Stick Sports Community

(Originally published at The Match Referee)

Lalit Modi's decision to schedule the opening match of IPL3 in Mumbai, a home match for Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers, was potentially a bullet in foot move. Through the grace of god, or most probably a few thousand free tickets, the game was played in a stadium that was more full than empty. The question is, how long will the IPL continue to get away with such daftness?

Hyderabad, by all accounts, is still a peaceful place...

(Originally published at The Match Referee)

Rs 800 crore (US$170 million) is the BCCI's base valuation for the space on the front and leading arm of Team India's shirts for the next four years. This base price is no less than double the amount Sahara has paid for its logo to adorn Team India's chests for the current four year period. Hey, I'm a raging capitalist and firmly believe that the market (helped by much bravado and optimism) will ultimately decide the real price for the India's...

(Originally published at The Match Referee)

The columnists at The Match Referee have had their say (none with more conviction and passion than evident here), many 'experts' have said their two-cents-worth and yet this car struggles to get out of first gear. However, the results of the recent West Indies v Bangladesh series serve to prove beyond doubt that any form of cricket needs equally matched opponents to appeal to the players and the paying public. For this reason and despite their...

(Originally posted at The Match Referee)

It's official - I have diagnosed myself as suffering from strategic time-out withdrawal syndrome. I would never have thought it true, but it is now fact that our hero Lalit Modi's unashamed attempt at milking yet more dollars out of his IPL baby has forever impacted my T20 spectatorship. After sitting through six weeks of meaningless 7.5 minute breaks at the end of the first 10 overs, I now find myself unable to handle a game of T20 cricket where...

(Originally posted at The Match Referee)

It amazes me how hypocritical some people can be, particularly cricketers - especially Her Majesty's own. Now lets face it, Andrew Flintoff used to be a great cricketer - for about a year or two before the 2005 Ashes. In Simmi's words (there's your honourable mention Sim), he used to be cool.

Sample this from only a couple of months ago, following the second IPL auction after Flintoff had just finished counting to 1.55 million....