My cabbie tells me....

Late last night I hopped into a minicab and started having a chat to the driver. He told me that 2 IPL captains and one umpire had been found guilty of match fixing over the weekend. Having been away, I hadn't heard anything about this, and this morning's frantic Internet search has not come up with any results. Does anyone know anything about this? Is Handled the Ball breaking a big story here, and does my London cabbie have some inside knowledge? I need to know more!

Twenty20 double century

Cricinfo are reporting that a batsmen in Singapore club cricket has hit the world's first Twenty20 double century. Now, of course the level of competition in Singapore isn't great, but when you consider this guy scored the runs off just over 50 balls, that's quite an amazing feat. I don't think I could do that against my brother in the backyard, let alone in match conditions. Short of the opposition slowly lobbing full tosses at him and kicking the ball to the boundary for him in the field, I don't see how he managed to do it.

See Sreesanth Cry

Funny stuff. Can't wait to see footage of the actual slap.

Karmic Balance?

Don't get me wrong, I like Indians, I love their passion for cricket, but I don't care much for their players and their team. Some players I think are fantastic and I have plenty of time for them, such as Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble and yes, even though he slaughters us more often than not Laxman, but there are others I don't care so much for.

This week, during the IPL I had the satisfaction of seeing two of my least favourite Indians combine in some kind of bizarre karmic retribution. Harbhajan Singh in a typical display of sportsmanship befitting his measure as a man slaps Sreesanth after a match. Now, I blame both of these players for exascerbating the race issues between Australia and India; Sreesanth first for his stare out of Symonds that generated the ill will towards him on the Aussie's last tour, and of course Bhaji for calling Symonds a monkey.

Now, Harbhajan is suspended, and Sreesanth apparently cried like a girl when he got hit. Sweet justice.

IPL Gets My Thumbs Up

In Australia, the time difference to India means most of the games are very late at night. It turns cricket into a fast food, vapid (but fun) spectacle, and has a very tacky Bollywood-esque feel to it all, but the IPL is bloody fantastic.

As a lover of the game of cricket, beyond country allegiances, I think the combination of the some of the best talents in the world together is everything that other franchised sports have offered, and that is a good thing.

My opinions of the game of Twenty20 aside, I think it's the best thing that's happened to cricket since World Series Cricket. I have no idea if in the long run it will work, I have no idea if the franchises that have spent ridiculous millions on the teams are going to make their money back, but I absolutely love the concept, and think it's about time!

I just hope the ICC reorganise the Future Tours Program so they don't clash with the event.