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Mirror, mirror on the sight-screen, who is the sexiest cricketer of them all? It is almost a ritual in some of the other glamorous sports around the world to have their players rank in frequent compilations of the hottest, sexiest sport stars – 10 sexiest footballers this and 10 hottest athletes that.Cricket, historically, has been a game of moral uprightness, the gentleman’s game as they say. But with cash flowing into cricket, the game is well on its way to be glossed up like other sports. The waxing of glamor in the game means that it is time for us to recognize the innate beauty of our stars – by the way, I am straight as a bamboo stick. So here is ElectricWicket’s All Sexed-up Cricket XI, in no particular order, drawn from contemporary cricketers. You also get to rate them in a poll that will be later:

Michael “Pup” Clarke: His face emanates a sly naughtiness, and is generally termed as cute – a word used ad nauseam by the fairer sex. He comes across as a confident young lad with a precocious poise. The boyish charm seems to do the trick for him.

Brett “Rockstar” Lee: Rockstar’s have a certain sexual aura that has even allowed their weirdest idiosyncrasies to be passed on as sexiness. However, Lee is not your weird Rockstar, but a subdued one. He lives life in the fast lane, loves his music and guitar, possesses a clean demeanor, and is affable. Just the guy you can take home and be confident that you won’t be on the front pages of English tabloids the next morning, or any morning, ala Warne and his nymphets.

Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff: His imposing frame and unshaven look is enough to earn him a part of a mythological warrior in a grandiose cinematic tale. He wields his bat like a hammer and spears in the ball at a sinister gait. The aggression only lends to his sex appeal.

Brendon McCullum: The Kiwis seem to weigh the looks of keepers as much as their skills behind and in front of the stumps before throwing them a black cap, that is what Adam Parore and McCullum seem to suggest. Brendon McCullum is a livewire as a keeper and can disperse the ball to all parts of the park with his plundering strikes. With Astle – arguably the most handsome Kiwi player until not long ago – having hung up his cricket kit, McCullum is the sexiest Black Cap with his pretty face, urban hairdo, bulging biceps and a sexy tattoo.

Kevin Pietersen: When he broke into the English side, his over-the-top hairstyle garnered mixed reviews. However, he soon scaled the heights of sexiness by helping transform a timid English side – and with it the detractors of his trademark crimson strand of hair – with his rapier-esque blade. That galling hairstyle has been trimmed down to his scalp only enhancing his Sexual Quotient (SQ). Now down to his embellishments: He has pierced ears, wears a steel ring and a “live strong” wrist band.

We have named five players of our All Sexed-up Cricket XI and six more sexiness-exuding cricketers remain. After the second part is live, there will be a poll for you to vote, so bookmark this blog or subscribe to the e-mail feed and stick around for the second part and the poll. Tell us what you think of the men who have made it and the ones you think should be among the remaining five.

Everyone has a view on the issue in Australia and certainly in India. Perhaps the problem is that everyone is blaming Aussie brusqueness on the field, India’s financial hegemony, umpiring errors and the sham hearing that Harbhajan had (which, without any evidence, was a travesty of just justice and against the laws of natural justice – yours truly is in a law school). Yes, that is the real problem. The ICC is not being blamed much and is watching the blame-game unfold from the fringes.

Where the hell was the ICC when Bucknor, Benson and the third umpire were adamant on taking a few wickets by themselves (no foolish Aussie-payroll-theories for me) during the Sydney test? Where was the ICC when Mike Procter was nakedly mocking the principles of natural justice and especially the most important principle of them all which calls for evidence and not bare accusations? Where was the ICC when everyone was blaming each other? Where was the ICC when a team threatened to boycott a tour? Where was ICC when two of the major cricketing powers were on the brink of severing cricketing ties?

The day we ask ourselves these questions we can get to the real problem. I have the answer, though. The ICC was happily on the sidelines, trying hard to wakeup and praying that the spotlight didn’t turn on it. The ICC could have acted swiftly by waking up to the continuous errors of its not-so-elite umpires. I can remember on many occasions when Bucknor has erred in the past 2-3 years. There have been so many instances of the umpires making lollypop-blunders on the field.

But there is very little accountability and the system of demoting umpires currently in place is far too slow, and removing an umpire from the elite panel is probably only a little less difficult than impeaching the U.S President.

The umpires need to be accountable for their performance just like players are for their form. The ICC should have more umpires on the Elite Panel and an umpires performance should be reviewed for demotion or continuation every 5 test matches (or 10 ODIs).  Removing an umpire only when it is the last option doesn’t serve any purpose and doesn’t set a good precedent.

Now let’s come to racism. The ICC has a lot of anti-racism rhetoric, however, it has no effective mechanism. The way Procter conducted the hearing can easily be taken as racial-bias.  I hope there are people with a better sense of legal principles and the laws of the game to look after matters like these and for conducting such hearings. Appoint arbitrators.

The ICC didn’t have a probe into hearing conducted by Procter because no one made a real hue and cry about it. And the ICC, as we know, doesn’t take interest in setting things right unless pushed to do so.

It is the ICC which has made a real mess. The slow moving ICC can do with more vigor and, perhaps, even afterburners on its backside. It is because of the laxity of the governing body that the game is only confined to a handful of countries. Founded in 1909, as the Imperial Cricket Conference, this snail-paced body has only added seven full members (test playing countries) to the three it had at the time of its inception. I don’t think it’s a great job. If ICC was a courier company, I would have never sent my mail or parcels through it.

For years under the guise of playing hard, uncompromising cricket they have gotten away with sledging and getting under the skin of the opponents. Some would argue it is within the rules of the game. I do not agree with that but if it is within the rules of the game who am I to squirm and scowl. The problem arises when you cannot take back what you give. Each time the opposing team mirrors the Aussie behaviour on the field, things get a bit edgy out in the center and usually end up going out of control. It is this attitude that irritates people. Perhaps a bit harsh but great fast bowler Wasim Akram has gone to the extent of calling the Aussie cricketers cry babies. Does he have a point? If the Aussie cricketers feel free to sledge away to glory they must be prepared to get back what they dish out.

Ricky Ponting has been lambasted even by some Australian cricket writers for his brash and abrasive conduct. He refuses to have his and his team’s integrity questioned. We are told that his word must be taken and trusted. Ricky Ponting literally gave a decision against a batsman in the match after taking Michael Clarke’s word, the same guy who refused to walk after virtually square cutting the ball into the hands of first slip.

These double standards have flustered cricket lovers across the world. The greatest tragedy of the situation is that a marvelous cricketing side is not recognised for it’s sheer talent and class. This era of cricket has seen some greats such as Warne, Ponting, McGrath, Gilchrist who will go down in the annals of history as legends but unfortunately history will deliver a fractured verdict on this team. An Invincible team or just bullies on the field?

Under the ‘great’ leadership of George Bush, America is no more than an irresponsible superpower. An establishment drunk on power, enamoured by double standards and one that manages to hurt and violate sentiments across the spectrum. That should not be how Ricky Ponting and his men must be remembered. They are an amazingly talented cricket side and they must aim to win over their detractors by playing good hard cricket in the true sense. The non cricketing antics on the field should be left for backyard cricket.

Sridhar Natarajan

P.S. If Harbhajan Singh actually made the remarks then he deserves to be punished. The same standard of circumstantial evidence must be applied in the hearing against Brad Hogg.

On the first day of the test when most Indians switched on their Television sets and saw umpire Steve Bucknor officiating at one of the ends, they must have had a premonition of disaster. But even the biggest critics of Steve Bucknor would not have thought that he would make such a huge blunder which pretty much ensured that India was shut out of the match.

Incompetence deserves no sympathy. Mistakes are inevitable, but somehow Steve Bucknor has had a penchant for haunting the Indians at crucial stages of matches. It is not a recent phenomenon. Way back in 1992-93 when you were more likely to see pigs fly than see an Indian victory outside the subcontinent, India had a brilliant chance to beat South Africa in alien conditions. South Africa was reeling at 70 odd for five and there was a huge appeal for a run out. Third Umpires had been allowed in the game to adjudicate run outs but no, Mr Bucknor thought it was beneath him to let someone else make the decision for him.. He erred, South Africa got a huge reprieve and they battled their way to a draw.

Indians became wary (read: started loathing him) of Bucknor since their last tour down under where Steve Bucknor made a number of erroneous decisions. That was not the terrible part, he went on to mock Rahul Dravid when he walked out to bat at a time when there was a controversy about Rahul and ball tampering. Even the Australian public would have found it hard to believe that a gentleman like Dravid could be accused of ball tampering but to see Steve mocking Rahul’s act of rubbing the ball made one’s blood boil.

Mr Bucknor, famous for his nod of death must now be given the nod from the ICC to pack his bags, stretch his legs and enjoy the sights and sounds of Jamaica. The elite panel is not where he belongs anymore.

Steve Waugh believes there is no need for neutral umpires anymore. I am a touch apprehensive about that. Although he makes a good point when he says that the best must officiate the fact is too many questions are raised and have been raised in the past when an umpire judges in favour of his own national team even though in most cases it may be an honest mistake.

Does it mean that we must give thumbs up for technology? I am a bit iffy on that. That is definitely the future but we are not quite there yet. This was something made obvious by another dodgy decision given by the Third Umpire in the Sydney test, again in favour of Symonds. It is a path that the ICC must tread cautiously on but that does not mean they can drag their feet on this issue. A group must be set up to monitor and implement the use of technology to aid on field umpires. The operative word being aid and not replace them!

Sridhar Natarajan

Image from Jagadish

Slips are very important in any fielding team’s arsenal, for both fast bowlers and spinners. For those that don’t know what a slip is – they are the players on the fielding side who stand next to the wicket keeper. Their goal is to catch any ball that comes near them, which is usually a nick or an edge.

The number of slips on the field at any one time depends on the circumstances, but as you can see from the picture above, every player can do it if necessary. Slips must have extremely fast reflexes and outstanding catching abilities.

In the modern game of cricket the slip is of greater importance than ever before. As players become more skilled, and the game gets faster the ability to get them out off the slightest mistake is a must.

Because batsman must then take even greater care in each and every shot, they are more likely to score large amounts of runs. In my opinion the ever increasing talent of every playing position, including slips, makes for a faster, more entertaining game.