hostile Harold Larwood and Bill Voce in the first Test when the Australians missed Bradman is given its due credit..Bradman's much awaited return in Melbourne and his famous first ball duck, which stunned the crowds..Frith packs in superb trivia and off field incidents such as when a man left his house in a huff on Bradman's dismissal only to spot some boys drowning and managing to rescue them..Bradman's top notch century in the second innings, with all the strokeplay which set up the win for the hosts is superbly described..

The third Test in Adelaide, which made everyone sit up and take notice of the 'Bodyline' bowling is given a great deal of focus..The injuries to Woodfull and Oldfield and the remorseless approach of Jardine are brought to light..The relations between the Australian board and the MCC deteriorated rapidly following this match and the series of messages exchanged are shown..Woodfull's 'famous quote' being leaked to the press and the accusations flying around even after half a century forms a major topic..

The last two Tests and the unsavoury incidents, though fewer than in Adelaide are brilliantly portrayed..The telegrams exchanged between the two boards are discussed..

The final part of the book deals with reactions and how the tactic and the man who propounded it- Douglas Jardine are viewed years on..With the passing away of Bradman, none of the players in the infamous series survive and the end of the book is a pleasant conclusion which focuses on how time changes people and their views (not all of them though)..

For the fantastic attention to detail, brilliant portrayal of the central characters especially Bradman, Jardine and Larwood, the facts and trivia..the superb description of the Test matches and life outside it and most of all the love for history sets this book apart and makes it a truly magnificent read-one which is a must own for any cricket lover and a fan os the game's rich history in particular..

The shining light..

I rarely seem to get time to sit and have a nice chat with my parents with this hectic schedule everyday..Today I made it a point I must try and spend some quality time with them..We started off with some random topic and digressed which is often the case..Mom told me how her memory seemed to be on the wane in recent times and she attributed this to lack of working with numbers and excessive use of the calculator..While we were thus pondering about short term memory and long term memory, mom mentioned the extraordinary ability of my granny (paternal granny) to recollect and remember the most obscure incidents from the past and her attention to the most minute of details. I have seen many people with an exceptional memory, even an elephantine memory, but cannot really think of anybody in the same breadth as my gran..It did not stop with her memory. She proved that lack of education was not a barrier for knowledge..I can vouch that almost every second fact I have known or learned in history, mythology, Sanskrit, Indian culture, Carnatic tradition and singers and so on and so forth can be attributed to her..

I was sitting in a Starbucks in California two years back when I got the worst possible news.I had known that she was ailing but could not make the trip to India to see her, talk to her and comfort her in those last days..it is a regret that will live with me for the rest of my life..She had had a premonition a week or two earlier and despite wanting to see me badly, she knew it would not be possible..she made sure she would do the next best thing though..Her voice that day on the phone was full of life..I could feel the underlying pain though..Her usual questions- did you eat?..how is job search?..hope all is well etc were followed by 15-20min on her favourite topics...The Vishnu Sahasranamam, the Mahabharata, the Gita itself and so on..I was possibly the only person around her to whom she could talk about what she loved the most..

She loved the fact that I had an affinity for Sanskrit and despite her not having any formal training in the language, her rendition of complex shlokas was impeccable to say the least..her knowledge of the scriptures, the mythology, the Puranas and many other cultural aspects was beyond belief..I was blessed for I was almost entirely raised by her and all this knowledge passed on to me..One might say that these topics lie in the domain of most people of that generation, but this would never do justice to her voracious appetite for knowledge..Be it ancient Indian history, the world war, the Indian freedom struggle, modern Indian events- she knew them all...I can vividly recall Operation Bluestar and the details of that fateful event, the various assassinations she told me about..For someone who had not even a high school education, she was fluent in at least 5-6 languages...her numerical ability was exceptional and I never once saw her use a calculator...

I wasn't present physically, but heard that people came from all over...nearly every relative and friend was present the week before she passed away..The enormous respect she commanded was visible..She taught me nearly all I know...my interest in Sanskrit-not limited to the Sahasrananam, shlokas, the Gita etc, Carnatic music- the names of the maestros- Semmangudi, Ariyakudi, Palghat Mani, MS and the other greats and their superb songs and Indian culture in general can be solely credited to her..believe it or not- she imparted most of the early cricket knowledge to me..Match scores and details I always got by virtue of a single phone call home..People still fail to fathom how she was able to grasp the nuances and details of the game and actually watch it to give me the score..

Quite simply, one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met in my life..Her grasp of myriad topics and in depth idea of each made her truly special..In the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna asks Yudhishtira to meet and acquire all the knowledge from the omniscient Bhishma he can before the great Bhishma left the world..In a sense, I have been fortunate to have been able to at least gain a part of the encyclopaedic knowledge that my granny possessed..

Best in the shorter form..

More than 17000 runs, 46 hundreds and 93 half centuries, five scores of over 150 and innumerable man of the match awards. Surely wouldn't it be considered sacrilegious to even wonder if there can be a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar? But cliched as it may sound, that numbers tell only half the story, it is true. When seen in the right context, i.e. when compared to the achievements of the legendary Vivian Richards, probably the only cricketer who merits the comparison with Tendulkar in one day cricket, the numbers might just tend to read rather differently.

The comparisons are made in a simple manner for most aspects. For example, if player A averages 100 and player B averages 110, B scores 1.1 points to A's 1 point. For all factors, the ratio of the parameter is taken to calculate the points. The sum of points for each factor is used to determine who has been the better player. Of course, these need not be the sole parameters to determine the best player. I would definitely look forward to useful comments and suggestions.

Games against the minnows (many in Tendulkar's time) and Zimbabwe for Richards have been eliminated from the analysis despite it being more probable for lower ranked teams to compete far better in an abbreviated format.

** accuracy to third decimal

1. The best way to judge a top class player is to see how much ahead of his peers he is in terms of his average and strike rate in ODI's. Tendulkar, in his time has averaged 43.80 and scores at 85.66 per hundred balls. This record is stupendous considering his longevity, but in an era where the batting has become a lot easier with more relaxed rules, field restrictions and flatter tracks, Tendulkar's average is 1.501 times better than the overall average runs per wicket during his time in international cricket (29.18). His strike rate is 1.093 times the average for the period of his career (78.33). The sum of these two important parameter ratios comes to 2.594.

In the period Richards played, the conditions were far tougher to score in and the rules were not as skewed in favour of batsmen as they are in present day limited overs cricket. on the flip side, the fielding was not as athletic as present day cricketers. Richards averaged 47.21 in an era when the overall average per wicket was 28.29 and his strike rate was an exceptional 90.14 when the overall scoring rate was just 72.33. The corresponding ratios for Richards come up to be 1.668 and 1.246. Overall, the sum is 2.914.

Marginally, this factor points to Richards being the more dominant batsman. He averaged higher despite an ultra aggressive game in a phase when the general scoring rate was far lower.


2. Top ODI players stand out by virtue of the number of half centuries and centuries that they score. In 407 innings, Tendulkar has 41 centuries and 87 fifties which comes up to 128 scores in the category of over 50. The number of 50 plus scores per innings comes up to 0.314. Richards scored fewer centuries, 11 in total but 45 half centuries. The number of 50 plus scores per innings comes to 0.337. Tendulkar and Richards are almost level but for a very small difference on this front.


3. Comparing the performances of Tendulkar and Richards at home, away and neutral venues throws up some very interesting results. Tendulkar averages 46.25 at home, 37.90 away and 47.21 in neutral venues. In the matches involving Tendulkar, India have averaged 36.33 at home, 29.39 away and 29.88 at neutral venues. The dominance of the batsman is calculated by summing the ratios of his average to the team average. The figure for Tendulkar is 4.142.
He has by far been India's greatest in all three scenarios. For Richards, though the figures read very different. His home, away and neutral averages are 36.59, 56.80 and 38.80 while the team performances in the same period are 40.89, 31.26 and 33.50. He was the best in away games, but his record in the West indies was below par. In this aspect, it can be said that Tendulkar handled the home pressure much better. Tendulkar's away performance though falls well short of Richards' figures but the performance on neutral grounds favours Tendulkar. The corresponding parameter for Richards is 3.870. Overall, Tendulkar has proven to be the better player in all conditions when the performance relative to the team they played in is considered. This also points to the fact that India had a much weaker batting line up for years when compared to the mighty Caribbean team.

4. As a captain, both the players did struggle to match their performances during the games when they did not have the burden of captaincy. Tendulkar's average of 37.90 during captaincy is much lower than his mark of 45.03 when not a captain. Richards averaged 38.81 and 56.80 during the phases of captaincy and when not a captain. When the ratios are calculated, Richards scores 2.313 while Sachin scores 2.000 (base score).

5. The clear indicator of how big a match winner a batsman is can be made from the difference between his averages in wins and defeats. Richards averages 57.44 in wins and 29.43 in losses which is a difference of 28.01 while Tendulkar's corresponding figure is 22.30 (55.72 in wins and 33.42 in defeats). Viv Richards probably was the greatest match winner in ODI history and this is reflected here. The score here is 1 (base score) for Tendulkar and 1.248 for Richards.

6. Batting first or chasing, both these batsmen have been superb. Tendulkar averages 44.85 and 42.72 while batting first and chasing respectively while Richards averages 48.82 and 45.36. The ratio calculation comes to 2.150 for Richards and 2 for Tendulkar.

7. The greatest measure of batsman's domination in ODI's is his performance in the World Cup and the next biggest tournament for years was the triangular series in Australia. Richards of course played in far more games down under than Tendulkar while the little master has figured in more World Cup matches. Richards averages 66.46 in 21 WC games and 46.60 in 65 ODI games in Australia. Tendulkar on the other hand averages 45.11 in 28 WC games and 37.39 in 35 games down under. The ratio calculations gives Richards a score of 2.686.
Though Tendulkar has had a huge impact in big tournaments, Richards rules the roost when it comes to performance in major games.


8. Viv Richards was widely recognised as the finest player in big games. He revelled in finals of most tournaments and rarely failed when it mattered. His average of 55.73 with one ton and nine fifties in 18 finals is quite astounding. Tendulkar's performance is awesome too with an average of 52.51 in 38 games with 5 hundreds and 10 fifties. In this case, the difference between the two is negligible.


9. In their favourite positions i.e. Richards at 3&4 and Tendulkar at 2, they average 50.68 and 50.29 respectively. Again, almost nothing to choose from.


10. Longevity factor- Sachin Tendulkar has played 442 games in about 20.5 years which is approximately 21 games a year while Richards played 187 games in about 17 years which is 11 a year. Tendulkar has endured a far heavier international workload and his ability to stay consistently at the top of his game is commendable. His score in this regard is 1.909 to Richards' 1.


11. Ultimately the man of the match awards depict the true match winning ability of a player and with ODI's being more of a batsman's game they are far more indicative.
Tendulkar has a scarcely believable 61 awards in 442 games while Richards incredibly is third in the all time list with 31 awards from just 187 games. His awards per innings is slightly better than Tendulkar and he scores 0.044 in this case.

When all the points are added, the resulting final score is

Viv Richards: 16.562

Sachin Tendulkar: 15.959

An incredibly interesting and close comparison sees Viv Richards pip Tendulkar to be the finest ODI batsman ever. Both are very nearly balanced in every regard and just a glance at the entire process shows how difficult it has been to pick the best. In the end, it might just point to the fact that Richards nicks it because he performed more often when it mattered and was also a little more fortunate than Tendulkar to be part of a more consistent and better team for most of his career.

Caribbean joy..

In most sports and perhaps more so in cricket, rarely does one encounter a statement regarding which there is consensus among a vast majority. Few people, if any, will object to me stating that the cricketers from the West Indies have been the greatest entertainers and that without them, the game would have been far poorer. Perhaps only Brazilian football with its glittering array of gifted players including Garrincha, the incomparable Pele, Zico and the phenomenal Ronaldo can aspire to try and compare with the extraordinary sequence of naturally gifted Caribbean entertainers.

As was the case in most colonized countries, the British introduced cricket to the Caribbean. The miserable treatment and racist discrimination prevalent then though was a major obstacle in overall development of the islands. The inhabitants of the West Indies struggled for decades and fought slavery, oppression and inhuman torture before being able to establish a unique identity of their own especially on the cricket front. The West Indies played their first test in 1928 and two exceptional players who were a cut above the rest were George Headley and Learie Constantine. While Constantine was a top class all rounder, Headley was a scintillating batsman, who not without reason, was nicknamed the 'Black Bradman'. His test average of 60.83 puts him third in the all time list behind Don Bradman and Graeme Pollock. It was still unfortunate that in those days, the locals were not allowed to lead a team.

The period after the Second World War brought to the forefront three legendary players in Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. They were nicknamed the 'Three W's'. While Walcott was a tremendously powerful opening batsman, Weekes was a classical strokemaker. Worell went on to become the country's first black captain and led them with distinction throughout. Weekes scored five centuries in a row and nearly added a sixth on the tour of India in 1948. Walcott's best series was the otherwise disastrous home series in 1955 against Australia when he made over 800 runs with five centuries. Worrell led an exceptionally talented side which included the once in a lifetime all-rounder Garfield Sobers to Australia in 1960-61. This was a watershed moment in the history of West Indian cricket. Under Worrell, who encouraged them to always play attacking but fair cricket, the team performed brilliantly and the result was a classic and extremely close series which Australia won 2-1. This series also included the legendary tied test in Brisbane and has gone down in folklore as the greatest series ever.

Sobers took over the captaincy in the 1960's and despite the team's average performances, his brilliance left spectators gasping. He was and will always be the most naturally talented cricketer ever. He could excel in virtually every aspect of the game without ever seeming to strive too hard. Rohan Kanhai, the glorious Guyanese batsman capable of producing some audacious strokeplay was also part of the team during these years.

In the 1970's and 1980's Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards led the team to the top of world cricket. A virtual assembly line of fast bowlers, undoubtedly inspired by the heroics of Wesley Hall and Charlie Griffith in the sixties, was at the heart of the Caribbean success over the two decades. Picture those years and the images of Andy Roberts, the athletic Michael Holding, Joel Garner and perhaps the best of all M Malcolm Marshall flash before the eyes..Viv Richards' swagger and destruction of the best bowling attacks is vivid in memory..In the 1990's, fast bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh along with the batting genius Brian Lara tried to restore the sagging fortunes of the West Indies..Brian Lara was without doubt, the single biggest reason for me to love the game and still is. In the times when West Indian cricket is in the doldrums and cricket itself in a phase of radical transformation with all the money coming in, it is rather pleasing to look back at those videos and read up about the amazing sequence of great entertainers from the Caribbean..Not a single player nor cricket lover can ever claim that he has not loved and relished Calypso moments..

Roll back the clock..

Abraham Lincoln's famous words "To test a man's character give him power" seem to make all the more sense today. Money has always been synonymous with power and the lure of excessive money has almost always meant abuse of power..The entire IPL financial fraud controversy is a classic case in point..Cricket in its infancy and early years in India was a passion straight from the heart and loved by one and all. The last two decades have seen such a spurt in investments in the game and reduced the actual focus on the nuances of the game itself. Nearly every aspect of the game has been commercialised and the money in the game is way beyond anyone's comprehension..The fraud and financial allegations often are only the beginning of the story. Much more emerges slowly and all this does is taint the already adulterated game..

The IPL, as an idea, was fantastic. The T-20 format was lucrative, attractive and promised to increase viewership all round. India was the best market simply because of the burgeoning market for cricket and the marriage of this idea with Bollywood and other entertainment meant that the end product would be an instant success..The auctions involving top players looked ugly at times, but once the cricket started, the world was hooked onto it..For the best part of three seasons, everything seemed perfect. All this suddenly looked different the moment two new franchises were formed. This in itself was not the problem. The humongous budget which ran into more than a thousand crores left even the cash rich cricket fraternity gasping. Soon, eyebrows were raised, names were brought up and things got downright dirty. Politicians, IPL heads, franchise owners were all entangled in the mother of all scams. Much as I hope cricket comes out of all this clean which it probably will considering the love the people have for the game which far surpasses the interest in commercialisation and the urge to rake in the moolah, I can't help but look back at those days when the sport was all about appreciating its finer aspects and money had not raised its ugly head..

All it takes to understand how and why cricket runs in our blood is to have a conversation with someone who watched the game through the 1950's through the 1980's. I have had the good fortune of being able to do so and also the interest to try and have these chats when I get the chance. The joy is evident in the eyes when these 'uncles' talk about watching Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy. Ladies loved the charming Pataudi and handsome Durrani. The stylish Viswanath defying the pace of Andy Roberts draws the biggest cheers. Appreciation is rife for the solid batting of Gavaskar and the phenomenal Kapil Dev's exploits. This period was characterized by abounding love for the game and very little regard for the money that came with it. Talk about Chepauk 1974 and you can see the gleam. The mention of the 1983 World Cup and 1985 world championship wins which incidentally was the first tournament to be aired on television in India is enough to get them to talk incessantly..Cricket in India changed post the 1983 World Cup triumph..TV coverage began in full flow and children in every street were playing cricket wherever they could...Enter the era of Tendulkar, Kumble, Dravid and ganguly and the game was bigger than ever..The World cup in 1996 changed the entire idea of cricket..Advertisements galore came in, sponsorships increased exponentially and soon the game was hardly distinguishable from entertainment..This was especially true in case of ODI cricket and even more so in Twenty20..India's win in the T-20 World Cup 2007 resulted in cricket embarking on an era in which I have found very little to appreciate..Everywhere one looks around, money seems to have enveloped the game. The great game with all its fantastic features, the statistics, the extraordinarily diverse players, the one on one contests and most of all the inherent charm seems to be sucked out as the game is abbreviated..

Cricket has been exceptionally flexible allowing for experimentation with the format and rules, yet this has been the biggest flaw as well as it has brought many evils, the biggest being the gargantuan flow of cash..I hope this lovely game is cleaned soon and am sure the best way forward is to roll the clock back...

Ode to Madras..

I know its now Chennai but have somehow always loved Madras and names linked to it..IIT Madras, Madras Medical College, Univ of Madras, Madras Cricket Club and so on. A typical Bangalorean usually protests at the very thought of having to spend a few days let alone a year plus in Madras..He finds it very orthodox, too very old fashioned and not to his taste..The people's attitude is not the nicest and having to learn Tamil to survive..these are among the top (BUT RATHER ILLOGICAL)complaints made by not just Bangaloreans but every other guy in India ..I must admit Madras was not my favourite city for years, but that was purely because the weather was too hot and as school going kids we often chose summer vacations to get to the city to meet relatives and blazing summers weren't exactly going to make someone feel great about the city..

I always have and will love so many aspects of this beautiful city..The hotbed of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam - music academy, kalakshetra and what not..one of the very few cities that is striving to preserve Indian culture and tradition while pretty much most other parts of the country are rapidly getting westernized in thought and process..The crowd in general is very intelligent- top acads, excellent schools and colleges and even the sports lover is so very well informed..

I was worried though that I had to work in Madras for at least a year..Without pals it wasn't quite going to be easy I felt..But what a time I had over the last year..My room in Anna Nagar (a lovely area i must say) became a virtual hangout spot for all pals..party after party followed and the biggest of all was the amazing new years one which still makes me wonder how I wasn't thrown out on the streets the next day by the landlord..!

Getting to the superb British Council and picking up a few nice books, sipping away on some coffee at Amethyst while poring through the books..cuzn's visit from Singapore..drives to Besant nagar beach, Karthik's fantastic bachelors party just before his wedding in Triplicane when I visited the quite splendid Parthasarathy temple..walking in the Mylapore area by RK Mutt road and the Kapaleeswarar temple- where good old Madras come alive..

Tennis in Nungambakkam whenever possible, those crammed journeys in the share autos, haggling away with auto drivers, suburban train for a year..Now I wonder how I went through all this..I did at points feel life is crazy..but somehow the city did charm me..Deepak's visit was the icing on the cake..I toured Madras in those 20-30 days and also made 2-3 road trips to Bangalore..We didn't spare a single cafe, resto-bar and most certainly we didn't spare my house!..pretty much camped at his house and had some super food..

Despite all my complaints at various points about work and workplace, the lovely gesture shown in the end by everybody there makes me realize that there is more to life than judging people by what they know and don't know..it is vital to appreciate how people treat you..

Madras despite its sick and hot weather which floored Dean Jones and even Tendulkar recently has been a lovely city..I have adored the milling crowds at T nagar, Mylapore's buzz, the beautiful drive down theosophical society road, superb temples, the great culture, the lovely helpful people and so on...

I am back to Bangalore-my city, have loved every bit of it and its great to be back with family..but I do leave with a tinge of sadness that I wasn't quite able to do justice to all the great city of Madras offers..

Reality check..

ANACHRONISM- refers to a chronological misplacement of a person or events/customs. I have at many times felt that I am one. Last Saturday in Bangalore confirmed it for sure. My interest and love for all that is old and nice about the city, Indian culture and customs, music etc definitely got a rude jerk when I came face to face with the 'new and hip' Bangalore crowd. The city has been known as the pub capital and parties galore take place. Yet, somehow I feel blessed that I lived a lovely and simple life in the good old,uncorrupted and dare I say pristine garden city. The actions and events that brought joy those days were very simple. High school and early college days were still very simple. All that mattered was a movie on weekends with friends and the cricket/football. The very idea of pubs, bars and clubs was absent. Frankly I should say there were hardly any around then. Then came the IT boom which signified Bangalore's growth and tremendous prosperity. Lucrative jobs were in and real estate was burgeoning. But on the flip side, this also heralded the beginning of the end of the simplicity associated with the lovely city. Trees made way for high rises and apartments aplenty. The IT industry came to town and brought with it innumerable pubs and clubs which seemed to be the new idea of relaxation. I was at the heart of all this too through my engineering years. But I never once developed an affinity for all this.

I went to the US and got back after three years. The Bangalore I faced left me pretty shocked. Let alone the modernization which took out all the charm (read METRO and MG ROAD)..The pub culture and party scene just didn't seem to appeal to me..maybe I was just too stuck up, unwilling to budge, rather unable to adapt..The kids these days spoke stuff that we guys in college dreaded to..house parties were in vogue among school and college going guys and girls..Definitions of morality, ethics were modified and in general tradition and culture had taken a whole new paradigm shift..Finally all this made perfect sense last week..The party not just proved how inept I was at dancing, but clearly showed I didn't belong there..The in-your-face brash talk and approach left me astounded..I was witnessing episodes and people I hardly ever thought existed in Bangalore..People around me had changed and managed to adapt and even like this life..It is hard to battle change around you..but it does feel good now that I managed to live a life so uncomplicated yet thoroughly enjoyable in the lovely city of Bangalore. Those were surely the years when we had the space, simpler ways and biggest of all- the luxury of time to spend with dear ones..