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December 30, 2007
Posted on 12/30/2007 in Australian cricket
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Ponting: hopping mad after getting out to Harbhajan..again
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Despite the success at Melbourne, Ricky Ponting has two matters to press. He wasn’t keen on the MCG wicket and, moreover, he is not Harbhajan Singh’s bunny. Ponting has been out six times to Harbhajan in seven Tests, including twice – and cheaply – in the Boxing Day Test. Malcolm Conn has the full story in The Australian.
In The Age meanwhile, Chloe Saltau has a deeper mystery to unravel than why Ponting is seemingly so susceptible to Harbhajan – what exactly is the new tattoo on Michael Clarke’s forearm?
In the same paper, Troy Cooley is full of praise for Australia’s pace attack, rating them equal to England’s 2005 Ashes bowlers. Praise indeed, particularly as he’s not so keen on giving comparisons.
India, meanwhile, could consider using a sports psychologist, the Sydney Telegraph reports.
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck considers his best world team from the year just past.
Posted on 12/30/2007 in English cricket
It doesn’t seem a minute ago since England were slumping to defeat in Sri Lanka, but barely have they shovelled their Christmas turkey down their neck when they’re back into consideration as the next tour team, for New Zealand, will be announced on Friday.
The Sunday Telegraph's Scyld Berry expects England to beat them, but only as he considers New Zealand a weaker team and not through England’s particular prowess. He points out England’s Test side has slipped from second to fifth in the ICC world rankings and bemoans a lack of review following their showing in Sri Lanka:
Nothing is happening, not even the sop of a review, which is the most alarming feature of all: the acceptance of England's mid-table mediocrity .
Vic Marks has a similarly gloomy outlook in The Observer - wins for England would prove nothing - and he gets straight to the point:
There is much talk about England being 'in transition', which is often the euphemism for 'in decline'.
He suggests a Test recall for Andrew Strauss, but not as opener, while he advocates bringing back Essex’s James Foster for one of the keeping spots, and dropping Monty Panesar from the one-day squad.
Posted on 12/30/2007 in Indian cricket
India went in to the first Test with virtually no preparation, their one warm-up match against Victoria rained out for the most part. Kadambari Murali writes Hindustan Times that the lack of bounce is easier to adjust to than extra bounce. She goes on to dissect the Test:
Teams like Australia feed on their opposition’s frailties and they did just that by thoroughly exploiting India’s lack of athleticism. Every time the ball went to a relatively poor fielder, they would scamper for a single. It not only got a player off the strike and kept the board ticking, it also put extra pressure on the bowler.
Every time the ball went to the deep, they took three, two for the distance the ball had travelled and one for the weak arm. By doing so, and without hitting boundaries, they managed to maintain a healthy run rate despite losing wickets.
S Ram Mahesh praises Australia's wholesome performance in his match report in the Hindu.
Posted on 12/30/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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What the team Daniel Vettori leads out to face Bangladesh look like?
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New Zealand’s team for their Test series against Bangladesh is announced on Monday and Dylan Cleaver in the New Zealand Herald believes the selectors will play it safe but urges them not to:
After a fraught selection meeting in Sydney during the midst of New Zealand's disastrous twin tours of South Africa and Australia the talk was of possible changes, of a new beginning in the five-day game. Now it appears a few cheap one-day runs and wickets against over-matched minnows will be enough to retain a status quo. The selectors will decide that it would be a mistake to make wholesale changes. However, with a test team that is so obviously failing every time it comes up against decent opposition, the biggest mistake is surely to sit back and do nothing.
In the same paper, Adam Parore has much the same view, but offers an interesting insight into how his first game back with the gloves after five years went. He also reports that Sky’s banning of New Zealand’s coach John Bracewell has delighted Bracewell “as he has better things to do with his time.” Parore has the solution.
Continue reading "Time to be bold and brave"
December 29, 2007
Posted on 12/29/2007 in Australian cricket
Once maligned as a one-day basher, Andrew Symonds has now matured into a cricketer worthy of a place in any team, according to Peter Roebuck in the Sunday Age.
Dismissed as a lightweight 12 months ago, he has emerged as an amusing man capable of taking wickets and scoring runs in any company. Hardly a day goes by without a lively and intelligent contribution from Symonds. He is a genuine all-rounder. In short, he has found the confidence required to release himself on the field. He owes as much to his captain as Matthew Hayden did to Steve Waugh. Belief is the father of achievement.
In the same paper Greg Baum takes a view that a year ago might have seemed sacrilegious - that Australia's new attack boasts virtues the former line-up did not.
Jon Pierik writes in the Sunday Herald Sun that whatever the critics have said about Adam Gilchrist's wicketkeeping over the years, his Australian record of 399 Test dismissals speaks for itself.
Gilchrist is a bigger man than the lightweight Healy, tough-as-teak Marsh or one-time West Indian maestro Jeff Dujon, so he hasn't looked as graceful diving around. He would be the first to admit that. But looks don't matter in cricket - just results.
Also in the Sunday Herald Sun Keith Stackpole suggests that India need to reconsider their batting order, including letting Rahul Dravid play at No. 3.
Posted on 12/29/2007 in Australian cricket
India's fielding and front-foot no-balling in the Boxing Day Test has been disappointing and in the Weekend Australian, Peter Lalor examines the issue.
There are players in the Indian side who appear as if they spent their lives telling others to pick things up for them. They see the ball approaching their ankles and like royalty look up as if to summon a servant to fetch the blasted thing. Alas, good help is hard to find in the middle of a cricket match and the moment has past by the time the servant has made his way up the stairs.
In the same paper Mike Coward says Anil Kumble's honeymoon period as India's captain is over.
Peter Roebuck writes in the Age that India have played well in patches but have made too many mistakes to beat Australia, while his colleague Greg Baum argues that there is nothing particularly wrong with the MCG drop-in pitch.
December 28, 2007
Posted on 12/28/2007 in
Ian Botham tells Brian Viner, in the Independent that his proudest moment as a sportsman came in 2007, why the greatest cricketer of all time was not Don Bradman, and what he thinks of sports psychology .
"I wonder if Bradman could have adjusted to 20-, 40-, 50-over cricket as well as Test matches? When you look at footage from the 1930s, there's no science about the field placings. They were the same when the batsman arrived at the crease as they were when he'd scored 300. Obviously Bradman was an exceptional talent, but I find it hard to comprehend anyone ever being better than Viv [Richards]."
Posted on 12/28/2007 in Indian cricket
Rahul Dravid opened for India after nearly two years and spent over one and a half hours for his five runs. Dravid was in terrific form in India's previous tour to Australia and a philosophical Peter Roebuck says cricket defies conquest. A batsman may feel supreme one day and a duffer the next. Regardless of past performances, a batsman walks onto the field without a run to his name, takes guard with failure beckoning and 11 men at his throat. It is not a journey to be undertaken lightly. He writes in the Sydney Morning Herald:
From the outset, Dravid looked vulnerable. He thought only about survival. Frozen at the crease, he did not think about singles to rotate the strike and ease the pressure. India can bat and bowl but are a long way behind their opponents in the basics of the game.
Also read Siddhartha Vaidyanathan's analysis of Dravid's poor form over the last year and a half on Cricinfo.
December 27, 2007
Posted on 12/27/2007 in Australian cricket
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Anil Kumble's guile impressed on the opening day at the MCG
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| At last Australia got the Test contest they had long been craving when, on the opening day at the MCG, they lost nine wickets to India. It was hardly a huge rout but given Australia’s erstwhile dominance, it was enough to satisfy the fans.
Peter Roebuck casts an admiring glance at their captain Anil Kumble’s feats. Kumble took the first wicket and went on to grab five. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Roebuck writes:
Anil Kumble is an undiluted champion. Seldom have India needed his exceptional abilities more and seldom has he responded more impressively.
Steve Waugh, meanwhile, was mightily impressed with Matthew Hayden’s century on the opening day at the MCG on Boxing Day, saying in the the Sydney Telegraph that he now stands on the brink of historical greatness.
For a guy who was deemed to be too one-dimensional by selectors early in his career he now stands on the brink of being Australia's greatest-ever opener able to play in any conditions and to the tempo required.
In the same paper, Jon Pierik adds that questions were answered by the tourists, in front of a more-than-healthy 70,000-strong crowd.
December 26, 2007
Posted on 12/26/2007 in
As Sachin Tendulkar embarks on what could be his last tour of Australia, Peter Roebuck pays tribute to the Indian genius in the Sydney Morning Herald. He writes that of the great players who have emerged in the game since the early nineties, Tendulkar is the greatest.
Where Lara excited and Warne enthralled, he [Tendulkar] has provided a wider satisfaction. There has been a purity about his batting, a simplicity of construction, a correctness of execution, a sense of everything being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. At the crease, he has offered the glory of the completed cathedral. His straight drive and square cut are definitive versions of the game's two finest strokes.
Meanwhile, in the Australian, Mike Coward praises the captaincy skills of India's foremost matchwinner, Anil Kumble.
December 25, 2007
Posted on 12/25/2007 in Indian cricket
The story of Sourav Ganguly's career is one with so many twists and turns that a scriptwriter can make a living off it. He has had the knack of embarrassing his critics time and again and those who were convinced he wouldn't reach the landmark of 100 Tests would be looking elsewhere at the moment. Pradeep Magazine pays a tribute to Ganguly in the Hindustan Times
All international captains, be it a Nasser Hussain or a Steve Waugh, found to their dismay that they were dealing with a man who had the knack of getting under their skin and inspiring his team to perform above themselves. Not since the days of the Nawab of Pataudi had there been a leader who rallied his troops behind him. All that mattered for Ganguly was the skill of the player and not which region or state he belonged to
December 24, 2007
Posted on 12/24/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
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Julian Ayer’s widow, Harriet, and her son, Spencer Crawley, at the ground in Galle
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| A cricket tour by Harrow School ended in tragedy when they were caught up in the 2004 tsunami, and Julian Ayers, one of the players’ fathers, was among those who died. As a result, the Harrow Tsunami Relief Fund raised more than £475,000, a large part of which was spent rebuilding a local school, Vidyaloka College. The Daily Telegraph reports on how some of that side returned to Galle for the Test.
"It was a very emotional moment. After all that destruction and loss of life, to see England as the first Test team to play on the ground really brought a lump to my throat."
Click here for details on the Harrow Tsunami Relief Fund
Posted on 12/24/2007 in Australian cricket
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Andrew Symonds: Coming up with a winning strategy
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Andrew Symonds was part of the Australian team that won a third consecutive World Cup, but perhaps his secret ten-point plan helped more than his contribution on the field. Symonds came up with the "Victory 101" lesson during his injury lay-off, a period in which Australia lost five matches ahead of their World Cup campaign. John Buchanan tells the Sydney Morning Herald:
"He came back into the camp after we lost five games in a row and he was very keen to make sure that outcome wasn't repeated during our World Cup campaign. So he sat down and wrote a 10-point plan on how we were going to avoid that - and for Andrew to actually write something was remarkable."
Phil Jaques, in the Age, talks about his bout of mumps.
"I had a big 'Sherman Klump' face and the shivers, hot and cold sweats, just generally achy and thirsty all the time. I was drinking five or six litres of water a day just to stay hydrated."
December 23, 2007
Posted on 12/23/2007 in Australian cricket
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New direction: Brett Lee prepares for his cameo
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“Actor” will be added to the resumes of four of Australia’s cricketers in the next couple of weeks. Crowd scenes for the Bollywood film Victory will be filmed at the MCG and Brett Lee, Michael Hussey, Stuart Clark and Shaun Tait will make their debuts, according to the Age’s Chloe Saltau.
Lee will appear as himself in what his manager Neil Maxwell described as "a glorified cameo". It will take two days to film when the leader of the Australian pace attack has a break between matches.
Malcolm Conn writes in the Australian Brad Hogg is likely to play at the MCG and Tait is favourite to be 12th man.
In the same paper Peter Lalor looks at the difference in lifestyles for the Indian players when they are away from home.
Peter Roebuck says in the Sydney Morning Herald the game must spread “otherwise it will spend the next 20 years talking to itself”.
Posted on 12/23/2007 in English cricket
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Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen cut disconsolate figures as England's dismal series finally draws to an end
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| In The Observer Vic Marks draws some positives for England despite their series loss in Sri Lanka but expresses concerns about Monty Panesar.
Monty is a mechanical bowler rather than an intuitive one, which need not be a major disadvantage. Derek Underwood was pretty mechanical, too. But Panesar looks as if he's starting to panic when his tried-and-trusted mechanism is no longer producing the results.
The action simply needs a 10,000-ball check-up. However he may need guidance beyond that about his overall strategy.
Ian Bell has admitted that England are way below par. In a frank column in the Independent on Sunday he reflects on the tour admits core skills need working on.
But he has hope for the future – “I think the potential of the side is massive and I believe there is plenty of talent” – something which will not impress Stephen Brenkley, writing in the same paper. Brenkley suggests that England are not as good as they think.
Simon Wilde, in The Sunday Times, also blames a misplaced superiority complex:
The trouble with New England – post-Fletcher, post-Antipodean/ Caribbean nightmare – has been that they have taken an awfully long time to realise they are no longer much good. Part of them still thinks they are the great 2005 Ashes winners. Their problem has been that most irritating of traits, the superiority complex.
In the same paper, John Stern considers Matt Prior’s display with the gloves, while Angus Fraser, in the Independent on Sunday, looks at Alastair Cook’s future.
Posted on 12/23/2007 in Australian cricket
Dropped after his first Test, against India in 1996, Brad Hogg nearly quit the game to take up farming. Times have changed since then and if picked in the final XI on Boxing Day, Hogg, at 36, could be celebrating his second coming against the same opposition and carry forward his one-day exploits to the Tests. Hogg tells Will Swanton of the Sunday Age that he's excited but not overawed.
"During the West Indies series we were looking at our baggy greens. I was looking at Gilly's and it was all frayed but mine was pretty brand new. Gilly said, 'I wish my cap was more like yours. I told him I'd prefer his cap because it was full of blood, sweat and tears.
Posted on 12/23/2007 in Commentary
"India have been assigned the task of rejuvenating an alarmingly forgettable cricket season. Nothing less than a stirring performance from the visitors can atone for the numerous setbacks the game has suffered as it lurches towards triviality," writes Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Despite their last-minute appearance and the recent rains, India could put up a fight. Certainly the team has sound leadership. Anil Kumble is a calm captain capable of commanding loyalty from his contemporaries and respect from the youngsters. Australia crushes the anonymous and fraudulent. But none of the Indians are burdened with a weak mind. Most of the team are larger than life and have proud records and high expectations. They will not be easily cut down to size or beaten before a ball has been bowled.
Posted on 12/23/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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Coach John Bracewell has drawn criticism for New Zealand's string of poor performances
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"Andre Adams is the dominant force in first-class cricket at the moment and, with Shane Bond injured, the best seamer in the country [New Zealand]," writes Dylan Cleaver in the Herald on Sunday.
"It is fair enough to express disappointment and concern from the last few months' proceedings but it is unfair to judge them [New Zealand] solely on the past couple of months," says Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday.
The losses in Australia were bad and we would all like to see a better showing against the best. That showing will only come about if the players are prepared to take a good look at themselves with enough realistic self-assessment to sting them into action. I'm not saying they need to try harder or show more ticker or any of those other emotionally based, uneducated cliches; but what I am saying is that they need to be stung into a course of action that will enable them to raise their games to a level whereby they can play their best cricket more consistently.
"John Bracewell's attempts to stir up the Australians were an illustration of how low New Zealand cricket has sunk at the moment," says Paul Lewis.
"Not for the first time, Canterbury batsman Peter Fulton has been primed for a trouble-shooting role this time in a New Zealand batting line-up that has shown all the reliability of an Auckland bus," says Richard Boock in the Sunday Star Times.
Also in the Sunday Star Times, Michael Donaldson says, "If New Zealand were winning you could forgive John Bracewell his eccentricities. But the team is losing and Bracewell has now taken enough rope."
December 22, 2007
Posted on 12/22/2007 in Indian cricket
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India's only tour game ahead of the Melbourne Test was cut short by rain
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"India have no reason to be afraid," writes Peter Roebuck in the Hindu.
The Indians will have noticed that Sri Lanka’s only top-class batsmen scored hundreds in their recent series and will feel that the deed can be done. Last time around India conquered fear in the first Test. Melbourne awaits a similar display of fortitude. If India arises on Boxing Day then anything is possible.
Rain ruined India's only warm-up game against Victoria ahead of the first Test and Anil Kumble wrote in the Hindu that "in an ideal situation, we [India] should have had two lead-up games".
In fact, the whole purpose of my missing out on this game was to have a good look at the fast bowlers. I have not seen Pankaj Singh in the middle before and also wanted to have a look at the young Ishant, RP Singh, who is returning from an injury, and Irfan Pathan, who is making a comeback. Now I can’t do that.
Posted on 12/22/2007 in New Zealand cricket
"Those who take Daniel Vettori at face value have him all wrong," writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald. "The New Zealand captain is amiable, polite and well spoken. When he made the national side at 17 he could have been confused for a choir boy. But those assuming his mild demeanour translates to a gentle-minded leader, reluctant to speak his mind, should think again. Vettori displayed a firm and forthright tongue during New Zealand's poor Chappell-Hadlee Trophy campaign in Australia."
David Leggat also outlines five things we learnt about New Zealand from their 0-2 defeat in the Chappell-Hadlee series.
"The Gilchrist affair was damaging to the New Zealand team's culture, and was disappointing because it was a completely meaningless distraction," says Adam Parore.
Posted on 12/22/2007 in English cricket
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England fans make their feelings clear
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"I saw that one of the banners this morning said: "Hang your heads in shame England." The fans feel fed up with the way this tour has gone. And the problem goes beyond cricket," writes Geoffrey Boycott in the Daily Telegraph.
Nobody's saying the players should be dropped. At least, I'm not. These are our best cricketers. It's about getting them to understand how to win Test matches in foreign conditions. One of them has to score a hundred in every Test, for a start. And when they get an opportunity, as they did at Kandy after bowling Sri Lanka out for 188, they must make sure they drive it home by making a lead of 250 and putting the opposition out of the game. I didn't see Sri Lanka letting anyone off the hook.
Posted on 12/22/2007 in Australian cricket
Sachin Tendulkar attracts attention wherever he goes and in the Courier-Mail Robert Craddock analyses just what it is about Tendulkar that makes him so fascinating.
Former India coach John Wright says newcomers to the Indian dressing room take two or three games to feel comfortable "because they spend the first few games watching Sachin and learning how to interact with him as a teammate". No group of Australian cricketers admired Tendulkar more than the luckless bunch who saw him peel off 446 runs in three Tests against them on the subcontinent in 1998. They became so infatuated by him that most even bought copies of his famously heavy Vampire bat and brought them back to Australia so they could test them and give a copy to their own batmakers just to see whether they were, in fact, cricket's version of a magic wand.
Another great of the game, Shane Warne, called his former coach John Buchanan "a goose" during the week. But according to Malcolm Conn in the Weekend Australian Warne might end up coaching alongside Buchanan if Cricket Australia confirms it has got its man.
In the Daily Telegraph Nik Walshaw looks back on some famous Boxing Day moments, while Greg Baum chats to the former Australian batsman Colin McDonald in the Age.
Phil Wilkins in the Sydney Morning Herald remembers what it used to be like when touring teams had more than a week in the country before their first Test. In the same paper Peter Roebuck looks at how important Sourav Ganguly is to India.
Posted on 12/22/2007 in New Zealand cricket
The decision to appoint him captain hasn't been a hit at all, and there's not a whole lot to smile about if you're a New Zealand cricketer, but Daniel Vettori says he has enjoyed his role on the field. Talking to the New Zealand Herald's David Leggat, Vettori puts team before individual and hopes to savour some better days in cricket.
December 21, 2007
Posted on 12/21/2007 in English cricket
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Down and out: The third day at Galle will go down as England's worst in recent memory
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After a dismal performance by England on the third day at Galle, where they were bowled out for 81, the players won’t want to read the British newspapers.
Described as "pathetic" and "spineless", England were blasted in Friday morning's editions with Paul Newman in the Daily Mail "as someone once famously put it, England had only three problems: they could not bat, bowl or field".
Their total fell well below their previous innings low against Sri Lanka of 148 in Colombo on the previous tour in 2003. In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins said they were given a harsh cricketing lesson.
"Even allowing, as one fairly must, for the excellence of Sri Lanka's cricket ... yesterday was a shameful performance by England. One by one, over the three matches of this short, intense and now one-sided series, the established stars of the home team have given England's young and naive side painful reminders of their quality."
Angus Fraser, in the Independent, also noted the third day's play "highlighted the huge gulf that now exists between these two sides".
"For 149 overs, England had lumbered in the field, dropping catches, bowling with indiscipline and at times looking totally disinterested in the game they were playing…The sight of one beleaguered England batsman trooping to the pavilion after another brought back memories of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in 1994 when Michael Atherton's side were bowled out for 46 by a West Indies side inspired by Curtly Ambrose."
Back in the Daily Mail the focus went on the contrasting performances in the match of Jayawardene and England captain Michael Vaughan.
"Never can Vaughan have been so outplayed, so out-thought and completely out-manoeuvred by an opposing captain…This was a return to the bad old days of the mid-Nineties, when Michael Atherton seemingly had to fight a lone battle to bring any semblance of professionalism to a desperate England side. Yesterday they were bereft of ideas, passion and the team spirit of which they are so proud."
The feeling in England’s dressing room was summed up in The Sun, never one to pull any punches after shocking sporting performances.
Make no mistake, our festive flops were well and truly stuffed. Maybe the 12-hour flight home in time for Christmas dinner will help erase this shambles from their minds.
Posted on 12/21/2007 in Indian cricket
In the Indian Express, Harsha Bhogle criticises the BCCI for its scheduling which hardly allows any time for the Indians to acclimatise in Australia, and hence making the formidable task of beating Australia on their home turf even harder.
These (the Indian cricketers) are not artists from the circus for whom life inside the big tent doesn’t change much from Melbourne to Delhi. Or baseball or basketball players or Formula One drivers for that matter. These are players who have to make significant adjustments to their game; more like a driver shifting from concrete to gravel.
Bhogle also questions the need to rejig much of the batting order to accomodate Yuvraj Singh at No. 6. He is also hopeful that Virender Sehwag will open the innings, leaving the rest of the middle-order undisturbed.
Posted on 12/21/2007 in
The Guardian's Mike Selvey talks to the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Giles Clarke, Sky commentator and former England cricketer and coach, David Lloyd, and BBC cricket correspondent and former England cricketer, Jonathan Agnew, and gets their views on the hot topics in English cricket in 2007, including the Schofield report, Kolpaks and the new coaching regime in England.
(David Lloyd on Kolpaks) It is a complete and utter nonsense for English cricket. They give nothing, absolutely nothing. They are not great players, they have a burning ambition to earn money. If you want to further your career, son, go to Sri Lanka where it's hot and it's spinning
They also pick out their "Man of the year" and "Moment of the year".
Posted on 12/21/2007 in Indian cricket
The India - Pakistan Tests fell short on entertainment value due to the lifeless pitches for the second and third Tests which weren't result-oriented. Makarand Waingankar in the Hindu talks about the pressing issue of the standard of pitches in India, something which has been felt in the domestic game as well.
It is high time the work of the members of the Pitches and Grounds Committee was monitored. What is the point of having them tour the zones if the associations continue to doctor pitches? The problem of doctoring the pitches would be solved if there was a penalty of one point for bad pitches.
Posted on 12/21/2007 in Australian cricket
Shane Warne's fractious relationship with his former coach John Buchanan is no secret, and in the Daily Telegraph Warne calls Buchanan "a goose" who epitomises an arrogant Australian mindset.
I disagree with John Buchanan all the time. I don't think he has made one good point in a long time, actually. Everything that I have read that he says, he is living in pixieland. It just shows what us players had to put up with John Buchanan. We had to listen to his verbal diarrhoea all the time. He is just a goose and has no idea and lacks common sense, and you can put all that in there (the interview).
In the same paper Warne says Australia cannot write off Sachin Tendulkar and must use different tactics against him than under Buchanan. He also declares that 50-over cricket is finished and says the senior players in Australia's setup have a responsibility to know when to retire.
In a busy day for Australian legspinners, nobody in New South Wales Cricket can find Stuart MacGill, who had surgery on his wrist two weeks ago.
December 20, 2007
Posted on 12/20/2007 in Australian cricket
Australia's decision to rest Adam Gilchrist from the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy decider in Hobart could not have come at a worse time as the players prepare to sign big-money deals with the Indian Premier League, according to Jon Pierik in the Herald Sun.
On one hand, the Australia vice-captain is justified in having a break and freshening up for the marathon schedule which awaits. On the other hand, if the likes of Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds and Gilchrist are happy to sign huge deals with the IPL, then why should Gilchrist be rested from his primary responsibility - international cricket?
In the same paper Pierik looks at the potential for the Australians to play in next year's IPL, which will start earlier than expected, at a time when Cricket Australia would prefer they rested between tours of Pakistan and the West Indies.
In the Australian Ricky Ponting gives the thumbs-up to Bryce McGain if Australia decide to choose two spinners for the Sydney Test against India.
Greg Baum writes in the Age about the high-tech recovery from injury of Andrew McDonald, the Victoria allrounder.
December 19, 2007
Posted on 12/19/2007 in Indian cricket
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All stand: Sachin Tendulkar arrives in Melbourne
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Sachin Tendulkar landed with the Indians to a rock star welcome in Melbourne. The Age’s Chloe Saltau briefly caught up with Tendulkar, the man of few words.
Asked whether he felt the age of India's star batsmen would be a factor in the coming series, Tendulkar smiled and said: "No, not really."
Did he regard this as India's best chance to defeat Australia at home, an achievement no team has managed since the West Indies in 1992-93? "We have come here to play good cricket and with good results, so hopefully we will," he said. "We have come here in good shape and we are looking forward to this tour."
December 18, 2007
Posted on 12/18/2007 in Australian cricket
Allan Border, a Cricket Australia director, has spoken out about the resting of players after Adam Gilchrist’s decision to miss the final game of the Chappell-Hadlee Series, reports Jon Pierik in the Herald Sun
"We have guys signing up for Twenty20 cricket in the Indian Premier League," Border said. "I know it's big money and they are professional cricketers, but they won't be rotated out of that, will they?"
Stuart Clark tells the Courier-Mail of his disappointment at being dropped from the one-day team.
AAP reports Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, is not satisfied with the performances of Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey, the South Australia spinners, since they were handed national contracts in May.
Posted on 12/18/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Paul Holden, writing in his stuff.co.nz blog, salutes John Bracewell, a veritable humanheadline.
August 2003 - On meeting Stephen Fleming: “[It] left the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. He had a real presence or mana about him which needs to be respected and used to the best advantage.”
Meanwhile Hamish McDouall feels New Zealand need a bowler to tie up one end, to slow down the pace of scoring, to nick out a slashing batsman.
December 17, 2007
Posted on 12/17/2007 in Australian cricket
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Yuvraj Singh has been practising with hard plastic and synthetic balls to get ready for Australia
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Peter Lalor writes in the Australian about India’s tired squad of players as they prepare to face Australia in the first Test on Boxing Day. The batsmen are also trying different techniques to adapt to the conditions.
The Indians have not seen a ball bounce above the knee roll for months, but the big-hitting Yuvraj Singh has been recalled to the side and has found a novel way of preparing for Australian pitches. "Right now, I am practising with hard plastic and synthetic balls in order to get used to the pace and bounce of the Australian tracks.”
Jon Pierik speculates in the Courier-Mail that Australian players could be warned against joining the Indian Premier League because of organisational chaos.
Just three months before the tournament promising players millions of dollars is to be held, the eight Indian franchises have yet to be sold and players have yet to see their full contracts, let alone agree to terms and conditions. Players are also concerned that team bases and venues have yet to be finalised.
In the New Zealand Herald David Leggat talks to Daniel Vettori, who is pleased the IPL payments have been released. "Now we don't have to have all the subterfuge about it.”
Posted on 12/17/2007 in Indian cricket
A couple of days after Shane Warne's gigantic sign-on fee for the Indian Premier League was announced, Sharda Ugra takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the creativity that the Twenty20 tournament will spawn. Tired with franchise names like "Tigers" and "Cobras", she suggests some titles, including "The Kolkata Protestors" (industrial action or cricket balls, it's all about the strike rate) and "The Hyderabad Leftovers" (from all that remains after the ICL sweep).
Read the full piece in the India Today.
Posted on 12/17/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
Stepping into Sanath Jayasuriya's shoes is a big ask for any man but Michael Vandort has filled the breach with minimum fuss, writes Aravinda de Silva in the London-based Observer.
At 6ft 5in, he is by far the tallest batsman to play for Sri Lanka and he is going to have to find a way to play with authority on the back foot, for, although the game has become much more front-foot friendly compared to 10 years ago, let alone 20, there will be times he is going to come up against Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Bond and he's not going to want to be a liability to the team. But I back him to succeed. He has always been a fighter.
Mike Selvey, writing in the Guardian, talks of the importance of the Test match at Galle.
The Daily Telegraph's Simon Hughes travels with the England cricketers on their Tsunami trip, talking about how it put cricket in perspective.
December 16, 2007
Posted on 12/16/2007 in Australian cricket
In the Sydney Morning Herald Peter Roebuck assesses the depth in Australia's domestic ranks and decides it is a pleasing situation to be in when a batsman as accomplished as David Hussey can't get a look in. Roebuck suggests that the fast-bowling prospects are especially promising.
Barely a year ago fears were held that the fast-bowling stocks were emptying as fast as the sugar bowl at an Indian tea party. Glenn McGrath had retired, Jason Gillespie had slowed down and the long-serving Queenslanders had lost their edge. Those worries were misplaced. Indeed, the pace stocking is bulging. In some people's opinion, NSW's sixth-best fast bowler, Mark Cameron, could play Test cricket tomorrow without weakening the side.
Only spinners are thin on the ground, Roebuck writes, and in the Advertiser Richard Earle discovers that Cullen Bailey, the legspinner who has a Cricket Australia contract but is struggling to get a game for South Australia this summer, has no plans to pursue his career in another state.
Posted on 12/16/2007 in English cricket
In his Sunday Telegraph column, Mike Atherton believes that Geoff Miller is the ideal candidate to take the new position as England's national selector. He says that Miller strikes the right balance between experience and profile.
Quite who will select those to select the selectors is not clear, but in any case there are three good men to choose from - Graveney, Gooch and, if he decides the moolah on offer can make up for his after-dinner speaking during winter, Geoff Miller, who has been a selector now for half a dozen years or more. I don't see the need to look elsewhere. My own preference, albeit not a particularly strong one, is for Miller. I have been enormously impressed by the way he has conducted himself.
Posted on 12/16/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor weren’t fans of being miked up for the Twenty20 in Perth last Tuesday. Both players were surprised by how much the Nine team called upon them for commentary throughout the game, though the Australians didn’t appear to be bothered. Read the full story in the New Zealand Herald.
Posted on 12/16/2007 in Australian cricket
The vast amounts of money on offer to Australian players who sign with the Indian Premier League are explored in Australia's Sunday newspapers. Will Swanton writes in the Sun-Herald that fringe players might be better off not getting selected by Australia.
Missing out on Australian touring sides is supposed to be soul-destroying for fringe players. Not any more. Australia's selectors will sit down early next year and choose the Test and one-day squads for the tour of Pakistan but, given the trip coincides with the start of the Indian Premier League, those snubbed could be better off than those chosen. If the unwanted sit by the phone for two seconds, a member of the IPL is likely to call with all the promises in the world. We'll make you famous. And stinking rich.
It could be money for nothing, according to Jon Pierik in the Sunday Herald Sun, with players set to retain some of their fee regardless of whether they play.
December 15, 2007
Posted on 12/15/2007 in Twenty20
It grieves me to write that Twenty20 will grow so rapidly over the next couple of decades that it may threaten the very existence of Test cricket, writes Kerry O'Keeffe in a hilarious column in the Sunday Telegaph.
Michael Clarke looked like Captain Grumpy before a ball was bowled - the music was too loud and Gilly was spilling his guts to Slats about the game plan on the two-way. He may have had "Pup'' on his back but he had mongrel on his mind - straight away he hit a pie from Mark Gillespie over long off for a Dorothy Dix.
Also read Chloe Saltau in the Melbourne-based Age, Tim Lane in the same paper, and Mike Coward in the Australian.
Posted on 12/15/2007 in Indian cricket
India Today's Sharda Ugra recounts a meeting with Sourav Ganguly last year, when his sangfroid about what needed to be done seemed misplaced.
Tea was drunk and the usual gee-up things that are said to cricketers in strife were said, including the wish that he go out and score “several” centuries. The word seemed to surprise Ganguly. “Several?” he echoed with an arch smile ...
Posted on 12/15/2007 in English cricket
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Geoff Boycott has called for the inclusion of Graeme Swann
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It won't take much, Derek Pringle tells us in today's Telegraph, for the Galle Test to be washed out as heavy and prolonged rains are forecast.
So it is a huge shame that torrential rain and a squabble over building regulations threaten to ruin the Galle Test, due to start on Tuesday, which many feel could provide symbolic closure for a region so badly afflicted on that fateful Boxing Day three years ago.
Tropical rain tends to be as heavy as the tropical sun is hot, though when one follows the other, a balance is struck. Not so yesterday morning in Galle, where a prolonged downpour, but no sun, left the outer third of the outfield several inches under water. Mobile pumps had reduced this by late afternoon, but with more rain forecast, it would not take much for the opening day to be abandoned, which would be a huge blow to England's chances of levelling the series.
In the same paper Geoff Boycott demands Graeme Swann is given his chance at the expense of Ravi Bopara ("a nice lad").
Meanwhile, Alastair Cook rates his 81 in the first innings at Colombo as one of his "most satisfying".
Posted on 12/15/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
It’s in the eyes. Muttiah Muralitharan may go on to take a thousand Test wickets, but even more special is his gift of turning adversity into generosity of spirit, writes Anand Vasu in the Tehelka Magazine.
Start instead at the village of Kundasale, not far from the hill city of Kandy. It was here that our young Tamil boy went through the formative years that would make him the man he is. The year is 1983 and the civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese is at its height. Murali, only 11, was witness to his father Muttiah’s flourishing biscuit factory being burnt down by Sinhalese mobs. Muttiah was the last man out, and emerging from the flames was attacked by men wielding machetes and badly injured. Murali and his family were herded into the cellar of a Muslim friend’s house, and there they sheltered as the mob waited outside, knowing that Tamils were being protected in the house. But the Muslims refused to yield and eventually the mob grew tired of waiting and moved on to find other victims.
... But Muttiah, when confronted with a life in tatters, seeing all he built laid to waste, did not walk away. Instead, with the help of his brother, Murali’s uncle, the biscuit factory was rebuilt and now employs more than 300 people from all communities.
Posted on 12/15/2007 in Indian cricket
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Anil Kumble says a series win against Pakistan was important ahead of the tour to Australia
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Anil Kumble defends his decision to declare when he did on the final day of the Bangalore Test and says things would have been planned differently if it had been known the weather would get cloudy and prompt a bad-light situation. He writes in the Hindu:
It could have been 2-0 and that would’ve been nicer, but a series win is a series win, especially ahead of an all-important tour like Australia.
He also expresses concern over the increasing amount of international cricket being played today:
See the way international cricket is paced now: There is only three days between games, of which one is spent travelling, one practising and just one resting, you really don’t have enough time to celebrate the moment, nor brood over what you’ve lost.
In the same paper, Peter Roebuck criticises the declaration as "the margin of victory was reduced by timidity." He writes:
Striking the right balance, between attack and defence, counts amongst the hardest tasks facing any new captain. Moreover India was playing a local derby with an occasionally hostile neighbour.
Nevertheless Kumble erred on the side of caution and must change his outlook in Australia. It’s hard enough to get on top Down Under and the opportunity is not to be spurned. Any team that takes a dominant position against the Australians must resist the temptation to consolidate.
Posted on 12/15/2007 in Australian cricket
Mike Coward, writing in the Weekend Australian, expresses his concerns over Cricket Australia's desire to hold day-night Test matches.
Over the past 30 years or so, there has been a widely held view in the cricket community that the condensed forms of the game can be tampered with if need be, but Test match cricket is utterly untouchable. It is an unspoken, unwritten creed. It is particularly unsettling that night Test cricket should occupy the minds of those at CA at the start of a potentially thrilling Border-Gavaskar series and a year after a lucrative Ashes campaign. And, as a consequence of the greatness of recent Australian teams, Test cricket is being played with greater enterprise throughout the world. Test cricket is sacred because it has stood apart from all its mutations and from all other sport for 130 years. This makes it unique. The moment it does not stand apart is the moment it will be despoiled and doomed.
In the Age, Chloe Saltau examines whethere there is a future for one-day internationals in a world that is falling in love with Twenty20, and Tim Lane says in the same paper that cricket is selling its soul.
But the weekend papers are not completely filled with off-field issues and the future of the game - Peter Lalor writes in the Weekend Australian about Shaun Tait's history of intimidating batsmen with his speed and bounce.
December 14, 2007
Posted on 12/14/2007 in
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James Sutherland: is he as out of touch as is claimed?
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| Josh Massoud in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph launches a stinging attack of Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland who he says is out of touch with the man in the stands. For one day, Massoud, writes, leave the comfort zone of the corporate box and see how the other half lives.
The first thing you'll come across is the security checkpoint. No, no, don't worry James. You won't be cavity searched. I don't think they've introduced that yet. No, the "customer service personnel" just want to probe your bag and inspect all your belongings.
And it gets worse once punters are inside the ground.
The sun is out, and play is meandering. Damn it's hot. Back in the good old days, you'd just reach into that grand old icebox and crack open a cold one about now. But Eskys are now on CA's "restricted items" list, which is longer than Brett Lee's run-up.
And while you can buy beer once inside, Massoud says the security ruins what little fun there is still to be had.
Attention spans simply don't extend for eight hours, particularly in an age defined by distraction and background noise. But you've taken away their distractions. Frivolous as they might seem, beach balls, Mexican waves and heavy beer were an essential part of the greatest summer pastime this country knows. In their place you've put overzealous security, high-priced food and odious restrictions as part of a "crowd management strategy".
It's the saddest thing in Australian sport. The death of a day at the cricket. You might think I'm wrong, James. But you'll never know unless you get out there and see for it yourself.
Posted on 12/14/2007 in Indian cricket
The [Indian] selectors had one opener and had to conjure three and whichever way you look at it, Sehwag’s selection is about desperation, not inspiration, writes Harsha Bhogle in the Indian Express.
If you are 18 and you are reading this, strap those pads on, walk out behind the fielders and take guard against the new ball. And if you are 18, tall and strong, back yourself and bowl quick. And once you realize you can force people onto the back foot and have them hopping and fending, don’t cut your pace and stroll in.
Ian Chappell provides a few thoughts in Mid-Day, saying defensive batting by a richly talented line-up could be India’s biggest threat to their ambition this summer.
Meanwhile Pradeep Magazine writes in the Hindustan Times. "These are reasons enough to rejoice and to look forward to the tour of Australia with hope and expectation. But somehow the last day of the Bangalore Test rankles."
S Dinakar, writing in the Hindu, doffs his hat to Sourav Ganguly.
Ganguly’s commitment shone through in his bowling. Despite the tour of Australia looming, he ran in hard and stretched every sinew. Not for a moment was he concerned about picking up an injury while performing what was only an occasional job.
Also check out G Unnikrishnan's interview with Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan's new crisis man, in Deccan Herald.
Posted on 12/14/2007 in Indian Cricket League
In the Hindu Vijay Lokapally writes on a promising seamer from Bijni, a sleepy village in Bongaigaon in Assam.
Youngest among three children, having lost his father at three, [Sujay] Tarafdar symbolises the story of a young sportsman from remote corners, striving for recognition and opportunity despite possessing talent. His love for cricket grew from reading exploits of his heroes in newspapers and sometimes watching them on television.
Posted on 12/14/2007 in Australian cricket
Malcolm Conn writes in the Australian that Shane Warne’s call to promote Michael Clarke to vice-captain was really an attack on Adam Gilchrist.
In an increasingly childish and petulant display typical of some of his antics on and off the field, Warne's claim was a continuation of his antipathy towards the West Australian wicketkeeper.
In the Sydney Morning Herald Peter Roebuck supports the push for day-night Tests.
Movies, plays and concerts all take place long after the sun has set, and, inevitably, the same applies to most sporting events, including cricket. And the reason is simple: after a day at work or school, people transport themselves into whichever world they choose in the evening. And the customer is always right.
December 13, 2007
Posted on 12/13/2007 in Indian cricket
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"On current form, Parthiv deserved a spot," says former national coach Anshuman Gaekwad. "Besides, he has done well in Australia in the past."
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Gujarat is in the middle of state elections where controversial chief minister Narendra Modi's party is contesting the Congress party, but today there was an uproar of a different kind. India's squad for the tour of Australia doesn't have the name of Parthiv Patel in it, and fans of the in-form wicketkeeper-batsman don't like it one bit.
"Gujarat's cricketers are being treated like untouchables. He is in great form and performing so well in domestic cricket. But, no matter what he does, nationally he's ignored," says a fuming convenor of Parthiv Fan Club, Devang Bhatt.
"Selections are a sham. If performance in domestic cricket is a criterion, Virender Sehwag wouldn't have made the mark. He has nothing to show even in Ranji this year. Parthiv, by that standard would have been easily in," says a dejected Vijay Patel, Parthiv's Ranji Trophy coach.
Read the full article in the Times of India here.
In the Hindustan Times, Rajasthan fast bowler Pankaj Singh, rewarded for some impressive domestic and India A performances with a ticket to Australia, says he almost gave up cricket when he was not selected for Oudh University after good performances for his college.
Young Pankaj, who called his first national call-up "a blessing from God and from my mamma," told the Indian Express that advice from Javagal Srinath during his stint at the MRF Pace Academy in 2002-03 helped him on his cricketing journey.
Over in Mid-Day, Sanjjeev Samyal caught up with Yousuf Sale Mohammad Motorwala, the man who convinced Anil Kumble, all those years ago, to give up medium-pace for legspin.
Posted on 12/13/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
Stephen Brenkley, in his and Angus Fraser's enjoyable tour diary blog at The Independent, tells us of the nicknames the photographers have given to some of the Sri Lanka players.
To while away their time between balls and overs a couple of them have dreamt up a new game: casting the Sri Lankan team as Star Wars figures.
Bizarre certainly, but astonishingly gripping. Since Sri Lanka are a team of good guys any and all comparisons to Darth Vadar have been unnecessary as well as prohibited. Princess Leia is sadly but obviously not represented either.
But here is the rest of the cast list: Luke Skywalker - Mahela Jayawardene; Han Solo - Kumar Sangakkara; Yoda - Muttiah Muralitharan; Obi-Wan Kenobi - Sanath Jayasuriya; Chewbacce - Dilhara Fernando; C-3PO - Michael Vandort; R2-D2 - Chamira Silva. The snappers would welcome other suggestions and are now working on an appropriate movie vehicle for the England team.
December 12, 2007
Posted on 12/12/2007 in Australian cricket
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Lighting the way to the future?
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Cricket Australia is looking at trialling day-night Tests within the next three years so more people can watch on television, the Australian reports.
Officials are examining the possibility of scheduling games from 2pm-9pm or 3pm-10pm. Tests, which traditionally begin at 11am and finish at 6pm, always span weekends, but suffer from smaller audiences on weekdays when people work. The day games also miss TV's prime ratings periods.
"We are tossing it around and working out the fundamentals," Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said. “In a realistic sense, we don't see any reason why we can't be at least trialling some day-night Test cricket matches - not necessarily all of them - before the end of the decade.”
In the Sydney Morning Herald Jessica Halloran reports Stephanie Brantz has been cut from Nine’s commentary team. Brantz claimed she was told by Nine sports bosses that no one on the Australian cricket team wanted to talk to her.
Posted on 12/12/2007 in Australian cricket
Luke Pomersbach’s international debut was almost as unlikely as it gets. Still on suspension by his state for breaking a curfew, he found himself playing in the second team one minute and then in Australia’s side for the Twenty20 in Perth. It doesn’t stop there: he only received his call-up from the car park of the WACA, having gone there with his girlfriend as a spectator.
Now, he tells The Australian, having been given such an opportunity, he has learned his lesson about discipline and is ready for whenever the international selectors should come calling again.
I've just learnt that to be a professional cricketer you've got to make the right decisions. If you make the wrong decisions you could end up back in the trade industry or whatever you do. Now I'm going to take it a lot more professionally the way I prepare for games."
Also making the most of an opportunity is Ricky Ponting, who took his chance to relax after being rested from the Twenty20. The same paper reports that he headed to the golf course to watch one of his friends show him how it's done.
December 11, 2007
Posted on 12/11/2007 in Australian cricket
Sharda Ugra takes a hilarious potshot at a section of the Australian media. Read the piece in the India Today.
... Australia, rather parts of its press-pack, have, in a stirring show of loyalty, already opened the bowling. It's just that this--the weeks before a tour of Australia--is such a nostalgic time, it can make you all dewy-eyed. It has become such a part of the Australian touring experience, it's a mystery that Channel9 has no memorabilia around it. It is almost like the first stirrings of spring. When the first waves of hot air and echoes of ritual chest-thumping reach distant shores. When the designated trumpet-masters for the Australian team observe a time-honoured tradition. To present all visiting cricketers as worthless, gutless, talentless and technically and mentally inadequate.
It's a wonder that when touring teams first land in Australia, they are not met by large crowds at Sydney's Kingsford Smith International demanding they go home.
Posted on 12/11/2007 in Miscellaneous
Cricket took a step forward to being included in the Olympics yesterday when it was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee, Adelaide Now reports.
The earliest cricket could be seen at the Games is 2020.
As it will not have spent the mandatory two-year provisional status by the time the 2008 Beijing Olympics are over, its case will be reviewed following the 2012 London Games.
The Olympic program is determined seven years ahead of every Games.
"Both (sports) showed a lot of activity and work with youth," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies told reporters after the first day of an executive board meeting.
Other fully recognised sports include rugby, golf, squash, bridge and tug-of-war. Provisionally recognised sports include sumo wrestling.
Posted on 12/11/2007 in Australian cricket
The future of Australia's captaincy has generated plenty of newspaper copy in an otherwise quiet December, despite the fact Ricky Ponting is nowhere near retirement. In the Courier-Mail Ben Dorries explains how after Michael Clarke was dropped from the Australia team a pig-hunting trip with Andrew Symonds helped him to regain his focus.
"We were chasing a pig through cane and Symo had his footy shorts on, a singlet, a pair of joggers and a knife. I had a $400 pair of jeans and brand new shoes. It was pouring down with rain one of those nights and I had mud up to my knees and I'm trying to chase the pig." The getaway refreshed Clarke's mind and he won back his baggy green cap and showed he was ready for extra responsibility during the Ashes last summer.
In the same paper Jon Pierik compares Clarke's promotion to previous Australian captaincy succession plans. Peter Lalor, writing in the Australian, wonders if in the future Ponting might give away Twenty20 cricket and leave Clarke permanently in charge.
Australia's future leadership might appear sound but their spin prospects remain an issue. On the radio station 2KY Kerry O'Keeffe ranked the top five spinners in Australia and the Cricket Australia-contracted Cullen Bailey did not make his list.
The fast-bowling stocks are more promising, however, and in the Age Lyall Johnson profiles the Australian Cricketers Association's latest Player of the Month, Doug Bollinger.
Posted on 12/11/2007 in ICC
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that while on-field progress is being made by black players in South Africa and Zimbabwe, it is in spite of the game's administrators and not because of them.
Zimbabwe has given Mali an opportunity to redeem himself and he has flunked it. Far from confronting those responsible for the debacle, he has become an apologist. And so again, he tries to sweeten tyranny, not end it. Not that Sonn was any better. Indeed, he was a grievous disappointment. A much more capable man with an honourable past, he too turned a blind eye to the rats in his own ranks. It was painful to hear a man of his calibre defending the indefensible merely on grounds of colour. By turning his back on election rigging, torture, rampant misuse of funds, intimidation and the other ghastly practices of tyranny, he betrayed the causes and people he was supposed to protect. He preferred to be part of the notorious Black Label Brotherhood than to advance the lot of the common man. Settling scores is a denial of greatness, not an expression of it.
December 10, 2007
Posted on 12/10/2007 in Indian cricket
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Sourav Ganguly: "I think I’ve delivered whenever the team needed a contribution."
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R Kaushik, while hailing Ganguly's innings, remembers the contribution of Greg Chappell. Read his piece in the Deccan Herald.
In some distant corner, one man will feel truly vindicated. The much-maligned Greg Chappell can allow himself a quiet chuckle or three, because every international run flowing off Gangulys willow is a victory of sorts for the former Indian coach.
Sandeep Dwivedi, of the Indian Express, spoke to Bengal’s Ranji Trophy trainer Chinmoy Roy who worked with Sourav Ganguly before the Pakistan series.
“He came to me a week before the Pakistan series and told me to restart the same regime that we did when he was out of the team. He said that he had a point to prove. I could see the same intensity in his eyes that he showed when he wanted to make a comeback. He didn’t want people questioning his fitness or fielding,” recalls Roy.
With the Bengal Ranji team too training at the Eden, Ganguly became Roy’s star pupil once again. “Half-an-hour of running around the field, ten sprints of 100 m, running through the ladder and several other drills on field were part of daily routine. This was followed by gym work, where the focus was on the abdomen and back,” he says.
Lokendra Pratap Sahi, of the Telegraph, spoke to Ganguly at the end of the first day.
On his unbeaten 125
Because of the conditions, it’s one of the better ones... As the wicket here is different from the Eden, I suppose this hundred has been technically better... The Eden one will, of course, be very special — but for different reasons (first in his hometown)... This is going to be special as, at one stage, we were four down for next to nothing. That too in a Test with the series still undecided.
On Yuvraj Singh’s hundred
Fantastic... He wasn’t getting opportunities and, when he did, made the most... It’s not for me to comment on matters of selection, but I do feel Yuvraj should be a regular in the Test XI.
Posted on 12/10/2007 in English cricket
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Kevin Pietersen stands his ground...before he is given his marching orders for a second time
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Inevitably, Kevin Pietersen’s contentious dismissal yesterday dominates the newspapers this morning.
Derek Pringle, in The Telegraph, spoke to Jeff Crowe, the match referee, who sided with Michael Vaughan and his comments yesterday that TV replays should be used more often.
"I think Kevin was a little confused at what went on there when the umpires conversed on whether they saw it as a fair catch," Crowe said. "They made their decision, there was probably a reaction from the crowd because of the television monitors around the ground and that might have caused Kevin to stop.
"I don't think it's a code violation unless there's a real gesture and an anger that is displayed - that's what we look at. Images are important more than anything.
"Obviously common sense is an important issue in these matters, but sticking to what's written is what the umpires look at first and foremost. Maybe we have to look at how it's written, that's pretty much what I'd be saying to the ICC. When there is this example we might need to look at it closely and see if we write it in a different way."
Over at The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins makes the point that TV evidence is not always so conclusive.
That this was deft teamwork is not in doubt. Whether the two umpires, conferring, should have given Pietersen out without consulting the television umpire is. ICC guidelines encourage the men in the middle to make their own minds up. The replay from the vantage point of Daryl Harper, the umpire, suggested that Silva had grounded the ball in his first attempt to catch it, but history proves that replays can fib. The reverse angle suggested the initial catch was a close thing, but legitimate.
December 9, 2007
Posted on 12/09/2007 in Australian cricket
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Jason Gillespie now wants to become a coach
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The former Australia coach Bob Simpson, writing in Sportstar, believes the standard of world cricket is the worst it’s been for 50 years. Jon Pierik looks at Simpson’s comments in the Courier-Mail.
With all-time greats such as Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar among the current generation, this is a debatable call by Simpson, 71, who began his first-class career for New South Wales in 1952-53. But his argument does have merit, given that Test nations Bangladesh, West Indies and New Zealand are among the weakest ever seen.
In the Australian Malcolm Conn speaks to Tim Nielsen about Australia’s long break, which ends this week with limited-overs matches against New Zealand.
Andrew Stevenson talks to Jason Gillespie for the Sydney Morning Herald and finds the bowler is going to study for his level three coaching certificate. The quick fall of Ben Hilfenhaus is tracked in the Age.
Posted on 12/09/2007 in English cricket
Mike Atherton meets Mike Brearley, the former England captain who was named as MCC's new president in May. In a wide-ranging piece, Brearley looks ahead to the future - and Atherton is convinced the MCC could not be in safer hands:
"The appointment of Keith Bradshaw [the Tasmanian chief executive of the MCC] could not have happened 20 years ago. He's very forward-thinking and keen to keep Lord's and the MCC relevant. In short, the MCC has become, I think, more obviously human, not so aloof and distant."
Read the full piece at the Sunday Telegraph.
Posted on 12/09/2007 in Indian cricket
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Anil Kumble became Test captain less than a month after his 37th birthday
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Ramachandra Guha, writing in the Hindu, is relieved that Anil Kumble has been given an opportunity to captain India in Tests and also discusses how Kumble has managed what even fellow legspinner Shane Warne had failed to do: score a Test century and captain his country.
When Anil Kumble scored that unlikely hundred at Lord’s, even he did not entertain thoughts of Test captaincy. His fellow townsman Rahul Dravid was firmly in command. However, at the end of the English summer, Dravid unexpectedly resigned. The selectors then approached Sachin Tendulkar and apparently got his consent to step in as leader. On second thoughts, Sachin turned down the job, and — after thinking long and hard — the post was offered by the selectors to Kumble instead ...
... The case of Anil Kumble and the Indian captaincy is one of justice delayed but not, in the end, denied. Since India entered Test cricket in 1932, no man has worn the India cap with more pride than Kumble. No man has won more Test matches for his country. As cricketer and human being this leg-spinner from Bangalore is right out of the top drawer. His reward has come six or eight years too late — but perhaps we should be thankful that it has come at all
Posted on 12/09/2007 in Indian cricket
In the Sunday Age, Chloe Saltau pays tribute to Sachin Tendulkar ahead of what will almost certainly be his last tour of Australia.
For almost four hours this teenager with the serene face, brought up on low, slow Indian wickets, had defied four bristling Australian pacemen on the fastest, bounciest pitch in the world with a mixture of grace and power his opponents found hard to fathom in one so young. Merv Hughes cracked open a beer and turned to his captain, Allan Border: "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB." Almost 16 years later, Sachin Tendulkar not only has more runs than the prolific Border, and fewer only than West Indian Brian Lara, but is about to come full circle by touring Australia for the last time. At 34, he is perhaps the summer's greatest drawcard.
Will Swanton, writing in the Sun-Herald, looks at India's fitness concerns and wonders whether they will be able to handle the rigours of a four-Test tour of Australia.
Posted on 12/09/2007 in Australian cricket
Nathan Bracken is not viewed as one of the hard men of cricket but as Will Swanton writes in the Sun-Herald, Bracken's punishing workouts with Troy Waters, the boxing champion, tell a different story.
Bracken leaves home at 4.30am to be at Waters's place by five. By 6.30, he can barely walk. He'll invariably have a NSW training session later in the day in Sydney. He was unsure about the merits of working with Waters until he jumped on YouTube and watched the second round of Waters's epic WBC super-welterweight championship fight against Terry Norris: three minutes of pure courage. Bracken now hangs on Waters's every word.
While Bracken is hardly mentioned as a Test candidate these days, his one-day team-mate Brad Hogg is preparing for a possible Boxing Day call-up. But in the Sunday Telegraph Bruce Reid and Len Pascoe, the former fast bowlers, explain why they think Australia should ignore Hogg and use a four-man pace attack.
In the Sunday Herald Sun, Keith Stackpole says Victoria's legspinner Bryce McGain would be a better spin option than Hogg, and Terry Jenner also sings McGain's praises in the Sunday Mail.
December 8, 2007
Posted on 12/08/2007 in English cricket
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The Man from the Mail on Sunday sizes up a reverse-sweep
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Peter Hayter, The Mail On Sunday's cricket correspondent, has done what some top-order batsman can only dream of: cutting Muttiah Muralitharan for four. Better still, he mastered (for want of a better word) the reverse sweep...
As I prepared to face the first ball of the two-over spell Murali's had agreed to bowl to me, the words of Ranjitsinjhi kept ringing around my brain: 'See the ball, go there, hit it.' I thought of Boycott's concentration, of Gooch footwork, of Botham's brawn, Flintoff's power, Lara's high backlift and Tendulkar's mile-wide bat.
And my final thoughts were of the sage words offered by Steve Harmison: 'Strap a pad on each leg and one on your head.'
But suddenly there it was and... Oh My God, I forgot to look at his hand... which way.... which way ? No idea. Get to the pitch - GET TO THE BLOODY PITCH - oh hell ... no option.... lunge and, somehow, to the utter shock of all involved, the ball made its way to the middle of the bat.
Had I had peaked too soon?
December 7, 2007
Posted on 12/07/2007 in Australian cricket
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about Australia's search for a slow bowler to match the impressive stocks in other countries, after spin was not so long ago "supposed to be as relevant as letter writing".
Debate is raging about playing four fast bowlers and forgetting about the slow stuff altogether. After all, the West Indies followed this practice in its dominant years. But captaincy suffered, and once the supply of great pace bowlers ran out, the game was up. The idea also ignores the current emphasis on spin and the empty stands.
In the Herald Sun, Michael Horan looks at one possible candidate for the vacant spin position, Bryce McGain, who at 35 and with only ten first-class matches to his name would be a left-field choice.
And back in the Sydney Morning Herald, Justin Langer explains how he is fascinated by his Test replacement Phil Jaques.
During his twin centuries against Sri Lanka it became apparent that while his stance isn't classical, the position he gets into to strike the ball is very sound. As interesting is the way he watches the ball. One of my favourite sporting images is of Roger Federer hitting a tennis ball. In that shot, it is amazing how closely he watches it - right onto the strings of his racquet. Likewise, I was struck by how Jaques watched the cricket ball right onto his bat during the first two Tests.
Posted on 12/07/2007 in West Indies cricket
In the Sydney Morning Herald Alex Brown speaks to the man he believes is taking on the toughest job in world cricket, John Dyson. Brown describes Dyson as "gruff as a nightclub doorman and every but as uncompromising".
He doesn't expect a return to the glory days of the 1970s and '80s. Consistency will suffice for now. But what Dyson will insist upon is personal accountability among the players, many of whom have established reputations for nocturnal profligacy that far outweighs anything they have achieved on the field.
"I'm not a big believer in putting the broom through a place upon arrival," he said. "And I don't expect people to compare this West Indies squad with those of the '70s and '80s. "What they did for international cricket was to introduce a form of professionalism and dedication never seen before. "These guys have to develop their own personality and see what brand of cricket they can play.
Posted on 12/07/2007 in Australian cricket
It's 75 years since the Bodyline series and the Weekend Australian has reprinted some pieces from the Times looking back on the infamous tour. Murray Hedgcock writes that Bodyline remains a scar on the body of Australia, though one which has long since healed.
It is ridiculous to argue, as some fanciful commentators have done, that Bodyline threatened the Empire and that Australia might even have seceded to become an independent state. E. Rockley Wilson, the former England bowler who had taught Douglas Jardine at Winchester, forecast bleakly when his former pupil was made captain of the touring party: "We shall win the Ashes - but we may very well lose a dominion." But it was a philosophical rather than a political assessment.
However, those few weeks of increasingly unhappy cricket certainly strained relations between dominion and Mother Country in an age when Australians, almost exclusively British by background, looked on Britain as home. There were no spin doctors to massage the facts: cricket administrators debated with political leaders, diplomats and newspaper executives, hoping that the heat of the argument could be cooled by media restraint.
David Frith explains that Don Bradman made peace with Harold Larwood but never with Douglas Jardine.
Patrick Kidd looks at how Bill Woodfull handled the situation as Australia's captain.
Posted on 12/07/2007 in Australian cricket
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Michael Clarke is Australia's Twenty20 leader
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Peter Roebuck, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, takes a look at Michael Clarke after his elevation to the Twenty20 captaincy.
As pale as a ghost, as fleet-footed as a dancer, as shy as a badger, as well-humoured as a skylark and blessed with a bulging heart, Michael Clarke has entered the most significant part of his cricket career. His rise was celebrated, his fall was regretted, and now comes a second, more sustained, surge - one that has brought a sense of stability and, with it, the responsibility of captaining the national team.
Shane Watson has been a bit quiet lately, but he tells the Courier-Mail he’s hitting the ball as well as he ever has. His last four Pura Cup scores are 15, 0, 0 and 0, but he got 70 for Queensland on Wednesday.
AAP reports that Brad Haddin and Adam Gilchrist can fit into the same one-day team after both were picked in the Chappell-Hadlee squad.
Posted on 12/07/2007 in English cricket
Angus Fraser, the former Test player who is now at The Independent, says that more English players should follow the example of Surrey's James Benning and Stewart Walters in heading abroad during the winter in a bid to increase their cricket.
But, he warns, they should prepare themselves for some inevitable stick – particularly from their own new club... at least to begin with
December 6, 2007
Posted on 12/06/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
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Muttiah Muralitharan may have put many batsmen in a spin en route to his world record wickets tally, but in the late 80s it was the spelling of his name that caused confusion
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| Dinesh Weerawansa of the Daily News, the Colombo-based daily, writes about how he cycled all the way to a school ground meet a young Muttiah Muralitharan, to get a clarification on how his name was spelt.
It was a less important inter-school game between Maris Stella College, Negombo and St.Anthony’s College, Katugastota. But I had a person to meet, of course without an appointment. He was a young cricketer who was a member of that St. Anthony’s side.
Having joined the ‘Daily News’ as a cub reporter, I was in-charge of school cricket since 1987.
I occupied the entire inner back page of Tuesday’s paper with my school cricket review, which was sub editored by my dear friend, the late Marianne Decker.
There was an Antonian cricketer who had been going great guns but even the sports reporters did not know the exact way he spells his name. The intention of my ride to Katunayake was to meet the emerging schoolboy cricketer and find how he spells his name and pronounces it.
His first name was spelt it different ways in different newspapers - Some called him Muttiya, Muttiyah, Muttiah, Muttiyaa or Mutiaya. When it came to his surname, it was still worse - Muralidharan, Muralidharam, Murralitharan, Muralitharan or even Muralitharam. On that particular evening after the match, I met this young schoolboy to find out the correct spelling.
Ever since, I used that correct spelling in all my school cricket write-ups. It was this young schoolboy who has now become a household name in Test cricket.
Posted on 12/06/2007 in English cricket
Jonathan Agnew, writing in the Test Match Special blog, thinks umpire Asad Rauf should be more patient while handing out verdicts, after his decision to rule Ryan Sidebottom lbw, when replays showed that he had inside-edged the ball, put Sri Lanka on the brink of their 88-run win in the first Test in Kandy.
It was a great shame that umpire Asad Rauf’s poor decision to see off Ryan Sidebottom with about half an hour of light left should add a touch of controversy to the climax...
All umpires make mistakes, but Mr Rauf made more than he should in this game, and he needs to take more time in reaching his decisions. His finger is up in a flash, and a little more consideration might have prevented him from dismissing Sidebottom lbw when the ball deflected off his bat into his pad.
But that was not why England lost the test: for that they need to look closely at their attack – as we discussed yesterday – and get more runs on the board.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph's Simon Hughes thinks third umpires should have more say in on-field decisions.
The first Test was even more frustrating for Matthew Hoggard, who sustained a back injury while bowling. He chronicles his journey back to Colombo and his efforts to get in shape in his article in the Times
December 5, 2007
Posted on 12/05/2007 in Australian cricket
While the world – ok, ok, the public relations department of Cricket Australia – was begging for the ball Adam Gilchrist hit for his 100th Test six to be handed back, it was actually buried in a backyard in Melbourne. According to the Herald Sun it was underground for a week - check out the picture of the burial scene - after flying back from Bellerive Oval.
Cricket fanatic John put the ball in a box of socks, then dug a hole and buried it inside an ice-cream container. "I thought it would be a bit rough - more than rough, a tragedy - for the ball to be on someone's mantelpiece," he said.
Posted on 12/05/2007 in Australian cricket
The Australians will wear vests with global positioning systems during the Twenty20 match against New Zealand and the data collected will be shown by Nine, Alex Brown reports in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The players are unlikely to be significantly inconvenienced by the computerised vest, given that several of them have been wearing similar technology during games for the past few months. Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Bracken wore GPS equipment as part of an Australian Institute of Sport trial to monitor players' workloads, and vests were worn during Australia's recent one-day tour of India and the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Jon Pierik and Ben Dorries question the commitment of Australia towards Twenty20 after Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden were not part of the squad for Perth. AAP reports about the fall of Ben Hilfenhaus, who missed a place in the team.
Posted on 12/05/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
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Muttiah Muralitharan celebrates his 709th Test wicket to become the world-record holder
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| Harbhajan Singh, the India offspinner, thinks Muttiah Muralitharan should be appreciated for his genius instead of being questioned over his action, a situation he himself is familiar with. His article in the Guardian has more.
Murali has had to fight allegations about his action more than a few times and each time he has come out clean and come out on top on the field again. I've also had to go through the tunnel of suspicion and have come out unscathed, and even if the sceptics persist, the cameras are not lying. It takes a lot to come out and resume the fight and Murali, ever a fighter, came out on top whenever he was sent to the labs.
One important thing in his favour was the Sri Lankan cricket board's policy of backing him and believing he was right. Murali repaid that faith by winning his country so many matches and you've got to give credit to a guy who's taken so many wickets. Let him play, let us enjoy watching this legend rather than constantly carping about nothing. Just salute him.
Posted on 12/05/2007 in Indian cricket
"It doesn’t matter whether or not the chairman of selectors writes a column. It does matter if we play boring Test matches. So where then do the priorities lie? I have been asked to be on a radio programme and a television show about the [Dilip] Vengsarkar issue but nobody has asked why we are playing cricket on slow, low, pedestrian pitches," says Harsha Bhogle in the Indian Express.
We don’t have to worry about a coach, about a permanent manager, about a cricket calendar, about unhappy captains, about systems for selectors to work within. Or about pitches and bright cricket. In three weeks we play a Test in Melbourne on what is bound to be a fresh, bouncy pitch. India will need three seamers in the playing eleven. Today, we cannot find two to pick in the first fifteen. But the most important thing about the selection committee meeting is not that. It is about whether or not the chairman of selectors will attend. Really!
Posted on 12/05/2007 in Indian cricket
Dilip Vengsarkar, India's chairman of selectors, seems right now to be the Abhimanyu of Indian cricket, finding himself in the chakravyuha with no way to leave unscathed, writes Makarand Waingankar in the Mumbai Mirror.
The open letter that Vengsarkar mailed to Sharad Pawar will not help sort out problems if that was his intention. The letter shows the working style of the BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah in poor light, though he is not inefficient as he is made out to be. Convening the meeting of the selection committee is not the only function the BCCI Secretary has. He is virtually running the BCCI show and he is an honorary worker. That is never taken into consideration.
Posted on 12/05/2007 in Australian cricket
Chloe Saltau, writing in the Age, weighs up the risks of Stuart MacGill’s decision to have an operation on his injured hand.
MacGill will know better than anyone that consenting to surgery is a gamble that could cost him his career, but in doing so he has still given himself the best possible chance to guide Australia through the tricky early stages of the post-Warne era.
Jon Pierik says in the Herald Sun Australia is suddenly in crisis.
Where once the world champion had Shane Warne, with Stuart MacGill menacingly hovering in the background, there now is neither. Warne is gone forever, MacGill may now be following, and the dearth of young spinners at first-class level is a bigger worry than WorkChoices was for John Howard.
December 4, 2007
Posted on 12/04/2007 in Australian cricket
Adam Gilchrist, speaking in the Sydney Morning Herald, responds to claims the Australians are hypocrites for complaining about too much cricket and then signing up for Twenty20 competitions. Gilchrist and a group of other players intend to appear in the Indian Premier League despite regular fears of burnout from their official commitments.
“Players have been going to England in off-seasons and taking opportunities to play and learn the game and earn some good money over in England, so it's not new,” Gilchrist said. “But I do understand critics might say that we are trying to get less [cricket], but when something else comes up we want more."
It looks like the ball Gilchrist hit for his 100th Test six will be returned. It is likely to be on public display by the end of the Australian summer.
December 3, 2007
Posted on 12/03/2007 in Sri Lankan cricket
Michael Marqusee, writing in the Guardian, feels that anyone who cares for cricket should celebrate Murali's record-breaking achievement, which is the result of his own skill, accuracy, stamina, variety and ingenuity. Despite the euphoria, one will have to put with the negative calls, particularly from Australia, that the record will be remembered for the wrong reasons.
The definition of a throw appears less clear-cut than was supposed. The authorities responded by revising the laws to allow a degree of flex. This has nothing to do with Murali's feats: the law was changed to reflect new research, not to protect Murali. In retrospect it's clear that, far from enjoying preferential treatment, Murali has been singled out unfairly.
Simon Barnes, writing for the Times, too feels that the Australians will never throw in the towel over Shane Warne’s status as second best.
The argument that Murali is less good because he is compromised (mainly by Australian insularity) is simply not admissible.
The Age’s Greg Baum salutes Murali from Australia.
He has climbed the mountain, and as he plants his flag at the peak, it would be churlish to do other than to congratulate him. Warne - give him his due - already has.
December 2, 2007
Posted on 12/02/2007 in Australian cricket
Malcolm Conn writes in the Australian about the Indian Premier League and says Australia’s players are in a dash for cash that has left them in danger of compromising their obligations. Tim May, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association chief executive, says there are concerns over the contracts.
"There is ambiguity,” he said. “We have been surprised by the level acceptance of the contracts by player managers. As a professional representative association, we're surprised that player managers would accept contracts that are probably not as professional as they should be.”
In the Sydney Morning Herald Lalit Modi says there will be no conflict between players and their countries. "The national teams come first," Modi said. "We will only choose players if they are free from international commitments. There is no conflict.”
Jon Pierik reports in the Courier-Mail that Australia’s players have no interest in splitting the sport and Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, tells AAP the stars realise they won’t be able to take part in the IPL for two years.
Posted on 12/02/2007 in Australian cricket
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sun-Herald that Australia's top cricketers have forgotten their manners in agreeing to play in the Indian Premier League.
In the past, the appropriate response to any dispute between sportsmen and officials was to support the blokes wearing the sandshoes. But times have changed. Players no longer catch a tram to the MCG or cadge a lift to the SCG. They do not play for a few years and then go off to work for a brewery. Nowadays they have share portfolios, tables at sumptuous restaurants, books on the shelves, shows about wine, chart-topping releases, computer games on sale and dress not in blue singlets but in designer suits. They are advised by managers, promoted by agents, enticed by vast corporations and protected by unions cunningly disguised as associations to placate the right-wingers running amok off the field.
In the same paper Will Swanton looks at what Damien Martyn has been up to in the year since his surprise retirement.
One of the gripes about Martyn during his career was that he was insular and didn't make the effort to spread the wisdom gained from nearly 20 years of first-class experience. He was Australian under-19 captain but never displayed the leadership qualities that could easily have led him to the Test captaincy if his career had taken a smoother course after his debut at 21 in place of Dean Jones. One of the first things Martyn did this year was to sign up for a leadership course. Go figure.
December 1, 2007
Posted on 12/01/2007 in Australian cricket
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Cheers: Stuart MacGill has launched a new lifestyle TV show
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It’s been a busy week for Stuart MacGill, who launched a new lifestyle TV show as a sideline to his fight for his Test future. The Weekend Australian columnist Mike Coward sees MacGill talk about his love of wine and writes about the changing culture of the Australian dressing room.
He admits he is no sommelier and is a trifle sheepish chatting with those with a much greater wine knowledge, but he knows what he likes and is keen to spread the gospel. And he has the capacity, enthusiasm and infectious personality to do so.
If his body doesn't fail him, MacGill has the chance of playing Test cricket regularly at the very time the drinking culture within the Australian team is changing. Much to the bemusement - or is that horror? - of Rod Marsh and David Boon and other beer-drinking stalwarts of Australian cricket, Ricky Ponting's men generally celebrate their successes with fine dining and fine wines.
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about George Gilbert, New South Wales’ first captain.
In the Age Tim Lane marks the upcoming anniversary of World Series Cricket.
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