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April 30, 2007
Posted on 04/30/2007 in World Cup 2007
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Easy money: Mitchell Johnson is part of Australia's big pay day even though he didn't play a game
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AAP reports the 15 players in the Australian squad will get a win bonus of more than A$180,000 for their World Cup victory. It’s especially good news for Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson, who didn’t play a game.
All members of the squad will share equally in the $US2.24 million ($A2.71 million) prize money awarded to the winning team, according to Cricket Australia.
Alex Brown writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about the different prospects of the retired Glenn McGrath and the group of Australian coaches who are currently without posts.
John Buchanan, Tom Moody, Bennett King, Greg Chappell and Dav Whatmore will conclude their contractual commitments with Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, India and Bangladesh respectively by the end of the month. Of those, only Moody seems guaranteed a position in his homeland, with Western Australia confident they have secured his services for at least the next two years.
Posted on 04/30/2007 in World Cup 2007
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Dancing in the dark
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| While Malcolm Speed steadfastly continues to insist that the World Cup was a success – and as he seems to judge most things in terms of revenue, he may be right – the media is united in its condemnation of the event, with the farcical scenes at the end of the final to the fore.
Mike Selvey in The Guardian leads the way:
The World Cup, the final of which began in spectacular fashion before descending into the unseemly realms of the bizarre, was awarded eventually to Australia in such farcical circumstances that it would have been no surprise to see Steve Bucknor drop his trousers to reveal polka dot underpants and inquire if there was anyone for tennis.
And Selvey also revealed some fascinating facts:
Ten of the 51 matches went down to the last over, in only three of these was the result in any doubt in that last over; 45 games were decided by winning margins of more than 45 runs or five wickets - that is, comfortably; £12.50 to £25 ticket prices hit attendances. In Guyana the price of seeing a game was equivalent to two weeks' wages; 7,000 fans had to make a day trip to St Lucia from Barbados for the Australia v South Africa semi-final. St Lucia hoteliers accepted only 14-night stays at $500 per night.
In The Daily Telegraph, Derek Pringle believes heads should roll for the shambles at the end of the final:
Unhappily for the players, as well as the thousands who selflessly gave time and effort to this blighted tournament, the chaos overshadowed Australia's victory and their incredible feat of winning three World Cups in a row. If the ICC were wooing prospective sponsors at the match, let alone their current partners for this event, they must have been appalled.
And in separate article in the same paper, the busy Pringle reflects on the much-metioned legacy of the event to the region:
The legacy is likely to be a mixed one. Safety and security were over the top, the latter geared mostly to stopping fans bringing in drink not produced by one of the major sponsors. The sight of an old lady being harried before the semi-final in Kingston as she was made to pick the label off her water bottle because it wasn't supplied by a sponsor, was pettiness gone mad. The newly-built stadiums are likely to prove controversial too. Although some were gifts from the Chinese government, others were built with loans, something bound to impact on national budgets. Unless the man in the street has done well from this World Cup, he could end up cursing it for years to come.
And also in the Telegraph, Michael Henderson, as ever, gets straight to the point:
One can only assume that the ICC care not a jot for the game's welfare, or the way it is perceived. If they did they would have ensured that this final ran its proper course: 50 overs a side. Spectators are mere serfs in the ICC's estimation. They don't care whether the grounds are empty or full so long as the telly people continue to pick up the tab.
This World Cup was a disaster, and did nothing for the friendly, cricket-loving people who hosted it. Whether it is Zimbabwe, chucking, hanging Darrell Hair out to dry, endorsing that preposterous non-event called the Champions Trophy, or mucking up the only one-day competition that matters, the ICC can always be relied upon to get it wrong.
In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins writes that Speed himself is now under pressure:
Commercial concerns have overridden cricketing integrity to a dangerous degree. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was not going to miss its chance yesterday to embarrass Malcolm Speed, the Australian lawyer who retires soon as chief executive. After the call by Lalit Modi, vice-president of the BCCI, to replace Speed with a chief executive from Afro-Asia who “understands the problems of a majority of ICC members”, the honorary secretary of India’s own archaic and frequently hypocritical administration, Niranjan Shah, has criticised the council for becoming “more and more bureaucratic” and costing its members money by “unnecessarily employing so many people”. He refused to rule out a no-confidence motion against Speed’s administration at the next meeting of the chief executives in June.
Even in Australia, where the team’s victory is the main story, there is time for reflection on other aspects of the final in the Sydney Morning Herald:
At the post-match ceremony the International Cricket Council president, Percy Sonn, and its chief executive, Malcolm Speed, were jeered. Around the world bewildered TV viewers presumably shared the sentiment.
Posted on 04/30/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Dick Motz, the first New Zealand's bowler to reach 100 Test wickets, has died in Christchurch.
Geoff Longley offers his in tribute in The Press while Lynn McConnell writes on Sportal about the fast bowler who loved hitting sixes.
The Waikato Times, which rates Motz as the fifth best seamer that New Zealand ever produced, hails him as:
"He could be a shock and a stock bowler. Extremely courageous and durable, with a fine fast bowler's hatred of batsmen."
Posted on 04/30/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Michael Donaldson, writing in The Sunday Star Times looks at the existing system, suggests changes and picks his possible 15 for the next World Cup.
A possible 15 for the 2011 World Cup: Daniel Vettori (captain), Peter Fulton, Lou Vincent, Todd Astle, Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Corey Anderson, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Redmond, Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori, Jeetan Patel, Hamish Bennett.
Posted on 04/30/2007 in World Cup 2007
Ricky Ponting wanted Glenn McGrath to deliver the last over of the final, but bad light ended that plan. Jon Pierik reports on McGrath's farewell in the Courier-Mail and in the same paper Robert Craddock rates the Australian squad.
Over in The Australian Pierik writes about Adam Gilchrist’s secret squash weapon. His batting coach Bob Meuleman offers his reasons for the experimental exercise.
April 29, 2007
Posted on 04/29/2007 in World Cup 2007
Andrew Strauss, Scyld Berry, Ian Chappell and Kumar Sangakkara dissect the 2007 World Cup in The Sunday Telegraph, and, in their deliberations, Chappell comes to the conclusion that it was the worst in the tournament's history.
Atherton: I think it's ridiculous, the number of Associate Member countries that have been involved. The World Cup should be about showcasing the very best.
Berry: Ian, you played in the first in 1975 and have seen the following tournaments, how do you rate this World Cup?
Chappell (never known for pussy-footing): One of the worst. Four decent games out of 50 is not a very high percentage: the Ireland v Zimbabwe tie, Sri Lanka's games against South Africa and England, and England against West Indies. The main reason to play a one-day game is to have a close finish. Maybe there have been a couple of other good games along the way but too many one-sided matches. One of the few good things to come out of this World Cup is that the two best teams reached the final.
Atherton goes on to say that there is too much cricket being played overall, though Strauss believes the problem lies with the scheduling.
April 28, 2007
Posted on 04/28/2007 in World Cup 2007
Glenn McGrath says he’s happy to go out on his own terms in his column in the Sunday Telegraph. He also lists his toughest XI to play against and tells how the prankster and selector Merv Hughes wanted to drop him.
He told me that, as I effectively replaced him in the Test side in 1994, he was looking forward to getting square by sticking the knife in and ending my Test career. He said he was disappointed I announced my retirement before he had the chance to swoop. Merv, of course, was only joking.
In the Sun-Herald David Sygall looks at a possible Australian line-up for the 2011 World Cup. Mark Waugh rates his best team of World Cup performers in the same paper.
Posted on 04/28/2007 in World Cup 2007
As the World Cup finally ends - yes, honestly – the flak continues to fly in the direction of the ICC. In The Daily Telegraph, Jim White is in no doubt about the target:
“Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council, despite presiding over the most over-stretched, bloated shambles of a competition, despite his organising committee redefining the term criminally short-sighted, is to carry on, refusing so much as to contemplate handing over to someone else.”
The Mirror is equally unimpressed, despite Speed’s admission that the tournament was too long:
“He might have added that it has also been wholly uninspiring and suffered from poor attendances, a lack of decent atmosphere, too many one-sided games, and hosted by a team which dragged the tournament down even further.
How is it possible that a football World Cup involving twice as many teams can be held in far fewer than the 47 days this has taken? The answer is greed.”
Patrick Kidd in The Times notes that “wars have been declared and ended in less time than it has taken to stage the 50 matches before today’s final”. He adds some stats about what has happened since the first match back on March 13:
The average price of a house in England has risen by £4,415
A strand of human hair will have grown 1.6cm
The Earth will have travelled about 75,576,000 miles in its orbit around the Sun
Posted on 04/28/2007 in World Cup 2007
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Muttiah Muralitharan has told Brad Hogg that batsmen can't pick his wrong'un
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Ricky Ponting wants wickets in hand during the middle stages of the final so they can attack Muttiah Muralitharan and the other Sri Lankan spinners.
"We can be a bit more aggressive and a bit more positive against them and try and put their slow-down sort of guys through the middle, put them under a bit pressure," he said in the Herald Sun.
Muralitharan told Brad Hogg during the week that batsmen can’t pick him. Robert Craddock says in The Australian Hogg’s wrong’un is close to being the World Cup’s most effective weapon. Craddock also profiles Tom Moody and looks at his stint coaching Sri Lanka.
In the Sydney Morning Herald Alex Brown writes how Australia-Sri Lanka clashes rate among the most spiteful match-ups in international cricket.
Simon Hughes, writing for Daily Telegraph, outlines the strategy Sri Lanka should adopt, suggesting that Muralitharan be introduced as soon as Ponting walks in.
Tim Lane says in The Age Australia are on the verge of domination not even achieved by West Indies.
Michael Clarke tells AAP facing Shaun Tait in the nets will help the Australian batsmen deal with the threat of Lasith Malinga.
Viv Richards tells Tait not to change a thing, Jon Pierik reports in The Australian.
"Tait has been reasonably erratic, but when you have an individual of that pace he is going to cause some havoc, as the South Africans found out," Richards said. "I would never, ever change the sort of action he has."
It’s Glenn McGrath’s last game of his record-breaking career and his column appears in The Hindu.
"The other record I am keen on holding on to - playing the fewest number of balls despite playing four World Cups. I have only faced four balls in World Cup cricket."
Jenny McAsey, writing in The Australian, looks back at Australia’s first World Cup triumph in 1987.
Showers are forecast for the final, according to Reuters.
Breeda Jayasuriya, mother of Sanath Jayasuriya, talks of his remarkable comeback after he retired last year from one-day internationals, in an interview to the Daily News.
Patrick Kidd, writing for The Times, pulls out some interesting figures since the 'long-drawn yawn' began 47 days ago.
Wars have been declared and ended in less time than it has taken to stage the 50 matches before today’s final
Posted on 04/28/2007 in Indian Cricket
In an interview to CNN-IBN, Pawar said companies which sign on a large number of cricketers for endorsements try and use undue influence to keep them in the team. Read the extracts in the Hindustan Times.
We had received a complaint that a player's contract had a clause that said, more incentives for more time he spent at the crease. It’s an unofficial complaint and if found to be correct, the system needs to be strengthened. So I have asked the players to submit copies of their old contract.
But it seems you are targeting the players and preventing them from doing ads.
Well, there is one more issue. If eight or nine players sign a contract with XYZ company, the companies always want the players to be in the team. It is not an official complaint but on the surface it looks like one. There is a feeling like this amongst the younger players.
April 27, 2007
Posted on 04/27/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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There's no guarentee that John Bracewell's successor will do any better
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The blame for New Zealand's disappointing exit from the semi-finals shouldn't rest on the coach John Bracewell, writes Richard Boock in the New Zealand Herald. He says that naming individuals as scapegoats isn't going to help as it's the entire squad which should be made accountable.
New Zealand bombed out in the Caribbean because the individual players, when presented with the equivalent of a rigged draw to see them through to the semifinals, choked like a chihuahua on a chicken bone. Remember the old saying about a champion team always beating a team of champions? Utter rubbish. Romantic bollocks.
Writing in the same paper, Adam Parore has a different opinion and feels that Bracewell hasn't done enough to warrant a second term. He also pushes for John Wright as a worthy replacement.
I've always hoped that John Wright would get his chance at some stage and from conversations with him many years ago, he has had his eye on the Black Caps' job
Posted on 04/27/2007 in World Cup 2007
The World Cup might be about to finish, and Malcolm Speed is engaged in a positive-spin initiative that would make Alastair Campbell glow with pride, but the all-out assaults on the way it has been run continue unabated. In The Daily Telegraph, Michael Henderson warms to the task, explaining why there will be a rare sell-out for the final:
Embarrassed by their mismanagement of the World Cup, which has not posted a 'house full' notice until now, the International Cricket Council have rounded up corporate guests from every nook and cranny, and distributed tickets to anybody sound of mind and body who will have them.
This has been the worst tournament imaginable; short of spectators and memorable games, it has also been far too long.
The ICC have had to 'paper the house' time and again because the tickets have been prohibitively expensive for the locals. In St Lucia on Wednesday, more than 6,000 tickets were given away so that television viewers would not see a half-empty ground for the Australia-South Africa semi-final. Also, those grounds have been zealously policed by killjoys instructed to ban anything and everything that is not officially endorsed by the sponsors.
So a competition that was supposed to reflect the best of the Caribbean has been nothing less than a disaster for this part of the world, whose peoples have given so much to the game.
And Henderson, who can never be accused of courting the popular vote, then turns his attention elsewhere:
Neither Pakistan nor India advanced to the not-so-super Super Eights, and, no matter how many tears were shed by the ICC accountants, and the tournament's propagandists, that wasn't a bad thing. Far from it. There are too many cocky people in the sub-continent, particularly India, who think that the future belongs to them because they have attained such commercial clout. As Greg Chappell, their outgoing coach, reminded them on his departure, it's no use trying to match Australia on the field if your organisation off it resembles that of Zimbabwe.
April 26, 2007
Posted on 04/26/2007 in World Cup 2007
Robert Craddock writes in The Australian Glenn McGrath has proved us all wrong.
Hands up if you are a cricket fan and did not have doubts over whether McGrath should be in Australia's World Cup squad. If both hands are by your side, congratulations. You are a member of a very small club. In the dying stages of the summer, McGrath looked a fading force. The speedometer was sagging below 130km/h and vengeful batsmen, stirred by years of torment, were charging him at every opportunity.
McGrath’s last game is on Saturday and Sydney’s Daily Telegraph runs a tribute to one of the greatest bowlers. Steve Waugh gives 11 bits of trivia about McGrath from the origin of his nickname to how he eats his eggs. You can even send him a message.
In the Sydney Morning Herald Tim Nielsen, the next Australia coach, enters the debate over South Africa’s failure to challenge in the World Cup semi-final.
April 25, 2007
Posted on 04/25/2007 in World Cup 2007
Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, is interviewed by Robert Craddock in The Australian and says he would like the next World Cup trimmed to 40 days. He also talks about ticket prices and one-sided games, but starts with the length of the event.
Do you agree it is too long? “I take a different view. I think it is a positive for the game that cricket is on the back pages while the World Cup is on rather than have an abbreviated schedule. This format with four groups of four going into eight teams and a round robin then a semi-final and a final is a good mix. It gives the associate nations a chance to make their mark and then the round robin works well.”
Posted on 04/25/2007 in Miscellaneous
I think we can assume that the vast majority of Cricinfo's readers have a degree of knowledge about the game (and, in some cases, an actual degree). But your friends might not, so why not buy them a cricket dictionary for their mobile phone?
April 24, 2007
Posted on 04/24/2007 in World Cup 2007
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Herschelle Gibbs: "His moment of truth awaits"
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Steve Waugh, writing in the Courier-Mail, says Australia should be confident of victory against South Africa, but like all the teams they are only ten overs of poor play away from the exit.
Australia must continue to allow the process to lead to the end result and not focus on the actual winning of the World Cup, for the only way it can lose is to defeat itself by looking too far ahead.
Waugh also thinks an opponent from 1999 might have a say in the match.
I can't help but think Herschelle Gibbs will again play a pivotal role and either clean the slate from the "Headingley catch" or perhaps be the villain with a reckless piece of cricket. He is a match-winner against all countries except Australia and his moment of truth awaits.
In the Herald Sun Jon Pierik writes about Ricky Ponting, who is talking about Glenn McGrath’s World Cup weapons. "Over the last 12 to 18 months, batsmen have tried to be more aggressive against him but not too many have succeeded.”
Posted on 04/24/2007 in World Cup 2007
Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times warns that despite widespread criticism at the bloated nature of the current World Cup, things could get worse in 2011. He explains that suggestions that the number of teams should be reduced have already been bypassed by the ICC, which has agreed it will again feature 16, and, furthermore, there will an extra two matches, taking the total to 53.
He says while the tournament may have been slammed, it has made large sums of money.
All this, however, has been gained at a high cost if the “product” is seen to be less attractive than it should be. The best cricketers in the world need a proper framework to display their skill but to those following from afar, the tournament has seemed interminable. And for interminable read, alas, boring.
All concerned with the tournament in the West Indies and certainly those watching at home are agreed on one thing: a seven-week tournament is too long. The commercial success of the world’s governing body is not in doubt. The snag is that it tends to put the cart before the horse: to consider the bottom line financially before looking after the attraction of the game itself.
Martin-Jenkins' well-argued column is unlikely to go down well among those at the top of the ICC who have been adopting an increasingly siege-mentality attitude to the flack that has been heading their way in recent weeks.
Posted on 04/24/2007 in Australian cricket
What better way to celebrate the anniversary of such an important date in Australian and New Zealand history than by playing a game of cricket? By playing it in the nude, of course.
Nudists say they will be celebrating the Anzac Day value of freedom in a naked cricket match in Byron Bay on the north coast of New South Wales tomorrow. Free Beach Australia president Anita Grigg says the event is a tradition that was started by two Vietnam veterans. She says the game honours the values of mateship and freedom which diggers fought for.
"These two guys thought that the one thing that they wanted to honour about their mates was the good times. To remember the good times between the battles when they relaxed and played a game of cricket, football whatever - because they wanted to emphasise mateship, which is the best thing to come out of war."
[via ABC]
Posted on 04/24/2007 in World Cup 2007
It's been a bizarre World Cup for plenty covering the event but two innocent Indian journalists had another bizarre story to write home about - being nabbed for arousing suspicion in Barbados, of all places, based on the colour of their skin . Read Atreyo Mukhopadhyay's first-hand account of the incident in Hindustan Times.
But even in my nightmares, I had not imagined I would ever be unceremoniously bundled into a police car and interrogated at a police station for an hour, being treated all the time like a criminal.
Posted on 04/24/2007 in World Cup 2007
New Zealand play the first semi-final at Sabina Park in Kingston, the venue of coach John Bracewell's only Test for New Zealand. As he recalls, it was a game best remembered for Richard Hadlee's six bouncers in an over to Joel Garner, and the Big Bird's not-so-generous return gift. Bracewell also recounts the power of the feared West Indies fast bowlers.
"I can remember Ian Smith coming off (Bourda) looking reasonably white. He'd got 50 and said 'Malcolm Marshall's just told me that when we get to Barbados he's going to kill me'."
Read the full piece in Stuff.co.nz
April 23, 2007
Posted on 04/23/2007 in World Cup 2007
Robert Craddock writes in the Courier-Mail how bags arrived at the semi-final destinations faster than the players on a day of disrupted travel in the West Indies.
Three of the four semi-finalists – Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand – were trapped on the same charter flight which was mysteriously delayed at Grenada airport and there were further delays for the teams in Barbados. Hundreds of international tourists were scouring airports throughout the Caribbean for lost bags as the worst fears of cup organisers were realised when the West Indies' fragile flights system fell apart.
Posted on 04/23/2007 in English cricket
Less than 72 hours after he was appointed by England to succeed Duncan Fletcher, some are questioning the decision whether Peter Moores is the right man to be England’s coach.
In The Daily Telegraph, Mark Nicholas says the whole processed was too rushed:
Filling this man's boots will be no sinecure and quite why the ECB have done so in haste is a mystery. Having commissioned the Schofield report, it might have been wise to wait for its findings, which are due in mid-May. Michael Vaughan can handle the team perfectly adequately in the short-term and Peter Moores could have dealt with the peripherals. But Moores was signed and delivered in full before Fletcher's tears had dried. It has a strange smell about it. The ECB should have covered the globe in their search for the right man, or men even, for the demands of modern international cricket may now call for separate coaches in the two forms of the game. The ever-present nature of the role, the endless nights away from home and the repetitive calls to arms, take an extraordinary mental toll. But not a bit of it - out with the old, in with the new, just like that.
In The Observer, whose Vic Marks refers to Moores as cricket’s Steve McLaren, former England captain Mike Brearley offers a similar view:
Installing him permanently in the job at this stage risks putting him in too difficult a position; if things go wrong over the next year, the future of an excellent person might be compromised. He should either have been selected as provisional coach or allowed to get experience with the England squad under someone else …. [and] there can have been no proper search. However good Moores is, there was no time to advertise the job. His selection smacks of favouritism. It is not right for such an important job to be handed out without a proper competition.
Posted on 04/23/2007 in Australian cricket
Brendan McArdle writes in The Age about how wrong he was to doubt Matthew Hayden’s one-day credentials.
What on earth were we thinking a couple of months ago when we believed our best one-day team didn't have him in it? By far the highlight of this long-winded World Cup is not the potential of Shaun Tait, the deception of Brad Hogg or the injury status of Shane Watson, but the return to his commanding best of Hayden. Hayden's century against New Zealand last Friday was further confirmation of his position as player of the tournament.
Nathan Bracken uses his column on the BBC website to say the big games bring out the best in Australia.
April 22, 2007
Posted on 04/22/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Dav Whatmore announced that he would end his tenure as coach of Bangladesh after the series against India. In an interview to the Times of India, Whatmore reflects on his legacy with Bangladesh over the last four years and what the future holds.
The family is behind me. At present, we need to balance a little bit with some personal contact with them all. But they understand that cricket is my life. They have been more than generous in allowing me to achieve so many things in my life.
Posted on 04/22/2007 in English cricket
The England Cricket Board could regret their decision to appoint Peter Moores, says former England captain Mike Brearley in the Observer.
Scyld Berry, in the Sunday Telegraph, lashes out at the ECB.
Peter Moores has been given the next worst thing to a hospital pass. He should have been inducted by Fletcher this summer and allowed to bring in his right-hand man to bolster his authority.
Stephen Brenkley gives his views on Duncan Fletcher, the outgoing coach, in the Independent on Sunday while Michael Atherton and Simon Wilde do the same in the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times.
Posted on 04/22/2007 in Indian Cricket
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Selfish? Me?
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A malicious whisper campaign is on against Sourav Ganguly, and it is time someone put a stop to it, reports Kadambari Murali in the Hindustan Times.
... these reports, part of a whisper campaign over the past month to oust Ganguly, have referred to his taking 129 balls to make 66 against Bangladesh, and implied that he took the time for purely selfish reasons. There is unattributed talk within the cricketing fraternity that these reasons are to do with some vague clause in an endorsement contract he has, that allegedly fetches him more money for more minutes spent at the crease.
Yet, not one so-called BCCI “source” has had the guts to come out and say this publicly, or display a copy of this “contract”. If someone has proof, then why not show it and put an end to all the gossip and take action against the player? If no one does, then be fair to a man who has a staggering 10,000-plus runs in one-day international cricket, at a very high average of 41.37. It is a stupendous record.
Posted on 04/22/2007 in World Cup 2007
Damien Fleming, who looks back at his two World Cup campaigns in the Sunday Age, wonders if this tournament will finish on a high.
They say marathon runners hit the pain barrier and get a second wind to get them to the finishing line. Can this World Cup do the same? It's been a marathon and the pain barrier has been strung out over a month, but let's hope the second wind arrives in the form of an exciting finals series.
Brett Lee has been in India where he has met Bollywood producers and senior music label officials, David Sygall writes in the Sun-Herald.
"It's all happening," Lee said. "I love music and am interested in acting. Rather than think in a few years, 'I wish I'd done this or that' I thought, 'Bugger it, I'll give it a go'."
April 21, 2007
Posted on 04/21/2007 in West Indies cricket
Brian Lara's announced his retirement two days ago but the tributes and opinions continue to flow in. Below is a round-up of what the West Indian papers had to say about their boy.
The Trinidad & Tobago Express reports what Lara's older brother, Mervyn Lara, and other people in his village Cantaro, Santa Cruz, feel about his retirement:
Mervyn thinks that his brother's decision to quit international cricket might help the family. "At least now people when they see me won't blame me when things go wrong. Brian did enough."
But also in the T&T Express, Garth Wattley speculates that Lara might have been given a nudge to go:
"It is understood that the West Indies selectors (Gordon Greenidge, Andy Roberts and Clyde Butts), who reportedly met with the WICB boss last week in Grenada, were of a different view and were not considering Lara for the Test and one-day tour of England next month."
The editors of Jamaica Gleaner write that Lara decided to quit at the right time. Also read the Gleaner's Vox Pop on whether it was a correct decision.
Unfortunately, Lara's genius with the bat did not translate into his captaincy, either on or off the field. Lara inherited a team that was in decline, but, wilful and self-absorbed, he lacked the skill to mould the replacement into a disciplined, coherent unit.
The Jamaica Observer editorial laments the burden that Lara has had to carry all these years - one that no other West Indies batsman since George Headley came on to the scene in the 1930s has had to bear.
Fatima College, where Lara studied, add their two-bit which can be read on windiescricket.com
Colin Croft, in his column for BBC Sport, says that Lara would have traded half of his runs simply to have been known as the successful leader that he has not been, something he craved.
Posted on 04/21/2007 in English cricket
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"Moores will be like a breath of fresh air after Duncan Fletcher in terms of his relationship with the counties and his dealings with the media"
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Following in his father's footsteps, Robin Martin-Jenkins - Sussex's allrounder and the son of Christopher, The Times' correspondent - has welcomed the ECB's appointment of Peter Moores. Martin-Jenkins has experienced Moores's coaching credentials first hand at Sussex, but also knows the man behind the profession:
Cricketers can be precious and take criticism poorly, but with Peter it was always fair and, mostly, constructive and it was this, combined with his genuineness as a human being, that inspired the Sussex players to want to improve and win trophies.
I once interviewed him for the club magazine. What he told me that day is very revealing about the man: “I want Sussex to be the team of the decade. I want the players to respect the traditions of the club, to know what the martlets are, to know what standards are expected of them to be a Sussex player, to know why they play the game; for each other and the love of the game.”
My advice to England players? Don’t be ambivalent towards those three lions on your shirt. Intensity, passion, drive. Call it what you will. It is, above all, these qualities that Peter brings to the party. A half-hour chat with him about cricket (admittedly a fairly one-way conversation) will leave you feeling that it is the greatest game in the world again — and how invaluable might that effect be on, for instance, a tour-weary Steve Harmison?
In The Daily Telegraph, Charles Randall is also upbeat:
Moores has earned his reputation for getting things done. He stood out on the Bangladesh tour for energy and approachability. He was always open to discussion - even with the media - a virtue evocative of the late Bob Woolmer, one of the game's great thinkers.
Bruce Talbot, writing in The Independent, charts the transformation of Moores, an Elvis Presley fan, from a modest player to a successful coach.
As a youngster on the Lord's groundstaff, he would always be the last to leave when the coach Don Wilson held court in the bar after the players had been paid their £32 weekly wage. He recalled: "I was always happy to make sure there was a full glass in front of the coach as long as the stories and his theories about the game kept coming."
Posted on 04/21/2007 in West Indies cricket
The joy of Brian Lara's batting was tempered by his inability to succeed as captain, writes Greg Baum in The Age, a Melbourne-based daily.
In The Daily Telegraph former England seamer Derek Pringle salutes the greatest batsman of this generation.
Ricky Ponting may have the bigger Test average and Sachin Tendulkar the larger fan base, but Lara has won more matches, more often, and always with more style than any of his closest rivals.
The Times' Christopher Martin-Jenkins writes that Lara’s special talent has been to combine remorseless efficiency with an ability to be constantly entertaining.
Robert Craddock, writing in the Courier-Mail, looks at the career of Lara, a player the Australians rated incredibly highly.
No lesser judge than Steve Waugh, once asked which batsmen he enjoyed watching the most, didn't even have to contemplate the question before answering "Lara".
"He tries to play the same cavalier way no matter what the conditions and even though its almost impossible to pull off you have to admire him for trying," Waugh said.
Also read Cricinfo's tribute: Rahul Bhattacharya on the last king of Trinidad.
Posted on 04/21/2007 in Indian Cricket
The most anticipated team selections in the history of all international tours to Bangladesh was bound to raise a few questions, with a few seniors being 'rested', while the form of those being retained haven't been exemplary either. Pradeep Magazine, writing in Hindustan Times, picks out a few bizarre decisions, such as the non-appointment of a vice captain. Read the full piece here.
What has saved Sehwag is his great match-winning hundred against a team like Bermuda and what has not saved Sourav Ganguly his place in the team is his six half centuries in the nine ODIs innings he has played after his comeback to international cricket.
April 20, 2007
Posted on 04/20/2007 in World Cup 2007
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The end is near for Glenn McGrath
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Glenn McGrath has only a week left in his international career and he talks to Chloe Saltau in the Sydney Morning Herald about walking away.
The next time you see McGrath, he might be fishing with his son, James, or relaxing with his family at their property near Bourke in outback NSW or getting his helicopter licence. "To be honest, I was ready to retire a few months ago but this World Cup was that extra incentive to keep going,” he said. “That I'm the leading wicket-taker at the moment means I'm not just going through the motions."
Posted on 04/20/2007 in Indian Cricket
Greg Chappell's lack of success with the Indian cricket team has come as no surprise to the Australian cricket fraternity. He is admired greatly for his wonderful, graceful and successful batting and I feel he was one of the greatest slip ...
Read the full article at the Sportstar.
Posted on 04/20/2007 in English cricket
East Preston Parish Council have been forced to withdraw their application to build an ugly office block on Warren Recreation Ground, following angry opposition from hundreds of residents.
Simon Locke, captain of the cricket club, said the council's U-turn was good news for everyone that used the pitch. He said: "The cricket club was organising the campaign but the whole point of it was that it was on behalf of the village, not just a small group. Shops have been displaying signs against it in their windows and everyone has given their support.
"It is a lovely piece of green land and it's great news it will stay that way. We can now get on with looking forward to playing cricket rather than leading campaigns."
Read more at Sussex's Argus newspaper.
Posted on 04/20/2007 in West Indies cricket
Following the announcement yesterday that Brian Lara will retire from international cricket, Charlie Randall informs us of an exhibition to be held at Lord's, in May, of the great batsman.
The MCC say the exhibition has been organised with input from Lara himself and will feature many cricketing artefacts and photographs from the Trinidadian’s astonishing career. On loan from Lara will be several bats used in historic innings, including the left-hander’s 501 for Warwickshire in 1994, the world record score in first class cricket, and the 400 against England in Antigua, the Test record score.
In addition, there are balls, stumps and clothing from other significant matches on view -- and the jacket given to him by Nelson Mandela, the BBC overseas sports personality of the year award, as well as family photos from his personal collection. To complete the exhibition will be the acclaimed MCC-commissioned portrait of Lara by Justin Mortimer.
Posted on 04/20/2007 in English cricket
After weeks where many have been calling for Duncan Fletcher to step down, now that he has the general reaction is one of praise for his time at the helm, while offering interesting insights about the reasons behind his decision.
In The Daily Telegraph, Derek Pringle writes:
Duncan Fletcher's most eye-catching achievement as England coach was the 2005 Ashes, but his greatest was to make them a better team abroad. Before he took over, England travelled worse than a punnet of strawberries, until he showed them how to win in places as hostile to tourists as Karachi and Kingston.
He will never admit the error of recent ways or relief at going, at least not publicly. But whether you liked him or not, Fletcher took the job of coaching England with enormous seriousness and pride and turned them into a better Test side. For that alone cricket in this country owes him heartfelt thanks.
In The Guardian, Mike Selvey says:
In the end, it was his stubbornness and loyalty to his charges - traits which for much of the time served him well - which brought about his decline. The system he created became too cosy, the familiarity of it all becoming less challenging for players who might now better respond to fresh faces and voices even in doing the same routines. He knew in his own mind his guns and he stuck to them rigidly, always offering reasoned, if not necessarily cogent, argument to back up his judgments. But the players he supported stopped responding. It was time to go
In The Times, Simon Barnes points out that Fletcher just hung around too long:
Players run out of steam, legs, courage, coordination, appetite, but a coach is under no physical stress. You’d think a coach could go on coaching for ever. But it doesn’t happen. Coaches, too, suffer from the stresses and strains of sport. Coaches, too, run out of steam. Coaches, too, have a sell-by date.
And that, alas, is what has happened to Fletcher. He was a very good coach who ran past his time. Like a great writer who had said all he had to say, he fell back on cliché, repetition and self-parody. That was what led to the disaster of the Ashes series in Australia last winter and thence to England’s ludicrous performance at the World Cup.
And also in The Times, Shane Warne, who admits to being a fan of Fletcher's, says it was time for him to go:
What made us laugh in the Australia dressing-room about Fletcher during the last Ashes series was how often the England coach would contradict himself in his public statements. He would often change his story, depending on whether it suited England or not, just to try and have a go at us. And although there may have been method behind his madness, I think he did sometimes say things to suit what was best for Duncan Fletcher.
Posted on 04/20/2007 in English cricket
The Duncan Fletcher-bashing continues, this time from Geoff Boycott, who revealed to The Daily Telegraph that Michael Vaughan approached him for batting tips, insisting that it should be a hush-hush affair.
"This winter I had a captain of England requesting to have dinner with me to get my help on his batting but he said he must not be seen wtih me. He said it must be I quote: 'Under the radar'. Because I have been critical of the coach Michael Vaughan is now frightened to have dinner with me. What a farcical situation is that?"
April 19, 2007
Posted on 04/19/2007 in World Cup 2007
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To talk or not to talk?
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Stephen Fleming talks about New Zealand’s verbal approach when playing Australia ahead of the Super Eights game in Grenada on Friday.
"We've gone from open abuse, to not saying a word, to trying to be more aggressive, to being passive," Fleming said in The Australian. "We used to talk a lot about our approach towards it off the field but in some ways that detracts from the skills you need to beat them on it. It just naturally happens now that skills are what's going to beat Australia and the mental approach and the confidence that goes along with those skills."
In The Age Chloe Saltau speaks to Craig McMillan about his first attempt at life after cricket.
"I went to a couple of interviews, which I found quite intimidating, moving outside my comfort zone,” he said. “As a professional sportsman, you're in a bit of a bubble at times.”
Cricket Australia and the Australian government continue to wait for the other party to make a decision on whether the side should play a one-day series in Zimbabwe in September. The Australian carries the story.
The Barmy Army really did create a boom for Australia with Visa saying UK-issued cards spent A$551 million during the Ashes.
Posted on 04/19/2007 in West Indies cricket
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Where did it all go wrong?
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West Indies have no hope of making it to the semi-finals of their own World Cup and their defeats agaisnt Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the Super Eights have been so abject that Brian Lara was forced to make a public apology. S Ram Mahesh from The Hindu visits the grave of Frank Worrell, the man who moulded a bunch of brilliant indivduals into a team and wonders where it all went wrong?
It hasn't been right for a while, say most experts: the Champions Trophy triumph in 2004, the success against India, the defeat of Australia and subsequent run to final in the 2006 Champions Trophy were exceptions in a decline unchecked by an inadequate structure.
Deryck Murray, World Cup-winning 'keeper and head of Trinidad's cricket, says, "In the amateur days, people didn't realise the serious structure, albeit informal, that we went through. Our administrators didn't see it. They thought a Gary Sobers fell out of the tree."
April 18, 2007
Posted on 04/18/2007 in Australian cricket
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It was a successful fishing trip off Grenada for Matthew Hayden
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Just when you thought Matthew Hayden’s World Cup couldn’t get any bigger he has out-done himself by landing a marlin. The game’s biggest angler was asleep when the 136kg fish took his bait and suffered a similar fate to many bowlers.
“We had about 80 people there to greet us when we got to shore,” he said in The Australian. “It was just magnificent. My arms are sore. I might have to get a massage later this afternoon."
In the same paper Jon Pierik writes the Australian players are preparing to fight Cricket Australia over personal sponsorship deals from finance companies.
Adam Gilchrist isn’t convinced about hoodoos as he looks ahead to the semi-final with South Africa in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Posted on 04/18/2007 in World Cup 2007
As England were booed off the Kensington Oval yesterday after their feeble elimination from the World Cup, Duncan Fletcher may well have been mulling over the thought that Saturday's dead rubber against West Indies will be his last game as their coach, writes Lawrence Booth in The Guardian.
In the same newspaper David Hopps reports on how scores of England and South Africa fans were stranded in Grenada after their cruise liner to Barbados was cancelled without explanation at the last minute.
In The Times, Simon Wilde pulls no punches:
"Another World Cup, another nightmare for England. Every four years, English one-day cricket gets put up against the rest of the world and is found horribly wanting. The big spotlight is turned on them and what it reveals is an embarrassment to all. Good grief, is that really how bad we/they are? English cricket caught inflagrante. Naked in its naivety and inadequacy."
"The upshot surely, hopefully, will be the end of Fletcher," writes John Etheridge in The Sun. "If he has any pride he will resign. If not, he should be sacked."
Strauss enforces claim to captain Vaughan's crown, writes Mark Nicholas in The Daily Telegraph.
If questions must be asked of them and their fitness for purpose, they must also be posed about the manner in which they were prepared, writes Stephen Brenkley in The Independent.
Posted on 04/18/2007 in World Cup 2007
South Africa's comprehensive nine-wicket victory over England, which guaranteed them the fourth spot in the semi-final, had the newspapers of the country churn out advice on what to do next - South Africa meet Australia in the semis - and how the players' binge drinking is OK.
Michael Doman wonders in the Independent Online whether Makhaya Ntini should be brought back for the semis or straight into the final:
At grounds short on pace and bounce, Ntini has struggled to make an impact at the 2007 World Cup, claiming only six wickets at an average of 48.83 runs each in seven matches. It has been his inability to strike with the new ball which has been of concern to the selectors.
t will be a strong consideration to bring Ntini back should the Proteas reach the final in conditions which suit him. Should he replace Kemp, though, and weaken the batting, or can South Africa use wicketkeeper Mark Boucher at No 6 in the order, as they have often done in the past? It is hard to see Ntini replacing any of the four frontline seamers, all of whom have been performing well.
Neil Manthorp writes in Supercricket website that as long as the players are in control of their compromised sense after a night out drinking there is no need to make a fuss about it.
So don't make the mistake of blaming South Africa's players for drinking or staying up late at night when the real complaint is that they didn't win.
I wonder what the view of Smith and his players would be at home if they went out until 4.00am once again after the nine-wicket thrashing of England?
Posted on 04/18/2007 in Indian Cricket
Former Indian fast bowler Javagal Srinath hails the appointment of Venkatesh Prasad, his former new-ball partner, as India's bowling coach. Writing in Hindustan Times, Srinath hopes Prasad will be given time to grow into the role, one that will be crucial to India's prospect in the coming years.
April 17, 2007
Posted on 04/17/2007 in World Cup 2007
Michael Holding, Arjuna Ranatunga and Ricky Ponting were surprised by Sri Lanka’s tactics to rest Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas against Australia to improve their prospects of reaching the final. Holding’s worries about the consequences of the move in betting circles are reported on www.news.com.au
“What it does is allow people who know what is happening to get a head start if they are gambling. I have an account with Betfair and I watch a lot of different markets. Before the game started, Australia was 1-2. As soon as the toss went to air, when (Betfair) found out, Australia went to 1-5 because Muralitharan wasn't playing, Malinga wasn't playing, Vaas wasn't playing."
In The Age Chloe Saltau writes about Nathan Bracken, who picked up 4 for 19 against Sri Lanka.
Posted on 04/17/2007 in World Cup 2007
"In what has already proved a bizarre tournament the real possibility exists that by tonight England, having played consistently poor cricket since they arrived in the Caribbean, will have secured a place in the semi-finals of the World Cup," writes Mike Selvey in The Guardian. "To do so they have to beat South Africa, a team that veers from sublime to ridiculous on a match-by-match basis, on the paciest pitch in the competition."
"When Fred [Flintoff] is on form, just about anything is possible. When he isn't England are insipid. With England's vital match against South Africa on the horizon this observation may pile the pressure on Flintoff's once broad shoulders, but it's the stark reality," says Vic Marks in The Guardian.
In the The Independent, Angus Fraser writes that "England are dangerous, as they proved in Australia during the Commonwealth Bank Series when they produced a remarkable victory, but they will struggle to live with the South Africans at their best. In Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood, England possess potential match-winners, but Smith's side have twice as many."
April 16, 2007
Posted on 04/16/2007 in World Cup 2007
Robert Craddock writes in The Australian about “the Catapult Kids” – Shaun Tait and Lasith Malinga. The pair met for the first time before the Australia-Sri Lanka game, but their opening on-field exchange was ruined by Malinga's ankle injury.
The cricket world - Tait included - marvels at Malinga's round-arm action, which he developed playing rubber ball cricket in the dusty back streets of his home town of Galle.
Posted on 04/16/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
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Vusi Sibanda: "I don't feel like my game has improved, and I believe that will happen in Australia"
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Vusi Sibanda tells the Sydney Morning Herald’s Alex Brown how he plans to walk away from international cricket in Zimbabwe to play for a Sydney club side.
There is little joy in Sibanda's voice when he outlines his intention to retire aged 23 in pursuit of what would seem an inverse sporting dream. Sitting in the pavilion at Bankstown Oval, a fortnight after playing at the World Cup, Sibanda wearily details the social and sporting decline of his homeland.
"I had dreamed of playing for Zimbabwe all my life but, over the years, it has changed a lot," he says, having just guided an invitational African XI to victory in the annual Cricket Masala tournament |
