Moments of 2008

[aditya123]

As we are nearing the end of this great year for test cricket, I thought I could take the chance to summarize the whole year of cricket in this thread.

This has been a transition year for world cricket which has had everythig in it.It started of with the most controversial but epic test match in many years at the SCG and the year has ended with test cricket looking reasonably healthy after two epic run chases scripted on two different continents.The reigning emperor of world cricket is being pushed hard by challengers and the emperor himself is not in his best state.We may well see the empire fall,come 2009.
In between all the quality test cricket that we had, the new spoilt kid on the block was born.Hated by the purists but nevertheless a grand success,IPL T20 was born in 2008,threatening to change the dynamics of how cricket is played.It has left the governing body with many questions to ponder upon.The most important of being maintaining the primacy of test cricket and international cricket in general with the specter of Club and League cricket looming large.

2008 also saw a lot of young talent booming and appearing of the international scene.The mystery kid Ajanta Mendis,the `Punter Tormentor` Ishant Sharma,the SA batting find J.P Duminy and many others impressed in 2008.For the first time in quite a few years ,Australia have a lower success rate than other sides,namely India and SA.Test cricket is not the walk in the park it used to be for the World Champions anymore.

2008 was also the year where the security concerns put cricket to the backseat more often than not.Pakistan being the victims of this,did not play a single test match in the whole year which is definitely a worry if you are a cricket fan.ODI cricket`s marquee event,the ICC Champions Trophy was postponed and so was the Champions League in India.The year however did end on a positive note with the English side winning many hearts by deciding to come back for the Indian test series after the 26/11 massacre in Mumbai.Cricket needs this security situation to take a backseat in 2009 with the World T20 and the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for 2009.

Let us all hope cricket emerges a stronger sport in 2009 and we have more quality cricket with the ICC World T20,the Ashes and the IC Champions Trophy all scheduled for 2009.

Here are some of my favorite 2008 moments :
My favorite India moments (in chronological order) :
1.) Sachin`s hundred at the SCG and the ovation from the SCG crowd.
2.) Ishant Sharma`s super spell to Ponting at Perth and India`s win at Perth.
3.) India`s performance in the CB Series 2008 winning the finals 2-0.
4.) India winning back the Border Gavaskar Trophy from Australia.
5.) The epic Chennai Test match

Here are some of the best moments of 2008,involving all teams.
1.) The Perth tests : India and SA beating SA at the start and end of the year.
2.)The epic Chennai test.
3.)The Egbaston test between SA and England
4.)India winning the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
5.) Ajanta Mendis`s Asia Cup winning spell in the final at Karachi.

Please add on to the list.

 

[Yogy]

2008 Year Review

South Africa had every reason to look back fondly on 2008, a year in which Allen Stanford became a name known to all cricket fans and the once all-conquering Australia came back to the pack.

Even before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne started, the Proteas had arguably completed their best year since the end of their apartheid-induced exile in 1991.

Their six-wicket win against Australia in the Perth series opener, where South Africa chased down 414 to record the second-highest fourth innings winning total in Test history, was the latest of several impressive results on the road this year.

They shared the spoils in India and then enjoyed a first series win in England since 1965 as the Proteas, led from the front by batsman Graeme Smith, began to rid themselves of their unwanted tag of 'chokers'.

With India, inspired by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, getting 387 to beat England at Chennai, the question, as the year ended with a dearth of truly great bowlers, was what now constituted an unassailable target?

Here perhaps was a sign of the beneficial effect of Twenty20 on Test cricket - teams were chasing totals that would have overawed their predecessors.

How beneficial the Stanford Twenty20 was to anyone but the Caribbean Superstars who thrashed England by 10 wickets to claim the million dollars-a-man winner-takes-all prize, was a much-debated point.

In a year which saw the launch of the Indian Premier League, it was hard to think cricket could engage in a more nakedly commercial enterprise.

Yet from the moment Stanford arrived at Lord's in June with a box full of millions of dollars and proclaiming his Twenty20 'Super Series' could crack the US television market, the Texan billionaire's intentions were clear.

Stanford - who freely admitted he found Tests 'boring' - was slammed for bouncing the wife of one of the England players on his knee during the Antigua matches and by the end of the year he was reviewing his cricket commitments.

In the Test arena, Australia looked what they were: a team without two of the best bowlers cricket had known in the now retired duo of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

That made life tricky enough for Australia captain Ricky Ponting who endured a difficult 2008.

First Ponting, still a superb batsman, was a leading figure in the row over whether India's Harbhajan Singh, ultimately cleared of the charge, had racially abused Andrew Symonds.

Then, as if losing 2-0 in India - themselves beaten at home by Sri Lanka - wasn't bad enough, Ponting was accused of putting himself before the team by employing part-time bowlers in the fourth Test at Nagpur so as to avoid a slow over-rate induced suspension from the ensuing first Test against New Zealand.

Elsewhere Smith, who as a 22-year-old skipper saw off one England captain in Nasser Hussain, saw off another in Michael Vaughan.

England's Ashes-winning leader of 2005 had struggled for fitness and, latterly, form in the intervening three years.

Meanwhile, in 2008, England couldn't beat anyone in a Test series other than New Zealand, one of the five-day game's weakest teams, who saw John Bracewell quit as their coach.

Kevin Pietersen took over from Vaughan and led England to five straight wins over South Africa (one Test and four one-dayers), the land of his birth.

Even more importantly, he helped persuade England to return to India after the Mumbai attacks - a reminder that India, cricket's commercial powerhouse, and the world game need one another.

New Zealand's series with the West Indies would have been forgettable but for the Black Caps' Daniel Flynn, on 95 and in sight of a maiden Test hundred, becoming the first cricketer to be given out leg before by television replay in a Test.

Neither team were fans of a system open to abuse as players, not officials, initiated the referral process.

Pakistan became a no-go area for top sides on security grounds while Zimbabwe, despite their ongoing absence from Tests, sparked the early departure of International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed.

The Australian exited following the global governing body's failure to take significant action after an audit questioned Zimbabwe Cricket's finances.

Speed saved one of his most interesting comments for when he was out of office, saying India should not be regarded as cricket's bogeyman.

"Cricket is the most popular sport by a factor of about 30 in the second-most populous country in the world.

"The game needs to find ways to use that unique selling point. There is too much fear of an Indian takeover and the power of the Indian administrators."

Source: Internet

 

[Ollie_H]

I thought you had written it yourself untill I saw the last line!

 

[Shri]

Gilchrist's retirement.
Ganguly's retirement.
Kumble's retirement.
Sehwag finally getting the recognition as a great player that he has always deserved.

These are the things that have come to my mind immediately. Will edit this post again on the 31st of this month if Hayden retires after the second test ends. Greatest opener in all forms of the game in this decade.

 

[manee]

Yogy, keep in mind that we don't tolerate posting of whole articles - so post a snippet and we don't tolerate posting of an article without a URL source, so post a source.

 

[m_vaughan]

Kevin Pietersen taking on the captaincy and destroying South Africa 4-0.

The emergence of Ajantha Mendis. He will become a legend, mark my words.

 

[evertonfan]

Our Fred's extraordinary spell of bowling to Kallis at Edgbaston.

 

[venom2011]

Our Fred's extraordinary spell of bowling to Kallis at Edgbaston.

I don't get that one. How extraordinary could it have been if Kallis couldn't even see the ball. That's like him bowling to a blind person and calling it extraordinary when he plays and misses.

 

[aussie_ben91]

My favourite moment was seeing Matthew Hayden surpass Sir Donald Bradman on the century list in Adelaide. What made his acchievement so great is because out of everyone who has passed Bradman on the century list - Hayden did so least ammount of matches played.

 

[evertonfan]

I don't get that one. How extraordinary could it have been if Kallis couldn't even see the ball. That's like him bowling to a blind person and calling it extraordinary when he plays and misses.

Okay then, my favourite moment of the year was when our Fred bowled that great fiery spell to that blind guy at Edgbaston.

 

[tech.007]

Kevin Petersen Destroying Harbhajan Singh's Bowling Attack in RBS Cup.

 

[Howsie]

My Favourite moments of 2008.

1.Ishant Sharma bowling in Australia, so great to see a young fast bowler doing well.

2.Brendon McCullum's 170 against Auckland in the State Final

3.NZ's 10 wicket win over England in the second ODI, McCullum and Ryder chase down 160 in 18 overs.

4.New Zealand winning the first test against England in Hamilton.

5.Tim Southee taking 5/55 in debut test match, and his 77* of only 41 balls.

6.Brendon McCullums 158* in the first IPL match.

7.Keven Pieterson's switch hit for six.

8.Tim Southee's man of the series award in his first ODI series in England. His 4/38 won us the 3rd ODI.

9.Ross Taylor's 158* in the 2nd test in England.

10.The emergence of Anjantha Mendis.

11.Tim Southee playing in his first test in Australia takes Hayden, Katich, and Ponting in his first spell of bowling.

12.Duminy and Steyn bat almost all day and rack up a 180 run partnership.

 

[.Mob]

Most of them have been said. My favorite is Duminy's, a star is born.

 

[Dare]

I have to say the performance of Chanderpaul. He was so good this year and against the top sides in the world.
Mendis coming out and owning people left and right was a great thing to see. Cant wait to see him in his next test series.
Got to add Duminys performance against Australia especially in this 2nd test.

 

[.Mob]

Oh, forgot to mention Gambhir's emergence as a superb Test batsman too. Dhoni's captaincy in Tests also.