The Aussie Challenge
The Australians are back in the Caribbean where a year ago, on the beautiful island of Barbados, they won their third consecutive World Cup championship. The Aussies have been the most successful team in world cricket for the past 10 years in both forms of the game. So dominant has been their game that the few loses they suffered seemed an aberration. Victory, though, has at times come with the tag of angels with dirty faces.
An unfair tag for sure, for the Aussies are exciting, fun loving, sorts. Still, it is a criticism that they should be conscious of, and will, most likely, want to disprove. The Aussies love a challenge and this could well be their biggest challenge of all - to dispel the lingering perception that their winning formula relies heavily on a style of play that places a high premium on intimidation and unsportsmanlike conduct. It is a challenge that the talented Aussies are fully capable of surmounting. Skipper Ricky Ponting, too, delights in a challenge and would need to summon the same determination that helped him to become the leader of the most successful team today.
In the past it might have been easy for the Aussies to ignore the criticism as the lament of the vanquished - sore losers, so to speak. But following one of, if not, the most acrimonious series in the modern era against India recently, supporters at home were equally appalled by the unseemly excesses they witnessed in Sydney, and called for Ponting to be sacked. The match involved problems over sportsmanship - catching and walking - umpiring, sledging, the veracity of players, and allegations of racism - problems that prompted contrasting responses from both captains. Anil Kumble questioned Australia's commitment to the spirit of the game. Such a comment would be troubling to any sport loving public, but more so to the sporting and fair-minded Aussies. It also would have reawakened deep and painful memories for Australian fans for it was the very same charge that the Australians leveled against England following Bodyline - a series that to this day, some 75 years later, epitomizes everything that is ugly and dishonourable in the game.
Ricky Ponting, however, saw nothing wrong with his team's on field conduct during the match. "I have absolutely no doubt about this match being played in the right spirit," he said. "There's been one little issue that's come out of the game; otherwise the spirit between both teams in both Tests has been excellent." The Australian public begged to disagree with Governor-general, Michael Jeffery, lamenting the loss of civility and grace from the game - sentiments also echoed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Neil Harvey, a member of Bradman's Invincibles, thought the players behaved "like a pack of morons".
It is a measure of Ponting's indifference to his countrymen's disapproval of his leadership style when he shot back: "I think one thing that a lot of people overlook is that we are not playing cricket in the 1950s and a lot of people, I think, are still living in the 1950s," Ponting said. "Neil Harvey seems to be the hardest man in the world to please where modern cricket is concerned. And to tell the truth there is no one in our current team, and I don't think there's too many around Australia that actually sit back and listen to what Neil Harvey has got to say."
Wisden, for one, disagrees with Ponting, writing that Neil Harvey is "one of Australia's all-time favourite cricketing sons" with a "superbly steadfast temperament" that the opposition "rarely found a way of disrupting" and "which ultimately netted him in excess of 20,000 first-class runs". In 79 tests, Neil Harvey scored over 6,000 runs including 21 centuries and an average above 48. His on field credentials aside, "Harvey continued to play a role at the forefront of Australian cricket as a national selector for a period of 12 years, and it was during the middle of this period (namely, the mid-1970s) that the country fielded one of its most successful ever sides at international level. In recognition of his string of outstanding achievements in the game, he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in early 2000. He was also selected in the Australian Cricket Board's official Test Team of the 20th Century".
Oh dear me, one would have to believe that Mr. Harvey does know a thing or two about playing the game the right way. Whether he knows it or not, Ponting owes the esteemed Neil Harvey a public apology, not to mention his fellow countrymen and teammates for whom he took the liberty to speak so recklessly.
Ponting's response to his countrymen's disapproval of the team's conduct may have been ugly and ungentlemanly, but what has that to do with the current series, you might ask. Well, quite a lot in fact. The Aussies are expected to win the series on the trot. The real challenge, you see, is for them to avoid a repeat of the hideous spectacle instigated by Glenn McGrath during their last tour that left an indelible blemish on the great man's career. The Australian Cricket Board was so incensed that, immediately following the game, James Sutherland, the Board's chief executive, telephoned Steve Waugh to denounce this ugly incident involving McGrath. "What we do agree on is that it's all very well to be playing the game in the right spirit when things are going your way but if things don't go your way, that's when the real test is on," he said. "And if you can't carry yourself in the right fashion, in the true spirit of the game at those times, then perhaps you need to have a good look at yourself", concluded the Chief Executive. Peter Roebuck added, "regardless of the result, the Australians have done nothing to enhance their reputations as sportsmen. If victory cannot be achieved without recourse to the sort of antagonism seen in Antigua then it is not worth bothering about. Cricket searched for a champion team and found only an unscrupulous aggressor".
The memories of Antigua should be enough of a motivation for the Aussies to mind their manners. There is little doubt that the Aussies are capable of meeting this challenge - one need only look to Perth a few months ago. When not distracted, the Aussies can be the most formidable opponent in the world. Meanwhile, if at times during this series tempers flare, it might help to remember that there is weed in the Caribbean too, albeit of a more pleasing and tranquil nature that reputedly enables one to transcend the ugly and the petty and reach for the higher ground.
(c) copyrighted to the original authors and published with their permission.
Arthurton wants successful U-15 team kept together
Former West Indies batsman and current regional Under-15 coach Keith Arthurton has called on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to keep the side together for further development programmes.
The buoyant Arthurton was still basking after West Indies beat Pakistan by 89 runs in the final of the CLICO International Under-15 Championships at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain on Sunday.
"I believe that this group of players are the best talent at present at Under-15 level in the Caribbean," Nevisian Arthurton said.
"I hope that the West Indies Cricket Board will keep them together for further development at the Under-17 and 19 levels.
"They played like true champions. The batting was disciplined, the fielding was very good and the bowlers bowled the correct line and put the ball in the right places," added Arthurton.
West Indies, behind solid all-round performances, also reached the final of the knockout phase of the tournament a fortnight ago before losing-by two runs-to Pakistan.
The last time a similar tournament-the Costcutter U15 World Championship-was played eight years ago in England, West Indies defeated Pakistan in the final which was played at Lord's.
Gus Logie coached that 2000 championship winning team. He had made similar pronouncements then, urging for the unit to be kept together, which did not materialise.
Assistant coach Kenny Benjamin said the players had stuck to their game plan well and deserved the victory.
"The players executed the game plan to perfection. They lifted their game and once they played to their true potential, it was very difficult to beat them," Antiguan Benjamin, a former Windies fast bowler, pointed out.
"I thought that after the knock-out final against Pakistan in St Kitts, the team worked very hard in the league championship and this is just reward for their hard and dedicated work," Benjamin added.
(c) Trinidad & Tobago Express
Ban on bowler Akhtar upheld but free to play abroad
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) - A Pakistani appeals committee on Wednesday temporarily upheld a five-year ban imposed on fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar but said he was free to play cricket outside the country.
The 32-year-old paceman was banned earlier this month for breaching the players' code of conduct by publicly criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after he was not offered a central contract.
"Shoaib Akhtar can play anywhere outside Pakistan. The disciplinary committee did not restrain him from playing anywhere in the world," retired judge Aftab Farrukh, the head of the three-member tribunal, told reporters.
Akhtar has expressed a desire to play in a domestic cricket tournament in India.
Farrukh said the main hearing into Akthar's appeal against the ban would take place in June and that the ban on playing in or for Pakistan would stay in place until then.
"We have seen Shoaib's track record and believe that he has not learnt any lesson. He flouted discipline of the board, he harmed the chairman of the board and fellow cricketers and above all sentiments of the nation," he said.
Akthar this week tendered an unconditional apology to the public, the PCB and his teammates in an apparent attempt at mitigation.
The fiery paceman, who has a history of discipline problems and injuries, hit out at the PCB in January after he was excluded from a list of 15 contracted players and was then hauled up before a disciplinary committee.
He was already on two years' probation for hitting teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat a few days before the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September last year.
(c) 2008 AFP
From the Vault: Arlott on Laker
Jim Laker, who took 193 Test wickets at an average of just 21, was the finest spin bowler to play for England. While spinners nowdays are expected to emulate the mystery of Murali or the wilyness of Warne, Laker's virtues were far more orthodox, and no less successful. Most famously he is the only man in the history of first-class cricket to take 19 wickets in a match, a feat he achieved against Australia in 1956 for the cost of just 90 runs. Laker died on April 23 1986. This obituary was written by John Arlott, the cricket correspondent of The Guardian between 1968 and 1980, who had a commentary style described by Dylan Thomas as akin to "Uncle Tom Cobleigh reciting Neville Cardus to the Indians". Arlott is one of the most beloved, and talented, of all the writers who have covered cricket. This instalment then, is all about the best doing justice to the best.
There are not many unquestionable superlatives in cricket history, but it is beyond doubt that Jim Laker - 'JC' - was the finest off-spinner the game has ever known.
Wry, dry, laconic, he thought about cricket with a deep intensity and a splendidly ironic point of view. He grew up in some isolation under the care of his aunts in Saltaire, and was called upon for scrutiny at the Yorkshire nets before the war. They approved him as a batsman, but then the war engulfed him.
About 1943 stories began to come back from the North African desert of an off-spinner of whom the old hands related: "You can hear the ball bounce as he lets it go."
He came back and settled on the edge of London, was recommended to Surrey and - with Yorkshire's permission - they registered him. He made his first-class mark in 1947, bowled skilfully in the West Indies in the following winter, and then was heavily battered by the strong Australian batting side of 1948: one Test, and apart from another West Indies tour in 1953 he did not find a regular place until 1956. This despite the fact that in the Bradford Test trial of 1950 - comfortingly near home - he took eight wickets for two runs.
In 1956 he took his revenge on the Australians. For Surrey, in their match with the touring side, he took 10 for 88. Then came the unmatched triumph: in the Old Trafford Test he took 10 for 53 and in the second innings 9 for 37, which made him the only bowler to take 19 wickets in a first-class fixture - and it was in a Test match against the Australians.
He set a record for a Test series with 46 wickets that year. He could bat usefully - two first-class hundreds - and he could catch close to the wicket. Supported by Tony Lock, he was the major wrecking spin influence in Surrey's great period of triumph in the County Championship between 1952 and 1958. Just how good was he? He passed every test you could possibly apply to an off-spinner. His grip could be infinitely varied so that no batsman could read anything from it, and he paid the price for the terrified tweak he gave to the ball by eternally massaging his cruelly bowed spinning finger with ointment.
He once asked me how many strides he took in his run-up to the wicket - "Sometimes four, sometimes five, sometimes six." "Well," he said, "you have missed four-and-a-half, five-and-a-half, and the little rock." He had so many arcs of flight - and none of them foreseeable by the batsman - that he took wickets through the air as well as off the pitch. Once that deadly off-spinner landed, though, it tugged at the earth and turned back savagely: or, just when the batsman thought himself used to that, it pitched and skidded and there was a catch to slip - and there was that twisted grin of satisfaction.
He did not suffer fools gladly and people could upset him without knowing it. In 1959 he left Surrey three years afterwards he them a very good turn' - of the spinning finger and advice - and finally retired in 1964. By saying what he thought he got himself into trouble with both Surrey and the MCC, both of whom wisely, if belatedly, forgave him, and he actually joined the Surrey cricket committee.
His daughters loved him, his wife Lily adored him, and if he took a quizzical look at the world, he missed very little. To work with him and to be accepted by him was something of an accolade and admission to a school of cricketing thought that was sometimes quite bewildering in its depth.
The off-break is not merely the bowler's bread and butter, it is his staff of life. And in that school Jim Laker was the past master.
Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian News and Media Limited 2007.
Proteas win ODI Championship
MUMBAI - Australia have retained the ICC Mace for a fourth year in a row after once again finishing as the top Test side in the ICC Test Championship. But South Africa have picked up the ICC Shield for being this year's top-ranked side in the ICC ODI Championship.
Australia finished the 12-month period up to 31 March 30 rating points clear of India in the ICC Test Championship with four wins, one defeat and one draw in Test cricket during that time.
At the same time, the Proteas edged out Ricky Ponting's side by a fraction of a rating point to top the ODI table, winning 21 and losing eight ODIs during the same 12-month period.
Australia and South Africa received US$175,000 each for their achievements while Ponting's side also pocketed an additional US$75,000 for finishing as runner-up in the ICC ODI Championship after 17 wins, six loses and three no-results in the twelve-month window.
India collected US$75,000 after ending the period in question in second place in the Test table with four wins, seven draws and two defeats in Test cricket.
Ricky Ponting, former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock and India coach Gary Kirsten received the cheques in a ceremony held in Mumbai.
ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed congratulated the teams on their successes, saying: "Australia deserves praise for once again being the most consistent team in Test cricket.
"The success of Ricky Ponting's side represents a benchmark for all teams at Test level and that is reflected in their standing in the ICC Test Championship table.
"Now, with the retirement of several high-profile players, they will face a challenge to their long-held top spot and it will be fascinating to see how all teams deal with that situation in the months to come.
"In one-day cricket it has been an absorbing battle between Australia and South Africa for first place in the ICC ODI Championship table and it was a battle that went right down to the wire before Graeme Smith's side secured that position.
"Given Australia's status as reigning ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy holders, South Africa deserve great credit for what they have achieved.
"And India's performances over the twelve-month period, which have lifted them to second spot in the Test table are also impressive and they will be looking to close that large gap between themselves and Australia while at the same time holding off the pack of teams that are snapping at their heels."
Reflecting on his side's fortunes in the Test and ODI rankings, Ricky Ponting said: "I am obviously proud of the performance of my team over the year.
"We have faced a number of challenges but have met them head-on and, in terms of the Test table and the large lead we hold, it shows we have met them.
"It's disappointing to lose the lead in the ODI Championship table but it is a great incentive for us as a unit to regain that top spot and, given this coming twelve months will also see us defend our ICC Champions Trophy title, there is plenty for us to look forward to."
Shaun Pollock said: "Australia are the benchmark in all forms of the game, and especially one-day cricket, winning three successive ICC Cricket World Cups and holding the ICC Champions Trophy.
"So, for South Africa to take over the top spot in the one-day table is a huge achievement for the playing group as well as a great honour for everyone connected with South Africa cricket.
"Now the challenge is to maintain the standards the side has set itself and with Australia and a host of other teams hot on South Africa's heels Graeme (Smith) and his players have the perfect incentive to do that."
Gary Kirtsen said: "It has been a tough 12 months for us as a Test team but the fact we have risen to many of the challenges put before us is reflected in our second position in the ICC Test Championship table.
"We now have to press on and try and close the gap as well as stay ahead of the sides below us and that is something to look forward to for all the players and support staff in the months ahead."
(c) Avusa Limited
India, Pakistan in separate pools for 2009 Twenty20
Defending world Twenty20 cricket champions India were Wednesday grouped along with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe for the 2009 Twenty20 World Championship in England.
The groupings for the 12-nation tournament were finalised at the two-day meeting of the board of directors of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that ended here Wednesday.
India defeated Pakistan in the final of the first edition of the championship held in South Africa in September.
Pakistan is seeded second and clubbed with England and the first qualifier from ICC associate member, the ICC announced here.
The board discussed the groupings following a request by hosts England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
"It asked for early determination in order to proceed with the venue event bidding process which, in turn, would allow match tickets to go on sale at the earliest possible opportunity," ICC said.
"Given that not enough matches have been played in this format to allow viable official rankings to be established, the board agreed the groups for the 2009 event would be based on the finishing positions in the 2007 tournament."
The groups:
Group A: India (1), Bangladesh (8), Zimbabwe (9)
Group B: Pakistan (2), England (7), Associate Member 1 (10)
Group C: Australia (3), Sri Lanka (6), West Indies (11)
Group D: New Zealand (4), South Africa (5), Associate Member 2 (12)
Note: Figures in parenthesis are the finishing positions of the 2007 tournament
Virender Sehwag - the enigma of Indian cricket
Dumped unceremoniously by the selectoras after a variable showing in the Twenty20 World Championship, Sehwag has come back better and stronger. His 319 in the searing Chennai heat will be remembered as one of the all-time great Test innings.
Sometimes setbacks are necessary in life for one to take stock of things and come back with a bang - better, stronger and wiser.
Cricketers are no exception to this. One man who stands testimony to this fact is Virender Sehwag. Dumped unceremoniously after a rather ordinary showing in the Twenty20 World Championship, he has come back better and stronger into the Indian team.
And what better way to announce his return from a short period of exile than score a blistering 319 against the Proteas in the first Test match in Chennai. Records kept tumbling on an eventful third day's play and most of them belonged to the Nawab of Najafgarh.
Sehwag's critics need to do some serious soul searching before they launch another tirade. I am not saying that a player should never be criticised, but sometimes we need to accept players for what they are and as they are.
When we talk of Sehwag being the only player from the subcontinent to score two triple tons, some people might ask what is the big deal (dead flat pitches in favourable conditions).
But let me tell you that whether it is a dead or seaming track, a triple century is a triple century, no matter how it is scored or in what conditions it is scored.
Sehwag's gargantuan effort was studded with 42 boundaries and five sixes and some of the shots were truly breathtaking, to say the least. Which batsmen in world cricket would hit a six over extra cover or an upper cut over third man?
When he hits the ball, it stays hit. For a man not known to be an artist with his footwork, he has overcome this limitation with tremendous hand-eye coordination coupled with incredible bat speed. There was little doubt that fans of the cricket crazy city of Chennai were going to be treated to a delicious run feast from the willow of Sehwag.
He has the distinction of having the second highest average in the stadium after his Idol Sachin Tendulkar Apart from his heroics with the bat, he is a handy bowler too having picked up the crucial wicket of Mark Boucher in the South African first innings.
Again I reinforce the point that people should learn to accept Sehwag for what he is. There are times when he doesn't score. On his day, a powerful cut shot races to the fence and on a bad day, the same shot ends up in the gloves of the wicket keeper or he plays on.
That's the way he plays and we must respect that. Even during the Twenty20 victory, although his contribution was not that substantial, the partnerships with Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order were crucial to getting India to a good total in most of the matches.
It is time that he gets his place at the top of the order in both forms of the game. He literally has the firepower to blow out the opposition even before they understand what's happening.
Meanwhile, let's just sit back and enjoy the action!
(c)SportBuzz All rights reserved 2008.
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