Out of form? Out of sight. © Getty Images

Following Kevin Pietersen’s match-winning 90 yesterday, which handed England a consolation win over the West Indies, Simon Wilde in the Sunday Times says form matters not-a-jot for him:

When he has got his eye in, and there is a match to win on a good batting pitch, the form book gets shredded along with the bowling. Tell-tale averages, hard-won reputations, both are scattered to the winds. He knows that once the ground work is done, he can score at around two runs per ball against the seamers.

In the same paper Wilde interviews Ian Bell; as Iain Duncan-Smith, the former Conservative leader once said, “never underestimate the determination of a quiet man”. Pleasingly for England, Bell is rather more popular and a far greater success than Duncan-Smith.”He has left the chrysalis and started to spread the most handsome butterfly wings”:

Bell still barely looks old enough to cross a road unsupervised, let alone the boundary rope of an international arena, but he has, at 24, assumed a stature worthy of the predictions made for him by many good judges while he was still in his teens. Don’t bet against him being England’s leading run scorer in the Ashes this winter.

	Harmison insists he will be ready for the Ashes © Getty Images

Over at the Daily Mail, Steve Harmison says the management didn’t reveal their reasons for dropping him in England’s final Champions Trophy match yesterday against the West Indies. He does, however, insist he will be ready to roll come the Ashes:

I know things haven’t quite worked out as I planned here in India at the ICC Trophy. I don’t quite know why I was dropped yesterday because the management didn’t tell me, but I can only assume it was because I didn’t bowl particularly well in the first two games. I feel a little hard done by because on both occasions we were defending a low score, but it’s not the end of the world.

What I do know is that everything’s going well in the nets, my fitness is good and Kevin Shine, the bowling coach, is very happy with my progress. I know how I am best of all, both physically and mentally, and I can categorically state that my confidence is good and I expect fully to be ready, fast and taking wickets in the Ashes series.

Video of Vaughan on the Ashes

Posted on 10/29/2006 in English cricket

There’s a video of Simon Hughes interviewing Michael Vaughan at The Telegraph today. After waxing lyrical about him (“he’s an impressive person”) to the audience, the talk moves onto the rise in popularity of cricket in England. It’s a corporate schmooze-fest for Hugo Boss, who now sponsor England, but Hughes’s (and Vaughan’s) dry humour still make it worth watching.

Passion saves Shane

Posted on 10/29/2006 in Australian cricket

	Shane Watson can smile again, after a turbulent year © Getty Images

Following a painful breakup with fiancee Kym Johnson last year, and a serious shoulder injury which made matters worse, Shane Watson has rebounded. He recounts the dark of his high-profile relationship split and how it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"A year and a half ago when things turned bad in the personal side of my life I just realised I've got to have so much fun in my cricket"

Read the full piece in The Sunday Mail.

In the same paper, Glenn McGrath insists he is not washed up, and asks for more time to perform.

I've been around long enough to know that every year is different and you don't have be a rocket scientist to work out that, if you don't perform in this team, you get replaced

Fishing it out

Posted on 10/29/2006 in Australian cricket

	'You never really get much time but it's just so important to get off the [cricket] train sometimes because I find you just get so mentally tired as well' says Hayden © Getty Images

Cricketers spend their time off from cricket in different ways. All that Matthew Hayden needs is his collapsible fishing rod. Hayden talks to Malcolm Conn of The Australian about fishing, surfing and Grandma's shepherd's pie.

In Galle, the famous southern fort city later devastated by the Boxing Day Tsunami, Hayden saw a group fishing off the rocks near the team hotel, just out of town.

"I noticed they were catching little mackerel so I took my fly rod down to the rocks and within the space of 10 minutes I reckon I had close on 300 people watching," Hayden recalled this week.

"I was thinking, 'this is good, they're obviously keen followers of cricket'. But no-one knew who I was. They were looking at my fly rod. They invited me back to their village to show off this rod. It wasn't me at all."

Gilchrist's decade of fulfillment

Posted on 10/29/2006 in Australian cricket

Ten years ago, around this time of the year, a promising wicketkeeper batsman set foot on the tarmac of New Delhi's airport at 2 AM, called upon as an emergency replacement for the injured Ian Healy. Still dazed, he stumbled onto his hotel room, trying not to wake up his captain, and four hours later, hopped onto the team bus and introduced himself to the rest. That cricketer was Adam Gilchrist and he didn't have to introduce himself again.

Gilchrist was at home in Perth in October, 1996, preparing for his third season of domestic cricket for Western Australia in the hope of making it to the international stage when he received a call telling him to catch the first available flight to India

Read the full piece by Andrew Ramsey in The Australian.

The highs and lows of Michael Clarke

Posted on 10/29/2006 in Australian cricket

	'I'm young, but 25 is not a kid' - Clarke © Getty Images

Nicknamed 'Pup' by his team-mates, Michael Clarke burst onto the international scene with 151 on Test debut, representing the new crop of dashing young Australian cricketers. However, he has struggled to maintain the consistency expected of him, now having to fight for his place in the side. Clarke analyses his career so far, his endorsement deals, influences, and his determination to shake off the label of a one-hit wonder.

About the age of 13, when Michael Clarke decided he would play cricket for Australia, four posters adorned his bedroom walls. Three were of cricketers: Brian Lara, Michael Slater and Damien Martyn. The other was a picture of a Ferrari.

Read the full piece in The Sydney Morning Herald.

October 28, 2006

'Harbhajan cuts his hair. Monty is not cutting his hair'

Posted on 10/28/2006 in English cricket

	Monty Panesar: ready to take on the Australian cricketers and the crowd © Getty Images

Peter Roebuck visits Ludhiana to discover the roots of England's latest spinning sensation, Monty Panesar, and meets his uncle Pritpal Singh Panesar.

Monty has had the best of two worlds. His background has given him dedication, spontaneity and fighting spirit. England had offered quietness, attention and opportunity.

Read the full piece in Sydney Morning Herald.

Also read The Age, where Chloe Saltau talks to Panesar about his experiences with a club side in Adelaide last season, and discovers that Panesar has nothing but kind words for the Australians. Meanwhile, Rod Marsh, the former England academy coach, reckons Panesar won't have too many problems with the crowd.

"The Barmy Army will worship the ground he walks on, and they might drag a few Australians with them. He's a lovable young man, he's got a beautiful smile and if the Australian crowds do get into him, it will only be because he's taken a lot of wickets."

October 27, 2006

You earn respect. They did.

Posted on 10/27/2006 in Champions Trophy

	Captain Marvellous: Fleming's demand for more international respect might have gained at least a foothold now © Getty Images

New Zealand's progression to the semi-final stage of the ICC Champions Trophy may have surprised some sections of the public and media, but for Stephen Fleming the success has been hard-earned. Aggrieved at the lack of recognition his team received for their efforts on the international scene, Fleming's role with the bat has spoken louder than his words, feels Richard Boock.

Writing in The New Zealand Herald, Boock lauds New Zealand's effort - in particular, Fleming's captaincy and influence - and chalks up just where each member of the squad stands in the tournament.

"The win means New Zealand are now guaranteed of qualifying for next week's semifinals, and pressing for a repeat of their epic mini World Cup triumph at Nairobi six years previous.

Fleming yesterday hailed a grand team effort; the win coming on the back of some excellent batting from himself, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullum, and some demanding bowling from Kyle Mills, Oram, Vettori and - eventually - fast-bowler Shane Bond."

Click here to read more.

What is wrong with Stuart MacGill?

Posted on 10/27/2006 in Australian cricket

Robert Craddock asks the question in a comment piece in The Courier-Mail

It's a shame MacGill has never been able to find inner contentment throughout an outstanding career. You can understand early in his career, as a tempestuous youngster scrambling to get ahead, he must have felt a huge sense of frustration at being trapped in the jumbo-sized shadow of Shane Warne. But he is no heartbreak kid.

The true hard-luck stories of cricket are players such as Jamie Siddons, whom Steve Waugh claims was "as good as Mark or me", or Darren Berry, whom Waugh branded "as good as any gloveman I've seen". Neither played a Test. MacGill has played 40 and taken 198 wickets.

In Darren Lehmann’s column in The Advertiser he writes about how good it was seeing Shane Warne working with Cullen Bailey and in The Age he says Shaun Tait is a “real show” for the first Test.

October 26, 2006

Living Doll, pasty poms

Posted on 10/26/2006 in Ashes

So Australia’s throng of fans, cheerily known as the Fanatics, have a songbook for the Ashes to combat England’s notoriously boisterous and equally cheery Barmy Army. The Courier Mail have a list of songs England can expect to “enjoy”, including:

Monty Panesar's Useless
Tune: My old mans a dustman

Monty Panesar useless, a poor old English chap
& when he's not spin bowling, he's visiting the quack.
He's useless in the covers, he's useless in the slips
And when he straps the pads on, he'll pass out with the yips

And...

Ode to a British girlfriend
Tune: Living Doll, Cliff Richard

Got myself a yawning, boring, pasty, nagging, whinging pom
Got to do your best to leave her just cause she's a whinging pom
She's got a lazy eye & big fat thighs from all those chips & pies
She's not the only boring, pasty, nagging, whinging pom

Oh dear. No word yet from the Barmy Army and what their song list might be…

Hook shot is Pietersen's achilles heel

Posted on 10/26/2006 in English cricket

	'Pietersen is at the stage of his career where perhaps he feels it is incumbent on him to be a crowd pleaser when selective or even total discretion might better serve his and the team cause' © Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen needs to use his crowd-pleasing hook shot carefully if he is to have a great Ashes series, says Mike Selvey in The Guardian. Pietersen, Selvey feels, has it in him to be a great player in a great series. But he might look at the career of Steve Waugh and wonder if there might be a better way.

"There is a large element of adventure attached to his batting that, as he becomes more familiar to the opposition, bowlers are beginning to exploit: impatience outside off stump and scant recognition of the dangers inherent in taking on the short ball without regard to circumstance.

In the second Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad last winter he completed a fine century by hooking Shoaib Akhtar for six. Next ball he tried to repeat the shot but spliced a catch to mid-on instead. Shoaib unveiled his "chicken man" celebration for the first time. "I'd hit the previous one for six, so why not that?" was Pietersen's response. The answer was, he had been suckered by tremendous bowling; the second bouncer was different, faster, on him before he could execute the stroke. It is what Andy Roberts used to do to hapless batsmen who thought they had the measure of him."

Click here to read more.

October 25, 2006

Sledging...cartoon-style

Posted on 10/25/2006 in Ashes

Over at The Corridor there's a sneak preview of a collection of cartoon-postcards called Postcards from the Sledge, based on famous sledges in cricket. Beach, the artist, has kindly donated a copy to Cricinfo and we'll have a review of the cards for you very soon.

At Motera, Munaf’s home debut moment: ‘can I have a picture?’

Posted on 10/25/2006 in Indian Cricket

	Munaf Patel: despite the bonhomie, it is an embarrassing return for the prodigal son © Getty Images

The local officialdom in Munaf Patel's home state of Gujarat has put the lanky fast bowler in a spot at times.

Now, as he gets ready for Thursday’s Champions Trophy game against West Indies at Motera — his first in his home state — fellow players and local officials walked down memory lane with the star, who was once their own but has now drifted away.

Rajeev Desai, Munaf's Under-22 coach, recalls: “I always thought he would play for India. People say he was raw initially but he was a finished product. His run-up was flawless, if you talk about pace, it was higher then.”

A few old friends recall Munaf's initial spells - some even teased him, saying he would never play for India - but all's well that ends well. And, thankfully, today's professional Munaf is no different from the amateur of those early days.

Read on in The Indian Express.

October 24, 2006

Warne and Coldplay, Mick Jagger and the Ashes

Posted on 10/24/2006 in Australian cricket

“Whispers around the sport are Mick Jagger has been courted by series broadcaster Channel 9 to make a cameo appearance at at least one of the five Test matches between Australia and England,” reports the Daily Telegraph’s Sydney Confidential.

On a day for big name dropping, Shane Warne reveals his friendship with Coldplay’s Chris Martin during the Australian launch of his latest book. Alex Brown becomes the Sydney Morning Herald’s music reporter for a minute.

"We bumped into each other in a lift in England during the 2001 Ashes series and became very good friends," Warne said. "I went over to his house for dinner in London, we spoke all the time on the phone and hung out a few times. He's a really good guy."

In cricket news Warne speaks about England being a better team in the Daily Telegraph.

Andrew Ramsey, writing in The Australian, reports Kevin Pietersen was surprised by his first look at Mitchell Johnson and Ben Dorries takes a similar shock theme in The Courier-Mail in a story on Sajid Mahmood.

Sack Fletcher? Patent rubbish

Posted on 10/24/2006 in English cricket

	Duncan Fletcher's fan following doesn't include Geoff Boycott © Getty Images

Geoffrey Boycott’s call for Duncan Fletcher’s head has attracted most of the headlines in the UK, and reaction to his suggestion is, at best, lukewarm.

In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins is not one to sit on the fence:

With every respect to Geoffrey Boycott’s profound knowledge of, and deep passion for, cricket, his opinion that Duncan Fletcher should be instantly dismissed from his post as England coach is patent rubbish.

Leaving aside the fact that our Geoffrey — whose 48,000 first-class runs at an average of 56 entitle him to an opinion on the art of batting and anything else in the cricketing realm — always thinks that he would be a better coach than the incumbent on the completely erroneous premise that he was invariably a better player than they were, 30 days before England begin their defence of the Ashes is no time to change the coach

Continue reading "Sack Fletcher? Patent rubbish"

How do you solve a problem like Harmison?

Posted on 10/24/2006 in Champions Trophy

No single moment has summed up England's ineptitude in the Champions Trophy more excruciatingly than Steve Harmison's opening delivery to India's Virender Sehwag, writes Lawrence Booth in The Guardian. It was so far outside leg-stump that a statuesque Chris Read merely watched it go for five wides, since when Harmison's tournament has gone from embarrassing to look-away-now. That first over went for 20, and on Saturday against Australia he returned figures of 4.5-0-45-1

"Losing here [to Australia in Jaipur] has no bearing on the Ashes," Kevin Pietersen tells Stephen Brenkley in a freewheeling interview in The Independent. "Conditions are completely different, it's a different format, the hype, the crowd at Brisbane will be much bigger... Everything now, is totally focused on the Ashes."

Hanging out in the hallways

Posted on 10/24/2006 in Champions Trophy

Chris Gayle has been finding it difficult to sleep in Ahmedabad. There isn't much to do in proximity of the West Indies' team hotel so find out how Gayle spends his time by reading his tour diary in The Trinidad Express.

Border faces testing time against the women

Posted on 10/24/2006 in Australian cricket

Robert Craddock reports in The Courier-Mail about Allan Border having a net session against the Australian Women’s team in Brisbane.

Border borrowed pads and a bat - it was the first time he had batted with a pinkish handle - then realised the one non-negotiable essential for all batting performances, a groin protector, would not be available given that women don't need them. "I've had my four kids so I suppose there should be nothing major to worry about," Border quipped with a nervous grin before heading to the nets. "I've occasionally been criticised for not having enough balls so as far as some people are concerned it shouldn't make much difference."

Missed out on Ashes seats for the SCG? Alex Brown reports in the Sydney Morning Herald thousands of tickets are to be reissued.

The Sydney Cricket Ground Trust hopes to fit an extra 420 seats in the Dally Messenger, MA Noble and Members stands in time for the Ashes Test. And Cricket NSW has sold only 360 of the 1250 seats it was allocated for its initiative, The Cricket Club, and may hand back any leftovers for general sale.

October 23, 2006

The fish rots from the head

Posted on 10/23/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket

	Peter Chingoka: 'To look at him nowadays is to see a man who knows the corruption of his soul' © Getty Images

Peter Roebuck has been among the most vocal critics of Zimbabwe Cricket in the last couple of years, but his syndicated column this weekend was hard-hitting even by his standards.

In the Sydney Morning Herald he launched a stinging attack on Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute, the chairman and managing director of the board, demanding that they be removed from office immediately.

It's no use waiting for the local police to act, let alone the cricket community, because these scoundrels long ago stacked the board - besides which, they have friends in high places. Chingoka will resist every attempt to launch an investigation into their activities. They know that any genuine investigation will result in long prison sentences.

Continue reading "The fish rots from the head"

We have failed on all counts

Posted on 10/23/2006 in English cricket

	Andrew Strauss on his way to 56 against Australia © Getty Images

Andrew Strauss, in his column for The Daily Telegraph, admitted that England’s defeat by Australia was disappointing but insisted they were in good spirits ahead of the Ashes.

I still maintain, however, that this trip has been very beneficial. The training and fitness work we have done will set us up for the Ashes and World Cup, and the feeling of togetherness which a bit of hardship brings will stand us in good stead later this winter.

Although he was not blaming the conditions for England’s problems, he did say that they had caught a number of sides on the hop:

One thing which hasn't helped us is that the pitches haven't been anything like the ones we played on earlier this year, so touring here in March and April might not have been an advantage. A late monsoon apparently hasn't given the groundstaff the chance to prepare the hard tracks we were expecting, and I don't think we are the only side in the tournament to have been duped into thinking this would be a high-scoring event. No batsman has so far scored a hundred in this Champions Trophy. In fact it wouldn't be going too far to say that every run to date has been worth two.

Hussey's embarrassment at being No. 1

Posted on 10/23/2006 in Australian cricket

In an interview with The Australian’s Andrew Ramsey, Michael Hussey speaks about his embarrassment at being ranked the world’s No. 1 one-day batsman.

If Michael Hussey were the egocentric type, he would doubtless feel miffed by his comparative lack of celebrity in cricket-crazy India. Even within the relative sanctuary of the Australia team's hotel, players are routinely stopped by guests, security personnel and the occasional staff member to pose for photos and sign scraps of paper.

Cries of "Ponting, Ponting" or "Brett Lee" announce the imminent arrival of big-name players, but Hussey seems free to move about in much the same way he plays cricket: purposefully, unobtrusively and brimful of good humour. However, the 31-year-old says he feels uneasy about the latest development in the extraordinary career progression he has undergone since securing a place at international level 18 months ago.

Australia’s win over England at Jaipur is analysed in the Sydney Morning Herald by Peter Roebuck, who says Andrew Flintoff’s side received a prod in the belly.

In the same paper Trevor Marshallsea writes about how England won their early battles with Glenn McGrath.

October 22, 2006

Star studded talent

Posted on 10/22/2006 in Australian cricket

“We really should have known better as we wondered who the hell was Mitchell Johnson as he loped over the turf for the first overs of his life against England,” writes Simon Wilde in The Sunday Times as he profiles Australia’s latest pace sensation who rocked England on Saturday in a crushing Champions Trophy defeat.

Neither, he posits, is this the last we will see of him. Read the full article here.

Bond motor could go a really good tune-up

Posted on 10/22/2006 in Champions Trophy

	Shane Bond: Like a good sports car, he needs more time on the track © Getty Images

Writing in The New Zealand Herald, Mark Richardson, the former New Zealand opener, reckons that Shane Bond needs to be played as much as possible. The long he sits on the sidelines mulling over his fitness, the greater the chances that he may even become obsolete.

Writes Richardson:

"He is like that prized sports car you keep locked in the garage. Man it can hum and itturns heads, but the factory warranty has expired and you can't really afford the insurance.

So it sits there, looking all shiny and sparkly. Occasionally you climb into a seat,
start it up put it in neutral and pretend you're charging down country roads at
break-neck speeds, slamming it into second and taking corners like you just
shouldn't, then back up through the gears laughing at those you overtake"

Click here to read more.

Triumphant trip to 'homeland' for rookie Patel

Posted on 10/22/2006 in New Zealand cricket

It's his first time playing the game in father Shashi's homeland and, albeit for just a moment, Jeetan Patel is public idol No 1. Read more at the New Zealand Herald

Patel's passion for the game goes back to his father's fanatical background, having been born in the Gujarat province - of which Ahmadabad is the main city - before immigrating to England in his early teens and moving to New Zealand after marrying.

"At our home in Wellington, Dad and I would just play cricket day and night. I'm glad to be playing in his country of origin, but I'm here to play for my country now."

October 21, 2006

Gilchrist the philanthropist

Posted on 10/21/2006 in Miscellaneous

	Adam Gilchrist with nine-year old Mangesh © Getty Images

Steve Waugh started it. Now, it's Adam Gilchrist making a difference. The stark divide between some vast riches and devastating poverty in this country tugs at the heartstring of all Australian cricketers when they visit here. Gilchrist took it upon himself to sponsor a young impoverished boy in Mumbai, giving him an education he could never have dreamt of.

"The smile on his face said it all when he was able to meet me. Regardless of whether I was an international cricket player or ran my own local shop it meant little to him.It was a look of great gratitude to meet the person that is helping his family and his life."

Read the ful piece in The Courier Mail.

BCCI on a collision course with the ICC

Posted on 10/21/2006 in Indian Cricket

The Indian board's decision to take on the ICC could split the cricket world, warns Mike Coward in The Australian. Launching a scathing attack on the BCCI, he says it has become "drunk with power", and its "behaviour is becoming increasingly reckless and potentially destructive".

Indeed, no longer can it be taken for granted that the international cricket family will be together after what is bound to be one of the most rancorous meetings in the ICC's 97-year history in Mumbai on November 3 and 4. If the puffed-up, cashed-up Indian powerbrokers reckon they can prosper without Australia and England they may just opt to leave the fold.

Punish the drug offenders: Parore

Posted on 10/21/2006 in

Adam Parore, the former New Zealand wicketkeeper, looks back at his experience of playing against Pakistan and wonders how their bowlers managed to bowl "25 overs on a searing hot day and seem to get faster as the day wears on".

I remember thinking more than once in the subcontinent, "something's not right here". I prided myself on being pretty fit during my career. I'd look at some of these guys and think "you can't do that".

Read the full piece in The New Zealand Herald.

October 20, 2006

Courtney Walsh in Ireland to promote World Cup

Posted on 10/20/2006 in World Cup 2007

Courtney Walsh, the former West Indies fast bowler, is in Ireland on October 31 to urge fans to support their country in next year’s World Cup in the Caribbean. Walsh is Jamaica’s official ambassador for the World Cup and will be joined on the trip by Robert Bryan, Jamaica Cricket 2007’s executive director, and David Shields, deputy director of tourism for the Jamaica Tourist Board.

“There is an incredibly strong cricket fan base in Ireland and we are very much looking forward to meeting and personally inviting people to come and party with us in Jamaica,” Shields said in a statement released today. “We are also gearing up across the entire island to ensure that accommodation at all levels, attractions and transport are ready so we can offer the warmest possible Caribbean welcome to visitors from across the globe.”

Rise of West Indies makes Australia nervous

Posted on 10/20/2006 in Australian cricket

Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about the return to form of West Indies and how Australia looked flat.

Funny how much can change in a day. Bowled out by Sri Lanka for about two dollars and fifty cents, Brian Lara and his boys were supposed to be the easybeats. Beating them was the banker.

Not that a defeat in a single one-day match played on a pitch held together by a mysterious plastic substance need provoke too many long faces. Still, the fact remains that Australia must win their next two matches or catch an early flight home ...

If excuses are wanted, then at least one finger can be pointed at a pitch that, like many an ageing lover, did not quite last the night. Moreover, a light evening breeze blew over Mumbai, causing the dew to seek calmer pastures.

In the same paper Trevor Marshallsea analyses the defeat.

When you are ranked No.1 but get beaten by a qualifier who made 80 in their previous match, whose top scorer made the world's slowest duck against you last time out, who needed a local fieldsman to fill in because they were down to 11 men, and who sealed the win with a hat-trick, you'd have to start wondering if you were cursed.

On the Fox Sports website Scott Heinrich looks at Australia’s failures in the Champions Trophy.

October 19, 2006

Cricket must not drop its guard

Posted on 10/19/2006 in Commentary

Over the past few decades, cricket has had its skirmishes with drug problems, but generally, when placed alongside the issue in many other sports, they have been small ripples, writes Mike Selvey in The Guardian.

The cases of Shoaib and Asif are different, with more serious implications as this is the first time players have produced positive tests for steroids, and in so doing it suggests a parable for our times. While on the one hand the ICC condemns drug use and encourages full cooperation by all its members with the demands of the World Anti-Doping Agency, it has made a rod for its back by increasing the physical and mental demands its schedules are placing on players.

Where is the other Ashes bail?

Posted on 10/19/2006 in Ashes

John Huxley has a go at answering the question in the Sydney Morning Herald.

While the cricketing world continues to debate whether the Ashes urn contains the remains of a burned bail, the National Museum of Australia believes it can answer the question of what happened to the "other" bail.

It was made into a paper knife that has belatedly been put on display in Canberra alongside other national sporting treasures, such as Don Bradman's batting gloves, Evonne Goolagong Cawley's Wimbledon trophies and Phar Lap's heart. For several decades the knife lay in the desk drawer of Michael Clarke, grandson of Lady Clarke, the woman who famously presented visiting English captain Ivo Bligh with the Ashes urn when the team stayed at the family's Victorian estate.

October 18, 2006

Akhtar the actor

Posted on 10/18/2006 in Pakistan cricket

While speculation is rife about Shoaib Akhtar’s future after he failed a drugs test, the Sydney Morning Herald says that as one door closes, another one might be opening, suggesting that he might be heading into films.

Some may suggest Akhtar's cricketing career has been one long dress rehearsal for an entry into the acting world … not noted for his devotion to training, Akhtar seems to be an outside chance, at best, of resuming his career beyond the World Cup, especially considering his creaky back and troublesome hamstring.

On the surface, a move into acting does not seem a major leap for Akhtar, who has made as many headlines for his activities off the field as his performances on it. On his latest tour of Australia with the Pakistan team, Akhtar was spotted in nightclubs across the country, invariably in glamorous company, while he was said to be battling back and hamstring injuries.

Last year, it was much the same in England, when injury ruled Akhtar out of Worcestershire's tour match against Australia, only for the fast bowler to show up in several of Worcester's premier nightspots. Again, no guesses as to the aesthetic calibre of the company he was keeping

MCC turn heat on chairman Fry

Posted on 10/18/2006 in English cricket

The MCC is not a body that usually washes its dirty linen in public but according to Mihir Bose, all is not well in NW8. The problem appears to be that Charles Fry, grandson of CB Fry and the club’s president, has angered some committee members with what they alleged is a "presidential style" which lacks consultation.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Bose says that Fry has effectively run roughshod over procedures, and quoted one member as saying:

"It is a matter of style. The MCC is meant to be run by the entire committee but at the moment Charles runs it with a small group and the rest of us feel excluded."

October 17, 2006

Sparring for the Ashes

Posted on 10/17/2006 in English cricket

Liam Plunkett, the England allrounder, has recently started blogging. (For those not in the know, blogging is not a term to describe a cricketer’s batting or bowling style; it’s short for “weblog”.) In his latest entry Plunkett, recovering from injury, says he’s been using boxing in his rehabilitation and preparation for the Ashes.

I’ve also been doing a bit of boxing to spice my training up a bit.... Myself and Durham team-mate Mark Davies have been sparring with our gloves on and I’ve been enjoying it. I'm not trying to increase my aggression ahead of the Ashes, it is simply a great way to keep fit and I used to do a bit of kick-boxing when I was younger. I’ve had to get all my gear sorted out and I went to see Slazenger to pick up a few bats for the trip – thankfully because it’s all sponsored I didn’t have to pay for it!

More at the BBC.

A nation in turmoil

Posted on 10/17/2006 in

	Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif added to the growing turmoil in Pakistan cricket © AFP

Pakistan was in shock yesterday after the withdrawal of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif from the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, writes Zahid Hussain in The Times.

This may be the end of the road for Shoaib, 31, an immensely popular and mercurial player, regarded by many as a flawed genius. Nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express for his blistering pace, his career has been a mixture of brilliance and waywardness. Any ban would be a serious blow to the career of Asif, the talented seam bowler who has taken 30 wickets in six Tests at an average of 21.16 and 19 wickets in 17 one-day internationals. The 23-year-old is considered to be the brightest fast-bowling prospect in Pakistan.

"It's easy to see why pacemen are tempted," writes Angus Fraser in The Independent.

To play the game, which involves standing in 40C heat for more than six hours a day, a player needs endurance. Fast bowlers need to combine this with up to 150 explosive deliveries and, as of yet, there is no substance that provides both in equal measure.

Derek Pringle concurs in The Daily Telegraph by saying that cricket is 'no longer a game of tea and sandwiches'.

Continue reading "A nation in turmoil"

October 16, 2006

Sad scenes for Shoaib the showman

Posted on 10/16/2006 in Champions Trophy

Robert Craddock writes in The Courier-Mail about Shoaib Akhtar following his positive drugs test.

Shoaib Akhtar was asked just last week did he have a great cricketing dream. "Yes," he replied. "To play one day of my life without pain."

Cricket's indomitable showman turned his back on a legion of experts who told him to cut down his outrageously long 34m run-up for the good of his body and longevity in the game. As a consequence he broke down more often than an Indian phone line.

In the Sydney Morning Herald Alex Brown compares Darren Lehmann’s philanthropic activities with those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

Morris Iemma, the New South Wales premier, is under fire from England’s non-violent Barmy Army after he wrote to Tony Blair asking for a list of the country's sports hooligans.

Predictable failings prove costly

Posted on 10/16/2006 in Champions Trophy

	Andrew Flintoff: a bad day at the office © Getty Images

In The Daily Telegraph Simon Hughes underlines how poor England are at the one-day game but also flags that for all its money and mouth, the Indian board has issues it needs to address.

Events in Jaipur emphasised the perversity of Indian cricket and the predictability of England's. Having secured over £500 million in sponsorship and TV rights, the Indian cricket board is the richest in the world, but yesterday's one- day international was played on a diabolical pitch which would have disgraced the poorest village.

Sending out their lavishly remunerated superstars to play on that was like racing a £2.5 million Formula 1 car round the North Circular. With bald tyres. This folly was compounded by the premature launch of a massive fireworks display just as the meticulous, ever-reliable Rahul Dravid took guard. Utterly distracted by the commotion, his innings lasted three balls.

Bollywood beckons for Brett Lee

Posted on 10/16/2006 in Australian cricket

	Will acting be as hard as training for Brett Lee? © Getty Images

Brett Lee is incredibly popular in India and has already knocked back a lead role in a Bollywood film, reports Andrew Ramsey in The Australian.

Like so many of his international cricket peers, Brett Lee is eyeing a post-playing life in front of the cameras, being beamed into the homes of countless millions around the world. But Lee's journey from cricket will not take him into the television commentary box, but instead the sprawling studio lots of the world's biggest and most lucrative movie industry. The 29-year-old self-confessed Indophile was offered a lead role in a lavish Bollywood production when he visited Mumbai on his way home from Australia's tour of Bangladesh this year.

The Ashes urn arrives in Australia tomorrow and John Huxley writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about how little is known about the trophy.

What is beyond doubt is that the tiny pot - which arrives at Sydney Airport amid high security tomorrow morning - was presented to the English cricket captain Ivo Bligh by Lady Clarke, whose husband hosted the team at his estate in Sunbury, Victoria. But when? For some time it was believed that it was handed over after England had controversially beaten Australia 2-1 in the 1882-83 series, said Beth Hise, the curator of an Ashes exhibition at the Museum of Sydney, of which the priceless urn is the centrepiece. "Recent research, though, suggests the gift - probably intended as a personal joke but destined to become a genuine icon - was presented before the series, after a social match at the Clarkes' Rupertswood estate," she said.

Cricinfo’s short history of the Ashes series is here.

In Queensland’s Sunday Mail the founder of the Barmy Army says supporters shouldn’t be ejected from Australian grounds this summer for calling England fans “Pommy bastards”. In Sydney Morris Iemma, the New South Wales premier, writes to Tony Blair in a bid to stop hooliganism from England fans.

The end of Australia’s domestic competitions will involve the naming of all-star teams, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

October 14, 2006

Australia get the excuses ready

Posted on 10/14/2006 in Ashes

Glenn McGrath's injuries...England's use of sub fielders...sold out grounds of English fans...they have all be used as excuses why the Ashes slipped away from Australia last year. Well, in case they can't wrestle them back in the series that starts next month Richard Hinds, in the Sydney Morning Herald, is getting his excuses ready early this time around.

Excuse 7: John Buchanan's lap top meltdown. Let's just say Buchanan had been devising a groundbreaking PowerPoint presentation that would have seen the Australian bowlers reason their way through England's top order. But, just as he was about to back up the program, a power failure in the sheds at the Gabba wiped out all his good work. At least that's what we are going to claim.

Will McGrath make the ball talk or whisper?

Posted on 10/14/2006 in Ashes

	Unhappy with any delivery that does not land on a postage stamp before trimming the off-bail © Getty Images

Australia's mainstay for the Ashes, Glen McGrath is part of their Champions Trophy squad. But Peter Roebuck feels that he would have done better playing domestic cricket ahead of Brisbane, November 23. Read on in The Independent.

McGrath is easily underestimated. From a distance he does seem disconcertingly simple. Yet he has been the cleverest, most subtle and analytical of leather-flingers. For most sportsmen the journey from natural ability through the minefield of experience and on to maturity takes years.

Over the years he has taken Australian cricket on a wonderful journey, into the past, into the bush, back to the basics. He has been the most disciplined of bowlers, a professional determined to cook 'em quickly but prepared to cook 'em slowly just so long as they don't get away.

October 13, 2006

A different life

Posted on 10/13/2006 in Miscellaneous

In India for the Champions Trophy, Neil Manthorp witnesses the harsh realities of life for the several thousand pavement dwellers in Mumbai and writes how such scenes bring out a person's benevolent side.

The pavement is wet from the thunderstorm the night before. But it is also far cleaner than the rest of the street because it is the home of half a dozen families. They are required to clear it for the benefit of passers-by between dawn and late evening, but there is no mistaking that it is their home. Or, 'home'.

Read the full piece in Supercricket.

England to win in 2009

Posted on 10/13/2006 in Ashes

	Forget 2006, it's 2009 that is definetely on © Getty Images

The Ashes are more than two years away... the 2009 Ashes that is. But The Times writer Richard Hobson is predicting an England win based on the Emerging Players category for this year's ICC Awards.

Whatever happens in the coming Ashes series, England should be strong favourites for 2009. It is just a question of whether they retain or regain the urn. This, at least, is one possible conclusion from the long list of eight candidates for the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award, which includes three Englishmen and no Australians

There appears to be little to choose between Panesar, Cook and Bell, arguably the three strongest contenders in their section. Panesar would be the most popular choice in England. He has struck a rare chord with the public who like an underdog, especially one who is a bit different. But any cult appeal that Panesar attracted through his doziness in the field has been replaced by respect for his hard work and admiration for his skill as a spin bowler.

World Cup plans ahead of schedule

Posted on 10/13/2006 in World Cup 2007

"Fears that the World Cup in the West Indies next autumn will be a debacle have been laid to rest", writes Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Far from falling behind in their preparations, the organisers are months ahead of schedule and expect to have everything in place before the end of the year.”

The Herald's blog The Tonk is running a competition for Ashes chants. Check it out here and see how England fans are sending spam to Australia's players here.

Cooley says McGrath can play at 40

Posted on 10/13/2006 in Australian cricket

	Glenn McGrath: age doesn't weary him © Getty Images

Troy Cooley, the Australia bowling coach, tells AAP’s Greg Buckle he thinks Glenn McGrath will be able to stay in the international game until he’s 40.

“With the fitness programs that are now in place and the research that has gone into fast bowling, the longevity of careers is going to take a hold,'' Cooley said. "You probably won't break into the team as early, unless you are a standout, but the maturity of the body is the big thing and how you look after it. Nowadays the fast bowlers are definitely looking after themselves a lot better.''

Andrew Ramsey writes in The Australian about how Shane Warne influenced an unlikely disciple in Dan Cullen.

At the height of Shane Warne's remarkable climb as a cricketer, the game's marketers claimed a generation of budding bowlers would surely follow in his wake to produce a legacy of leg-spin. Few of them predicted that that the first acolyte to tread Warne's path would reach international cricket while the master was still plying his trade. Even less foresaw that the pupil would be bowling off-spin.

October 12, 2006

Botham's tireless city crusade

Posted on 10/12/2006 in Charity

The Telegraph's Robert Philip joins Ian Botham on a ten-mile leg of his latest fundraising walk in aid of Leukaemia Research and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Beefy, I should explain, walks faster than most joggers and so after setting off at his right shoulder below the castle ramparts in Edinburgh's Princes Street on a pleasantly nippy autumn morning ... I frequently had to rest my aching limbs slumped in the back seat of the support car. There can never be any such respite for Saint Ian. "When I started these walks in 1985, there was a 20 per cent chance of people surviving leukaemia. Now the survival rate is 80 per cent and I won't stop walking until it's 100 per cent."

The new discovery of cricket

Posted on 10/12/2006 in Offbeat

Boria Mazumdar takes a look at the new brand of cricket coverage on Indian television which is set to transform the nature of global cricket coverage.

It may well be that the revolutionary Sony coverage is yet another fantasy, which has the power to enamour and also infuriate. We have already seen that the success of Sony’s entertainment focused cricket programming has led other Indian news and even sports channels to replicate the same model. In fact, the strategy—special programming with women anchors and other innovative attractions have become the standard way of covering cricket in India. With cricket across the world in need for infusion of new innovations, it is only a matter of time before it becomes the global norm.

He drove 250 km for international moment

Posted on 10/12/2006 in Indian Cricket

Indian Express tracks the story of Sitanshu Kotak’s 12-year-old domestic battle.

“I was playing for BPCL in Udaipur on Monday. I finished that game, drove 250 kms myself to reach Ahmedabad and from there took a train here [Mumbai, to play the practice game against South Africa]. Tonight, I take the train back to Ahmedabad and drive to Udaipur to join my BPCL teammates again.’’

Was this the most satisfying day of his cricketing career? “Could be. But I didn’t remember to collect a stump as a souvenir

October 11, 2006

Bracken’s mother-in-law keeps eye on the game

Posted on 10/11/2006 in Australian cricket

Nathan Bracken is in India with the Champions Trophy squad, but he hasn’t forgotten his mother-in-law, who he says has premonitions about his performances. AAP reports she predicted his haul of 7 for 4 in a Pura Cup game for New South Wales against South Australia two seasons ago.

"For about six months beforehand, she kept talking about something will happen, you will be involved and it will be something about four runs, but it's something to do with bowling,'' Bracken said. “And she rang [his wife] Haley on the morning of the game. Her mum's gone 'I think you should get ready to go to the game'. By the time Haley got up, she turned the radio on and I had two wickets. The rest is history.''

Beware Indian provincial bowlers. Adam Gilchrist says in The Australian he won’t treat you lightly in today’s warm-up for the Champions Trophy in Mumbai.

"In the couple of games we play, I'll just try and bat as I normally would," Gilchrist told the paper. "If I pull my horns in and get too tentative, then I'll probably just get out and that defeats the purpose.”

Justin Langer replies to Mike Gatting’s view that cracks are appearing in the Australian team, telling The Australian the comments are “far from the truth”.

Falling out of love with one-day cricket

Posted on 10/11/2006 in Champions Trophy

The common thought is that the Champions Trophy is being held in a country that can't get enough of one-day cricket. However, Rohit Brijnath says he is losing interest in the shorter form of the game as more and more matches become forgettable events. After the recent matches between West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the early rounds of the Champions Trophy it is easy to understand why. Read his thoughts here on the BBC.

The point, of course, is larger than the Champions Trophy. Quite simply, like an affair that has tired in time, one-day cricket has no fascination for me any more. Once I leapt onto my sofa as the final five overs unfurled, but no longer. Though this could be because the springs of an old sofa and older knees complain as much as the wife.

October 10, 2006

Martyn starts to horse around

Posted on 10/10/2006 in Australian cricket

	Damien Martyn © Getty Images