Cricinfo's Anand Vasu has his own uncut, unedited, biased blog, and he wrote an entry about BD

[Arnab]

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Spare the rod

If you have a stick, and want to beat someone with it, steer clear of Bangladesh. That team, more than any other in the world, needs nurture. They were given Test status four years ago, and are now on the verge of recording their first-ever series win. Sure, it has only come against a lowly, depleted Zimbabwe team. But, if you have only critical things to say, everyone is probably best served by silence.

That Bangladesh were given Test status in an unseemly haste, for reasons that were more political and parochial than hard cricket, is a fact most people would accept. But, having given them Test status, it's no good bashing them. They're here to stay, and they will one day, in the not too distant feature, be competitive enough to give a few Test teams a run for their money.

Taking Test status away from Bangladesh is not the solution. That will just make all the effort that has gone into project Bangladesh thus far - and it's a considerable amount - a total waste. As Habibul Bashar told Rabeed Imam in an interview recently,
"I feel deeply frustrated when I hear such things. What I have learned in Test cricket is that if we do not play at this level, we will never improve. If we stay at a lower level, we will remain stuck there. The difference in standard between Test nations and associate members is huge. If we play them, we will never again be able to compete at this level; we will never learn anything. On the other hand, if we stay here, I'm absolutely sure that in a couple of years we will have a settled position in Test cricket"

And Bashar is dead right. More importantly, the sponsorship will dry up instantly, and cricket will suffer deeply in Bangladesh. Bashar makes this point as well:

"Besides, when you play at the top level, sponsorship and patronisation come easy, which is very important for the development of cricket in Bangladesh. Cricket is huge here. Every youngster wants to play the game. If we are not playing Tests, they will lose interest as there will be no role models, which will mean the death of the sport."

If you've been to Bangladesh, and I have, to cover India's tour, you will see the potential for cricket in the country. Cricket is not merely about producing teams that can stretch Australia. It is also about fans packing the stadium. It is also about sponsors keen to support the game. It is about a large population deriving joy from 13 people fiddling with a leather sphere out in the middle. And, from that point of view, Bangladesh has everything going for it, as a Test-playing nation.

When Mohammad Ashraful scopred that audacious 158 not out against India at Chittagong, the boost it gave the team was incredible. Suddenly, there was belief, that they could take on the best in the world. But, Wasim Akram, an astute observer of the game, had a word of caution for them. "Forget about Ashraful's 100. That's over. You can't rest on that for next year," he advised one of the Bangladeshi cricketers. And Akram knows a thing or two about the psyche of subcontinent cricketers.

Thankfully, Bangladesh have Dav Whatmore at the helm of affairs. He wasn't over the moon at Bangladesh's Test win. "We've done well against this opposition. But I have my feet on the ground. We have to make sure we win the series next week," he told Not Cricinfo, in response to a congratulatory email. Then at least, some of the people calling for Bangladesh to be shunted to a lower rung, will hold their fire for a few days.

From: Not Cricinfo, the blog of Anand Vasu, a 25 year old Cricinfo reporter from Mumbai.

http://notcricinfo.blogspot.com/2005....html#comments


Edited on, February 6, 2005, 4:34 AM GMT, by Arnab.

[samircreep]

It's only "biased" in the sense that he has his own ideas about the state of our cricket, a lot of which I agree with as well.

[Blah]

How is it biased? Which part of what he said was wrong?
Where do you disagree?

Can you pls specify?

I didn't see anything wrong with the article.

Blah

[Sam]

I don't find anything biased or against Bangladesh, rather than supportive attitude. I consider this piece of writing as a blow to the naysayer. He is warning about the devastating effect of lowering Bangladesh status and suggesting the positive side of BD cricket and it's prospects in near future.

I would like to have the heading edited.

[Tintin]

Maybe Arnab meant that Vasu was biased towards Bangladesh

More likely, he was being sarcastic

[Shafiul]

Arnab rather tried to bring out correct picture. I stand with Dev Whatmore that we should feel our feet on the ground even after series win against Zimb and play contineously well to prove our worth as a test playing nation.

[shujan]

God bless Anand Vasu! He got it right.

[oracle]

Anand writes well. That's what I feel personally. Even if it is critical of Bangladesh cricket.

[fwullah]

This is a website dedicated to cricket writing that is not publishable in any mainstream outlet. There will be no level-headed analysis, no room for straight thinking, and, of course, any unbiased writing will face the editor's cut. Sadly, this space will almost always be filled by Anand Vasu, who writes for Wisden Cricinfo.

What the hell is this?

NOTCricinfo?

[Bat-PadTogether]

Nothing wrong with this article!!

[Ahmed_B]

Very misleaidng title of this thread..
It appears that Arnab's assesment abuot this article is:"Anand Vasu Wrote another biased article"
Probably Arnab believes that it is completely wrong to say something/anything in favor of BD's continuing to play Test Cricket vs. top quality oponents..

No idea why Arnab believes like that.. coz he hasn't shown the confidence/honesty to explain anything out here in this thread in favor of his 'theory'.

Edited on, February 6, 2005, 3:09 PM GMT, by crickethorizon.

[al Furqaan]

obviously, anan vasu supports BD since so much has been invested in us...that s teh only reason...other than that he would be clamoring for a third tier bangladesh

[Zobair]

Much ado about nothing!

[Ahmed_B]

Originally posted by al Furqaan
obviously, anan vasu supports BD since so much has been invested in us...that s teh only reason...other than that he would be clamoring for a third tier bangladesh

In that case he wouldn't have quoted Bashar's opinion about "playing with the stronger test teams is the only way of improving to higher standards..."

[Arnab]

Some people having a hard time with the word "biased" here.

When Anand Vasu writes for cricinfo, he has to write without any bias or personal inclination.

When Anand Vasu writes for his own blogm he has the ability to express his own, biased opinion without any editing.

His personal bias could be against BD, or for BD. But whatever he writes, it will always reflect his personal bias on things.

"Biased" does not mean "against".

[jabbar]

Originally posted by fwullah

What the hell is this?

NOTCricinfo?

It's just a blog site. Anyone can create one. It isn't "official", just an outlet for Anand to release his articles before they are edited by the cricinfo editors...

[jabbar]

Originally posted by pompous
Much ado about nothing!

Here here!
Who cares what some lowly cricinfo journalist has to say anyway!

[Arnab]

Hmm. Do you have anything to say Jabbar? Feel free to publish your own one-to-one conversation with Habibul Bashar here.

BTW, it's "Hear! Hear!".

Edited on, February 7, 2005, 1:15 AM GMT, by Arnab.

[say]

a really good wrong'un by arnab..

[cricman]

why is this still up

[rafiq]

This thread may prove:

1) "bias" remains a dirty word as declared by experts elsewhere on this board. we would be well served to invest in a cheap dictionary in order to look up the meaning of "bias".

2) herd mentality is like the jumping for joy icon that is annoying me as I type - as pompous observed, much ado about nothing.