Boom Boom Afridi

You know I was going to say it, I just had to. I've been sitting on this all day because apparently I changed internet service providers and I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW. Those liars. So that's one giant fucking problem I have to deal with when I get home.

But wait, AFRIDI. He wasn't very "boom boom" at all, actually. More measured and playing like Sri Lanka normally would, only it was Pakistan. So that was strange and out of character, but I can only assume some sort of Freaky Friday-esque thing happened and the two teams switched souls. I guess that means Barbara Harris was living inside of Afridi so obviously they had to win. Barbara Harris is a winner, everyone knows that.

As for Sri Lanka, Jayasuriya and King Kumar were the only real standouts as they attempted to rally and post a decent score. But how about Angelo Mathews at the end? That was strange and rather fortunate. Poor Dilshan, he could have gone on to do great things. As it was, his duck led to a final which isn't all that memorable, except perhaps for Pakistan, for whom this is a pretty great win.

And as expected, this is huge in Pakistan. So huge their President is giving something like 1 million rupees to Younis and Afridi, and half that to the rest of the team. Um, wow? Don't mind me saying so, but I'm pretty sure there's a billion other places he could be putting that money to use. Anyway, Pakistan win so all the more glory to them.

WOOHOO! DO YOU NOT LOVE THIS MAN?

And this might not have sunk in yet, but the tournament is OVER. It is the greatest feeling in the world when a tournament like this ends before you've gotten so sick of it you never want to turn on the television again.

Drool, fool, burp

Alright! Here's how you blog about cricket, ladies:

Cheerleaders may attract more men to the IPL but who brings the girls in? Here are XI IPL hotties who get the ladies giggling and tossing their hair.

Now, while I'm not going to deny that a good looking sportsman will bring in the female viewers, it's quite an extraordinary sight to imagine ladies "giggling and tossing their hair" either at a player on the ground or at their television screen.

The article is some sort of strange combination of relevant insights into players and drooling over this theme team. It's right at times and just completely wrong at other times. Take, for example, the description of Dan Vettori:

Contrary to popular belief, us girls aren't fixated on men with rippling muscles and washboard abs. No, not if Dan walks into the room. His bespectacled look and slow, deliberate manner of speaking are guaranteed to make you go "aww" and wish you could take him home to Mum.

Half of that is right. The other half is just plain weird.

Not to mention AB making the cut. On looks alone, yeah alright, if you happen to look at the right time.

Brett Lee makes "pretty girls look like hags". Not sure what the intention of that was.

Dale Steyn is "blond". Not in my world.

And apparently Sangakkara the cricket makes the list. The list of men who make girls "giggle and toss their hair". Would you giggle and toss your hair for Sangakkara? I wouldn't. If anything, I'd ask him to play Twister. He looks like a Twister person.

If you were going to make a list like this, there were better options for it.

The article is something I'd expect to see in a women's mag or on Cricket Australia's website, not on Cricinfo.

Okay...

Ponting and Sangakkara back Buchanan

They actually like his multiple captain theory amidst a frenzy of effigy burnings and publicly unsupportive outbursts. At least someone's on John Buchanan's side. He's a little disappointed, however. He was hoping that after years of bad relations, Warnie would come to his rescue. It was not the case, sadly.

"I know Tassie actually experimented with that a few years ago. One was doing the field placings and one was doing the bowling changes. So it just sort of lightened the load up on the actual captain and gave him a bit more opportunity to think about different things. I don't see there's a lot of problems with it."

I myself would never go to Ricky to get an opinion on anything. He has a point, though. Jonty Rhodes was saying pretty much the same thing earlier. The only question is, if there's a captain for bowlers and a captain for fielders, WHERE DO THE OTHER TWO COME FROM? A captain for shining the ball? A captain for disagreeing with the other captains? They should be cleverly assigned roles like this to make it less confusing.

Kumar Sangakkara is supportive of the idea but also a little more sceptical, as he should be:

"If it's a way to go forward and it shows results, why not? Hopefully, it's not a marketing gimmick. Something to create more interest towards that one franchise and to get the public to say 'Well, we'll follow the Knight Riders from here on.'"

Buchanan is fuming at this insinuation, despite it having been said in earnest. I don't know where Kumar's getting these ideas that the idea will make the public want to support the KKR. After the effigies Ganguly fans were burning in Kolkata, I think that's the last thing that's likely to happen.

Shittiest effigy ever, no doubt.