Google Hearts Cricket


Wicked Google-y, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.



…just like most of you do. Me? I heart Google Doodles, those logo variations which Googler Dennis Hwang wittily creates to celebrate holidays or significant events. It takes very little to thrill me. Close your mouth, darling…flies will make a home there…that and it’s not polite to be so shocked. 😉

This doodle wasn’t on the Amreekan search page (desi, please*), oh no. Obviously it was on Google.co.uk as well as Google’s Indian page. Interestingly enough (though I’m sure there will be a hugely obvious reason as to “why” which I will be edified with via comments in, oh, four or five minutes) Google’s pages for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were not so festive.

Since I famously and rather foolishly promised to attempt to cover the World Cup, I thought I’d commence this mutinous cricket mania with an easy post; besides, my cricket tutors have all been wayyy too busy to field my frantic and stupid questions. 😉 . . .

*This hilarious phrase was coined by Maisnon. Ya heard? 🙂

95 thoughts on “Google Hearts Cricket

  1. Now that the match is over…..

    Form is temporary but class is permanent

    That was probably the #1 cliche in cricket commentary in the 90s. NOt sure if it still is.

    Is there a place where the World Cup can be watched online for free?

    Got this from a friend – TVUplayer has a world cup broadcast for free with good enough quality. Haven’t tested it nor planning to since I have a DirectTV account but you could check it out if you wish.

    And as for people getting crazy, another friend sent me this Perl script he wrote (Perl is this ‘programming’ language for those who are wondering) which grabs useful stuff off the cricinfo webserver and sends us an instant message – like everytime a 4 or a 6 or a Wicket or an EndOver occurs. It beats checking the browser every few minutes to see if soemthing happened.

  2. good win for the windies. hope this is not a sign of things to come – with those who did well in warm-up matches losing their first match and vice versa! india cannot take bangladesh lightly. with some kids in the West Indies growing up not even knowing who brian lara is, a good windies performance in this world cup (but not at india’s expense if it comes to that :)) is essential to bolstering a sport that means so much to the region culturally, emotionally and historically.

  3. vice versa! india cannot take bangladesh lightly

    With due respect to India and cricket nationalism, I’m with Red Snapper. Its time to get down with global brown, whatever country or region it may gracefully insinuate itself into. Chanderpaul represents an older migration, fraught with complexities, and still difficult. Panesar represents the aspirations of a new generation. He is us and we is he.

  4. “With due respect to India and cricket nationalism, I’m with Red Snapper. Its time to get down with global brown, whatever country or region it may gracefully insinuate itself into. Chanderpaul represents an older migration, fraught with complexities, and still difficult. Panesar represents the aspirations of a new generation. He is us and we is he.”

    not sure what you mean. are you saying i can’t or shouldn’t express a desire for india to win overall, even if it’s at the windies’ expense?

  5. sorry, meant to add or at england’s expense or any other country with some indo-descent players?

  6. good win for the windies. hope this is not a sign of things to come – with those who did well in warm-up matches losing their first match and vice versa! india cannot take bangladesh lightly. with some kids in the West Indies growing up not even knowing who brian lara is, a good windies performance in this world cup (but not at india’s expense if it comes to that :)) is essential to bolstering a sport that means so much to the region culturally, emotionally and historically.

    i dunno mann…..it was really tough for me to support Pakistan(sorry folks..nothing against Pakistan….those who haven’t witnessed repeated humiliations in Sharjah wouldnt understand) but i really had it all worked out,

    1.Windies is the stroger team and have a greater chance of posing problems to Indian semi-finals trail than Pakistan. 2.So,make them lose and get the (otherwise) weaker team points 3.Dont care if its good for the cricket in the caribbean or not honestly…..I dont mind cricket getting popular worldwide but the way I look at it,India needs to develop a vibrant domestic cricket circuit and maybe make the internationals less of a deal. Delhi Donkeys vs Punjab Porcupines anyone??

  7. Pakistan Lost to West Indies and following is the comments made by Inzamam to interviewer Rameez Raza in the after match ceremony.

    Rameez: Tough Luck Inzy. Inzy: The West Indis batsmanis play very good today. we is try very hard but is not win the game. Rameez: Any words for Marlon Samuels? Inzy: Ya samoooools is play very well. He is hit his shot very hard in our gaps. In start, we is protect our gaps very well. the grass is also thick.. but samoooools is split our gaps with his bat. Rameez : Another ordinary bowling performance? Inzy: Ya our balls is loose. the bowler is went for many run. Anjum is bowled well. Also, after some shots the ball is out of shape. umpire is not give another ball.. it is tough to play with one ball. Rameez: Dropped catches.. did that prove costly? Inzy: ya the ball is not stick to our hands. we is practice a lot sticking our bat in our hands.. but now we is more practice sticking balls in our hands. Rameez: Any plans for the next match? Inzy: ya west Indies is on top but we is try to bounce on our back. God willing we is play better. Rameez: All the best Inzy. Inzy: Thank is you

  8. i can’t or shouldn’t express a desire for india

    Not at all. Please desire India’s victory all you wish, I was just seconding Red Snapper, not contradicting your position, though by quoting your line it probably came across that way. Sorry. Go baby blue, and all that.

  9. Upbhransh,that interview thing is really funny.

    Pakistan lost to West Indies in their first game in 1992 world cup.But went on to win the WC.

    This time same trend or it will be different..?However its good start for WI and to the world cup.

  10. Form is temporary but class is permanent That was probably the #1 cliche in cricket commentary in the 90s. NOt sure if it still is.

    Also ‘cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties’, code word for ‘we know its over but please keep watching to boost the morale of our sponsors’.

  11. risible,

    having some personal connection to the west indies i understand red snapper’s sentiment, but his support of england also stems from nationalism (unless he would prefer the windies over an england team that happened to lack any asian-descent player). and the stories of indian players like irfan pathan (couldn’t afford proper shoes growing up) and munaf patel (comes from a very poor and difficult background – much more so than panesar) and mahendra singh dhoni and harbhajan singh (who had to support his widowed mother and sisters) are no less compelling and fraught with difficulties than diasporic stories. they may not have crossed oceans but they have also made significant journeys that also reflect our lives as well in terms of aspiration, ambition etc.

    i support the teams with diaspora players (and the other subcontinental teams) and wish them well, but never at india’s expense 🙂

  12. poor inzamam can’t win. when he speaks in english, he is made fun of, even by some in the english-speaking media. but when pakistan announces that they will only be giving interviews in urdu (but inzamam spoke in english to tony cozier in the post-match ceremony) then the same people complain that the players should speak in english at an international tournament. at least inzamam speaks much better english than some do urdu.

  13. Personally (most of the people do the same), I always support the team that has the most heart and talent for that game, therefore, it changes. Let us enjoy good sportmanship, and great cricket irrespective of the nation.

    As a rule, I always support India cricket team but not when they do stupid, inane things and lusterless play.

    Amitabh, Pakistan team has been told not to interview in English (even if they know English well enough), use only Urdu to avoid cultural and language misunderstandings @ press interviews during the World Cup.

    nfa, Ranji and Duleep trophy are quite vibrant, perhaps not so much money and emotional outburst. Except county cricket in England (that has players from all over the world), domestic cricket is only a place to get noticed, move up, and beyond.

  14. “Let us enjoy good sportmanship, and great cricket irrespective of the nation. As a rule, I always support India cricket team but not when they do stupid, inane things and lusterless play.”

    i think that goes without saying for most people (as said). however, indian cricket fans are the most fickle, possibly rivalled in that apsect by the english cricket fans.

  15. KT,

    Ranji and Duleep I think are dull,staid and play to empty stadia.

    The problem is that cricket in India,is for most people,an expression of misplaced nationalism…..to score psychological victory against Pakistan(if and when we win) and to self-congratulate for beating the ‘gora'(read the English cricket team in India)….

    I would love to see the domestic cricket develop a festive and competitive nature and matches between states and cities played out in front of passinate and sporting crowd(a la Australian domestic cricket)…..

    80%(okay,I pulled that out of my ass but my guess is its a good guess) of world cricket revenue comes from Indian sponsorship……why should Indians rely on development of cricket in the US or the Caribbean or wherever to enjoy the game…..

    sadly,as always,the administration is run by gigolos like Dalmiya and Pawar;more interested in playing politics and settling scores than giving it any serious thought……ISBindra appears to be the only one with some sense and sensibilty and vision about the future of Indian cricket….

    I honestly believe future of Indian cricket and enjoyment of Indian cricket fan will be better served by making the domestic cricket more masaledar and enjoyable……

    And India does have a good team and pretty balanced team this time and have a serious chance….not that I wouldnt root for them if they didnt….but yeah,I would be very disappointed if they dont make it to the semis….

  16. Upbhransh, why make fun of someone for not speaking English fluently?

    Didn’t mean much by it man, was just a joke. I love Inzy as much for his batting as for his gaffes and his nice nature. It hurts me that I like a pakistani player, but he makes it impossible to hate him :). And anyways english is a very phunny language, so lighten up 🙂

  17. however, indian cricket fans are the most fickle, possibly rivalled in that apsect by the english cricket fans.

    I think England cricket fans are quite good humoured and realistic and stoical in the light of 20 years of underachievment and constant battery at the hands of the Aussies. If anything Indian cricket fans may be comparable to England football fans, who suffer from bi-polar depression depending on how they played in their last game, ranging from suicidal when they play badly to hyper-excitability and delusions of grandeur when they have a good performance. There doesnt seem to be a middle ground.

  18. comparable to England football fans, who suffer from bi-polar depression depending on how they played in their last game, ranging from suicidal when they play badly to hyper-excitability and delusions of grandeur when they have a good performance.

    Thanks for the free and brutally honest diagnosis Sigmund Snappy. Now if you’ll excuse, I must get off this couch and twiddle my thumbs on whether the latest developments in the new Wembley will affect England’s performance against Israel.

  19. They’re not playing Israel at Wembley No van Mises – the match is in Tel Aviv. Although Wembley is like the capital of London’s Gujarati community and sadly that may be the closest that desis get to the England team for a long time.

    For anyone interested, there is a desi striker called Michael Chopra who plays for Cardiff City and is their top goal scorer at the moment, and they are on course for promotion to the Premier League, which will make him the first brown to be a first choice footballer for a team in the top flight, although he made substitute appearences for Newcastle a while back.

  20. And poor Inzamam is made fun of whether he speaks Urdu or Angrezi. They had a really funny version of him on Gustakhi Maaf on NDTV, in which they mercilessly picked up on his habit of saying “jaunsa hai na” which I guess is considered somewhat hickish. Funny thing is that Inzy is still everyone’s favourite Pakistani cricketer, and especially Indians’.

    The Pakistanis totally lost the plot yesterday though.

  21. They’re not playing Israel at Wembley No van Mises – the match is in Tel Aviv.

    Oh I knew this, I was poking fun at the trivial and useless national team gossip between matches.

    TONIGHT ON FOOTBALL EXTRA! WILL ENGLAND BE BOOSTED BY THE COMPLETION OF WEMBLEY WHEN THEY PLAY THEIR NEXT EUROPEAN QUALIFIER AGAINST ISRAEL…in tel aviv. DONT MISS THE EARTHSHATTERING DEBATE ON WHAT COULD BE A PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR ENGLANDS QUEST AT EUROPEAN GLORY, NEXT ON FOOTBALL EXTRA! (coupled with the customary suspenseful music)

  22. Inzy’s best moment was when he jumped into the crowd at a match to batter some Indian fans that were teasing him.

  23. No van Mises — it’s true though, if England fail to beat Israel by 100 goals there will be mass suicides and flagellation on the streets. But they’ll eventually qualify for the Euro Championships and then in the build up it’ll be about how England are going to smash everyone in sight and boss the whole of Europe! No middle ground at all. Similar to Indians in relation to cricket.

  24. My support for India is unambiguous. Cricket is not about skin color and diasporic longing. Its about history, tradition, the shared experience of pain, suffering and triumph. Anybody who has lived through:

    • kapil’s Devils win in England in 1983

    • Benson & hedges in 1985

    • The tragic reverse sweep of 1987

    • Ravi Shastri’s impossibly defensive 206

    • Venkatesh Prasad calling out Aamir Sohail

    • Laxman and Dravid in Calcutta, and again in Adelaide

    • Tendulkar hitting Shoaib Akhtar for 6, again and again

    could only be an India fan. Same thing applies to Pakistan, West Indies fans etc. and their tripumphs and failures. Let’s not try to intellectualize passion. Go India! Hooray cricket!

  25. Hari is right about the solidarity caused by pain, suffering and triumph. If you’re Indian, the pain and suffering usually include Chetan Sharma’s full toss in Sharjah 1986.

    And even if you’re the biggest peacenik/internationalist/nonbeliever in national borders like I am, or had been seriously in lust with Imran Khan as a teenager, an India-Pakistan match will tap reserves of primal jingoism you never knew you had.

  26. Amitabh, Pakistan team has been told not to interview in English (even if they know English well enough), use only Urdu to avoid cultural and language misunderstandings @ press interviews during the World Cup.

    It would be awesome if some of the Punjabi players on the Pakistan team insisted on speaking only in Punjabi during interviews!

  27. And even if you’re the biggest peacenik/internationalist/nonbeliever in national borders like I am… an India-Pakistan match will tap reserves of primal jingoism you never knew you had.

    Absolutely, in sports, I’m a hellfire jingoist nationalist fascist hooligan. Note I left out the Imran Khan part.

    Death to Australia! Jai Hind!

  28. It would be awesome if some of the Punjabi players on the Pakistan team insisted on speaking only in Punjabi during interviews!

    Well they cuss in Punjabi. I remember an Ind-Pak match where Punjabis from both team were having a go at each other. The firangi umpire had to request them to switch to English so he could keep up.

    Malwani and Punjabi are two of the finest languages to discuss your rival’s family history, IMHO.

  29. re #66: thanks.

    “I think England cricket fans are quite good humoured and realistic and stoical in the light of 20 years of underachievment and constant battery at the hands of the Aussies. If anything Indian cricket fans may be comparable to England football fans, who suffer from bi-polar depression depending on how they played in their last game, ranging from suicidal when they play badly to hyper-excitability and delusions of grandeur when they have a good performance. There doesnt seem to be a middle ground.”

    you’re probably right. i was going on personal experience with english (and indian) cricket fans and not really thinking of fickle as being driven to suicidal thoughts etc., but more along the lines of thinking the team is utter rubbish one day and the greatest thing since sliced bread and going to win the world cup the next, all based on the flimsiest of fluctuating circumstances. but when it comes to the extremes of cricket fandom, indian cricket and english football are more alike.

  30. “Why should eleven grown men run after a ball someone else has hit?” George Bernard Shaw

    GBS was known as a crank outside of his writing. The World Cup is being played only a couple of hours away from here, but work interferes, again, with the simple pleasures of life. I will have to be content with a few visits to the Caribbean bars around here for my World Cup fix.

  31. And even if you’re the biggest peacenik/internationalist/nonbeliever in national borders like I am, or had been seriously in lust with Imran Khan as a teenager, an India-Pakistan match will tap reserves of primal jingoism you never knew you had.

    Absolutely. Talking Kashmir with my Pak friends – bad bad idea. Fighting over cricket – great idea and it’s all good in the end.

  32. “harpoon

    Are these matches played on the weekends? And where in NJ? I suppose you must have players from NYC coming down.”

    Hey alybaba….Yes the matches are played on Sundays…a couple of grounds are situated around Bloomfield, there one around exit 9 on the NJTP. You could check out njca.net for more information.

  33. Like many Indian Cricket fans, my dad has never ever played Cricket; but, it’s the only game he watches. Every time a batsman defends the ball he goes, “why on earth can’t he just HIT IT?” I stopped explaining Cricket to him a long time ago…

  34. Like many Indian Cricket fans, my dad has never ever played Cricket; but, it’s the only game he watches. Every time a batsman defends the ball he goes, “why on earth can’t he just HIT IT?” I stopped explaining Cricket to him a long time ago…

    That is the story of my life. I was actually trained in cricket technique, my father was just a park bully. Everytime we watch cricket together, he rants and raves about how incompetent the players are and why they can’t just hit the damn ball.

    On another note, I happen to be vacationing in the English Caribbean, and the buzz about the World Cup is awesome. Everyone’s talking about it, and its as knowledgeable a group of fans as possible. I watched the Winidies/Pakistan game at a local restaurant, and every cover drive, every ball bowled was intensely analyzed. Best cricket watching experience of my life.

  35. Come on, every desi man (incl dads) has played cricket at some point. They know the difference between a hittable delivery and one that should be defended, surely? I know this and I only ever played in grade school. Plus years and years of watching and listening to commentary, of course. And these days with the hawk-eye and other technology you can see the trajectory of the ball pretty well too.

  36. @91: Hari, you lucky macaca! Keep us posted.

    @92: SP, Being away from home, I do miss my dad; but, I won’t be drawn into yet another argument over why it’s not that simple:D

    Peace

  37. Farouk Engineer reporting back for duty…

    This is the standard. You could not wish to see a better hundred in any form of cricket. That’s right, Richie.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg9MCEjDTEU

    Check out the innovation among the cheering West Indians in the crowd. Drink heavily and then make music with the empties.