Kallis breaks Ganguly's record!

Well records mean records and they don't make a difference whether they are for the good reasons or for the bad. And, the case is exactly the same when it comes to the South Africa's most experienced batsman bowler all - rounder when he scored his first double hundred in tests (obviously). Prior to this feat of Kallis, his highest score in test match cricket was 189 which he scored against West Indies way back in the late 2003. With four players in history to have crossed the 300 run mark twice, Kallis feat is well short of reasons to celebrate. But, lots to be satisfied with.

Atleast now, Kallis need not retire with a bad mark that none of his 38 hundreds in test match cricket had a double hundred. One double hundred is better than none of them to his credit whatsoever. Kallis is way ahead compared to the Waugh brothers - viz Mark and Steve with stats suggesting that Steve Waugh had just one double hundred while Mark Waugh had just one score above 150 in tests, let alone double hundreds. So has been the case with the former India captain Sourav Ganguly who scored his first double hundred in his last test match against Pakistan in 2008.

Likewise, the England all - rounder Andrew Flintoff retired from test cricket last year after winning the Ashes without a single double hundred against his name. This was the last thing that was expected from one of the world's most promising all - rounder. Flintoff has been responsible for England's Ashes victory on two occasions. With that apart, few other examples include Sri Lanka's world cup winnings captain Arjuna Ranatunga whose highest individual test score is an unbeaten 135 against Pakistan in his 4^th year of serving his country in international cricket. That score stood as his highest individual score for 13 more years until he called it a day.

If those were regarding batsmen who had limited success with double hundreds, it is strange to know that some lesser known cricketer like Marvan Atapattu had six double hundreds to his credit, with three of them coming against Zimbabwe and one against Bangladesh. Even Sachin Tendulkar has just 5 double hundreds to his name which is one less than what Atapattu could manage. Bowlers like Wasim Akram and Jason Gillespie have one hundreds against their name which puts them on par with Ganguly and Kallis off late when their double hundreds are compared. Finally, I'd like to put an end to this topic by dedicating it to my friend with whom I had all these stats which I've put up and with this I say Happy Birthday Buddha!.

Only NZC can issue awards for its players

Well some fascinating news from New Zealand cricket (NZC) is that Daniel Vettori has been awarded top three of the awards in this year's major awards of the country. To mention the needed, Vettori has been awarded as the player of the year, Winsor cup for 1^st class bowling and Walter Hadlee trophy for the best bowler on ODIs. One aspect that is needed to be mentioned here is that, New Zealand players can be awarded only by their cricket association and no one else. That is what New Zealand have been able to achieve in international cricket until now.

My apologies for not taking pains to go all the way to search as to since when have New Zealanders been playing international cricket. However, if their statistics are given a close look at, it would come as no surprise that New Zealand stand far compared to all other teams but for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Of course, South Africa have been able to do exactly what new Zealand could manage which is a totally different issue here. New Zealand are yet to reach the finals of a world cup in its 25 year long history (since 1975 when the 1st world cup was played).

New Zealand players have hardly been able to produce any out standing cricketers be it in any department of the game. The only achievement by New Zealand team is the ICC Champions trophy which they won in 2000 by beating India at Nairobi. They did everything to win the world cup in 1992 only upto the semis where they lost to Pakistan. One has to note down that the maiden win for New Zealand in a tournament containing three or more teams is the ICC champions trophy 2000 as mentioned. They are yet to boast of a batsman who has scored a triple century in tests.

The highest individual score from a batsman from New Zealand is Michael Crowe who got out on a score of 299. Some outstanding names from New Zealand cricket are Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori. Of course, players like Brendon McCullum, Chris Cairns and the present bunch are found doing a fab job for New Zealand. But, these players are of no match to say Mark & Steve Waughs, Sachin Tendulkar & Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara etc from outside New Zealand. Though Shane Bond stands apart from other fast bowlers like Shoaib Akthar and Brett Lee, his career started after them but ended much before them.

So, where else can New Zealand players expect an award if not for their own country? Stop wondering about New Zealand and become a movie fan instead.