The Cosmopolite
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
  Not the Greatest
Just to go on the record, I - very categorically - do not, for even one moment, think that the recent Aus-SA game, where some 800 odd runs were scored, was the "greatest" the sport has to offer.

According to me, it was a pillage, a loot and a game which deserves to be consigned to the heap of history because it was hardly a game. 'Games' are supposed to have contests, in the case of cricket, between bowlers and batsmen. The pitch at the 'match' is supposed to assist both, the batsman and the bowler. According to me, the 'match' at the Wanderers in Johannesburg did not have the contest that makes a sport a treat to watch. It was a one sided pitch, and it was the kind of a match which would have happened sooner or later. Some day, some batting side was gonna think that maybe on a good batting pitch, where it does not make a difference whether a bowler or a bowling machine is bowling, maybe it actually does not make a difference whether a bowler or a bowling machine is bowling. Australia and SA saw a batting pitch and went for leather. I agree that they did push the limits, but maybe the older limits for the batsman oriented game on batsmen oriented pitches were set too short, similar to the boundary ropes at most grounds today.

I prefer a good old contest, where a batsman sometimes cannot read the bowler, where the ball is swinging or spinning or rearing from the cracks. That will differentiate the men from the boys and more importantly, will introduce the all-important contest into the game.

Some matches I loved:

http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/WORLD_CUPS/WC99/SCORECARDS/FINALS/AUS_RSA_WC99_ODI-SEMI2_17JUN1999.html

http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1992-93/WI_IN_AUS/WI_AUS_T5_30JAN-01FEB1993.html

http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/1998-99/AUS_IN_WI/SCORECARDS/AUS_WI_T3_26-30MAR1999.html
 
  The 'false' banker? Oh, that's me!
There is this species that you do not notice much. It is a human species, a species which is visible only at two very specific times: when some insomnia ridden communist journo uncovers a very large hotel bill to criticize the excesses of capitalism or when irate populist politicians need to blame someone for corporate failures originally instigated by their own populist measures.

If you meet a specimen of this species, you would probably find him keen to network with you if you have a large business or if you are a decision maker in a large organization. On asking, he will very discretely call himself a 'investment banker' with a company that has some vaguely Jewish (or in India, Marwari) sounding name.

You might think he works with an organization comparable with your standard Central Bank or State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, but that is where you are wrong. Or, to put it correctly, that is where you would begin to be wrong. For, on digging deeper, you shall find that he is nowhere interested in your standard savings and current accounts or is not even remotely linked to them. His primary competency lies in ensuring that the chaotic world of big finance remains chaotic :). He will, in all probability, use big words like "zero coupon convertible bonds" or "highly leveraged management buyout" or will talk about mythical sounding creatures like the "white knight".

Anyways, you get the idea. The purpose of such an explanation - I've become one of them, I've defected and have joined Lazard (India) in Mumbai. Don't blame me, what could I do, I was ensnared by the intrigue of finance, the glamour of deals.... I'll cut it, you know the rest.
 
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