Ensign Lestat's Cricket Log, 30/07/08
It’s all very well to point a figure at Colly, after all, it’s Collingwood! He’s not likely to say anything (instead the twerp just lightens the mood by cracking jokes, he’s so frustrating!). He should’ve appealed against that slow over-rate ban, but of course where was the time? Ban today, you’re gone tomorrow. He’s not as lucky as some people, is he?
However, it’s all a little too late now. New Zealand won the series and good for them, especially after that fiasco in the second match where the umpires denied them a clear victory (you didn’t hear of the umpires getting into a great deal of trouble over that now did you?). But anyway, since I’ve watched it all (and since my Mom turned to me and said ‘you’ve failed Colly by not bringing this up earlier’) I just thought, Colly, if ever you read this, love, know you’ve got a champion tucked away in the heart of nowhere. All the best, love!
Ah, dear ol’ Colly! Back on the international scene, and he makes… 4! Now he’s most likely going to get dropped. And what’s worse is we won’t be seeing him for most of the ODI series either. That four-match ban may have something to do with it.
I was really quite baffled when he was handed the ban. The newspaper said it was for slow over-rate, yet this incident of controversially running out Grant Elliot kept cropping up. I thought to myself, what’s so controversial about it?
Why did I ask myself that? Because I didn’t get to watch it! I was in a country where Eng v NZ is not important enough to telecast. So I read the commentary on cricinfo. Of course, reading commentary isn’t quite as gripping as watching the match and I missed any mention of the run out.
Recently however I caught the highlights of the ‘Controversial 4th ODI’ and finally saw what all the fuss was about. Let me tell you that I follow New Zealand and England cricket avidly and am, in fact, a fan of both teams, so I had the great opportunity to be objective.
The batsman ran into Sidi (Ryan Sidebottom) and Bell picked up the ball and ran the hapless batsman out. Haven’t we seen that before? Wasn’t it last year when KP (Kevin Pietersen) was attempting to make a run when he ran into Polly (Shaun Pollock) and was run out? He was miffed, but the Proteas celebrated. Later we were told that KP and Polly had made up, no hard feelings. Well, that’s the way it should be.
Let’s also remember the Australia v. World XI match. Simon Katich was attempting to get back in his crease, but Muralitharan (or is there a ‘d’?) was keen on running him out. Katich crashed into Murali, landed on his back and was run out. Did anyone complain? Maybe Katich did. But he was given out and well… he’s still trying to make his place in the Test team permanent.
Now what I’m trying to get at is this… Collingwood (I shall refer to him as Colly) was vilified and hung out to dry by pretty much everyone, all because he decided to uphold the decision to appeal for the run out of Elliot. But this isn’t the first time the batsman was obstructed while trying to make his ground. More importantly it won’t be the last time either. So why all the fuss? Why did Dan Vettori and his team ignore Colly after the match? They didn’t come out to shake his hand, and frankly I’m appalled! This’ll probably be (hopefully) the only time I am appalled by anything Vettori does. I couldn’t believe it as I watched the highlights. It’s just not something Vettori would do (or so I thought).
I was really quite baffled when he was handed the ban. The newspaper said it was for slow over-rate, yet this incident of controversially running out Grant Elliot kept cropping up. I thought to myself, what’s so controversial about it?
Why did I ask myself that? Because I didn’t get to watch it! I was in a country where Eng v NZ is not important enough to telecast. So I read the commentary on cricinfo. Of course, reading commentary isn’t quite as gripping as watching the match and I missed any mention of the run out.
Recently however I caught the highlights of the ‘Controversial 4th ODI’ and finally saw what all the fuss was about. Let me tell you that I follow New Zealand and England cricket avidly and am, in fact, a fan of both teams, so I had the great opportunity to be objective.
The batsman ran into Sidi (Ryan Sidebottom) and Bell picked up the ball and ran the hapless batsman out. Haven’t we seen that before? Wasn’t it last year when KP (Kevin Pietersen) was attempting to make a run when he ran into Polly (Shaun Pollock) and was run out? He was miffed, but the Proteas celebrated. Later we were told that KP and Polly had made up, no hard feelings. Well, that’s the way it should be.
 |
| The umpire tries to talk Colly out of the runout. |
Now what I’m trying to get at is this… Collingwood (I shall refer to him as Colly) was vilified and hung out to dry by pretty much everyone, all because he decided to uphold the decision to appeal for the run out of Elliot. But this isn’t the first time the batsman was obstructed while trying to make his ground. More importantly it won’t be the last time either. So why all the fuss? Why did Dan Vettori and his team ignore Colly after the match? They didn’t come out to shake his hand, and frankly I’m appalled! This’ll probably be (hopefully) the only time I am appalled by anything Vettori does. I couldn’t believe it as I watched the highlights. It’s just not something Vettori would do (or so I thought).
It’s all very well to point a figure at Colly, after all, it’s Collingwood! He’s not likely to say anything (instead the twerp just lightens the mood by cracking jokes, he’s so frustrating!). He should’ve appealed against that slow over-rate ban, but of course where was the time? Ban today, you’re gone tomorrow. He’s not as lucky as some people, is he?
 |
| Colly later apologised for the upholding the runout. |
However, it’s all a little too late now. New Zealand won the series and good for them, especially after that fiasco in the second match where the umpires denied them a clear victory (you didn’t hear of the umpires getting into a great deal of trouble over that now did you?). But anyway, since I’ve watched it all (and since my Mom turned to me and said ‘you’ve failed Colly by not bringing this up earlier’) I just thought, Colly, if ever you read this, love, know you’ve got a champion tucked away in the heart of nowhere. All the best, love!
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