Thats Great, But...

Great result for the Black Caps but how the hell did they end up top of Group B? Next thing you know Gareth Hopkins will be one of Wisden's players of the year!

People keep bagging the ODI, and declaring it's demise, but what can you expect when you provide sub standard wickets and a strange old format. If you want something to be a success surely you have to give it a chance. If you want it to succeed that is!

A Plea, Not An Appeal

Nehra giving it his all. As it turned out he would have been better pleading with the weather gods than the man in the funny hat.

At Long Bloody Last

Amazing what a few runs will do.

And did Sanjay Mandrekar really say Jesse's was not a genuine injury? Perhaps something was lost in the translation.

Running With The Indians

Never run with scissors.
Be careful when running with wolves.
Avoid running with Rahul Dravid unless you have a death wish or you crave the scary and uncertain.

For Purna, And The Rainbow Nation

Well done Purna - your bunch of grinders were far better than my bunch of grinders. At least the venue and the supporters added a bit of colour to the occasion.

Words, Words, Words

Like the slow early adapter that I am the concept of on line generated word clouds still seems pretty cool to me. The good people at Wordle do a great job of mixing things up.

The word cloud above is generated from the Cricinfo article "Strauss confident of ODI revival in South Africa". Apart from keeping journos in a job why must guys like Strauss keep spouting this drivel when they will need all their energy just to try and back it up.

Lights, Cameras, Action

They're off and into it. A blaze of sunshine before the rain and a blazing Dilshan, who showed he can beat up on teams a bit better than the Black Caps.

The Natives Are Restless

You get the feeling that all of South Africa is readying itself for a big tournament. It seems like ages since they played and they are bound to win the dancing if all else fails.

Keyed Up

Apparently Rob Key is on an all Champagne diet but it is making him frisky and aggressive.

The Joy Of Spring

MS revels in success and the sheer joy of competition - perhaps.

A Matter Of Perspective

No matter which way he looks at it, they are not good enough, and rearranging the deckchairs is not likely to be the solution. As a Black Caps supporter I know these things.

Master Class

Don't salute us Sachin, we salute you.

Durham Town

With a cathedral and a county championship why would any one want to leave old Durham Town.

Oops!

Sometimes you don't have to say anything, the look on the players face just says it all.

The Eyes Have It

You don't have to see his eyes to know they are on the ball, and looking to score not duck.

Little Master, Ageing Student

When Tendulkar talks it pays for Kirsten to listen. No one has more experience in giving NZ a hiding than Tendulkar and Dravid.

Caption Time!

C'mon people, get in touch with your creative side and give us the perfect title for this little cricketing moment.

Poke, Prod, Piss Off

I have never understood why big hitting batsman like McCullum do this. They get in a bad trot and poke and prod rather than play their natural game. Sure, we will bag them if they get out to a silly shot but nothing like what they get by frustrating the hell out of themselves and us with a stone wall display. He is not made to play the patient grind for 40 overs and nether are we. Get on with it or get out!

Soft Hands: Straight Legs

It is all a matter of vectors and balance.
The sad things is he actually missed the ball.
Still, there will be another along in a minute.

Good Form, Wrong Bloke

I am a great supporter (and user) of Cricinfo but it is always good to note someone else's mistake. This photo was captioned with "Jacob Oram winds up", which would be fine if it wasn't Darryl Tuffey.

To be fair Tuffey has been so long absent even his mother might not be completely convinced of his identity.

Fluid Action

There are no straight lines in nature and very few in a ODI.

Thanks to Cricket Tragic for putting us on the this image. Now what I really want to play with are some cricket images you have generated during the long, hot summer. If you have a great pic of your best friend scoring 321 in the backyard send it along and I will attempt to immortalise the moment.

Cricket Surreal

Cricket in the dark at the Oval - it is beautiful, but it just feels wrong somehow.

Kinda reminds me of childhood backyard games played on dewy grass and illuminated by the back door light.

Local Images

The good people at organisations such as Getty Images have been very good in not grumbling about my flagrant use of their copyrighted images over the last couple of years. Not that I have been making any money off it of course.

They produce excellent photos but they do start to look a bit the same after a while - or perhaps it might be my lack of creativity.

Any hoo, if you have a cricket image or two lying around why not email it to me as a jpeg @martyd and I will see if I can't twist it about a bit for the entertainment of others. All photographers will be gratefully acknowledged on being posted.

Dilshan The Scoop

Dilshan offers his respects to the cricket gods with yet another overhead scoop shot. He better keep praying because sooner or later he is going to wear a big red bullet.

Back In Black

No, not AC/DC, but SB, although I am still hearing rumours about IO'B.

Whatever the letters or numbers I just hope Bondy makes that first step towards being the fully functioning fast bowler we so desperately need.

I'm Excited

And not for the reason you might expect. Much though I love cricket my greatest sporting passion is the NFL. This little darling is a reminder that the greatest show on (astro)turf is about to begin.

She is also proof that cheerleaders do add something to the sporting experience, but they better be spectacular if they are going to take peoples minds of the rubbish happening on the oval.