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The Discovery Channel in the US is conducting a poll to determine the Greatest American of all time. (Update: Nominations are now closed and the Top 100 countdown begins on April 18.)

You have until 2400 ET on January 31 Polls appear to be still open as at February 6 to cast your five nominations. Whoever gets your votes 2-5, don’t forget to Vote #1 for the USA’s greatest all-round cricketer of all time, Barton King. (Check out his stats.)

Let’s see if he can outpoll L Ron Hubbard, Lee Harvey Oswald and Pee-Wee Herman. Vote 1 Barton King!.

At least four members of the cricketing community have been awarded medals in the 2005 Australia Day Honours List.

Keith Miller has posthumously been awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) “For service to sport, particularly to cricket as a player, journalist and commentator.” He had previously been named an MBE before British awards ceased to be given to Australians in the 1970s.

Mark Waugh has also been named an AM “For service to cricket as a player and to the community.”

Rita Artis, who is a long-standing scorer for the SACA at the Adelaide Oval, is awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) “For service to sport, particularly cricket administration as an official scorer, and to the community.”

Gordon Schwartz, who wrote about a range of sports for the Adelaide daily “The Advertiser”, including cricket, receives an OAM “For service to journalism and sport in South Australia.”

There are four main categories to the Order of Australia, the highest, the AC (Companion) is roughly the equivalent of a knighthood, and has only been awarded to one cricketer - Donald George Bradman.

Congratulations to all the 2005 Australia Day honourees. The official website for the Honours list has the rather corny title of itsanhonour.gov.au

Everyone involved in the organisation of January 10’s game at the MCG between an ICC World XI and an Asian Cricket Council XI should be commended for their efforts in putting the event together at short notice following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of December 26. More than 14 million dollars Australian was raised for the World Vision Tsunami Appeal that day in front of a packed house and many millions of television viewers.

Also to be congratulated are New Zealand Cricket and the Federation of International Cricketers Associations for organising a series of one-day matches to raise funds for the same appeal, replacing in part the Sri Lankan tour abandoned following the disaster. As I write this, the opening game between New Zealand and the FICA XI is under way at Jade Stadium, Christchurch, although the international side is 39 for 4 after 12 overs, with Jonty Rhodes out of retirement and at the crease.

The ICC Executive Board decided that the MCG game on January 10 was an “official one-day international”, as will the return Asia-ROW game in India next month, due to the “exceptional circumstances” surrounding the organising of the game. The NZ v FICA XI games, however, are not given full international status. Why?

More to the point, why are any of these games being called “official internationals”? The decision sent shockwaves through cricket’s statistical community. The doyen of cricket statisticians and bearded wonder, Bill Frindall, sent a letter of complaint to the ICC which was reported in The Times on January 8.

The committee of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians will be discussing, at its next meeting on January 29, its classification of the January 10 game. As a member of the ACS, I have forwarded to the committee my thoughts on the matter. This is what I had to say in my email, which I sent to them on Thursday:

In 1897, the General Assembly of the Indiana State Legislature unanimously proposed a bill that would have fixed the value of pi at 3.2. In 2005, the Executive Board of the International Cricket Council announced that an invitational charity game between two “dream team” elevens was an official One-Day International.

In both cases, the main underlying motive was money. But while the ICC had noble intentions - to increase the revenue for the Indian Ocean tsunami appeal by improving the game’s marketability - that does not alter the fact that their decision, like that of the Indiana Legislature in 1897, flies in the face of logic and commonsense.

Conventional thinking is that a one-day international should be a game between two nations (deeming the West Indies, as a singular member entity of the ICC, to be a “nation”). The concept of making a game between an “Asian Cricket Council XI” and an “ICC World XI” challenges that thinking. But what justification can be given to applying “Official ODI” status to the game played at the MCG on January 10, 2005?

The teams taking part were not truly representative in nature. Players from South Africa and Zimbabwe were unavailable, and the only Englishman available was one who had retired from Test cricket (Darren Gough). For Asia, Bangladesh was represented by a player who was not good enough to make their Test team!

Even with the barriers precluding the selection of truly representative elevens, the teams were still of a very high standard. Is that, in itself, enough to deem the game of full international level? I do not think so. It would be like FIFA declaring a game between Real Madrid and Arsenal to be a full international because the standard of play is better than, say, a World Cup qualifier between Mongolia and Nepal.

A further matter to consider is the discretionary nature of the ICC Executive’s decision to grant the game official ODI status. The explanation given by Ehsan Mani in the ICC press release of January 7 is bewildering:
“The ICC Board is of the view that due to the extraordinary circumstances that have brought about these two matches an exception to the existing rules should be made. This decision applies only to these two matches and does not change the status of other one-day matches from the past or in the future.”

What are we to make of this? Why just these two games? Why not the New Zealand v FICA XI games being played this month in aid of the same cause? Why not, retrospectively, the Asia v Rest of the World game from the ICC’s first and only annual Cricket Week in 2000? Or are we to infer from Mani’s comments that the status of future charity games will be determined by the severity of the disaster?

It could be said that we should accept the ICC’s ruling, whether we like it or not, move on and hope it never happens again. Can you imagine if that bill in Indiana had been proclaimed as law? Picture all those motorists trying to drive around Indianapolis on wheels with circumferences 3.2 times their diameter. An absurd decision is an absurd decision is an absurd decision.

It may feel a bit unseemly to stage a debate such as this as the indirect result of a massive natural disaster such as the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of December 26. Nothing in this discussion is intended to trivialise the loss of more than 200,000 lives and the loss of homes or livelihood of several million others.

But the recording of history and statistics needs to remain an objective, focused activity. Governments cannot change the laws of mathematics for commercial gain, nor should sporting bodies be able to redefine the dictionary for marketing reasons, however charitable.

The Tsunami Appeal game of January 10 was a highly entertaining spectacle and an extraordinary fund-raiser for World Vision. And it should go into the record books for what it is - a non-ODI “List A” limited-over match.

High-profile Indian statistician and fellow ACS member Rajneesh Gupta has also commented on the situation and posted a copy to his blog. Wisden CricInfo assistant editor and an old workmate of mine Anand Vasu has also made comment on his personal blog. Meanwhile Wisden CricInfo, who have a strong business relationship with the ICC, has failed to report on the statistical controversy at all.

Personally I feel quite uncomfortable entering into this debate so soon after the absolutely enormous tragedy that we are raising funds to alleviate, but the controversy is at large and it needs cool heads to bring it back into perspective and under control.

^BAN_ZIM: 64.2 Enamul Haque jnr to Mpofu, OUT: Allover! tosses up, outside off and spins away, tries to defends it on the front foot, gets the outside edge and Ashraful takes a good sharp catch at silly point
^BAN_ZIM: Zimbabwe 154/10, Partnership of 9
^BAN_ZIM: CB Mpofu c Mohammad Ashraful b Enamul Haque jnr 5 (9b 1×4 0×6)
^BAN_ZIM: DT Hondo 6* (12b 1×4) Enamul Haque jnr 22.2-5-45-6 (4nb)
^BAN_ZIM: That’s it, Bangladesh won this match by 226 runs
^BAN_ZIM: Bangladesh have made history - a first Test win after a long wait

(Text commentary from Wisden CricInfo. Full transcript)

Congratulations Bangladesh on their first Test victory.

The lime tree inside the boundary at St Lawrence’s Ground, Canterbury is no more.

The 290 year-old tree, which was expected to have to come down in the near future, was blown over during wild storms on Friday. According to today’s Telegraph, the Kent CCC is yet to decide whether to replace it with a sapling planted by the late Jim Swanton in 1999, or to have a boring old tree-less outfield the same as everyone else. At least we still have the VRA Ground in Amstelveen for arborial diversity.

There’s a rather sad-looking photo of the stump on the Kent CCC website.

Photos of the tree in happier days, taken when Dianne and I visited the ground on the occasion of a women’s one-day international in June 2000, can be found here.

In the end it took about an hour short of four days for Australia to wrap up the series. Not quite as close as the equivalent Test on the SCG 32 years earlier which set alight my interest in the game.

I was out at the SCG on Day Four as a guest of the Cricket New South Wales Ford Volunteer Program. Not quite the crowd of earlier days of the Test, about 14000, and the Bradman and O”Reilly Stands remained closed all day. A pretty warm day in Sydney, but I had a good vantage point in the shade beneath the large scoreboard (and without its distraction).

Some of my observations of the day? Pakistan, as we know, have chronic problems with on-field coherence. Asim Kamal was impressive for his 87. Shahid Afridi played a very streaky innings. It was one of those knocks where he could have made a duck or a 100. In the end he was run out for 46.

Shane Watson as a bowler runs up like a non-hostile Merv Hughes. Steve Waugh started off as a fast-medium all-rounder and turned into one of this country’s greatest specialist batsman. I don’t predict the same future for Watto. Michael Clarke, alas, was off the field all day with a foot injury, and it would have been good to see him trundle down for a few overs of left-arm orthodox. But Warne and MacGill did the trick.

Pakistan’s opening bowlers, defending 62, were crap. Both Naved ul-Hassan and Mohammad Asif bowled too fast and too short, and Hayden and Langer dealt with them accordingly. Langer did the customary Australian opener trick of getting out (bowled by Kaneria) with 4 runs to go. Ponting won the match next ball - I have some low-quality video of both deliveries, as I do of a Jason Gillespie calisthenics session on the fine-leg fence in front of where I was sitting.

I’ll continue to harp on about the 10am early start to play on a day when the sun sets in Sydney at 8.10pm.

As I write this, Bangladesh are four wickets away from their first-ever Test win. It might be tempting to think that a win over a youthful Zimbabwean eleven cheapens the honour a bit, but I for one am not going to scoff at that. Cricket should be expanding its constituency, not clinging on to an exclusive post-imperial elite club. As with the inauguration of the ICC Intercontinental Cup last year, a Bangladesh Test win can only be a positive in expanding the game’s horizons.

Zimbabwe currently 126/6 in their second innings in the pre-lunch session on day five. Live ball-by-ball commentary on IRC at CricInfo or, if that’s getting a bit overloaded while the charity game in Melbourne is on, Ananova

For giving Pratten Park Golden Boy Michael J Clarke a “far cough” after having him stumped at the SCG yesterday, Danish Kaneria is coughing up.

After umpires Shep and Billy reported Danish’s far coughing to the referee, Madugalle imposed a fine of 100% of Kaneria’s match fee. And this after Danish had already committed, like his team-mates, 25% of his match fee to tsunami relief.

According to the ICC statement, Kaneria’s previous record was taken into consideration before the fine was imposed. This is Kaneria’s first offence at international level. Goodness knows what they would have done if he was a serial far cougher.

Kaneria is the first name on the ICC’s 2005 Shame File. (A Mr S.Ganguly appears on the 2004 Shame File three times.)

Meanwhile Ricky Ponting, 155 not out at stumps, has drawn level with David Boon’s world record for the most Test centuries by a Tasmanian, ie 21. He has already moved ahead of D.Clarence Boon on the fielding stats, with 100 catches to Boonie’s 99. It begs the question… just who is Tasmania’s greatest Test batsman of all time?

Reports on day two of the Sydney Test:

• Reuters
• Peter English - Wisden
• Glenn Mitchell - ABC Grandstand - includes audio commentary highlights
• Robert Craddock - News Ltd
• Iain Paynten - Daily Telegraph
• Paul Kent - Daily Telegraph
• Chloe Saltau - Sydney Morning Herald
• Trevor Marshallsea - Sydney Morning Herald
• John Huxley - Sydney Morning Herald
• Peter Roebuck - The Age
• Geoffrey Dean - The Times
• Reports from Pakistani press to be added.

Five wickets for twenty runs. If Pakistan were consistent, they’d be dangerous.

Pakistan squandered a great start at the SCG yesterday. From 3/241 to 8/260 and thence to 9/292 when bad light (at the SCG, aherm!) ended play at 5.21pm eight overs early.

Star of the day was twenty year-old Salman Butt, who joined the pantheon of visiting Test batsmen to score a hundred at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Pakistan captain at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, Butt has scored his first Test century in his fifth Test after making an ODI hundred against India in November.

Visiting Test centurions over the past decade:
Sachin Tendulkar (241*) and VVS Laxman (178), India 2004
Stuart Carlisle (118), Zimbabwe October 2003
Mark Butcher (124) and Michael Vaughan (183), England 2003
Gary Kirsten (153), South Africa 2002
VVS Laxman (167), India 2000
Ijaz Ahmed (137), Pakistan November 1995
(Honourable mention to Graeme Hick 98*, England 1995)

Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill lived up to his initials with another five-fer at the Glyndwr yesterday, 5/87 from 22 overs. 37 wickets in 5 and a half Tests at the Glyndwr is not a bad ratio. Interesting, MacGill has appeared in every New Years Test at the Glyndwr since 1999 with the exception of 2000. Warnie took his 50th SCG wicket yesterday in his 11th appearance. By comparison, Bill O’Reilly played just three Tests at the ground that bears his grandstand for seven wickets at 47.85.

The bad light call yesterday afternoon would certainly have been justified at any other ground. Here at Stanmore it was quite dark at the time, although there was never more than a few spots of rain here around 6.30pm. Why weren’t the lights put on at the SCG sooner?

Monday is starting off fine and sunny in Sydney. Looks like we will have a 10.00am kickoff today - an absurdity in midsummer Sydney, thank you chanel neuf!

I didn’t follow it on the radio this year, but John Winston Howard visited the Aussie dressing room after the game and awarded the McGilvray Medal for ABC Australian Test Cricketer of the Year to Damien Martyn. If I was the doorman and saw JWH trying to enter, I would have called security.

Dropped catches don’t help. Yasir Hameed is 54 and Salman Butt 34. MacGill got belted for two overs before lunch.

Shane Watson, who is 5-2-9-0 at lunch, is the third Australian from the 2000 U19 World Cup in Sri Lanka to make his Australian Test debut, following Michael Clarke and Nathan Hauritz. (Another member of that squad, Ed Cowan, makes his NSW one-day debut at the WACA later today.)

Payneham CC, from the Adelaide Turf Cricket Association, won Grandstand’s Cricket Club of the Year award.