Staggering On

So, the World Cup staggers on.

Dull, rain-interrupted games; semi-deserted stadia; a schedule which stretches into the distance with little sign of conclusion, but which will probably just end with Australia winning.

While England's narrow defeat to Sri Lanka earlier in the week was an enjoyable exception - a taut and exciting game in front of what looked like a reasonable crowd, in which Ravi Bopara put his hand up as a potentially significant discovery for England - it's the exception which proves the rule.

Throughout the web and the written media, the ICC is taking some fearful stick. I can't find the piece which Cricinfo was carrying yesterday by a World Cup volunteer, but this by Tim de Lisle, will do just as well.

With the inquests continuing in India and Pakistan (and Chappell gone) the biggest and most-needed inquiry of all - into how this tournament became such a disaster thanks to the ICC's stupidity and greed - should start as soon as the competition has ended (if it ever does).

Standing Still

India's second innings capitulation in Cape Town, which led to the loss of the series, showed that, despite the advances made by the likes of Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan, and the continuing excellence of Kumble, they persist in taking about as many steps backwards as they do forwards, and remain one of the most consistent sides in world cricket.

Utterly consistent in failing to make the most of their talent and in falling apart at the first sign of pressure.

Greg Chappell has a lot of work to do, and it remains to be seen how much longer he will be given to do it.

And you were wondering why I think England will beat them this summer?

Lara Man

Somebody once said that when it comes to the two greatest batsmen of the modern era you're either a 'Lara Man or a 'Tendulkar Man'. Well, ever since I saw him make 152 against England at Trent Bridge in August 1995, I've been a Lara Man.

I haven't written about him here before as he hasn't been doing much since I started this blog in July, but his 216 against Pakistan in Multan is resonant confirmation that, with his 38th birthday on the horizon, he remains as potent a batting artist as ever.

With Tendulkar you get as much technical quality as you could possibly want and a good many shots which are so sublime that nobody else around (except possibly Lara) could play them. Lara, though, exhibits an even more remarkable brand of brilliance, distinguished by the priceless ability to play really large innings when they're most required, comprising periods of studied defence and coruscating attacking shots, all emanating from the most distinctive backlift in the game. It's possible, occasionally and if everything goes right, to keep Tendulkar relatively quiet. It's much, much harder to do so with Lara.

I'm old enough to have seen Viv Richards, Greg Chappell and Gavaskar at their best, but I firmly believe Lara to be the greatest batsman I've ever seen and it looks likely that he'll be back in England again next spring.

I will certainly be at Lord's and possibly Chester-le-Street. I hope he's there too.

All Our Yesterdays

Over recent months I've been watching a lot of cricket on ESPN Classic (it's on Sky 442 for anyone who hasn't heard about it yet). During the summer they showed highlights of most of the England-West Indies Tests from the 1973, 1976, 1984 and 1995 series in England, and, as the 2006-07 Ashes series approaches, they're currently showing England-Australia matches of a similar vintage.

One of the best things about watching the ancient BBC highlights packages (apart, of course, from laughing at what Richie Benaud was wearing in the 1970s) is that the images and voices, especially the sublimely evocative tones of Jim Laker, take me back to (and sometimes beyond) the very edge of my cricketing consciousness. While I can remember bits of the 1972 series between England and Australia (for years I had a hazy memory in my head of a bowler with a ridiculously curved run-up and had no idea who it was until, during an eighties rain break, the BBC showed the highlights of Lord's '72 and I realised it was John Price) my memories of the 1973 series against the West Indies are more limited (trying to impersonate Gary Sobers in the garden after my father and elder brother had told me I was watching the best all-rounder of all time). So it was pretty shocking and more than a bit amusing to see Geoff Boycott repeatedly trying to commit suicide at Lord's before finally hooking the ball down Rohan Kanhai's throat with the sort of ill-judgement which would make him apoplectic today. And then there was the unbelievable hostility of the West Indies attack and the coolness and stoicism of Edrich and Close at Old Trafford in 1976, Richards at The Oval in the same year, the peerless Greg Chappell at Old Trafford in 1977, the pace, rhythm and class of John Snow and the young Dennis Lillee. The one and only Malcolm Marshall at Headingley and The Oval in 1984 and Botham (not the best commentator but hell what a player) trying his best to fight fire with fire.

It's been great.