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1. Shane Watson reaching his 100 off 258 balls... and I used to think that he was an opener in the Matthew Hayden mould, rather than Simon Katich!
2. How come Watson celebrated in such a sober manner on reaching 3-figures? No obnoxious smiling or anything annoying... Some relief for him nudging his way out of his infamous trysts with the nervous 90s...
3. How much money was Ishant Sharma paid for his 8 no-balls?
4. When will MS Dhoni next win a toss for India in his whites?
5. When was the last time Australia scored less than 225 over an entire day of batting? Or for that matter, spent an entire session of 33 overs strolling at less than 1.5 runs per over for 45 runs?
6. Good old David Shepherd would have cursed the Australians (Watson, North and Paine in particular)... they were stuck on 222 for 30 deliveries!
7. Finally, it was great to see Cheteshwar Pujara on the field during a Test match... even if it was only in the role of a substitute fielder!
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| Fading away soon... |
The ongoing India - Sri Lanka ODI is Rudi Koertzen's 207th as an umpire... a world record, which he grabbed when he overtook Shep's tally of 172 in 2007. Rudi has also officiated in 106 Tests and 14 Twenty20s thus far.
He will end his career after the second Pakistan - Australia Test at Headingley, Leeds that starts on 21st July.
He has officiated in a lot of matches... but my best memory of him would be of the umpire who signalled the six hit by Sachin Tendulkar to Shoaib Akhtar at Centurion in the 2003 World Cup.
As an Indian, there is no way that I can forget that match. It is etched in my memory... along with certain strokes played by the Master... the famous upper cut being one of them. I remember the commentators at the time of that stroke were Ramiz Raja and Ravi Shastri... and a lot of other random facts about that match.
Rudi was a part of that match... a part of history! He has a good career. There were a few controversies... like the 2007 World Cup final, where he was the TV umpire. That was one big fiasco! He had to suffer the humiliation of being excluded from the umpiring squad of the inaugural World Twenty20 Championship later that year as a direct consequence of that final.
But he has always been well respected. The South African umpire will end his career more than 17 and a half years after officiating in his first international fixture... an ODI between South Africa and India at Port Elizabeth on December 9, 1992. The man whose left arm has signalled numerous 'slow deaths' for various batsmen will no longer serve the game of cricket. We wish you well for your future, Rudi!
Be it a Twenty20 IPL match or a Bangladesh - England Test match, whenever the score stands at 111 or any of its multiples, I think of one of the jolliest figures I have seen on a cricket field - David Shepherd.
One of the most popular umpires in cricket, David Shepherd expired on 27th October 2009 - exactly 150 days ago.
Shep's umpiring records:
Tests: 92
ODIs: 172 (including 3 World Cup Finals)
David Frith, a founding editor of the Wisden Cricket Monthly, in his tribute to the great ump, said:
"His geniality sometimes got the better of him. At Lord's, when Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy scooped up a low edge and fairly quickly shook his head to indicate that it wasn't a catch, umpire Shepherd gave him a burst of appreciative applause. Yet while he was not beyond offering the odd pleasantry to a player, it was never in an ingratiating way. He never sought the limelight. He didn't need to. His rotund shape and florid face stamped him as a favourite character, and he had an outstanding talent for calming incipient frenzy out in the middle."
Simon Taufel, the 5-time ICC Umpire of the Year, said:
"Shep's umpiring style convinced me that in order to be a good umpire, you needed to be a good person first."
"I could never fault Shep's fairness, integrity or desire to umpire well. He took enormous pride in his work and in his performance - if he ever made an error, he took it personally, which showed me that he truly cared about what he was doing. Shep's umpiring record speaks for itself, but my fondest memories of Shep will be of the man - a true gentleman, a kind spirit and a great bloke."
As his retirement loomed, Shepherd was lauded wherever he went. He was given a guard of honour by the New Zealand and Australian teams during the series between the two countries in March 2005. After his last Test, that between West Indies and Pakistan at Kingston, Jamaica in early June 2005, he was presented with a bat by West Indian captain Brian Lara. He was in fact given special dispensation by the ICC to umpire in an England Test at Lords as his final Test, but turned down the opportunity to maintain the ICC's neutral umpiring policy for Test matches.
That was his biggest virtue. Which human being would not want a chance to sign off in style? He could have easily taken the offer from ICC and still be remembered fondly. Yet, he chose not to. He was an umpire - and umpires follow all the rules.
To one of the most respected officials ever in cricket, we miss you!
