It is not just the ICC that is incompetent. A lot of the member associations are also like that. Check the case of USACA (USA Cricket). Recently they approved a payment of $300,000 to the ex-CEO (Iain Higgins), although their payment of match fees to the players is still pending. The ICC has shown a high level of tolerance towards some of the most corrupt associations, such as the US, Canada, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh cricket boards. There is simply zero accountability with the ICC and with the member boards.

Latest stats from 11th July 2022.

Total market cap: $915,219,040,064 (+8.82%)

Bitcoin: $391,678,972,749 (42.796%)
Bitcoin forks: $3,326,658,360 (0.363%)
Stablecoins: $148,326,123,720 (16.207%)
Altcoins: $364,516,632,700 (39.828%)
Tethered BTC: $7,370,652,535 (0.805%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: -0.410%
Bitcoin forks: -0.065%
Stablecoins: -1.671%
Altcoins: +2.186%
Tethered BTC: -0.040%

Latest stats from 18th June 2022. More than one-sixth of the cryptocurrency market cap is now comprised of stablecoins.

Total market cap: $841,060,315,142 (-33.58%)

Bitcoin: $363,392,159,536 (43.206%)
Bitcoin forks: $3,604,183,585 (0.429%)
Stablecoins: $150,360,382,777 (17.877%)
Altcoins: $316,596,774,823 (37.643%)
Tethered BTC: $7,106,814,421 (0.845%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: -2.674%
Bitcoin forks: +0.030%
Stablecoins: +5.761%
Altcoins: -3.047%
Tethered BTC: -0.070%

In the end, for 90% of the population it is the acceptance, ease of usage and stability that matters. Theoretically they may support a currency that can't be controlled by the governments. But most of them may not be comfortable with the idea of converting crypto to fiat for most of the purposes such as shopping and making payments. And then there is the issue with stability. Fiat currencies are going down constantly as a result of inflation. But very few people realize it, because everyone uses fiat and it affects everyone equally.

Latest stats from 30th May 2022.

Total market cap: $1,266,317,188,636 (-17.21%)

Bitcoin: $580,991,533,432 (45.880%)
Bitcoin forks: $5,043,916,970 (0.398%)
Stablecoins: $153,438,839,340 (12.117%)
Altcoins: $515,262,523,831 (40.690%)
Tethered BTC: $11,580,375,063 (0.914%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: +4.286%
Bitcoin forks: -0.036%
Stablecoins: +0.467%
Altcoins: -4.781%
Tethered BTC: +0.065%

Latest stats from 9th May 2022.

Total market cap: $1,529,503,690,961 (-18.88%)

Bitcoin: $636,185,610,634 (41.594%)
Bitcoin forks: $6,647,924,294 (0.435%)
Stablecoins: $178,190,778,736 (11.650%)
Altcoins: $695,485,024,550 (45.471%)
Tethered BTC: $12,994,352,747 (0.850%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: +0.895%
Bitcoin forks: -0.039%
Stablecoins: +2.130%
Altcoins: -3.014%
Tethered BTC: +0.029%

I really doubt whether they will get to 140. Right now they are at 126/7. Without a miracle now, it is going to be another defeat for the Mumbai Indians. Tilak Varma is the only batsmen who showed some resistance from Mumbai. Everyone else failed. Suryakumar Yadav and Hrithik Shokeen looked good, but they were unable to convert their starts to 50s. On the other hand, Mukesh Choudhary was very impressive for CSK. He managed to fill the vacuum that was left by Deepak Chahar. Dwayne Bravo and Mitchell Santner provided excellent support to Choudhary.

Latest stats from 17th April 2022.

Total market cap: $1,885,396,842,334 (-12.29%)

Bitcoin: $767,334,462,618 (40.699%)
Bitcoin forks: $8,936,015,299 (0.474%)
Stablecoins: $179,502,067,224 (9.521%)
Altcoins: $914,146,564,994 (48.486%)
Tethered BTC: $15,477,732,199 (0.821%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: -0.039%
Bitcoin forks: +0.015%
Stablecoins: +1.124%
Altcoins: -1.106%
Tethered BTC: +0.006%

Latest stats from 4th April 2022.

Total market cap: $2,149,572,871,087 (+17.66%)

Bitcoin: $875,689,425,107 (40.738%)
Bitcoin forks: $9,859,498,257 (0.459%)
Stablecoins: $180,497,208,762 (8.397%)
Altcoins: $1,066,002,315,509 (49.591%)
Tethered BTC: $17,524,423,452 (0.815%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: -1.662%
Bitcoin forks: +0.035%
Stablecoins: -2.198%
Altcoins: +3.854%
Tethered BTC: -0.029%

Latest stats from 18th March 2022.

Total market cap: $1,826,870,405,518 (+6.04%)

Bitcoin: $774,592,655,483 (42.400%)
Bitcoin forks: $7,741,252,318 (0.424%)
Stablecoins: $193,551,157,396 (10.595%)
Altcoins: $835,569,058,745 (45.738%)
Tethered BTC: $15,416,281,576 (0.844%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: +0.404%
Bitcoin forks: -0.044%
Stablecoins: +0.349%
Altcoins: -0.741%
Tethered BTC: +0.032%

Latest stats from 28th February 2022.

Total market cap: $1,722,758,415,369 (+4.04%)

Bitcoin: $723,482,473,837 (41.996%)
Bitcoin forks: $8,058,917,682 (0.468%)
Stablecoins: $176,509,710,179 (10.246%)
Altcoins: $800,720,758,895 (46.479%)
Tethered BTC: $13,986,554,776 (0.812%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: -0.112%
Bitcoin forks: -0.001%
Stablecoins: +0.201%
Altcoins: -0.065%
Tethered BTC: -0.023%

Australian pitches are more conductive towards pace bowling. It is going to be a battle between Indian pacers (Bumrah, Shami, Shardul.etc) versus the Pakistani pacers (Shaheen Shah, Hassan Ali.etc). Here maybe we can say that both the sides are on equal strength. But when it comes to the batting department, it is clear that Pakistan is at an advantage. Players such as Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman are more suited to these conditions, than say Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. So my bet will be on Pakistan.

Latest stats from 28th January 2022.

Total market cap: $1,655,921,664,041 (-21.20%)

Bitcoin: $697,269,277,082 (42.108%)
Bitcoin forks: $7,763,945,300 (0.469%)
Stablecoins: $166,331,701,177 (10.045%)
Altcoins: $770,726,134,983 (46.544%)
Tethered BTC: $13,830,605,499 (0.835%)

This is the change compared to my last post:

Bitcoin: -0.510%
Bitcoin forks: -0.215%
Stablecoins: +4.080%
Altcoins: -3.487%
Tethered BTC: +0.132%

Right now India as well as most of the other countries are witnessing a huge spike in the number of COVID cases. And if the projections come true, then by the end of next month the spike will end. IPL is scheduled to start by the end of March, so I guess there is enough time for the BCCI to arrange the tournament. But as we have seen on several occasions for the last two years, it is very difficult to predict the course of the pandemic. New waves appear in the horizon whenever there seems to be a lull in the number of new cases.

The biggest obstacle for the growth of cricket outside test playing nations is the lack of inclusion in Olympics. Most of the countries provide funding only for Olympic sports. And that is the reason why sports such as baseball and rugby have spent so much money and effort in getting themselves included in the Olympic Games. And with every passing year, cricket is being branded as a sport that is exclusively being played by immigrants and foreigners. When some school going kid in Norway or Sweden watch the matches of their "national" cricket team and finds out that there is not a single native player in the XI, will he be keen to play this sport?

Even when they resumed the coverage, it was not the usual stuff. I don't really understand the point in reducing the number of passes allotted to the TV staff, giving the excuse of COVID protocols. They can reduce the number of viewers, but how can they reduce the number of technical staff? Even after two years, it is really irritating to see at least some of the countries engaging in this sort of restrictions. And I guess in Australia the vast majority of the adult population are already vaccinated.

With the natural gas/crude oil prices at all time high levels, I thought that the RUR would be in a much stronger position. What is going on now? I just checked the USD vs RUR exchange rate, and it is still stuck at 75-76 level. Why there is no improvement despite the massive revenue inflow? Once I used to think that Vladimir Putin was godsend gift for the people of Russia, to free from from the loot of Boris Yeltsin. But now I am realizing that Putin is even worse than Yeltsin. Feels bad for the ordinary Russians.

Huge scandal in Indian cricket.

https://theprint.in/india/wife-of-dawood-aide-claims-husband-forced-her-into-sex-work-names-hardik-pandya-rajeev-shukla/764676/
https://www.opindia.com/2021/11/wife-of-dawoods-aide-accuses-hardik-pandya-rajiv-shukla-of-rape/

One lady named Rehnuma Bhati has accused Hardik Pandya of raping her at the Trident hotel.


If the BCCI has any sort of morals, then they should immediately suspend the central contract of Hardik Pandya and keep him away from competitive cricket until his name is cleared.

At least I won't be missing him. 4-5 years ago, he was among my favorite cricketers. But then he became arrogant and his focus was on things other than cricket. Then there were controversies related to selection. He used to ignore deserving players like Ashwin and give preference to useless ones like Hardik. I just hope that the new captain will be less biased. I don't have an idea on who is the replacement, but I guess Rohit Sharma is the most probable one. Hopefully he will stay away from controversy. 

Namibia is not a very weak team. They can upset big teams on their day. But today their performance was less than satisfactory. During the last few overs, the field placing didn't worked out for them, and as a result Asghar Afghan and others were able to score a lot of runs towards third man and fine leg. Ideally they should have restricted Afghanistan to somewhere in the vicinity of 145, which would have given them a faint chance. But with a target of 161, they have zero chance of a win.