cricket.rickeyre.com

Some more news on cricket’s involvement in the campaign to provide urgent relief for victims of the October 8 earthquake in Pakistan:

Members of the England cricket team visited the Institute of Medical Science in Islamabad on Friday, where more than 1500 children are being treated for injuries. BBC Online has a report.

Adam Gilchrist, who is an ambassador for World Vision, appealed on Friday for Australians to give more money for victims of the earthquake. The Age is reporting that the Australian team, who will commence the First Test against the West Indies on Thursday, will discuss on Monday how they can help earthquake victims.

The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced their teams to take part in the Pakistan versus Rest of Pakistan twenty-over-per-side match being held at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday to raise funds for the earthquake relief appeal.

The World Food Programme meanwhile has issued the following press release on Friday.

Devastation in Pakistan worse than expected - survey

Muzaffarabad, 28 October 2005 - WFP has said that losses and devastation from this month’s earthquake in northern Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir were far worse than had first been thought, and that 2.3 million people may now require food aid to get through winter.

These conclusions were based on the preliminary findings of an assessment in the quake-hit region, carried out by WFP with support from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the British based non-government organization, Oxfam.

It found that 2.5 million people had lost their homes, most of them in rural areas, and were living in tents or makeshift shelters.

“These people were already poor before the earthquake hit. In a matter of just a few minutes everything they had – their homes and livelihoods – disappeared.

“Now they are completely desperate. We have to reach them before winter does – and that means within the next three weeks,” warned Anette Haller, a WFP Programme Adviser, who headed the assessment team.

In the immediate aftermath of the crisis, WFP appealed for US$56 million to provide emergency food relief for one million of the worst affected people for six months.

However, it gave a warning earlier this week that this figure could well be revised now on the basis of the assessment. It is also appealing for US$100 million to provide air support for aid operations for all agencies.

The assessment results come amid growing concern that donors were contributing too little money to emergency relief efforts by the UN and other aid organizationson the ground and concentrating instead on supporting longer-term reconstruction projects.

WFP warned on 27 October that with winter approaching, a window of hope for survivors was slamming shut.

Six out of the nine districts affected by the earthquake were already in the most food insecure parts of Pakistan, where people depend on subsistence farming, livestock and wage labour during the lean season.

According to the findings, more than half of rural households surveyed lost all or most of their grain stocks and one fourth of the livestock was killed.

Large numbers of children were found to be suffering from diarrhoea or respiratory illnesses, suggesting that a rapid increase in cases of acute malnutrition could be imminent.

About 20 percent of mothers with children under two years old had stopped breastfeeding, either because of illness or inadequate breast milk.

According to the survey, priority should be given to the estimated 200,000 people living in the most difficult to reach areas in Neelum, Jhelum, Kaghan and Naran valley as well as upper parts of Alai which will soon be cut off by snow for months.

The survey noted that less than ten percent of the affected population had left their communities for safer areas, the majority preferring to stay close to their lands and livestock. While larger movements of people are expected to move into camps as winter sets in, this is seen as a last resort.

“These are people traditionally very attached to their land and livestock which up to now have been their sole means of survival. They are not ready to leave them behind to move into camps,” Haller said.

Markets have also not recovered in three of the hardest hit areas, with trading coming to a virtual halt in many areas. And where markets are functioning, prices have soared. In addition, banks are closed, restricting cash and credit flow.

“The local economy has collapsed. Even if the survivors had money to buy food, supplies are extremely limited. Many people are coming down from the mountains only to go back up empty handed,” stressed Haller.

The assessment mission recommended assistance to urban areas for the next two months and in rural areas until the end of February.

World Food Programme © 2005

Wikipedia has links to organisations around the world who are raising funds to assist in the relief. Please give generously to a reputable agency of your choice.

The reports of the devastation caused by the October 8 earthquake are very distressing, and we may not yet know the full extent of the tragedy. At this stage at least 54000 people have died in Pakistan and 1400 in Indian-administered Kashmir. But there is a monumental humanitarian crisis unfolding, with about three million people homeless, many in remote locations, and winter approaching rapidly.

What really sickens me is the apathy on display, here in Australia at least, from the self-styled agenda-setters - the media and the pollies. It seems that unless a disaster hits a tourist resort full of Western holiday-goers, it’s not news. Just look at the A Current Affair website to see what Ray Martin’s priorities are these days.

The ICC was quick off the mark to announce a donation of half a million US dollars on October 11 to the Red Cross. This was laudable, but there hasn’t been much follow-up since. Day two of the ICC “super test” at the SCG was designated as a fund-raising day for the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. The match, as we know now, was a big flop, and not very conducive to running charity appeals. According to ICC president Ehsan Mani, about $1.5 million AUD was raised.

Well short of the 14 million dollars raised during the Tsunami relief one-day game at the MCG in January.

There has been criticism directed at the ICC for failing to arrange a special charity game along the lines of the January tsunami relief match, notably from Shoaib Akhtar. There have been suggestions from the Asian Cricket Council that they would organise a fund-raiser. Nothing definite has been announced to date, and after the fiasco of announcing, then being forced to cancel, a second tsunami relief game mooted for Eden Gardens in February, I’m not too confident of anything from them this time.

I note that PCB chairman Shahryar Khan told reporters in Lahore last week that the ICC’s “logistical reasons” for not staging a special match were that players from the South African and New Zealand teams would not have been available, and that sponsors could not be organised in time.

Err, hello? What happened to that enormous spirit that was on display in January to move heaven and earth in the name of humanity?

Still, there is some progress being made within the cricketing fraternity. The PCB announced on Tuesday that they will stage a televised twenty-overs game between Pakistan and a Rest of Pakistan XI at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Sunday.

Thursday there came an announcement that the England touring team, now in Pakistan, will hold a golf day at the Royal Palm Beach golf course in Lahore on December 4 to raise funds for earthquake relief. Hmm.

I also note that there was a hockey game played in Rotterdam on Wednesday between the Dutch team and a rest of the world selection. Holland won 7-4, and the event raised 21 million Euros for the earthquake relief appeal. That’s more than 25 million dollars US.

The situation is dire for many many people in northern Pakistan. If it weren’t for the tsunami, this would be the world’s biggest natural disaster in years. Please read the latest report from the UN’s World Food Programme, issued a few hours ago, which sets out the current status of the relief effort. In particular, I’d like to highlight these comments from WFP Regional Director Amir Abdulla:

“The next three weeks are crucial. Hundreds of villages that are remote today will become impossible to reach in a few weeks. People have lost their homes and their winter food stocks have been largely destroyed.

“It’s quite simple: if we can’t get to them before winter, they are going to die. More than 50,000 died of injuries from the quake – a further 50,000 could now die of exposure.”

I’ve made a donation to Oxfam Australia’s South Asian Earthquake Appeal, and I’d strongly recommend to anyone who hasn’t yet given to any of the aid agencies at work in the region, please do so.

There’s a long list of charitable aid agencies listed in the bottom half of Wikipedia’s page on the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake.

If anyone knows of any cricketing activities in aid of the earthquake relief effort not mentioned here, please add a comment or drop me a message. I’ll give this a mention also in a future podcast.

Steve Waugh: Out Of My Comfort Zone

more at QBD The Bookshop

“It really is a heavy book. It’ll break your shoulder.”

- Margaret Throsby on “Out Of My Comfort Zone” by Steve Waugh, ABC Classic FM, 25.10.05

Christmas is coming, and that means another book from Steve Waugh. Retirement from the game may well mean no more diaries, so this year we get his autobiography. That, of course, means hitting the media trail. Two interviews that he gave to ABC Radio this morning are both online.

He gave a one-hour interview to Margaret Throsby on ABC Classic FM. As a guest on Throsby’s program, he gets to choose five tracks to be played during the hour. I was expecting Waugh’s idea of classical music to be John Williamson singing “Ol Man Emu”. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Waugh’s interview can be heard in either realaudio or windows media format for about one week on the Margaret Throsby page on the ABC Classic FM site. There’s also a photo of Tugga and Throbbers on this page.

Elsewhere in the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters, Waugh was interviewed by Richard Aedy for Radio National’s excellent morning talk program “Life Matters”. (This program is, in my opinion, light years ahead of the egomaniacal froot loops on commercial radio at the same time.) This 25 minute interview is available for two weeks on the Life Matters site in RA, WMA and MP3 format. For subscribers to the Life Matters podcast (which I personally recommend highly), it is today’s download.

For afficionados of John Winston Howard, Australian cricket’s most famous hanger-on gave the speech at Waugh’s book launch on Sunday. The transcript is on the PM’s website.

I’ve improved the layout of the archival and category pages of the blogs now so that they should be much easier to follow. A couple of examples: the Ashes 2005 page, the April 2005 page, and the September 13, 2005 page (ie the day in Australian time that England won the Ashes). And this page lists articles including the search query “Warne”.

I’m also going to start adding some of my earlier items from my pre- and post-CricInfo days to the current blog. Which means there will be a number of older months starting to appear on the Archive listing at the right.

Also - and this was somewhat unplanned - I had to reset the news/blog feed database yesterday, which explains why things may have looked a bit odd for a few hours there.

Today would have been Day Six of the “Super Test” at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It seems an eternity since the game actually ended.

Meanwhile, in real cricket, Tasmania are following on against Queensland while Victoria have taken first innings points over WA.

There aren’t enough Novocastrian bloggers out there, let alone Novocastrian bloggers about cricket. This from the city that gave you Greg Matthews, Gus Gilmour, Belinda Clark, Sandman Abbott, Dutchy Holland, Johnny Watkins, me…

From “One Salient Oversight” comes a thought-provoking analysis of Flintoff, Pietersen and the Jerk Factor.

I haven’t had much to say about the unfortunately-named Super Series which ended two and a half days early yesterday. And I still don’t.

Onto more important matters. The Pura Cup has begun. The only place you’ll get live scores on the internet is on the official, if at times flaky, Cricket Australia website. And this is the fifth season in which the Pura Cup has not been televised, having become collateral damage in 2002 from the demise of the C7 Sports pay-TV channel (which is currently the subject of a huge court case, and more about that later).

Issue Four of the world’s first cricket podcast series, The Net Sessions, is out now. A big thank you to everyone who has been waiting patiently for the next edition to come out. And thank you for all the feedback that I have received.

Issue Four is actually the first of two that I intend to release this week. It begins with a salute to England’s victory over Australia in the Ashes. This is followed by a roundup of major results over the past four weeks, and concludes with a report on the involvement of the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams in a major United Nations program. The running time is 11 minutes 50 seconds.

Audio excerpts in this edition of the following:

• “Waltzing Matilda” - lyrics Banjo Paterson, music Christina Macpherson adapted from traditional. Performed by Roger McGuinn whose recording is available in full and for free from Project Gutenberg;
• “Jerusalem” - words William Blake, music Hubert Parry;
• Adolf Ogi press conference audio, courtesy UN Radio.

The MP3 version can be downloaded here (64kBps, mono, 11:50, 5547K). This podcast is also available, and recommended, in Ogg Vorbis format (Q2, mono, 11:50, 5501K).

Feedback can be sent to me via email through the feedback page on this website, or you can send me voicemail to any of the following:

• Skype - username rickeyre
• Yahoo IM - username rickeyre
• Google Talk - username rickeyre
• Telephone voicemail (UK) - (020) 7617 7542; international +4420-7617-7542
• Telephone voicemail (Aus) - (02) 8569 0397; international +612-8569-0397

I’m looking for sponsorship for future episodes of The Net Sessions, anticipating an increase in frequency of these programs, as well as an increase in usage of disk space and bandwidth.

This is a great opportunity for your business to raise its profile across the cricketing world by becoming involved with a piece of cricket broadcasting history, the world’s first continuing cricket podcast series, The Net Sessions.

Opportunities exist for sponsorship announcements within each podcast and, for longer programs, a 10-15 second advertisement. If you’re interested, please leave a message on my feedback page, selecting “Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities” on the Subject menu. Or leave me a voicemail at any of the above addresses. Or give me a call during Australian daytime hours on 0412 321617 (international, +614-123-21617).

It was heartening to hear Ehsan Mani announce at the awards night on Tuesday that the ICC had decided to donate $US 500,000 to the Red Cross to assist in relief for victims of Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. There was also a moment’s silence observed during the evening’s function in respect for those affected by the disaster.

The second day of the SCG supertest - this coming Saturday - has been designated by the ICC as a fundraising day for the relief appeal. While they have ruled out, for logistical reasons, a repeat of the one-dayer arranged for the tsunami victims in January, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the BCCI and PCB organise a special match of their own.

Here is the text of the ICC press release issued yesterday:

Day two of Johnnie Walker Super Series Test dedicated to helping victims of Asian earthquake.

ICC to provide $US500 000 to Red Cross

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Australian Red Cross, on behalf of the international relief agency Red Cross/Red Crescent, today announced that Saturday, 15 October 2005, day two of the Johnnie Walker Super Series Test match will be dedicated to helping the victims of the Asian earthquake.

The ICC, the Australian Red Cross, the global Red Cross/Red Crescent and the Host Broadcaster, Channel 9 will join forces to help raise funds for the relief efforts in the region during the day.

To kick start the appeal the ICC Executive Board will make an immediate donation of US$500,000 from the proceeds of the Super Series to Australian Red Cross to assist in its relief efforts through the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

On 15 October, the ICC and the Australian Red Cross with the support of the event Host Broadcaster, Channel 9, will also run a number of activities at the ground and through the telecast to help encourage people to donate to the Appeal.

A toll free number for Australian residents – 1800 811 700 - will be displayed during the telecast to allow donations to be made to the Australian Red Cross while overseas viewers will be able to make a donation by going to the Australian Red Cross website – www.redcross.org.au - which will link to a number of Red Cross/Red Crescent websites around the world for donations to be made in a specific country.

At the venue, activities on the Replay Screen, the Public Address system and on-field activities will be used to help encourage people at the venue to make a donation.

ICC President Ehsan Mani, who hails from Rawalpindi, one of the areas affected by the earthquake, said: “All of us at the ICC are shocked and saddened by this tragedy and the impact it has had in my country and I send my prayers and condolences to all those affected by it.

“In matters such as this, where our member countries have been so directly and critically affected, it is vital that the ICC and cricket uses its influence to be a force for good.

“The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Sharayar Khan, and the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Indian, Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra, played a leading role in helping the Board to understand the impact of this tragedy and all countries were unanimous in their support of this initiative.”

Dale Cleaver, Acting CEO of Australian Red Cross expressed gratitude to the ICC for their generous contribution and urged the public to get behind the Asia Quake Appeal.

“The ICC is showing the way for all of us. This is a massive disaster affecting millions, and the US$ 500,000 injection will go a long way towards the relief effort. But the needs are indeed much greater than initially anticipated and I urge the public to show their compassion yet again and make their own contribution,” said Mr Cleaver.

The measures and proposals were agreed at the ICC’s Board meeting in Sydney, which concluded on Tuesday, to help alleviate suffering caused by the earthquake, with Pakistan and India among the worst affected countries.

The confirmed death toll from the earthquake, which struck on Saturday morning, 8 October, is already in the tens of thousands with fears it could rise to far higher.

Up to 60,000 people are believed to have been injured by the earthquake that measured 7.6 in magnitude with an estimated two million people made homeless as a result of its impact.

The earthquake’s epicentre was in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, itself only 96 kilometres north-east of the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.

The earthquake was felt in Islamabad, Lahore and India’s capital, New Delhi.

The Executive Board considered the proposal to play a charity match in Australia in support of the relief effort but it became clear that the operational and logistical barriers would be impossible to overcome and the Board believe that these initiatives provide the quickest and most effective way of providing the assistance required.

The ICC paid a fitting tribute to the memory of the late Don Adams in their announcement of the 2005 ICC Player of the Year in Sydney last night.

For the first time in the two-year history of the awards, the Gold Sobie was shared by Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff. The two all-rounders each polled 86 points in the player of the year voting, thus equalling the number allocated to CONTROL agent Maxwell Smart, so lovingly portrayed by Adams, who died on September 25.

In other news from Gold Sobie night (so dubbed as a contraction of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy), Kevin Pietersen became the first player with a raccoon on his head to win Emerging Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year and a place in the ICC ODI World XI Team of the Year.

The reason for KP’s abandonment of Paris Hilton became clear with the awards being held at a member of rival hotel chain Four Seasons.

Musical entertainment was provided at the awards ceremony by the New Shannon Noll (ie, Australian Idol runner-up for 2004), Mr Anthony Calleia. Where’s Casey Donovan when you need her? Or even Silvie Paladino?

On a more serious note, I was present at the press conferences at the Four Seasons Sydney for Tuesday night’s ICC Awards, and I’ll say more on the subject tomorrow. I also have some audio for a future podcast.