Your hands might get damaged or broken if you don’t properly take care of it for boxing. This process initiates by wrapping your hands with lengthy strips of cloth called ‘hand wraps’; this is followed by digging the hands into the boxing gloves. Here are few steps mentioned below which one should follow before putting on the boxing gloves.
First of all fasten the hand wrap hook in the region of your thumb, and then enfold the wrapper in the region of your wrist three or four times.
Enfold the wrapper in the region near knuckled four to five times (don’t include the thumb). Keep your fingers stretch away from each other to permit for suppleness when making a fist.
Continue this wrapping process the region at the base of your thumb, the thumb must be in such a position that it shouldn’t touch the rest of your hand, following this take the cloth wrapping the out portion of your hand, just next to your pinkie. Continue wrapping the cloth at the back of your hand.
Following the above steps the cloth wrapping process must continue across your palm and the inside of your hand, in-between the thumb and index finger. The cloth should be again taken to the pinkie side (i.e. back of your hand).
Don’t forget to make X pattern over the hand by crisscrossing amid the in and exterior parts of your hand, and then wrap the surplus in the region of your wrist.
The end of the cloth wrapper should be tied at your wrist. Many of the wrappers have fabric fastening straps that can be protected at the wrist for a comfortable and tight feel.
The completely wrapped hands must be placed in the gloves to completely feel relaxed and secure.
The wrappers which have the fabric fastener should be strapped on the gloves for complete fitness. If appropriate, lace can be tied on each glove.
Don’t wrap the cloth very tightly, it should make your fingers movement easy going and not stuck.
Learn how to put boxing gloves
Labels: Fitness Tips, Sports
How To Choose The Best Martial Arts School For Your Child
The 3 Dangers of Choosing the Wrong Martial Arts Program for your child
1) Wasted Money - All too enough, parents run down to the closest school - or worse - look for the cheapest school, and enroll their child, only to find that weeks later their child doesn’t want to go any more. Now, they have wasted their money on a program that did not meet their needs or expectations.
2) Trying New Things – As a parent, you know how difficult it can be to introduce something new to your child. Once they have had a negative experience with anything, it is twice as difficult to get them to try it a second time. If a child does not like their martial arts program, they believe ALL programs are the same, so they will not want to try any other activities.
3) “Life Skills” Education - By not getting your child into a quality martial arts school, they are going to miss the opportunity at “Life Skills” training that is not given any place else - Goal Setting, Time Management, Leadership and Public Speaking. Imagine your child is at a job interview and it is down to two people – your child and one other candidate. Both have equal schooling and skills, but your child brings up they have skills in Leadership, Time Management, Public Speaking, Commitment and Goal Setting. Who do you think the boss will want to hire?
How to Avoid the 2 Biggest Martial Arts Rip-Offs!
1) Promises of What You Want to Hear – Not all martial arts schools are created equal! Do your research. There are a variety of teaching methods and styles. Call all of the schools in your area and more importantly, visit them! Schools have been known to make all kinds of promises over the phone. By visiting the school, you can truly SEE what their program teaches and if they are going to be able to benefit your child.
2) Don’t Sign a 24 Month or Longer Contract – Just about every school will offer an Introductory Membership. This can range from 1 free class to a discounted 1 month program. The bigger question is “What happens next?” A non-professional school will want you to sign a 2 year, or even longer contract, right away. The reason behind this is due to the fact that your child will not want to come back after a month or two of classes, but you end up paying the school for years. A school that offers month to month agreements is just as bad. The trouble with month to month agreements is two fold. First, the school can raise its rates ANY TIME it wants to. So you could sign up for a low rate, but within six months, that rate could be doubled. Second, if there are not enough students paying for the month the school will not be around for long. A professional school will generally offer a standard 12 month program for new members. This locks in your rate for 12 months so it cannot be changed.
4 Costly Misconceptions About Martial Arts
1) One school is just like another – This could not be any further from the truth. Each school is going to be set up and run in its own fashion. There is no standardization from one school to the next. Don’t settle on your child’s education. Make sure you find the school that best suits your needs.
2) Martial Arts teaches children to fight or be aggressive – Martial Arts doesn’t teach children to be aggressive – Television does! Children watch TV shows and watch cartoon characters or super heroes punch and kick the “bad guys” and destroy them. It isn’t any wonder that these same children then go to school and use similar techniques on another child that has been mean to them. Quality schools will teach children several Conflict Resolution techniques so that they don’t have to punch or kick another child.
3) Martial Arts takes a lot of time out of the week – Basic Martial Arts classes meet twice a week on average. Classes should range between 30 to 45 minutes. Anything longer, child psychologists agree isn’t beneficial. The class tends to become boring and drawn out. In a quality martial arts school, a student should be able to reach Black Belt in 2 to 3 years training two days a week.
4) The instructor has to be a “World Champion”- It is next to impossible to look at an ad or talk to a school where the Instructor is NOT a world champion of something. The key to remember is that the rank of the instructor, or the world titles they have won, doesn’t mean that they can teach your child. The analogy I like to use for this is Mike Tyson. He may be one of the greatest boxers in history – but I would never let him near my children – let alone teach them boxing.
The 3 Deadly Secrets About Martial Arts Schools
1) Most schools don’t have a teaching background – For all too long the standard for teaching has been the highest rank belt would teach the class. There are hundreds of instructors teaching a class simply because they were the highest belt rank available. Some have gone through a very short seminar on teaching and then are left to fend for themselves. Make sure your instructor is not only training, but continuing his or her teaching education as well.
2) Instructors that have not earned a rank – With no standardization in martial arts, there are schools that take advantage of that fact. A person with little, or no martial arts training, can open a school and call themselves a “Grandmaster” and be elevated to 8th Degree Black Belt. Can you imagine if your elementary school teacher didn’t have to get a degree and just one day decided to become a teacher. They walk down to the local elementary school and sign up to be a teacher. How effective would they be? I certainly would not bet my child’s future on them.
3) 5 schools close and 5 new schools open every month – Too many people have the belief that because they have earned a Black Belt, that they now can open a school and teach martial arts. My analogy for that is just because you graduate from high school, doesn’t make you a high school teacher!
3 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Martial Arts School
1) Shopping strictly on price alone – If a school is charging $40 per month there is reason. Professional schools will charge between $119 and $199 a month. If you are not interested in education, the $40 to $80 a month school or program will be all right. But, if you want a better education, you will want to find a higher quality school. Also, just because a school is the most expensive doesn’t mean it is the best. Shop by the value you are getting from the school, not just the cost of the program.
2) Choosing a school simply because it is the closest to your home – This is one of the worst reasons to select the school that is going to educate your child. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking just because the school is close, you won’t have any trouble making classes. If your child is not having fun, it doesn’t matter if the school is across the street, or a couple of miles away.
3) Choosing a school that doesn’t have a “family atmosphere” – It is easy to tell what type of clientele a school caters to simply by watching classes. If the school is full of adult males in their early twenties, the school is probably pretty militaristic and hardcore. This would not make for a good match for a young child. Look to see if multiple family members train. Are there programs and classes for everyone interested? A professional school will be able to offer a variety of programs under one roof for the entire family to enjoy.
Why You Want Your Child to Study Martial Arts
Martial Arts offers a variety of benefits to children of all ages - Increased Focus and Concentration, Better Grades, Goal Setting, Teamwork, and Self-Confidence just to name a few. No other activity teaches both mental and physical benefits to the extent of Martial Arts. Martial Arts is also the perfect compliment to any other sport or activity – better eye-hand coordination, stronger legs, better balance, and better cardiovascular ability.
4 Steps to Getting Your Child Started in Martial Arts
1) Make a commitment to act – Many people say they are going to start something, but they never take the first step which is finding the schools in your area.
2) List your objectives – Start a list of the most important objectives. Examples would be: helping your child become more self-confident, finding positive role models for your child, find an activity to help your child loose weight, or any of a hundred other reasons. Make sure the school is going to meet these objectives.
3) Ask questions – Have a list of questions prepared ahead of time. Don’t rely on your memory. You are going to be gathering a lot of information. I can’t tell you the number of times I have had a parent say to me in an interview “There was something else I was going to ask, but I forgot what it was.” Remember, you are the customer – make sure you are an educated customer by getting all of your questions answered.
4) When you find the right school, act – Similar to step #1, once you find the school that is right for your child, get them started. A professional school will have open enrollment which means new students can join at any time. Start on an Introductory Program which can be 2 to 4 weeks of classes.
One of the many things that make Denny Strecker’s Karate unique is our 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you sign up for any of our programs and don’t see any difference in your child within the first 30 days, we will refund 100% of your money. That is how sure I am that our program works. I often wonder why all schools don’t offer this, but to date, I don’t know of any others in the area that will stand behind their service as much as we do.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my free report on “How To Choose the Best Martial Arts School For Your Child”. I hope that you found it informational and useful for your needs. If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at:
Denny Strecker
28732 Ryan Road
Warren, Mi. 48092
(586)573-3881
denny@WarrenKarate.com
www.KarateForChildren.com
www.WarrenKarate.com
Labels: Fitness Tips, Sports
Zaheer Abbas Column: History repeats itself
The world of cricket presently is facing a crisis in the shape of the
Indian Cricket League (ICL) which, as we are made to believe, threatens
the very fabric of conventional cricketing structure. How potent the
threat seems to be is something that we need to look into. After all, it
is not the first time international cricket is facing such a crisis
– approximately 30 years ago, Kerry Packer's World Series had a
similar affect on world cricket.
As I see it, the World Series did a lot of good to the game and much of
what we know as `modern cricket' owes its origin to the
innovations carried out by the Australian tycoon and his team while
taking on the administration of the game at the time. One-Day
Internationals (ODIs) were still at a nascent stage in the mid-70s. Yes,
the first World Cup had already been held, but ODIs were not an integral
part of international tours that remained focused on Tests and side
matches. It was Packer who turned the game on its head to the extent
that now ODIs are played even if that means cutting down the number of
Test matches.
When Packer introduced coloured clothing, the sport was sarcastically
called pyjama cricket. Now it's a done thing and there are people
who suggest that even Test cricket should be played with players wearing
coloured clothing. Personally, I do not agree with this, but it does
reflect on the success of the idea. Not much different is the case of
floodlights and night cricket. Packer went for it believing that night
cricket would attract those spectators who found it hard to come to
watch the game during office hours. The reasoning has now changed. We
would rather have day-night matches, but night-time cricket under
floodlights is here to stay. In fact, Test matches disrupted by bad
weather are now also a modern-day reality. That once again underlines
the success of an idea that was unconventional at the time when it was
first introduced.
Among other things, custom-made drop-in pitches also found their way
into cricket. It was done to sidestep the issue of the lack of proper
cricketing grounds for the World Series in view of the official ban that
was slapped on it by the ICC and the Australian authorities. Such
playing surfaces are still being used in Australia and New Zealand --
stadiums are used alternatively for cricket and rugby in the latter.
The biggest change from the Kerry Packer Circus, as it was infamously
labelled, was in terms of television coverage. Multiple cameras covering
every possible angle of happenings and high-profile commentators
describing them in a manner that was possible only through personal
exposure to the game at the highest level, gave audiences around the
world something that they had never experienced before. It set a
benchmark that is relevant even today.
Apart from these tangible transformations, what the World Series did in
intangible terms is equally important, if not more. It revived the game
that was sliding down the popularity charts. It brought in spectators
and attracted television audiences around the globe. Simply put, it
meant more money for the organisers. Modern-day cricket is a financial
bonanza for all concerned and owes it to the imaginative mind of one
man.
The intensity of modern-day cricket is something that was conceived by
Packer as well. He gathered only the best available talent from around
the world and made them face each other, which produced cricket of the
highest order. It also led to the invention of helmets and other
protective gear that were necessary to face the fast bowlers on
metal-based drop-in pitches.
It was the game of cricket that was the biggest winner in the deal.
However, when it was happening, the administrators did make everyone
believe that those playing in the World Series were actually
mercenaries. History surely, repeats itself.
© DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2007
Labels: Interviews
The Benchpress
The benchpress will build powerful chest, shoulder and triceps muscles. For emphasis on the chest muscles, use a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, or even wider. To avoid shoulder injuries, keep your elbows pointing slightly downward towards your feet, rather than flared out to the sides. To avoid wrist/Carpel Tunnel problems, be sure to wrap your thumbs around the bar, rather than using a thumbless grip. It really does make a difference with the angle of your wrists, try it and see! Lower the weight slowly, (about 5 seconds down) then press powerfully back up to just short of lockout. Do not lockout the elbows, as this will remove the stress from the working muscles. For safety sake, always use a spotter when working near failure on the benchpress. To shift the emphasis from your chest to your triceps, use a grip inside shoulder width and keep your elbows close to your sides. I like to turn these into a decline exercise when using a Smith Machine, by putting my feet up on the bench and raising my butt off the bench. This places much more stress on the triceps. Just be sure you have a very stable bench and you are able to keep your body securely in the center of the bench. Otherwise, it is always better to keep both feet flat on the floor. When using very heavy weights, keep both feet on the floor for sure!
Labels: Fitness Tips
ICL spreads its wings, makes BCCI sweat
Mumbai: In a dramatic press conference in Mumbai on Monday, the ICL named 45 Indian players and seven foreign recruits who will play in the breakaway league.
"We need these set of people who are ready to make their own life, ready to decide what they want to do without being pushed by somebody, and threatened by somebody," former India captain Kapil Dev said, referring to the players who jumbed into the ICL bandwagon.
The leader of the ICL pack was typically combative. The red shirts belonged to some legends of the Indian game, led by the World Cup winning captain himself. Only former India off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna was a new face among the coaches and executive board members.
But the real excitement was reserved for the black shirts worn by the players recruited in the league. Led by Dinesh Mongia, a total of 45 Indian players have signed on the dotted line. These include Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Laxmi Rattan Shukla, Deep Dasgupta, J P Yadav and Thiru Kumaran.
"Our boys are free to play for India anytime whoever wants it," confirmed Kapil.
The rumour mills had been working overtime on the foreign recruits. And for once media speculation proved correct. Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, batsman Mohammad Yousuf, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who announced his international retirement earlier on Monday and opener Imran Farhat have also joined. Also on board are South African players Nicky Boje, Lance Klusener and Nantie Hayward. Clearly, the ambitious project believes they can compete with the BCCI in the market place.
"There has to be strength in the product, there has to be entertainment, there has to be good cricket to watch. I don't see why either viewers would not be attracted to us," said Himanshu Mody, Project Manager of the ICL.
So what happens next? The Indian players who have jumped ship won't be able to play for either their state teams or India now. Although, they haven't given up hope that the BCCI will soften its stance.
"It will be an honour for me to play for India again, and I'm not saying that I won't play for India. If they pick me, of course I'll play for India," India discard Dinesh Mongia says.
The announcements have been made and battlelines have been drawn. But despite the brave words, it still remains to be seen how well the sponsors and the Indian cricketing nation will react to this new entrant.
Labels: Cricket
Bob Taylor on wicketkeeping
Matt Prior is under a lot of fire for his work behind he stumps. What do you think is wrong with his keeping?
One of his problems is, he doesn't use his feet. When you stand back to seam bowlers you've got to move your feet and get your body behind the line of the ball. You can't afford to wait for the last second before moving. If they nick it and the nick's wide, you need to be moving, sort of half-anticipating it. Prior has to be a bit more agile on his toes and get his body behind the line of the ball.
Does it come to as a surprise? Because Prior has kept in English conditions for a while now - where, with the ball swinging around, it's paramount for keepers to cover a lot of ground?
It does come as a bit of a surprise. If it is an overseas wicketkeeper, like [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni who hasn't had a lot of experience keeping in England, then you can understand it because the ball definitely deviates off the seam and through the air more in England than it does abroad, due to the atmospheric conditions.
Prior is just going through a bad spell. He hasn't got many runs against India and that is definitely playing on his mind. This is the hardest part of keeping wickets: concentration.
Do you think it's possible for him to correct this at what is a relatively late stage in his career?
He can certainly improve. He obviously has got the ability to improve. With proper coaches at hand it is definitely possible to make the correct changes.
Is it necessary to have a wicketkeeping coach?
Yes, there is definitely a role for a wicketkeeping coach. But I don't know if there is individual coaching or advice available for international wicketkeepers. Wicketkeeping coaching is a specialist subject. I am a cricket coach and to this day I can't express clearly to a bowler how to hold the ball, about his action and so on - I haven't got a feel for it. Likewise a bowling or batting coach who has never kept wickets will have no feel. With wicketkeeping, the most important thing, apart from getting the body behind the line of the ball, is concentration - an area I specialise in.
We've seen in this series how wicketkeepers like Prior, and to an extent Dhoni, have often failed to collect the ball neatly. Are there any technical faults that are responsible?
When you keep to a quick bowler the two priorities are the speed of the bowler and the pace of the wicket. The general rule is, you take the ball about waist-high usually. Now if you are taking the ball at ankle height then you are standing too far back. That is the main problem with wicketkeepers today: they stand too far back. So if the batsman nicks it, he takes the pace off the ball, which means it will hardly carry to the wicketkeeper, and it certainly won't carry to the first slip. And there's nothing worse for a fast bowler who is striving to get a nick, and when eventually the batsman does nick it, it doesn't get carry to the wicketkeeper or a slip. That's a crime.
Do you see that as a trend, keepers not working on the basics?
I am sure they do work, certainly the international keepers. They must, they have to.
I always ask a wicketkeeper what he prefers to do, whether he likes to work with a couple of players or he likes to keep wickets in the nets. Personally I don't like keeping wickets in the nets because to me that is quantity rather than quality. You go into the nets, there are three or four bowlers and one batsman. You're crouched behind the stumps, you're in an confined space in the net, and the bowlers are running in one after the another. In this scenario the wicketkeeper is a jack in a box - he is up and down from his crouched position, up and down, up and down. Now, in a match, by the time the ball is passed round to the bowler and he is ready for his next delivery, the wicketkeeper has had time to gather his thoughts, relax. So keeping wickets in the nets gets you into bad habits.
I would rather have a wicketkeeper, a batsman with a very narrow bat (about the width of a cricket stump), and a thrower or a bowler 10 metres away throwing outside the off stump. The batsman can then either hit the ball or miss it deliberately and the wicketkeeper doesn't know whether he is going to play it or miss it. That's more realistic practice.
If you look at cricket history, the successful teams always have had an excellent fielding side, and good fielding sides are led by their wicketkeeper
How important is the positioning of slip fielders?
The first slip's position is governed by where the wicketkeeper stands, particularly with the fast bowlers. Generally speaking, the first slip is at least a metre or a metre and a half behind the wicketkeeper and wide by a simlar distance, and then the second slip is in line with the wicketkeeper. Again, with experience you talk with the slip fielders and you know exactly where to stand.
What is the key to collecting balls down the leg side?
If there is a right-arm fast bowler and you've got a right-hand batsman, I say to wicketkeepers: as soon as you see the line of the ball going down the leg side, start to move. Don't wait for it to go past the batsman, otherwise that's too late, particularly if the ball swings. In English conditions the ball dips and swerves late, so as soon as you read that the ball is going down leg, you have to be on your toes; your feet have got to be moving. That way if a batsman gets a nick down the leg side, one can convert half-chances.
Do you think specialist wicketkeeping is a dying art?
Yes, because the captains and the coaches have this temptation to choose a batsman-wicketkeeper. As long as he can bat it doesn't matter, he is a back-stop. For me that is wrong. You've got to have a true wicketkeeper. Duncan Fletcher thought it was easier to make Geraint Jones into a Test wicketkeeper than it was to make Chris Read, who Jones took over from, into a Test batsman. It didn't work.
Okay, the wicketkeepers can improve their batting but it is not the be-all-and-end-all. Teams are investing too much in batsman wicket-keepers.
Are wicketkeepers born or made?
You've got to have a certain amount of ability, haven't you? Yes, wicketkeepers are born not made, but you can improve if you have got any ability. You need the intelligence and the ability and then you can improve a lot if you work hard at your game.
Great batsmen rely on instinct and hand-eye coordination. What about great keepers?
It's the same, isn't it? You've got to be in the right place at the right time and that comes with experience and natural ability. Good wicketkeepers miss fewer chances? Good wicketkeepers are able to convert half-chances into chances, diving inches from the ground, catch a ball that wouldn't carry to slip, and things like that.
Like batsmen and bowlers, how difficult is it for keepers to adjust to different conditions and various pitches?
When people ask me who is the most difficult bowler I have kept to, I tell them without sounding blasé: "It isn't the bowler, it is the conditions." As an English cricketer travelling to the subcontinent, where the wickets were flat when I played and there were world-class batsmen who were hardly beaten by our bowlers, I became redundant. The only time I was fielding the ball generally was when the ball was being thrown back from the boundary. So for most of the day when the conditions are hot and sticky, the batsmen are striking the ball all around the ground, you've had nothing much to do. Then in the last over of the day suddenly the batsman nicks it or you miss a stumping and that batsman is there the following day and its odds-on he'll get a hundred. Now that's what wicketkeeping is all about: taking that difficult chance in the last over of the day after a hard day's fielding.
If the ball is turning and bouncing, you should have enough ability to be able to take that. When its doing something, the wicketkeeper is alive, he is expecting something to happen.
I've talked to Ian Healy about how it was to keep to Shane Warne and he agreed. I said, "Ian, with no disrespect, Shane was [consistently] beating the bat with his repertoire of deliveries, so you were ready for it, you were on your toes. It takes ability to be able do that, but its much easier if you know the ball is going to beat the bat." That's why you need the concentration.
Most wicketkeepers find it difficult to keep against spinners in modern cricket. Why?
That might be due to the influence of one-day cricket where a lot of wicketkeepers stand back because the captains are bowling quick bowlers all the time, so they don't get much chance to stand up to the stumps.
There has been a traditon of great bowler-keeper partnerships - Lillee-Marsh, Bari-Imran, Warne-Healy. So one important aspect of a being a good wicketkeeper is that he needs to have a good rapport with the bowler. Isn't it?
Yes. When people ask me who I think is the best wicketkeeper ever, I would say Ian Healy, because Healy and Shane Warne complemented one another: Ian Healy made Shane Warne into the best legspinner of all time and Shane Warne made Ian Healy into the best wicketkeeper. If Healy had missed some of those catches and stumpings, Warne wouldn't have 700-plus wickets. The rapport is something that grows; you build it up with experience and talking.
When a keeper drops a catch, how difficult is it for him to bounce back?
If you drop a catch, that's history. You can't bring it back, and you know the very next ball you could do the same again. So you just ought to forget it, drop it out of your mind and think about the next ball, because if he nicks the next one and you drop it, you're doubly at fault.
How does a wicketkeeper know when he is out of form?
When he is dropping the ball, when he is missing and dropping catches. Basically, whenever you are keeping well you don't think of what you are doing, you just do it automatic - this is a natural wicketkeeper. An unnatural, or a wicketkeeper of lesser ability, has more risk of missing chances, so it is going to be doubly harder for him.
Prior was picked by England for his batting. He started off well against West Indies earlier in the summer but it is beginning to sort him out now, isn't it? Why was Geraint Jones dropped? Because of poor batting form. Ironically his wicketkeeping improved somewhat but he wasn't getting runs, so obviously the press boys criticised him as they are doing Prior now.
Wicketkeepers as captains - what are your thoughts?
It's very difficult. There haven't been any successful wicketkeeper-captains. Alec Stewart tried to captain, open the batting and keep wicket. That's three jobs and it was impossible. A wicketkeeper is better off being the captain's right-hand man. He can advise the captain and inform him about what is happening around.
International wicketkeepers are seen as sledging a fair bit. Is it important to be vocal behind the stumps?
No. Categorically no. I would never advocate it. The thing that Matt Prior and few others are doing nowadays, this sledging business, of getting on to the batsman and trying to pressure him into playing a bad shot ... it's a load of rubbish because while you are doing that you are not concentrating on your job. Whenever I coach youngsters I tell them to forget about what goes on on television with these international players and just concentrate on what they are doing. The only way I would allow a wicketkeeper to shout around is to encourage his own bowlers and fielders, not at the opposition batsman. It is totally out of order in my book and its not part of the game.
Do you think you would have played in this modern age solely as a specialist wicketkeeper?
I doubt it. I don't think so. I kept wickets for England in nearly 60 Tests, and contributing largely to that was the fact that we had a certain Ian Botham. Botham would bat at No. 6 or 7, while I came in at 8 or 9. They could afford to play me because Botham was a genuine allrounder who used to get runs and wickets to help you win the match.
That's what wicketkeeping is all about - taking that difficult chance in the last over of the day after a hard day's fielding
Are there any specialist wicketkeepers left in international cricket?
I'm not sure there are. The last one was Ian Healy.
What do selectors need to look for when they're picking a keeper?
First and foremost, whenever I'm coaching kids I always say the second most important member of a cricket team, at whatever level, next to the captain is the wicketkeeper. You pick a wicketkeeper for his wicketkeeping ability. When you've got somebody like Adam Gilchrist who can bat and keep wickets then you are very lucky, but if the decision is marginal I'll always go for a wicketkeeper-batsman rather than a batsman-wicketkeeper. That's because an inferior wicketkeeper is always found out and there can be a costly miss, like Matt Prior's drop of Tendulkar in the first innings at The Oval last week.
The wicketkeeper inspires the rest of the team. If you look at cricket history, the successful teams always have had an excellent fielding side, and good fielding sides are led by their wicketkeeper. If you've got a sloppy wicketkeeper who is dropping the ball, missing the stumping, then heads go down and it becomes uninspiring.
Bob Taylor is currently sales and marketing manager at British Cricket Balls Ltd, the company that supplies Dukes cricket balls for Test and first-class matches in England
Nagraj Gollapudi is assistant editor of Cricinfo Magazine
Labels: Cricket, Interviews
Change in ODI rules
London, June 29: Cricket’s bias towards batsmen keeps growing with ICC on Friday giving its nod to a change in playing conditions which empowers a batsman to go for a free-hit without fearing a dismissal in the delivery following a front-foot no-ball.
The International Cricket Council okayed a number of changes to playing conditions at its annual meeting.
Accordingly, if a bowler bowls a front foot no-ball in a ODI, the following delivery will be deemed a free hit and the batsman cannot be dismissed by the bowler from that delivery. The changes would come into effect from October 1, ICC said in a statement. It has also decided that an additional fielder would be allowed outside the fielding circle during the second or third power play in a ODI.
In case an one day innings is reduced, the numbers of overs making up each of the three power plays shall be reduced proportionately.
There will also be a mandatory change of ball after 35 overs of each innings in a ODI. The replacement will be a clean used ball.
ICC also decided that the minimum boundary sizes in all international matches will be increased with the square boundary measuring at least 150 yards from one side of the ground to the other. (PTI)
Link:http://cricket.123india.com/news/062007/320070630.html
Labels: Cricket