If table tennis can be a rage, why not table cricket? Tickets aren’t quite soldout for the World Cup Table Cricket matches now underway, but the game is certainly here.Thirty-five teams are playing in the competition organised by the English Cricket Board atHeadingly, Old Trafford, Edgbaston and the like. The final will, obviously, be atLord’s on May 4. Table cricket actually uses a table tennis table as a cricket field.A launcher bowls plastic balls and the batsman handles them with a wooden bat. Sidecontrols send fielders sliding about the field. The teams have six players each, with twoseventh men. Each team begins with a score, which decreases every time you lose a wicket.But the batsmen also score—in twos, fours, and if they dare, sixes.
Cricket and fashion have come together for the World Cup. British models Caprice andTim Vincent have been modelling cricket couture in the build-up to the tournament, withEngland captain Alec Stewart catwalking to promote the new look. It’s easy to see whyEngland picked those two. A columnist’s theory to explain England’s bad form:English players have the world’s biggest backsides. Hinders quick movement, that sortof thing. Those changes cannot be made at this stage, but with national flags designed onto colourful costumes, they’ll certainly look good parading them-selves out there. Itmight not look very nice, though, if they’re made to trudge out after an early exit.
Swing Thing
The World Cup will be played with an English Duke’s ball, which offers the bowlermore assistance than the Australian Kookaburra, according to Paul Newman of The SundayTelegraph, London. Says former Indian skipper K. Srikkanth: "In the early part ofthe summer in England, the ball literally talks. It seams, moves in the air a lot, andcomes on nicely to the bat. Batsmen like Sachin and Rahul will enjoy batting, the movementin the air is something to watch out for."
All too Brief
The reign of the World Champions is getting shorter with every successivetournament. The winners of the first two World Cups, the West Indies, held the title for atotal of 8 years and 6 days, India for 4 years and 134 days, Australia for 4 years and 131days, Pakistan for 3 years and 350 days, and for current holders Sri Lanka it’ll be 3years and 96 days. Unless...
The Amarnath Fit
When Hero Honda wanted to shoot the commercial wishing Azhar’s team goodluck, only Amarnath of Kapil’s Devils could fit the blazer he was presented whenIndia won the World Cup in 1983.
Weathering TV
The chief threat will, of course, be the weather. Although the early-seasonpitches are likely to favour the hosts with their seamers and slow medium pacers. Thetournament also has to be staged before Wimbledon for TV reasons (the World Cup is theBBC’s last fling in cricket). After Wimbledon, the Rugby World Cup is the next majorsporting event.
