Why Australian batsmen need to go back to the basics

Australia coach and to a 30-year-old former Shield player recently was to understand the challenges currently faced by those responsible for directing the game in this country. As in other arenas, a battle is on between the classical and the contemporary. Suffice to say the classical is in retreat. Wise nations and activities seek to strike a balance between the eternal and the present, seek to take the best from both.

The coach spends his time instructing selected youngsters in the techniques of the game. Except that those skills seem to have changed. Coaches chide any batsman allowing a ball to pass, and teach them to use the bottom hand not as an assistant but as the driving force. Youngsters are taught to open their hips and lift the ball.

Ignoring the traditions of local batsmanship, they are told to go forwards, anticipate and punish full deliveries. Is it any wonder that Australians keep hooking off the front foot or that the captain keeps losing his wicket to the shot?

Spinners are to be played from the crease. Hardly any of the younger brigade and previous few of the seniors can step down the pitch to dictate length to the tweakers. Most sit back and search for anything off line. Some of the batting against spin seen in local Twenty20 tournaments has been embarrassing, and the new Test men were often the worst offenders. Michael Clarke has dancing feet but the rest seem to be bogged in mud. Meanwhile the Poms use their feet confidently.

Kirsten has done wonders to my game: Gambhir

When Gautam Gambhir was struggling to cement his place in Team India, the appointment of Gary Kirsten as India coach proved to be a godsend. The Delhi batsman gives the former South African opener a lot of credit for understanding him both as a cricketer as well as a person.

Gambhir, 29, feels Kirsten's presence in the India dressing room has done a world of good to his game as he has given him a lot of confidence.

Kirsten, who joined the India team in March 2008, carried it to the top of Test rankings, and Gambhir says he is one of the players to prosper in the process.

"Kirsten worked on my game, he has helped me a lot. Unlike other coaches, he has never asked me to make changes in my game. Importantly, he understood me both as a player and person," Gambhir

"Kirsten worked on my basics and tried to improve on them. It was quite encouraging coming from a person who has played 100-odd Tests."

The left-hander, who made his debut in 2004, had only one Test century to his name till 2007, but hit two more and a double century in 2008 and four centuries in five Tests in what turned out to be an incredible 2009, the year in which he was voted the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Player.

Gambhir, who returned home after the South Africa Test series following a hand injury, said Kirsten, himself being a left-handed opener, worked on key areas to better his performance.

How do I get more traffic to my blog?

 Let me spend some time answering your question because it's one of the top queries I get from other bloggers, particularly after listening to one of my BlogSmart! workshops...

First off, the core answer is actually pretty easy: the best way to generate traffic for your blog is to reframe the question. Instead of asking "how to I get more visitors to my site?" you need to be asking the question "how do I become part of the blogosphere discussion?"

Bloggers that don't get this crucial point end up being tiny islands in a very big ocean. Some of them can gain a readership by being phenomenally good or astonishingly prolific, but that's a very tough path to travel and for most ends up being the blogosphere equivalent of the old Web site complaint of "I've built it, but no-one's come to visit."

Instead, you need to get involved! Regardless of your topic, I bet there are already other people blogging about the same issues, thoughts and ideas, even if you don't agree with them. Join their conversation -- on their territory -- and you'll be leaving your island and joining the party.

Here's an easy tip that I tell my clients: two days a week spend an hour writing one thoughtful and cogent article that's relevant to your target readership. Imagine you're going to be having it picked up and published in one of the key trade publications in your marketplace. Good grammar, good spelling, coherent sentences, and a valuable point or insight are all important. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I promise you, the better you write, the more your potential customers, clients, partners and investors will be impressed.

The other three days of the week? Spend the same amount of time and effort each of these other days, but this time find other blogs that are in your market space and add thoughtful comments to their discussions. Sometimes, when appropriate, link back to your own articles, but other times add your own comments just to participate in the ongoing discussion and, yes, gain some visibility in your marketspace.

Over time you'll gain a reputation as a credible expert and people will start checking out your blog to see what you have to say. Then you'll have gained traffic and visibility in your market segment, which is where it's most important anyway.

I spend a fair amount of my time scanning both blog and news headlines (via RSS using NewsGator Online) and then popping onto other weblogs and adding my two cents. It's fun, rewarding, and helps me gain visibility in a way that writing even the best darn blog could never accomplish.

Kirsten may coach Mumbai Indians after World Cup

Kirsten's contract with the Indian team ends after the World Cup and he is unlikely to renew it as he wants to spend more time with his family in South Africa. But a coaching job in the month-long IPL is something that he might fancy.

"Indian cricket had hoped to persuade Kirsten to change his mind about not renewing his contract, but gave up on it this week. Future options for Kirsten could involve the Indian Premier League," a report in The Times said.

"The close relationship that Kirsten has with Sachin Tendulkar may lead to cooperation between the two at the Mumbai Indians, who are expected to appoint a director of coaching before the next IPL season," The report said.

"Kirsten could easily take up such a position while still developing his international academy that is in the planning stage at Claremont Cricket Club in Cape Town

christian the lion

Who will be the next Coach for Team India.

The team India has to search for new coach after the World Cup.Kirsten had said that he will not continue as coach after World Cup.Still now lot of discussions are taking place on Kirsten.Every one wants Kirsten continued as coach but due to his family only he is leaving the Indian team.So Lets wait Who will be next Coach for India.

Yusuf Pathan century could not help India to win the match.

Indian Yusuf Pathan raises his bat after scoring a century (100 runs ) during the 5th and final One Day International (ODI) between India and South Africa at Super Sports Park in Centurion on January 23, 2011.India lost their match by 33 runs.Though Pathan made an excellent century could not save India to win the series and South Africa won the series with 3-2 finally.