Too many Ashes spoil the broth

England have comprehensively regained the Ashes by beating Australia by an innings and 78 runs at Trent Bridge. The urn has had a fair bit of give and take in the last few years and is now again in English hands. While England must be given credit for winning in such a convincing manner, the road ahead is not easy as tougher challenges lie and chinks still remain in their armour. The Australians will again enter the throes of transition post this series with a new captain and a relatively new set of players. They have many questions to answer.

The fifth and final Test at the Oval has now been rendered inconsequential.

In terms of the quality of cricket played, most people are wondering whether this has been one of the poorest Ashes series they have watched. One cannot blame them for thinking that way. The overall quality of cricket in this series has not been exceptional. England bossed the games at Cardiff, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge and Australia lorded over at Lord’s. None of the Tests went into the 5^th day and the 3^rd and 4^th Tests were dragged into the third day with great difficulty. As Jonathan Liew of the Telegraph put it, ‘in a battle of two evenly flawed and evenly matched teams, England have pulled decisively clear as a result of better execution and being less inept more often’. As cricket fans, we like to watch good and competitive Test series, which this one has not been. We do not enjoy games that end within two or three days with one team totally dominating the other, however fast-paced they might be.

This has been the 4^th Ashes series in the last 5 years. Out of the four, three have been won by the home team. Plus, none of the four have been particularly good when it comes to the quality of cricket. The first one was the 2010-11 series in which England dominated. The one in England in 2013 was not bad, as Australia gave a good fight despite England winning. However, it cannot be classified as a great Test series. The following Ashes in Australia again had some pretty one - sided cricket with Australia crushing England 5-0.

This year, most neutral fans did not just feel disappointed by the cricket, but also felt fatigued by the overdose of Ashes series. A feeling is on the rise that the number of Ashes series increasing in a stipulated time period cannot be good. This is because this can dilute the nature of the historic contest. No-one would want a series like this to lose colour because of being overdone. One gets reminded of the old adage 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'. 

Cricket Humour post 1: India vs Australia, Melbourne City

I happened to watch a snippet from Namak Halal, an old Bollyood film, on TV a few days ago. In this clip, Amitabh Bachchan utters those famous lines about a conversation taking place between Vijay Merchant and Vijay Hazare as they batted together during an imaginary match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground many years ago. This made me think of the present day scenario and with all the cricket satire on the internet, it automatically gave me a new idea to do a humour post about it. So, here it is:

India vs Australia. Melbourne City. Present day scenario.A very prestigious match.

The second over of the second day of the Test is about to be bowled. It is about 5:15 in the morning in India and Indian fans are just about waking up.

Steve Smith and Joe Burns are at the crease at the moment and Ishant Sharma is due to bowl the second over. Smith is on strike,with two slips and a gully in position. There are no fielders behind square on the on - side. The umpire signals that it is time for the bowler to start his run-up and Ishant charges in from round the wicket. He ends up bowling a short ball on the leg stump. Indian fans who have just woken up immediately cover their bleary eyes as this is the first sight that they see when they switch on the TV. The next second, Steve Smith maneuvers the ball for a four through fine leg. The commentators go gaga in the commentary box, "That's a terrible delivery from Ishant Sharma!". Ian Chappell automatically gives his view of the situation on air, "Kohli should have probably asked Sharma to go over the wicket". What does the captain himself think? He looks indignant. He chirps to the bowler from mid - on, "Bhai, mein slip fielders ko taali bajane ke liye nahi raka hoon". (He told Sharma that he hasn't positioned those fielders at slip to simply clap their hands every time the bowlers bowl, indirectly hinting that the bowler must bowl on 

the off-stump)

Response to the article 'World Cups and some uneven applause'

To the editor of the Hindu:

 Dear Sir/Madam,

                         I really appreciated the points mentioned in the Open Page article titled "World Cups and some uneven applause"(Dated 21st December 2014) regarding the response that the Indian Blind Cricket Team received from the public and the media when they won the Blind Cricket World Cup recently.

People in India tend to say that there is 'too much focus' on cricket in general by the public, the authorities and the media, but they tend to forget that women's cricket and disabled cricket are much neglected by all three. It is actually only the 'able-bodied men' that are given the focus and attention.

As far as I know, there was not a single news item in any of India's leading newspapers regarding the Indian hearing impaired team winning the Asian Championships for the Deaf in Dharmashala. I was informed of what was happening in the tournament through the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association's official fan page on Facebook. The women's team and the disabled teams have to enter every tournament with almost negligible support from the board.
 
Though the BCCI did well to arrange for the series between Indian women and SA women which included a one - off Test, they still need to support the team more by announcing contracts for them and ensuring that they have more match practice. They are the only women's team in the world that does not have contracts with their board. It is not that Mithali Raj's girls don't have the ability; they just need to be backed by the BCCI.

As a cricket fan, I was delighted when I came to know that the Blind team had won the World Cup. I was thrilled when I came to know that they had chased down 390 in 40 overs, which is not an ordinary feat even by normal standards. However, I was interested to note in an article on a cricket website that 390 in 40 overs isn't an imposing total by Blind Cricket's standards.

Yours Sincerely,
Shruthi S.

Album 1-Srirangam and surrounding places

I would like to inaugurate the photography section of my blog with the photographs that I took during a 3-day pilgrimage/trip of Srirangam and surrounding places.

My grandmother, my mother and I had a terrific time visiting Srirangam and surrounding places and were privileged to see the sanctum sanctorum of the Ranganathaswamy temple thrice. The Trichy region is hotter than you imagine, folks. Chennai's heat is nothing compared to this heat(yes, that is true) and the care-taker of the choultry in which we stayed talks of the temperature going over 100 degrees farenheit as if it is very normal. I have eaten enough South Indian thalis over the past few days and I don't think I will like the look of rice for the next few weeks....
You can see the original size of the pictures by clicking on them.

Can't ask for a better photo to start the album with.
The south gopuram of the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple.

The Kaveri in such a sorry state.
Not a drop is left, mind you.

The Uttamar koil where one can see sannidhis of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

                        

 

Samayapuram!

                          

A stall outside the Samayapuram Mariamman Koil.

Geetha Saram in Hotel President, Samayapuram

Gopuram of the Brahmapooreswarar Temple in Tirupattur

The remains of the outer gopuram of the Pundarikakshar temple in Tiruvellarai

The inner gopuram of the Pundarikakshar temple in Tiruvellarai

The gopuram of the Gunaseelam temple which is supposed to be a place that cures the mentally ill that visit it. My 'kula deivam' temple.

A bit of water left at Kollidam

The tributary of the Kaveri that goes to the sea

A ringside view...

Karigala Chozhan Manimandapam
A place built by the Chief Minister(Jayalalitha) in honour of this Chozhan king.

Entering....

The statue of the Chozhan king inside the Mandapam

The Appakudathan temple

A saying from the Geeta above the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum at the Appakudathan temple.

The dwadasthombam of the Appakudathan temple

A countryside in South India is incomplete without a field dotted by coconut trees.

On the way to Anbil...

A very well-designed mandapam outside the temple at Anbil.

The gopuram of the temple at Anbil

A train viewed on the way back to Srirangam..

                          

The Uchi Pilliar Koil in Trichy

The entrance to the temple at Karur

The kolam of the temple at Karur which is unfortunately dry.

The gopuram of the temple

The outskirts of Karur which is quite a big town.

Coconut trees viewed on the way to Namakkal

This photo was spoilt because it was taken in a moving car.:p

Namakkal!

The entrance of the famous Anjaneyar Koil in Namakkal

The famous statue of Anjaneyar taken from outside...

The Narasimhar Koil in Namakkal

The temple with the fort in the background

A wonderful tree in the Narasimhar Koil that I thought was very artistic. No one needs to look beyond nature for such stuff.

Granny in Namakkal :)

Leaving the temple.........

The great fort in Namakkal

The hustle and bustle of Namakkal

Another temple on a hill

The gopuram of the gate that marks Srirangam seen from outside Trichy...

The proper view of the gate

                      

Srirangam!

Supposed to be my native place...

The sights and sounds of Srirangam

Somewhere near the temple.......

The choultry where we stayed.

The symbols by which Srirangam and Lord Narayana are defined.

Another proper shot of the southern gopuram of the temple.

The gopuram of the Dasa Avatara temple in Srirangam

The well inside the temple

Another very well-designed mandapam in the premises of the Narasimhar koil in Srirangam.

The entrance of the Narasimhar koil...

A proper shot of the gopuram

People near the main gate...

The famous elephant of the Ranganathar temple.

The Veli Andal koil in Srirangam...

The wonderful entrance to the temple!

The gopuram...

Now, I am back home!