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2009 was a strange year in cricket. The hiatus after the upheavals of 2008. Following 3 months of mainly test cricket, there was IPL2 which had early interest due to the fact it went on the road but still ran out steam quicker than the first one. And terrorists in Lahore ensured that it would be a long time before international cricket returned to one of its most important countries. Then it was the T20 World Cup in England which featured the Netherlands, full of Antipodeans with funny names, keeping their nerve better than England, and romantic winners in hitherto forgotten Pakistan to make it memorable for at least a month. Then it was off to South Africa for the ugly ducking of ICC tournaments where New Zealand actually made a final. Note that there will be 3 ICC tournaments within the space of 9 months; who said they sat around doing nothing? In between there was an Ashes series and a ridiculous amount of Golden Goose Slaughtering with Australia playing 94 ODIs against England and India. There was a Champions League thrown in there somewhere where the main interest was that the IPL teams, despite massively rigged eligibility rules, bowed out early, and an Australian side actually won somthing. Then Pakistan embarked on their new identity as the homeless fresh travellers of world cricket. A player mutiny in New Zealand saw Vettori assume more power than any cricket player ever. The much anticipated relaunch of Bond’s test career lasted 5 days, the West Indies had industrial issues, but came through it with more depth than before and scores just kept on getting higher and higher. Industrial action, darkroom backstabbing, countries in financial crisis, terrorism, and inflation. Cricket around the globe in 2009 wasn’t too much different from other happenings. Australia started the year as World Number 1, soon lost that title, then won it back in South Afirca. Then lost it again, then India moved to number 1 by playing lots of tests on flat pitches and who knows who holds it at the moment. Yes, it was a confusing year all round. Team of the Year Hold tight everyone; the team of the year is ... England. Yes that’s right. England who were never far from the headlines. They played 3 test matches (count them) during the year that ended in draws with the last pair at the crease fighting against the odds, and another one where the 4th innings was 8 down.
They did it with little help from their super-egos too. This was more down to the growth of Swann, Braod finally finding her feet, and some cunning South African recruitment in the batting line-up. Player of the Year 2 of them actually, and they’re both from Delhi. Sehwag took the headlines and grabbed the religious following, and with reason, but it was Gambhir, who quietly went about scoring 700+ runs at an average of over 90 in tests who was the leading batsmen for the year. But, with all the fun at the other end, no one seems to notice. Tough guy of the Year By some distance, this goes to Thilan Samaraweera. A 10 year international journeyman with negligible profile was in the thick of everything. Back to back double centuries in Pakistan, putting him in a short list dominated by Bradman, were followed by his becoming the most seriously injured in the Lahore attck. 47 pieces of shrapnel in the thigh and buttocks, and initial diagnosis was that he wouldn’t walk again. But he did, and a few months later he was adding back to back centuries against NZ. A good year for Finger spinners. 5 years ago we thought they were all dead, but this was the year they returned around the world; at the same time the Murali era drew to an end too. Paul Harris, who has never been observed to have turned a ball in his life is now the #8 ranked bowler in the world. All this on pitches that don’t suit and with a run-up that appears likely to trip him up. Vettori might not have done too much with the ball, but he has solved NZ’s gap at number 6 in all forms of the game, scored more runs than anyone else, and added selector and coach to his empire. Despite 2008’s hype, Herath out bowled Mendis. Graeme Swann mixed up some potty-mouthed twittering with becoming a dominant force in the Ashes and on the South African tour,. And Sulieman Benn became the darling of the world by taking on the Aussies in Perth. And at the end of the year, just when you thought finger-spinning wonders could offer no more, Hauritz got a 5 wicket bag and helped win a test. Crazy stuff. A good year for Names. England started it all by picking Onions. And the UK media got themselves into a pickle with the fart jokes. There was the Aussie champagne bottle guy. Then the West Indies, of course, picked a team with Reifer and Roach in it. And the year finished with NZ picking a player called BJ. Not a good year for KP. Started off as captain, and had that taken off him when he tried to play power games. Note how Vettori learnt from that. Even worse, Strauss got the job, and did well too. He was a half-injured bit part player in the Ashes triumph, and is now the 3rd or 4th most influential South African born player in the England set-up. A farewell with a Difference The last decade has seen a range of overblown farewells. From Steve Waugh’s less than successful tour of the country while struggling to draw with Ganguly’s Indians to the Freddie Show at the Oval this year (sole contribution = 1 throw from mid-off). But everything about Iain O’Brien’s retirement from test cricket was so different. From the announcement 4 days before his last yet, to the most impressive spell ever on the most boring test pitch outside of India this was so un-2009. It almost seemed appropriate that rain should deprive him the glory of a match-winning spell that he deserved. The Year Summed up in a Blog Remember the Fake IPL Player ? You probably do now, but you needed reminding. But for the first 2 weeks of IPL2 he was the main point of interest. Not only was it a bit racy, but it was doing to Hindlish what the Pink Panther did to Franglais. But once it was obvious he was never going to reveal himself, once the comments were overrun by people trying to sell Viagra and cheap loans, and once he started jumping dolphins, sharks and small tsunamis the interest receded pretty quickly. A bit like the IPL itself really. There was another blog that sucked people in for longer, and in a far more sinister way, but we’ll leave that for another day. Best Cricketing book by a Blogger on the 2009 Ashes this year It has to be When Freddie Became Jesus . Strangely under promoted too. So there it is; a review of 2009 and not one mention of Bevdaa.
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