those past weeks...

I'm far too behind on schedule and have to unfortunately just brief about what happened all this long. Sorry folks (anyone there???)...

WI lost ODI series to England in the Caribbean soil. Fredddie was going great I remember. Reverse fixture waiting for the two teams in the early summer, as early as May. Thats SOME preparation for the Ashes for he English side...

Down the other side of the Pacific ocean, the Indians, fresh from an ODI assault on the Kiwis held on to the momentum and went on to win the first test quite comfortably. Second and third were drawn with different scripts written for both matches. One was saved, thanks to the stellar knock by Gambhir, whose form, confidence, average, time at wicket, placement, class, etc etc etc are all reaching sky high and looking forward to outer space (lol :p ). The other match, people say could've been won by the Indians had Dhoni declared a bit earlier on day 4. Nevertheless, credits to Kiwis for not falling further back on the scoreline. After a long wait, a series win in New Zealand for India.

Australia tour of South Africa.
Rubbing the hands, tv remote and computer console all so very sorely beaten up and finally control over both of them. What a ripper of a test series. Missile Johnson, errrr...sorry, Mitchell Johnson. He would've been a driver back home, but he sure did drive the SA batsmen nuts with his line and length. Guss what? If that wasn't enough, he turned out to be Aus', rather, the tour's 3rd best (or was it 2nd best) run getter. Clarke was on top of the charts i remember. Aus were completely over the SA. Steyn's bursts were only in vain. Prince came in for the last test, opened, annd was ecstatic. SA got a consolation, but stylish victory. Aus debutants and other newcomers- Hughes, North, McDonald, Hilfenhaus (pardon me if I mis-spelt him) all came good.
On to the ODI series... Australia were completely taken out of the equation by the Proteas. So, test series went to aus 2-1 and they now regain the numero uno in test rankings.
Batting and bowling came good. The introduction of the young South African speedster, Wayne Parnell was a good gamble and it worked out. South Africans had no problem in beating Australia 4-1, again!!!

Australia vs Pakistan, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Pakistan wth lots of security issues and etc etc finally managed to get a series on their calendar. In their second home, they face the wounded Australians. Having won the first ODI, Pakistan was high on confidence. Why not? That was Australia's 10th loss in 16 matches in 2009. Australia won just 5 and were in the verge of losing the 11th had rain God not saved them against NZ not so long ago. Messed up season it sure is for them. Clarke, leading the side that is missing the likes of Ricky, Mike Hussey and Mitchell Johnson, all gearing up for the English summer of you-better-know-what series, found the best reply to the sub-standard Australian form, and along with the return of Symonds and peak form of all-rounder Watson, Aus piled up 3 consecutive victories and sealed the series. Pakistan got its consololatory victory to make it look more close at 3-2 in favour of the Australians at the end of the series. Good series for the bowlers in all, who were able to contain the batsmen to miser runs for most parts of the game.

So, thats it I guess..

As of now, the money cow, IPL is being milked in South Africa.
My suggestions
*If in South Africa, wear helmets, a cover drive may send the ball over midwicket fence and over your head. "kuch bhi hota ha"
*Turn down the tv volume, else wear an earmuff. The commentary is selling itself.
*Watch something else
*Send in your views about KKR's excellent consistency this season. Its the hottest topic with the wildest range of answers. So, all you writers, grab your pens, throw away your thinking caps, and start...

See ya all after the slug fest is over in SA, hopefully with something interesting from the WI's tour of England. One thing, WI were looking hopeless in first test (Lords....surprise!!!!)!