Fleming complains - again!

Tsk, Tsk. He's at it again. Though I respect Stephen Fleming a lot, this tendency of his to be a little annoying at times continues. In his interview here, Fleming cribs about the early starts that mean more swing and seam movement making life a little challenging for the batsmen. Since Ponting didn't start the complaint, it bears out the theory that it's usually the losers who crib. I could've understood if the Aussies complained about Gwalior, which was keeping slow. They didn't because they knew it could also go in their favour another day. Which it did at Mumbai. The NZ complaint is like India saying the Sydney wicket took spin too early. Games in England always follow this pattern. When we have belters from ball 1, the team that wins the toss again has a big advantage. Have they heard of the Eden Gardens and Lord's, where the toss is crucial? What would have happened if the Aussies had batted first in either of the two games? Would the Black Caps have been good enough to bowl them out? The New Zealanders could've easily pulled Pune off if it wasn't for butter fingers.

The BCCI is right in taking a stand that says India could be affected by the day-night games equally - for the team batting first has won on both occasions. NZ got a day-nighter in Chennai that got rained off. And why shouldn't the hosts enjoy an advantage in the schedule? It's all gloriously ironical when Fleming says "So much rides on the toss. At least in New Zealand it seams for 100 overs, here it seams for 25 and after that it's a belter". Does that explain why Australia struggled to win at Pune?

The "revenge" may not have happened from the hands of the Indian players, but I'm sure a lot of people are chuckling away at how NZ are getting a taste of their medicine at the hands of the Aussies - the matches are turning out such that the NZ guys are getting all the heartaches. I like the NZ team, but they're not my #2 team in the series. India has finally woken up to the fact that lots of things in international cricket are not fair and have usually gone against them. Also, gone are the days when comments from a visiting skipper (especially from a Anglo-Saxon nation) would have us quaking in our boots and scurrying to over-compensate. Flem has to cop it this time, I'm afraid. Or learn to leave the ball outside his off-stump alone. Not all the NZ wickets that fell were because of the pitch or weather.