World cup matches over week end - 3 matches 3 perspectives !!

When this World Cup started, it appeared to be a flawed draw – 42 out of 49 matches could be redundant as expected 8 times would be there in QF and in a short time, the finalists would be there in knock-out basis.  Honestly, did you ever imagine this scenario !  - Aussies are no. 4 in their pool :

TEAMS	MAT	WON	LOST	TIED	N/R	PTS	NET RR
New Zealand	4	4	0	0	0	8	3.589
Sri Lanka	4	3	1	0	0	6	0.128
Bangladesh	3	1	1	0	1	3	0.13
Australia	3	1	1	0	1	3	-0.305
Afghanistan	3	1	2	0	0	2	-0.76
England	4	1	3	0	0	2	-1.201
Scotland	3	0	3	0	0	0	-1.735

Way back in 2011 in a QF England set a target of 230 and promptly lost to Lankans by 10 wickets ! Dilshan and Upul Tharanga smashed them all around the park – winning without losing a wicket and with 63 balls to spare. That sealed a place for Lanka and ended the chaotic campaign of England. 

Now there is still hope for the English team – should they still reach the quarter-finals –  it would be because of the flawed format of this tournament –  though it does appear that their misery could be put an end soon.  The stark reality is that they need to beat Bangladesh and Afghanistan in their last two group games to advance to the last eight and while they should still do that it is fanciful to expect them to defeat anyone of note.

This week end of the 4 – 3 are on different perspective.  The 4^th Pakis beat Zimbabwe. 

Tests have been played at Eden Park since 1929-30 and the ground hosted New Zealand's first Test victory, against West Indies in 1955-56. The pavilion is steeped in tradition, contrasting with two massive modern grandstands which push the capacity over 40,000.  The  Chappell-Hadlee trophy match was hyped to the best match of the tournament - in front of a packed and partisan Auckland crowd. The game had everything: perfect weather, a full house, a flurry of early boundaries followed by eye-popping collapses, sensational swing bowling, clever spin bowling, and perhaps the calmest batsman in the world hitting one of the fastest bowlers in the world for a straight six to seal a one-wicket victory for New Zealand.

There was the astonishing collapse of Aussie.  At 128/9 Kiwis had used only 3 bowlers - Daniel Vettori, Trent Boult and Tim Southee - Australia were shot out in 32.2 overs and New Zealand  had to bat before the scheduled dinner break once again.  McCullum was in a hurry to finish and made a half century too - before he fell off his 24th delivery.  NZ too collapsed and towards the end 3 wickets fell in quick succession – from 145 for 7, NZ were 146 for 9, with Starc on a hat-trick to win it for Australia and Williamson stranded at the wrong end. Boult, however, defended and left the last two Starc deliveries. With six runs to get and no wickets remaining,  Kane Williamson had the strike against Cummins.  He hit it hard and flat and started celebrating for it was a sure six and what a way to finish !  Boult and Starc were the real heroes. 

India made a short work of UAE – Ashwin bowled well taking 4 wickets and India quickly won with loss of a solitary wicket, going to top the table.  MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said it was important to spread cricket in more countries and look beyond mere commercial interests. Dhoni said that some of the Associate sides had come a long way and deserved to be given more support in terms of facilities and chances. Several Associate captains and coaches have criticised the ICC's move to limit the number of teams for the next World Cup to ten. Dhoni refrained from giving his opinion on the matter, saying that it was for the authorities to take a call on.

And today, at Wellington - Sri Lanka made a chase of 310 seem like a weekend stroll in the park as Kumar Sangakkara unfurled a majestic hundred, his second of the tournament, alongside Lahiru Thirimanne's fourth ODI ton. They ensured Joe Root's hundred became merely a footnote and left England facing two must-win matches to make the quarter-finals. The pair added 212 for the second wicket in 28.2 overs with Sangakkara racing to his hundred from 70 balls - his fastest one-day hundred - to follow his 76-ball 105 against Bangladesh at the MCG as he shredded England's attack with piercing drives, dismissive pulls and the occasional touch of deftness.

Remember Ireland chased and 307/6 against West Indies at Nelson in this World Cup. 6-5 England's ODI record when defending a target of 300 or more in ODIs since 2010. Australia (three times), Ireland and Sri Lanka have all chased these targets down against England during this period. Former England spinner Graeme Swann has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board to realise their approach is 'out of date', saying that there is a 'stubbornness' about their selection policy and that they are 'living in the past'. The defeat goes alongside reverses against Australia and New Zealand, with Scotland the only team England have beaten so far.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st Mar 2015.

Personal Accident Policy ~ hazards ~ 'volcano boarding' at Nicaragua

In General Insurance business too, there are policies covering life – not against natural death but against accident and hospitalisation.  Personal Accident Policy provides compensation for any bodily injury (or death) solely and directly caused by external violent and visible means.  The Policy in general provides for table of benefits which are in % of the sum insured opted for.  There can also be medical extention which would provide reimbursement of expenses as arising out of accident.   Most Companies define ‘accident’ as :  a sudden, unforeseen and unexpected event caused by external, violent and visible means and resulting in physical bodily injury.

These are annual policies – some Companies specifically cover not only  major accidents  resulting in death or permanent disablement but also minor injury happening in  daily life.  There are additional benefits in the nature of ‘hospital cash’; legal expenses; funeral grant; education grant to dependent children; double indemnity under specified circumstances and more.

Some of the exclusions are in the nature of : excluding Military or armed forces personnel; use/abuse of  drugs, alcohol, or other intoxicants or hallucinogens unless properly prescribed by a physician and taken as prescribed; participation in an actual or attempted felony, riot, crime, misdemeanour, or civil commotion;  Operating or learning to operate any aircraft, ;  whilst engaged in aviation or ballooning, or whilst mounting into, dismounting from or travelling in any balloon or aircraft other than as a passenger (fare paying or otherwise) in any duly licensed standard type of aircraft anywhere in the world.

For this class of insurance, some are patently higher risks and are excluded- and can be covered by paying additional premium.  They generally are : those engaged in  racing, hunting, mountaineering, ice hockey, winter sports. Observed that one Company’s policy [exclusion] was elaborately worded as :

Excluding - participation in winter sports, skydiving/parachuting, hand gliding, bungee jumping, scuba diving, ballooning, mountain climbing (where ropes or guides are customarily used), riding or driving in races or rallies using a motorized vehicle or bicycle, caving or pot-holing, hunting or equestrian activities, skin diving or other underwater activity, rafting or canoeing involving white water rapids, yachting or boating outside coastal waters (2 Nautical miles), participation in any Professional Sports, any bodily contact sport or/and any other hazardous or potentially dangerous sport for which You are untrained………….

Exhaustive  list one thought ! ~ the purpose – this policy is designed to cover accidental injury or death of ordinary individuals and not those who are exposed to risk professionally and on their volition either out of adventurism or otherwise.  Such lists will have to be expanded / revised from time to time, as this article in MailOnline suggests : 

It is not perhaps the first thing you would think to do when encountering an incredibly active volcano. But the bizarre sport of 'volcano boarding' has certainly taken off in Nicaragua, where travellers join $31 (£20) tours so they can enjoy sliding down enormous ashy slopes. The thrillseekers career down the 2,382ft peak reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour, wearing nothing more than a jumpsuit and goggles for protection and zip down on plywood boards.

The terrifying tours see about 30 travellers at a time hike up the volcano so they can board back down it at breakneck speeds. Travellers speed down the huge ash slopes in just 20 seconds, wearing just a boiler suit and goggles for protection – this bizarre sport takes place on the active Cerro Negro volcano in Nicaragua and sees adventurers hike to the top of the then sit on a plywood board and sledge down the ash. The races down the slopes don't always go to plan, but organisers say the worst injury suffered has been a broken ankle. 

To those engaged, Volcano Boarding is a unique extreme sport and there is no other place on earth you can slide down an active volcano, so the fact that it's an exclusive spot makes it quite special. It is classified as a cinder cone volcano, the most common on the planet, which spews lava fountains through the top or through vents at the base.  Cinder cone volcanoes normally have a 60-year lifespan, but Cerro Negor is 120 years old and has erupted 23 times instead of the average one.  The Cerro Negro volcano is likely to erupt at any time and its last eruption took place in 1999. It is stated that  when the Cerro Negro - which was conceived in 1850 - erupted in 1992, it covered the nearby city of Leon in 8cm of volcanic ash.

Cerro Negro in English means 'black hill' and takes its name from the dense black ash that coats the slopes ~ strange are the ways of people

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18^th Feb 2015.

Kenyan runner Hyvon Ngetich's crawling finish at Austin Marathon

Press is agog with reports of a Kenyan woman, Hyvon Ngetich, 29, finishing third at  Austin Marathon. The Austin marathon is a qualifier for the prestigious Boston Marathon ~ When asked why she didn't quit, Ngetich, a native of Kenya, said, "Running, always you have to keep going, going." If you wonder how coming third could make news, read on ! 

Marathon races are held across the globe …  Often we see running shows organised …. Running is a good exercise… Pheidippides  hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story that was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.  He was reportedly sent to Sparta to request the help when Persians landed at Marathon, Greece.  He is believed to have run 240 km in two days.  Then he ran 40 km from the battlefield to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC); he collapsed and died of exhaustion. And the long distance running event was named after – this is usually a distance of  42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards), run as a road race.  A half marathon is a road running event of 21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi) ~ it is half the distance of a marathon and usually run on roads.

Kenyans dominate marathons whether it be a medal event or a road show – however, according to npr.org  It's impossible to measure exactly what makes for marathon gold. Daniel Lieberman, Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman has studied the evolution of running. He spent years studying the evolution of running, including the biomechanics and physiology of children and adults who run in rural and urban regions of Kenya.  According to him, Kenyans are so fast, so dominant, Ethiopians too do well – still runners from Africa are only a little bit faster than the rest of the world, just a few minutes faster over the course of slightly more than two hours.  It's impossible to quantify all of the factors that make one runner better than another. It's probably a combination of training, determination, culture and biology.  The area of Kenya where a lot of the best runners come from — the Western Rift Valley — is a beautiful, wonderful place.  In a way, people there  are poor and work hard. There are almost no jobs apart from subsistence farming. There are no factories, and very few secondary schools. So there are really few options for young people to better their lives. They can either work hard on a farm or train to be a great runner.  The region is at high altitude. All together, this part of Kenya has a large population of incredibly fit runners who run barefoot and work hard. Besides, Kenyans, train with incredible heart, motivation and intensity, without any of the advantages that Americans get.

Kenyan woman, Hyvon Ngetich, came third, actually crawled the last mile on her hands and knees down.  It is reported that Hyvon Ngetich, 29, was leading the pack of top female runners at the 23-mile mark, but with victory in sight, exhaustion set in and the Kenyan athlete started to fade. By the time the finish line came into view, Ngetich's body began to shut down, but the determined runner was not ready to give up. Unable to run anymore, Ngetich collapsed to her knees and proceeded to crawl on all fours, her eyes locked on the finish line. Race volunteers rushed to Ngetich’s side rolling a wheelchair, but she refused to sit in it. The resolute woman continued to inch forward down Congress Avenue under the watchful eyes of medical staff, with the crowd cheering her on every step of the way. If anyone offered her help, Ngetich would have been disqualified from the race.

Right before she crossed the finish line, Austin runner Hannan Steffan beat Ngetich for second place.  Her compatriot Cynthia Jerop won the race in 2:54:22.  But it was the determined, unyielding Ms Ngetich who won the hearts of the spectators Sunday.  ‘You ran the bravest race and crawled the bravest crawl I have ever seen in my life. You have earned much honour, and I am going to adjust your prize money, so you get the same prize money you would have gotten if you were second,’ Austin Marathon race director John Conley told Ngetich. Ngetich’s personal record in the marathon is 2:34:42. Fellow Kenyan athlete Betram Keter won the men’s race in 2:16:21.

Looking back on her inspiring feat, Ngetich said she does not how she managed to finish the race at all.  The story might seem inspiring at first glance, but Dr. Laura Goldberg, a sports medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic and medical director of the Cleveland Marathon, told ABC that people should never attempt what Ngetich did. "For the non-elite crowd, there should never be a reason why runner a should crawl to the finish," Goldberg told ABC. "I get nervous about hearing this story, how it translates through the general population."

She said dehydration, overheating and muscle cramping could have all led Ngetich to crawl to the finish line, but non-elite runners shouldn't follow her example no matter how miraculous her perseverance. Here's what to look for in her words:

·         -Your mental status has changed. While it's normal for runners' thinking to change slightly during a marathon due to exhaustion, if you forget where you are or why you're running, stop, Goldberg said. This can be a sign of overheating, an electrolyte problem, dehydration or something else

·         -You've stopped sweating or you have chills. This means your body isn't able to regulate its temperature properly. "Sweat is a way to let off heat,"

·         -Cramping is all over. Runners are used to cramps, but if it's a body-wide feeling, don't push through it.

·         -Your heart is racing faster than usual. This can be a sign your heart is in trouble, and you could pass out even if you're an elite runner.

·         -You're experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint. Again, your heart is telling you it's in trouble, and you should stop.

Though distance runners are used to pushing through pain, Lavie said they should recognize when it's time to stop.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18^th Feb 2015.

Thirty years after her green eye catapulted her to fame ~ the Afghan refugee in news

The oft repeated  adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. This phrase is widely attributed to Frederick R. Barnard, who published a piece commending the effectiveness of graphics in advertising with the title "One look is worth a thousand words", in Printer's Ink, December 1921.

National Geographic  is the official magazine of the National Geographic Society being published since 1888.  The magazine is known for its thick square-bound glossy format with a yellow rectangular border and its extensive use of dramatic photographs.  This famed magazine has published almost 1,500 covers;  the first colour cover appeared in  1959. The cover of National Geographic magazine opens the door to adventure and broadens horizons.  Every cover has a story behind the story. It may be a tale of creative initiative, or of working in dicey circumstances, or of the kind of luck that goes hand in hand with years of experience and wisdom.

Three decades ago, a woman became an icon through such a photo – it was  Sharbat Gula, a symbol of Pakistani hostility towards refugees from Afghanistan.  The current Afghan government is in a very vulnerable situation both economically and politically. If roughly two millions refugees are pushed back the Afghan government will have a major crisis on its hands – things were not far different.  Years later, she was to reveal that she was very angry when the photo was taken.   The man was a stranger. She had never been photographed before. Until they met again 17 years later, she had not been photographed since. The photographer remembers the moment too. The light was soft. The refugee camp in Pakistan was a sea of tents. Inside the school tent he noticed her first. Sensing her shyness, he approached her last. She told him he could take her picture. “I didn’t think the photograph of the girl would be different from anything else I shot that day,” he recalls of that morning in 1984 spent documenting the ordeal of Afghanistan’s refugees.

The portrait by Steve McCurry turned out to be one of those images that sears the heart, and in June 1985 it ran on the cover of this magazine. Her eyes were sea green. They are haunted and haunting, and in them you can read the tragedy of a land drained by war. She became known around National Geographic as the “Afghan girl,” and for 17 years no one knew her name.  In 2002,  a  team from National Geographic Television & Film’s EXPLORER brought McCurry to Pakistan to search for the girl with green eyes. He was shown some but did not agree to be her.   Then came the news that the woman had returned to Afghanistan years ago, and now lived in the mountains near Tora Bora with her children.  He met her again – and it was revealed that her name was  Sharbat Gula, a Pashtun, that most warlike of Afghan tribes. It is said of the Pashtun that they are only at peace when they are at war, and her eyes—then and now—burn with ferocity.  Time and hardship had erased her youth.  Between the two meetings - 23 years of war, 1.5 million killed, 3.5 million refugees:  that was stated to be the story of Afghanistan in the last quarter century.

She was a child when her country was caught in the jaws of the Soviet invasion. A carpet of destruction smothered countless villages like hers. She was perhaps six when Soviet bombing killed her parents. By day the sky bled terror. At night the dead were buried. And always, the sound of planes, stabbing her with dread. As with many families, their family too left Afghanistan, moving through mountains covered in snow, begging for blankets to keep warm.  In the mid-1990s, during a lull in the fighting, Sharbat Gula went home to her village in the foothills of mountains veiled by snow.

Now 30 years  after her green eyes made that  photograph one of the world's most famous portraits, Afghan refugee's face is seen again… at the centre of Pakistani corruption row !  ~ a recent picture of Gula, looking less striking, is washing around in a row about corruption in Pakistan. She’s  being investigated because Pakistani officials discovered she was living in the country on fraudulent identity papers. This week the picture from her computerised national identity card surfaced in national media. It's an ID card that as an Afghan national, she's not allowed to have.  Pakistani officials say that Gula applied for a Pakistani identity card in the northwestern city of Peshawar in April 2014, using the name Sharbat Bibi. She possesses computerised national identity card (CNIC), a vital document that she should not have been able to acquire as a foreign national.  That underlies the corruption that riddles much of Government.

The officials state that many Afghan refugees try to get Pakistani ID cards every day using fake documents.  They claim that around 23,000 cards of Afghan refugees were detected and blocked' in the 12 years since NADRA was launched.  In her official registration with NADRA, Gula said she was born in January 1969 and gave Peshawar as her place of birth. The photo attached to the application has the same piercing green eyes and the same sculpted face seen in McCurry's famous image only older, lined by age and surrounded by a black hijab covering her hair completely.

Afghans can  buy property, open a bank account and be confident they will be able to remain indefinitely in a country that wants rid of its refugee population by having a CNIC, usually acquired with fake documents and bribes. The problem of illegal immigrants haunts our neighbour too, just as it bewilders us.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

27^th Feb 2015.