The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

A cracker of a series

England won a fierce battle for the Ashes by virtue of their all-round superiority, writes Ramandeep Singh

England’s Andrew Flintoff established himself as a top-class all-rounder.

Spin wizard Shane Warne was easily the best performer for Australia with 40 wickets.

It was expected to be a thrilling Ashes series and it turned out exactly that way — one of the most keenly contested Test clashes of all time.

Australia were tipped to maintain their vice-like grip on the urn — they had won a record eight Ashes series in a row — but not without a resurgent England giving them a good fight.

Australia’s main strike bowler Glenn McGrath initiated the opposition’s mental disintegration — a term made famous by ‘tough as nails’ former captain Steve Waugh — by predicting a 5-0 result in favour of the Aussies. The past results and the critics pointed in that direction too.

England had not won the Ashes since 1987 and naturally England captain Michael Vaughan was more reserved in commenting on the outcome of the series. However, he promised that England wold not lie down and surrender but instead make the Aussies earn every run and every wicket. His cautious optimism was based on the fact that after a long time England had four world-class quicks with genuine pace and swing to unsettle any batting line-up.

The England batting was in top form, and they had a genuine all-rounder in Andrew Flintoff, who was finally stepping into Ian Botham’s legendary shoes. He finished the series with 24 wickets and 402 runs and shared the man of the series award with Shane Warne.

The inclusion of South African-born Kevin Pietersen in place of seasoned campaigner Graham Thorpe proved to be decisive. He provided much-needed depth in batting and held the lower order together to prevent a collapse — England’s bane in past series. In the final Test, his 158 denied the Aussies a chance to level the series and retain the Ashes.

Australia were always going to struggle after they lost McGrath to injury before the start of the second Test and Jason Gillespie — who took just three wickets in the series — being a shadow of his former self. Warne bowled brilliantly, snaring 40 wickets at 20.09 runs per wicket. He also became the first bowler in the history of Test cricket to take 600 wickets.

Consistency — a hallmark of the Aussies — was missing in their batting, bowling and fielding. They dropped crucial catches, including the one that mattered the most when Warne floored a Pietersen edge in the final Test. Australian bowling without McGrath was not likely to trouble the opposition. Brett Lee depended on sheer pace and Kasprowicz lacked it. So it was Warne against the English. He delivered the goods but nobody else was there to provide the knockout punch.

The Aussie openers were surprisingly subdued as they failed to cope with the reverse swing. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist were completely at sea, with the former coming up with a ton too late in the series. Gilchrist, who comes in at number seven and destroys the bowling and the opposing team’s hopes, must be cursing his luck to lose his form in such a crucial series. Michael Clarke, Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting shone for Australia, while Warne and Lee chipped in with useful knocks.

England have now won six series in a row and their batting is probably the strongest in many years. With a four-pronged pace attack, capable of reverse swing, England can easily lay claim to being the best Test playing team in the world. The next crucial test for the Englishmen will the away series against Pakistan in October. Touring Pakistan is one of the toughest assignments for any team — with doctored pitches and the threat of Muslim fundamentalists being the main hinderances. Later, they will tour India for another challenging series. Australia conquered the “final frontier” last year. It remains to be seen if an in-form England can do the same early next year.

If they succeed in beating both Pakistan and India, or are able to even draw the series, it would surely prove that their victory over the Australians was no flash in the pan.

Rousing spectacle
Vikramdeep Johal

The US Open lived up to its billing as the grandest Grand Slam event of the year with some spectacular performances from illustrious veterans as well as young guns. Here are some memorable snapshots from the tournament.

Federer Express

Steamrolling one opponent after the other, Roger Federer won his second title in a row at Flushing Meadows. He was stretched by Andre Agassi in the final, but the outcome was a foregone conclusion — the Swiss was just too good. This Grand Slam year had begun disappointingly for Federer with defeats at the Australian Open and French Open, but he was back at his best with victories at Wimbledon and the US Open. He now has six Grand Slam titles in his kitty. And he is only 24.

Ageless wonder

Like old wine, Agassi seems to be getting better with age. The 35-year-old surprised even his die-hard fans by reaching the final. Egged on by his wife Steffi Graf and two kids, Agassi got the better of in-form compatriots James Blake and Robby Ginepri in five-set thrillers. Despite ending up as the runner-up, Agassi was the winner in more ways than one. If you thought this was his last hurrah, the American icon has categorically stated that he is no mood to quit.

Fifth-time lucky

Everyone knew that Kim Clijsters had the talent to beat the best, but she often faltered on the big stage. After losing four Grand Slam finals, the Belgian finally laid her hands on the winners trophy. The victory has not changed her plans of calling it quits in another two years, but as long as she is playing, her rivals won’t have an easy time.

Mixed fortunes

Agassi and the Bryan brothers (men’s doubles champions) gave the American public plenty to cheer about, but there were several heart-breaks too. The brilliant run of James Blake and Robby Ginepri was ended by Agassi himself. Among the women, not even one American reached the semifinals as Lindsay Davenport and the Williams sisters failed to sizzle.

Sania mania

The Indian wunderkind made her presence felt in New York with her aggressive tennis and snazzy dress sense. Her powerful groundstrokes were as much the talk of the town as her T-shirts with playful slogans like “I’m cute. No sh**.” Her showdown with Maria Sharapova was undoubtedly the match of the tournament for Indian viewers. Even though Sania lost in straight sets, the Russian was impressed, if not amazed, by her shots.

Indian ace

The Indian media expectedly went gaga over Sania’s heroics, but once she bowed out, it was left to Mahesh Bhupathi to keep the Tricolour flying. And he did the job with minimum fuss. His first-time team-up with Daniela Hantuchova was just like his partnership with Mary Pierce at Wimbledon — simply unbeatable.

Costume drama
Ramesh Kandula

Unimpressed by her performances, Muslim clerics want Sania Mirza (top) to cover herself up like the Iranian players who took part in the Asian Badminton Championship in Hyderabad recently. — Photo (bottom): Deccan Chronicle

Dress code for women players has become a contentious issue, courtesy Sania Mirza’s bold style statement.

The five-member team of Iranian women, which was in Hyderabad for the Asian Badminton Championship recently, has also attracted attention for a non-sporting reason — their attire.

Even as the Indian tennis sensation, fresh from an exceptional show at the US Open, unwittingly found herself in the firing line of self-appointed religious leaders for her clothing, the Iranian sportswomen won admiration of the same mullahs for covering their bodies from head to toe while playing.

The Muslim clerics made no secret of their disapproval of the flashy dress the 18-year-old Sania chose to wear on the court, dubbing it as “corrupting”.

They went one step ahead and contrasted Sania’s clothing with that of the Iranian sportswomen.

The Sunni Ulema Board said, “Sania should follow the example of Iranian women who wore long tunics and headscarves during the Asian Badminton Championship.”

Some Muslim scholars in Hyderabad, Sania’s home city, say that the veil can be dropped on certain occasions but “not the way the girl is going about it while playing in various countries.”

At the other end of the spectrum, the Iranian women, who were participating in an international competition abroad for the first time, caught the attention of curious onlookers not for their play, but for their veiled dress.

Understandably, that was the precondition on which the Iranian authorities granted permission to the players to play in a foreign country.

“We think there are many sports which women can play without crossing the dress limits imposed by Islam,” the team’s coach Simin said, echoing the sentiments expressed by some Hyderabad-based clerics who said it was unbecoming of a Muslim girl to choose a sport that required any exposure.

The outfit that the Iranian team wore for the championship was exclusively designed for this championship. “We don’t wear this outfit when we play in front of all-women audiences back home,” Iran’s national champion Pirzamanbin Behnaz said.

Sania, however, does not want to get bogged by sartorial controversies. “In the position where I am now, everything I do, the shorts and the T-shirts I wear are analysed,” remarked the 18-year-old star, refusing to react to the so-called fatwas against her dress.

“Some people have some problems with the dress code. Maybe I wear short skirts but I pray five times a day and do the things that other Muslims do,” said Sania in an interview to a foreign news agency after her second-round defeat to Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova at Wimbledon.

While Sania has ensured that ultimately it is her performance that matters, the Iranian players exemplify the urge of Muslim women to express their passion for sports, however restrictive the conditions may be.

IN THE NEWS
Leap of glory

Anju George called her silver medal-winning performance at Monaco the biggest achievement of her career so far. — Photos: AP/AFP/PTI/ Reuters

Ace long jumper Anju Bobby George ended the season with a bang by winning a silver medal in the World Athletics final in Monaco last week. She called it the biggest achievement of her career till date, better than the bronze medal-winning feat at the World Championships in Paris two years ago. A fortnight ago, she had won the gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon (South Korea).

The next season is going to be pretty hectic for Anju, with the World Indoor Championships in Moscow, the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, the Asian Games in Doha, the World Cup in Athens and the World Championships in Stockholm.

The Keralite is not likely to face much competition at the Asian and Commonwealth levels, but the other events would be a litmus test for her. Though age is not on her side — she is in her late twenties — Anju would certainly try to win a gold medal or two and take a crack at the seven-metre mark. — Agencies