The Saturday Thread- Warne, McGrath, Atul Sharma, & The Exponential Growth of Wickets

[Dhondy]

Roughly how often does the term "Atul Sharma" crop up on this forum? You take a guess. Thirty...maybe 50 threads? Actually there are 166 threads and exactly 500 posts on the man. The 500th post was logged at 5:25 AM today. Congratulations, Atul. For a man that's never bowled a delivery in international cricket, that is a supreme achievement. Is there a confounder? You bet there is. The search engine can't recall data beyond 500 posts. You are pretty useless, aren't you, Varun?:--D The odds are therefore, that there are a lot more posts out there eulogizing the bowler-that-never-bowled-a-ball. Remarkable. I take my sombrero off to you, Pont. Here's another little factoid. It is exactly 863 days since McGrath & Warne retired, with a small matter of 1263 Test wickets between them. Fifth January 2007, if I am precise, the day I knew cricket would never be the same for me again. And it hasn't. Don't get me wrong... I haven't taken out a franchise to fogeydom, and the old blood still occasionally starts racing when I see an odd spell, like the one Johnson bowled to Smith before splintering his carpal bones into several pieces, but it's not like watching the master craftsmen in action. Remember the final Ashes Test at the Oval in 2005? Australia down and out, England batting a second time, hardly any time left in the match, and the Pommies grinning like maniacal Cheshire cats that got the proverbial cream. But two men wouldn't give up...didn't know how to give up. A delectable away seamer from the 1.95 m New South Wales man has Vaughan flummoxed, while Bell is caught stone dead in front of the wicket first ball. At the other end, Warne roars as Flintoff drives one straight back to him, the mad glint in his eyes heralding one last hurrah, and then follows up with a peach of a delivery, Ponting snaffling Collingwood at FSL off a forward prod. For a while, Australia dare hope again, until Pietersen takes it away from them one more time with as outrageous an innings as you are ever likely to see if you lived to be a hundred. As Koertzen lifts the bails in fading light to rousing cheers, McGrath & Warne embrace, two timeless figures, undefeated, unbowed, titans together, united by their epic battles against myriad tormented batsmen. Will cricket ever be the same again? Who knows. You are welcome to your daily dose of IPL, and no rebuke to Chris Gayle either for his remarkable disavowment of Test cricket. To each man, his own. There are other things in the world to keep me busy. Here's one, to finish off, for the maths aficionados. If the number of wickets 'y' taken by Warne grew according to the equation dy/dt=ky where k is a constant and t is measured in years, and if the tally of wickets doubled every 5 years , what is the value of k? BTW, that's a 167th thread with Atul Sharma in it. I am getting to be as bad as you lot.

[Sachinism]

167th with Atul Sharma being mentioned hahaha

[EnterTheVoid]

Roughly how often does the term "Atul Sharma" crop up on this forum? You take a guess. Thirty...maybe 50 threads? Actually there are 166 threads and exactly 500 posts on the man. The 500th post was logged at 5:25 AM today. Congratulations, Atul. For a man that's never bowled a delivery in international cricket, that is a supreme achievement. Is there a confounder? You bet there is. The search engine can't recall data beyond 500 posts. You are pretty useless, aren't you, Varun?:--D The odds are therefore, that there are a lot more posts out there eulogizing the bowler-that-never-bowled-a-ball. Remarkable. I take my sombrero off to you, Pont.

:hysterical: :hysterical: :cantstop:

[ViruRulez]

Will Atul Sharma ever make an appearance in a cricket match .. I get irritated nowadays whenever I hear his name .. it has been too much Atul Sharma during the last month or so although nobody has ever seen him bowl in any match

[nikred]

Will Atul Sharma ever make an appearance in a cricket match .. I get irritated nowadays whenever I hear his name .. it has been too much Atul Sharma during the last month or so although nobody has ever seen him bowl in any match

Well try telling that to the guy who has blogs about him on his website.:giggle:

[graphic23]

Here's one, to finish off, for the maths aficionados. If the number of wickets 'y' taken by Warne grew according to the equation dy/dt=ky where k is a constant and t is measured in years, and if the tally of wickets doubled every 5 years , what is the value of k? BTW, that's a 167th thread with Atul Sharma in it. I am getting to be as bad as you lot.

dy/dt = ky; y = Ae^(kt) y(5) = Ae^(5k) = .5Ae^(10k) k = ln(2) / 5 y(t) = Aexp[ln(2)/5)t] - give me an initial condition, and I'll give you A :P BTW, Nice thread. :--D

[Mr. Wicket]

Actually there are 166 threads and exactly 500 posts on the man. The 500th post was logged at 5:25 AM today. Congratulations' date=' Atul. For a man that's never bowled a delivery in international cricket, that is a supreme achievement.[/quote'] Not entirely true; I'm being pedantic here but I must take up a sword (or pen or keyboard) against that 'international' comment. There are plenty who never bowled a delivery (or faced a ball) in international cricket and deserved, earned and commanded respect. Amol Muzumdar is one who comes to mind straight away, KP Bhaskar not far behind. Vintcent Van der Bijl, the lethal South African seamer (almost a combination of McGrath and Ambrose at 6 ft 8, with just tremendous seam and swing skill and amazing precision with the ball, and a holy terror to batsmen in county cricket) missed an entire career thanks to South Africa's isolation. Peter Roebuck another, a very fine batsman at Somerset who got undermined by politics and Botham, and missed a good deal. The difference of course is that cricketers earn respect, acknowledgment and eventually hype based on their skills, and there are plenty of men who never got to international cricket but at least showed those skills off in other circuits and earned their plaudits. Even in Bombay today, there are people who still talk about Amol and what could have been of him, another member of that troika of young batsmen who destroyed all bowlers in Harris Shield and Bombay cricket alongside Sachin and Kambli. And van der Bijl may be a name that plenty of bachchas have no clue about and will just wonder "Who?" before going on to cheer their next six-and-out hero, but there are still plenty who have a great respect for him; particularly the likes of Glenn Turner, Geoff Boycott, Alvin Kallicharran, Lawrence Rowe and so many others that he dismissed and dominated. Atul on the other hand is simply a product of massive hype and talk and a brief video that only shows off pace, and none of the many other skills so critical to any cricketer's success. As our neighbours have shown us SO many times, pace isn't much more than something to fap off about and plenty seem to be doing that in their obsessions over Atul. Sami also had pace, lethal explosive stump-splattering pace that could get so many wickets for Pakistan and bring about comparisons with Malcolm Marshall from some. Of course he lacked control, variety, brains, the temperament to bowl well under pressure (heck, some might argue the abiliy to bowl well full stop), and is now a joke in most of the cricketing world. Right now he's about as productive as a cricketing Ponzi scheme. Did nothing yet. Isn't doing anything yet. If he can play and perform, it'll be wonderful. But to obsess over someone who hasn't even got a clue about playing a full game of cricket, for people to fantasize and 'excite' over a guy who has no experience bowling with three slips and two gullies when wickets are urgently needed, or bowling with a 6-3 off side field to contain, or to fire in a few yorkers and slower balls when 10 is needed off a final over is ridiculous. The guy's done NOTHING in cricket, and yet a whole bunch of hype has gotten people so excited. Nothing says he can't do what some people imagine, and if he can it'll be wonderful. But why are some people so foolish and deluded to obsess over something that may never even be, rather than waiting for him to actually perform before acknowleding any abilities he has, and in the mean time unable appreciate others who ARE performing even if they don't get a ton of hype on various message boards? Hey, Murali Kartik has been turning in some excellent performances with the ball that have been ignored thanks to the nature of the format of T20 cricket, Phillip Hughes has run up 3 centuries for Middlesex in consecutive games in no time this season and is in frightening form ahead of the Ashes, how about a little respect and acknowledgement for such players rather than the obsessive ATUL ATUL OMG LOL DLF idiocy?

Here's another little factoid. It is exactly 863 days since McGrath & Warne retired, with a small matter of 1263 Test wickets between them. Fifth January 2007, if I am precise, the day I knew cricket would never be the same for me again. And it hasn't. Don't get me wrong... I haven't taken out a franchise to fogeydom, and the old blood still occasionally starts racing when I see an odd spell, like the one Johnson bowled to Smith before splintering his carpal bones into several pieces, but it's not like watching the master craftsmen in action.

Nothing is. Little will be. Those men were masters, and it was a privilege to watch them in one of their two swansong test matches, a highlight of my memories as a cricket fan. I'll add in more on this later with time (and also take on that comment about the Pietersen's innings being the most outrageous one may see; I'd wager that Doug Walters, Sehwag, Viv Richards and Ian Botham have produced better. If you're still arguing, come to the East Coast and we'll watch Doug Walters blasting England for a hundred in one session, finishing by hooking Bob Willis into the stands on the last ball, or Botham slapping Lillee's bouncers off his eyebrows bare-headed and sending each one about 10 rows back into Old Trafford.)

Will cricket ever be the same again? Who knows. You are welcome to your daily dose of IPL, and no rebuke to Chris Gayle either for his remarkable disavowment of Test cricket. To each man, his own. There are other things in the world to keep me busy.

Faintly off-topic, but it's not Gayle's comment about test cricket that is disappointing. People may have preferences, but it's ridiculous and incredibly unprofessional to take such an attitude publicly when you're expected to lead a team of others playing for their nations, and make it clear that you don't care. People like Ramdin, Chanderpaul and Edwards fight tooth and nail for their countries and team, and some like Chanderpaul have given so much to the team over the last decade and a half of sheer sweat. And yet Gayle, because he got the big bucks and is sulking about being pulled away from the carnival and bright lights, makes it clear that he has no respect or regard for the game those men put such effort into, and couldn't care less about leading such people onto a field. Pathetic, disgraceful and sad.

[ViruRulez]

Well try telling that to the guy who has blogs about him on his website.:giggle:

:(( who is that guy :dontknow:

[f.b.m]

Not entirely true; I'm being pedantic here but I must take up a sword (or pen or keyboard) against that 'international' comment. There are plenty who never bowled a delivery (or faced a ball) in international cricket and deserved, earned and commanded respect. Amol Muzumdar is one who comes to mind straight away, KP Bhaskar not far behind. Vintcent Van der Bijl, the lethal South African seamer (almost a combination of McGrath and Ambrose at 6 ft 8, with just tremendous seam and swing skill and amazing precision with the ball, and a holy terror to batsmen in county cricket) missed an entire career thanks to South Africa's isolation. Peter Roebuck another, a very fine batsman at Somerset who got undermined by politics and Botham, and missed a good deal. The difference of course is that cricketers earn respect, acknowledgment and eventually hype based on their skills, and there are plenty of men who never got to international cricket but at least showed those skills off in other circuits and earned their plaudits. Even in Bombay today, there are people who still talk about Amol and what could have been of him, another member of that troika of young batsmen who destroyed all bowlers in Harris Shield and Bombay cricket alongside Sachin and Kambli. And van der Bijl may be a name that plenty of bachchas have no clue about and will just wonder "Who?" before going on to cheer their next six-and-out hero, but there are still plenty who have a great respect for him; particularly the likes of Glenn Turner, Geoff Boycott, Alvin Kallicharran, Lawrence Rowe and so many others that he dismissed and dominated. Atul on the other hand is simply a product of massive hype and talk and a brief video that only shows off pace, and none of the many other skills so critical to any cricketer's success. As our neighbours have shown us SO many times, pace isn't much more than something to fap off about and plenty seem to be doing that in their obsessions over Atul. Sami also had pace, lethal explosive stump-splattering pace that could get so many wickets for Pakistan and bring about comparisons with Malcolm Marshall from some. Of course he lacked control, variety, brains, the temperament to bowl well under pressure (heck, some might argue the abiliy to bowl well full stop), and is now a joke in most of the cricketing world. Right now he's about as productive as a cricketing Ponzi scheme. Did nothing yet. Isn't doing anything yet. If he can play and perform, it'll be wonderful. But to obsess over someone who hasn't even got a clue about playing a full game of cricket, for people to fantasize and 'excite' over a guy who has no experience bowling with three slips and two gullies when wickets are urgently needed, or bowling with a 6-3 off side field to contain, or to fire in a few yorkers and slower balls when 10 is needed off a final over is ridiculous. The guy's done NOTHING in cricket, and yet a whole bunch of hype has gotten people so excited. Nothing says he can't do what some people imagine, and if he can it'll be wonderful. But why are some people so foolish and deluded to obsess over something that may never even be, rather than waiting for him to actually perform before acknowleding any abilities he has, and in the mean time unable appreciate others who ARE performing even if they don't get a ton of hype on various message boards? Hey, Murali Kartik has been turning in some excellent performances with the ball that have been ignored thanks to the nature of the format of T20 cricket, Phillip Hughes has run up 3 centuries for Middlesex in consecutive games in no time this season and is in frightening form ahead of the Ashes, how about a little respect and acknowledgement for such players rather than the obsessive ATUL ATUL OMG LOL DLF idiocy? Nothing is. Little will be. Those men were masters, and it was a privilege to watch them in one of their two swansong test matches, a highlight of my memories as a cricket fan. I'll add in more on this later with time (and also take on that comment about the Pietersen's innings being the most outrageous one may see; I'd wager that Doug Walters, Sehwag, Viv Richards and Ian Botham have produced better. If you're still arguing, come to the East Coast and we'll watch Doug Walters blasting England for a hundred in one session, finishing by hooking Bob Willis into the stands on the last ball, or Botham slapping Lillee's bouncers off his eyebrows bare-headed and sending each one about 10 rows back into Old Trafford.) Faintly off-topic, but it's not Gayle's comment about test cricket that is disappointing. People may have preferences, but it's ridiculous and incredibly unprofessional to take such an attitude publicly when you're expected to lead a team of others playing for their nations, and make it clear that you don't care. People like Ramdin, Chanderpaul and Edwards fight tooth and nail for their countries and team, and some like Chanderpaul have given so much to the team over the last decade and a half of sheer sweat. And yet Gayle, because he got the big bucks and is sulking about being pulled away from the carnival and bright lights, makes it clear that he has no respect or regard for the game those men put such effort into, and couldn't care less about leading such people onto a field. Pathetic, disgraceful and sad.

Post of the month!! btw, I would disagree a bit on Sami. Yes he was stupid and ended up throwing pies but given the right sort of guidance and captaincy (there was never any lack of dedication from him), he could have been a world class bowler.

[Chandan]

Not entirely true; I'm being pedantic here but I must take up a sword (or pen or keyboard) against that 'international' comment.

Actually Doc should have said "neither international nor domestic cricket". Has this mythical fellow played even at the age group or even grade level? I have my doubts!

Phillip Hughes has run up 3 centuries for Middlesex in consecutive games in no time this season and is in frightening form ahead of the Ashes, how about a little respect and acknowledgement for such players rather than the obsessive ATUL ATUL OMG LOL DLF idiocy?

Actually Hughes hit another ton before leaving for Australia. Phillip Hughes hits his fourth ton in a month for county side Middlesex May 18, 2009 Phillip Hughes is finishing off his Ashes reconnaissance on a high, scoring his fourth hundred in a month for English county side Middlesex in a one-day clash. Hughes took full advantage of another flat Lord's deck by smashing 119 from 112 balls in the limited-overs clash before flying home later this week in preparation for the upcoming pre-Ashes tour camp on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The 20-year-old has quickly come to terms with playing conditions in England by compiling three hundreds in his opening three first-class matches for Middlesex. Hughes was the first Australian player to achieve the feat in England, a promising sign before the start of the first Ashes Test on July 8 in Cardiff. AAP Wonder how much battering awaits the Englishmen!

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Isn't it true that ICF is the only place (after maverick ofcourse) where this non-existing, fictious comic character is being discussed. By writing articles about him, reading and commenting about it, aren't we, the members of ICF giving an identity and credibility to this false alarm? Tell me one credible source other than ICF where this bull **** is being discussed.. Not even a thousand google search engines put together can produce a single page hit that is outside of ICF where it is being discussed. In the last month or so, there are a good number of new comes who came to this forum, created accounts, playing SS and posting in IPL match threads (mods/admins can find out exact no. of new accoungts in the prev. month). None of these, I bet, would have heard anything about this fictious character ever, yet they are now talking about it, asking when it is going to debut etc and getting ';excite'. In turn they may spread the word to others in their social network and get them to 'excite' too... Tomorrow, during T20 WC there may be another big chunk who will stumble upon this site and get 'excite' on reading about the fictious character. Isn't this a disservice that ICF and ICFers are dishing out to the cricket fan community? Why cant the admins and mods take a stand that we'll not allow any threads about this fiction until it is proven. I'm sorry.. I dont agree with the sample video that shows the comic characters doing work outs for the 95% of the length of the video and just 5% showing it bowling that too as a slide show... So my modest appeal here is to stop any new threads, archive any old threads about this non-existent thing, until something really materialize.. But - Will the mods listen???

[Mr. Wicket]

No plans on stopping threads/etc on him. We know he exists, and the board's policy has been to allow free speech on pretty much all topics (religion only being one sore point) as long as it's not over the top in terms of personal abuse or trolling. People can discuss him all they want, but common sense would really suggest that so much hype and drama isn't necessary.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

No plans on stopping threads/etc on him. We know he exists' date=' and the board's policy has been to allow free speech on pretty much all topics (religion only being one sore point) as long as it's not over the top in terms of personal abuse or trolling. People can discuss him all they want, but common sense would really suggest that so much hype and drama isn't necessary.[/quote'] Are you one of the mods? Reason why I'm asking is, should I consider your words as the stand of the board on this matter? What I'm writing below may be :offtopic: and of least interest for most of you... But since I have right of free speech, let me go for it. Just few days before dying (today) Prabhakaran has made love with 100s of women (cloning or whatever it is). He has planted terrorists in each of the women that he made lov with. 20 years from now... there are going to be that many terrorists that Slankan govt and the world has to deal with. Before anyoe laughs at this statement - let me do the honors frst :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Mr. Wicket]

Yes, I am one of the mods. And this is a point that's been made several times in the past in other forums by other staff on here like Shwetabh, Sriram and Ravi. Oh, and thanks for derailing this thread and taking it into the gutter with that nonsense. Appreciate your ability and interest to keeping a good discussion on track.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Sense or non-sense.. i'm just using my right of free speech. And I dont think you will ban me for that

[graphic23]

Are you one of the mods? Reason why I'm asking is, should I consider your words as the stand of the board on this matter? What I'm writing below may be :offtopic: and of least interest for most of you... But since I have right of free speech, let me go for it. Just few days before dying (today) Prabhakaran has made love with 100s of women (cloning or whatever it is). He has planted terrorists in each of the women that he made lov with. 20 years from now... there are going to be that many terrorists that Slankan govt and the world has to deal with. Before anyoe laughs at this statement - let me do the honors frst :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

If you want to post this stuff, use the Chit Chat/Politics forum. Don't pollute Cricket threads. Free speech is fair but we also do have to follow rules about whether something fits into this thread, and what you've posted is completely unnecessary to this thread.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

If you want to post this stuff' date=' use the Chit Chat/Politics forum. [b']Don't pollute Cricket threads. Free speech is fair but we also do have to follow rules about whether something fits into this thread, and what you've posted is completely unnecessary to this thread.

Thats exactly how I feel when i see a thread about that fictious character. Do you have the guts to tranfer those into the jokes section?

[graphic23]

Thats exactly how I feel when i see a thread about that fictious character. Do you have the guts to tranfer those into the jokes section?

Do videos mean nothing to you? He's not a fictitious character. Go to the maverickscricket.com and look at the video. I think thats a human being and not a robot. SPIN magazine didn't create an interview by speaking to themselves -they spoke to a human being.

[Gambit]

It's not just about McGrath and Warne Dhondy. It’s about missing a whole league of extraordinary superstars have we’ve grown up watching and idolising. The replacements of today are puny compared to the goliaths of the 90s that lit up our TV sets. To a boy growing up in the 90s, the feats of Ambrose, Donald, Wasim, Warne, McGrath, Stephen and Mark, Tendulkar, Lara and Aravinda will never be matched. As an insignificant tribute of sorts, I have modeled my action on Allan Anthony and Wasim. I will forever stay loyal to this bunch and will never let anyone else share the same pedestal as them. Cricket will never be as bejewelled as it was in the 90s as far as I am concerned.

[Dhondy]

It's not just about McGrath and Warne Dhondy. It’s about missing a whole league of extraordinary superstars have we’ve grown up watching and idolising. The replacements of today are puny compared to the goliaths of the 90s that lit up our TV sets. To a boy growing up in the 90s' date=' the feats of Ambrose, Donald, Wasim, Warne, McGrath, Stephen and Mark, Tendulkar, Lara and Aravinda will never be matched. As an insignificant tribute of sorts, I have modeled my action on Allan Anthony and Wasim. I will forever stay loyal to this bunch and will never let anyone else share the same pedestal as them. Cricket will never be as bejewelled as it was in the 90s as far as I am concerned.[/quote'] You were a mere toddler in the 90s, albeit a precocious one, already running your hands up various aunties' skirts with that cherubic look on your face. There were two scores you kept, one of such misadventures, the other of Tendulkar's hundreds. Getting back to the point, the last few years have seen the departure of so many greats- Warne, McGrath we have already spoken of, but also Lara, Gilchrist, Langer, Hayden & Pollock, that I never got over a sense of almost ineffable loss. Turn on the TV...and watch what exactly? This may of course be a sign of growing senescence, because every old fogey I've ever known always goes on ad nauseum about the days of yore, of the footfalls of the golden generation that passed into the mists of time. Therefore, it's a relief to hear you speak of the 90s, of Lurker pining about Kapil. Truth be told, I'd got over those losses, the departure of Donald, Ambrose or Wasim, and later of Steve Waugh, enraptured by the magic of McWarneLaraGilly, but when they too passed, I simply couldn't be bothered to keep up any more.