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Tuesday,
December 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Selection to blame for debacle? Pitches turned ‘Tests into low-grade farce’ Home pitches give our players flattering images |
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Zaheer Khan was the only gain
DD to telecast World
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Battling Waugh manages to hold on Hussain still nurses hopes of beating
Aussies Boycott battles cancer, to know result next year Ropar Hawks stun
PSEB BSF to meet PSB in
final Salgaocar overcome Mahindras Saras Oswal
wins
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Selection to blame for debacle? Auckland, December 23 Granted that the wickets in the two Test matches were tailor-made for the home side, the performance of the Indian batsmen, who are among the leading run-getters in the world, lacked commitment and the will to adjust to the conditions. The Indians folded up too easily. Longtime observers of the Indian cricket scene see too much protection for the superstars. Consequently obvious points are ignored and decisions made which have proved costly. No sooner had captain Saurav Ganguly arrived in New Zealand, he let it be known it was his primary concern to beat New Zealand in their own backyard for the first time in 26 years. But the team was too much caught up in the old boys’ club routine to face the exacting standards in not-so-friendly weather and pitch conditions and the battery of hosts’ seamers. Young Parthiv Patel’s promotion as an opener in the second innings of the Hamilton Test came after several of the seniors reportedly declined to take up the challenge. The Gujarat youngster had done well to hang on for about 45 minutes in the first innings even though he managed only eight runs. Within a few balls in the first Test it was obvious Virender Sehwag would be completely out of place in these conditions. If India were to make history, they needed a technically better player - Shiv Sunder Das or Mohammad Kaif with Sanjay Bangar - than Sehwag at the start of the innings. So was the case with VVS Laxman, who bagged a pair in the first Test. Yet the Hyderabad cricketer was persisted with in the second Test at Hamilton and a thrashing was invited. Sehwag and Laxman are fine players but they are unconvincing in certain conditions and there is no insult if the team follows “horses for courses” policy. Again figures were thrown at the media to justify Sehwag and Laxman’s position in the team. India may have been undone by batting first on juicy pitches but their collapse in the second innings of both the Tests showed they were stricken by fear to bat on the green wickets. Any respectable batting line-up, leave alone arguably the best in the world, would not have collapsed before the likes of Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey in improved batting conditions in the second turns the way Indians did. “The wicket wasn’t good for batting but I would have expected the top batsmen of the world to stand a few inches outside the crease to counter the swing and movement of Oram and Tuffey — surely these batsmen should have been prepared to take a few on their chest and ribs. After all this is what Test cricket is,” said Simon Doul, the New Zealand fast bowler who four years ago had destroyed the Indians in Wellington with a seven-wicket haul in the first innings. Match referee Mike Procter was sympathetic and said perhaps in these conditions coming behind the line of a delivery is not such a sound thing after all. “Sometimes in these conditions it’s not advisable to come too much behind the line of a delivery because it is moving all the time,” said Procter. There was an appeal from the team management to chairman of selectors Brijesh Patel to include Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh for the forthcoming one-day series against New Zealand. But not all are convinced about Srinath’s and Kumble’s viability in one-day cricket. Srinath and Kumble are no longer good performers in one- day cricket. Their figures tell their own tale: Srinath has an economy rate of 6.87 and 5.49 in the last two one-day series he has been involved in this year. Kumble’s economy rate in the last two series isn’t good either - 5.13 in the ICC Champions Trophy and 6.23 against the West Indies. Such protectionism is the reason why men like L Balaji and JP Yadav are dropped after just one game in the middle and cricketers like Murali Kartik and Tinu Yohannan, who appear fine one-day prospects to everyone, do not find themselves a part of this series.“Is it the seniors who are deciding who should play or is it the job of the selection committee to decide so?” a senior selector had wondered.
PTI |
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Pitches turned ‘Tests into low-grade farce’ Auckland, December 23 The formidable Indian batting line-up could manage just 507 runs from four innings in this series but The New Zealand Herald suggested that it reflected more on “New Zealand’s desire to play on wickets that would not so much advantage themselves but disadvantage the opposition” than the abilities of the Indian batsmen. “Never mind that the Sachin Tendulkars and Rahul Dravids of this world have previously made cannon-fodder of wlers such as Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. They apparently have no clue about how to handle Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram, or for that matter, Nathan Astle’s slow mediums,” Richard Boock wrote in the paper. “It was not so much a Test match as a low-grade farce. It was apparent from the day India arrived that all stops were being pulled to ensure their batsmen played on the most difficult surfaces possible,” the paper said. “The lasting impression from this Test series will be the substandard pitches that India were forced to bat on and the subsequent drop-off in the quality of cricket. “It was almost more of a comedy than a cricket Test, a slapstick type of performance that set all sorts of records for all the wrong reasons.” The Daily News said an already bad pitch had been made worse by rains. “In terms of quality, it was poor advertisement for cricket. Pitch conditions were stacked in the seam bowler’s favour after pre-Test rain juiced it up,” it wrote. The second Test finished under two days of playing time, the third shortest match in New Zealand after 1945-46 loss to Australia in Wellington and 1983-84 win over England in Christchurch. It was the first time in the history of Test cricket that a team scoring less than 100 runs had managed a first innings lead and the first time since 1980-81 that a Test had finished without anyone scoring a 50. “While the result helped maintain the home side’s world No 3 ranking in Test cricket and gave it four wins from eight Tests in 2002, the juicy, sometimes unplayable, surface irked both sides,” said the Otago Daily Times, published from Dunedin. Even New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who has admitted to his preference for bouncy tracks, confessed that the pitch condition took some gloss off his team’s victory. “You enjoy when you win but you don’t enjoy the feelings throughout. There were too many good batsmen here to say that the wicket wasn’t at fault,” he said. However, Hamilton groundsman Doug Strachan was still defending his wicket. Referring to Indians’ displeasure over the pitch being watered just days before the Test, Strachan said it was something the Niake clay-based wicket required. “To get it bounce really well, the wicket has to get wet,” he said. “If we go in dry, its going to be like its been in the past — a bowlers’ nightmare.
PTI |
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Home pitches give our players flattering images The Test series against New Zealand was a grim reminder to all of us that the Indian team has a long way to go if they wish to be bracketed alongside the best. In the last year and half, after that historic win over Australia at home, India have lost Tests in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, South Africa, England and now New Zealand, wherever they have toured. It means something is drastically wrong with our system. The notion is that since India don’t have bowlers to pick up 20 wickets in a Test, they can’t win abroad where pitches don’t help spin. On the contrary, it is our batting which has been letting the team down. Despite of having some of the big names in the line-up, including Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and the newest star Virender Sehwag, the batting wilts when facing the heat of a foreign field. But, as you will also wonder, not a single batsman has been punished for his inability to help the team when it matters most. There are factors like placid pitches in domestic or international cricket in India which give our batsmen a flattering image. But, outside of India, on pitches where the ball is directed at batsman’s ribs and starts to swing and seam, our batsmen lack the skill or courage needed to tackle fast bowling. We have seen it for years now, but sadly, nothing has been done to improve the standard of pitches in India. Recently, when the board appointed the pitches committee to look into this aspect, they only pushed back the agenda. Wherever they went, the pitches have become slower with less bounce. Not only was all the money wasted, the pitches have deteriorated. Coming back to batting against fast bowlers, I was lucky to have played my cricket with greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath. The two were the best players of fast bowling that I have seen and though Dilip Vengsarkar also scored heavily in England, Gavaskar and Amarnath were unbelievable against faster bowlers from Australia, the West Indies and Pakistan. I think the batsmen of our present team need to watch tapes of Gavaskar and Amarnath to draw some inspiration. Most of our batsmen were playing away from their body in the series against New Zealand. Agreed the pitch at Hamilton wasn’t very conducive to batting but if you throw away your wickets to medium pacers like Darryl Tuffy and Jacob Oram, it can’t do justice to your reputation. |
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Zaheer Khan was the only gain One-day cricket can be infectious and generate a lot of goodwill and moolah. But it can also be counter-productive if the authorities don’t strike the right balance between the one-dayers and Tests. In India, especially, this seems to be the case, and then you get what we saw in the two Test matches against New Zealand. What was most embarrassing was that India’s four innings lasted less than 50 overs each. This not only cost us both the Tests, but also exposed the quality of our domestic cricket, and the caliber of our players at the international level. On paper, this India team looks as good as the best in the world, but in actual performance overseas, it has floundered. That is primarily because the balance between the one-day and five day games has been surrendered. I do believe that a cricketer must play his natural-game. However, this must be tempered with common sense and commitment. The secret of success in cricket, as in life, is to know when to curb your natural instincts and when to give it full rein. The Indian batsmen appeared mixed up about this. There was a great chance to level the series when Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were together in the second innings. They are the two best batsmen in the team, with loads of experience, and had even played themselves in before getting out to loose shots. If I have to assign blame for the second Test failure, it would be to these two. Apart from the wonderful bowling by Zaheer Khan, there were no gains for India. The batting was a mess, and the bowlers, barring Khan, just did not measure up, though there was a lot of help for the fast bowlers in the wickets for the two Tests. Zaheer succeeded because he assessed the conditions better, and directed his aggression accordingly. This tour should see him bloom.
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DD to telecast World Cup New Delhi, December 23 Following a three-way agreement signed between the worldwide rights holder Global Cricket Corporation, Prasar Bharati and Nimbus Communications Limited, Doordarshan, will telecast all the matches involving India in the pool and super six stage (maximum nine). Besides, the channel will telecast live the tournament opener between South Africa and the West Indies on February 9, Pakistan vs England tie on February 22, two super six stage matches as also both the semifinals and the final. The channel will telecast everyday a one-hour
highlights package throughout the 43-day tournament, according to a note issued by Nimbus here today.
PTI |
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Battling Waugh manages to hold on Melbourne, December 23 Australia’s chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said today his four-man selection panel will pick 37-year-old Waugh for the remainder of the Ashes series. But after then, Waugh will be judged solely as a batsman and his glorious 17-year Test career could be over if he doesn’t get enough runs. There’s the option of public adoration in announcing his retirement before the final Sydney Test in the new year, ensuring a fitting ending to his days in the baggy green. Or there’s the more Waugh-like option of gritting his teeth and continuing as long as possible, refusing to admit defeat, refusing to let Hohns or anybody else tell him what to do. Test pace bowler Glenn McGrath expects Waugh to emerge victorious. “You look through his whole career, he’s really been a fighter the whole way through,” McGrath said here today ahead of the Boxing Day Test. “Determination and ruthlessness are a couple of words you could say about him. He’s probably got his back up against the wall, this is probably the toughest fight of his career but the type of character he is, he’ll probably rise to the occasion. “Ideally it would be great to see Steve come down here, put a big score on the board in Melbourne and do the same in Sydney - that would be the ideal scenario and I’m sure every player in the team would love to see him do that.” Asked the big question, when Waugh should retire, McGrath said: “That’s a decision he’s got to make himself. He’s been a legend of the game, really. “The amount of times he’s really fought and brought Australia back into a game when we’ve been in trouble...I consider myself lucky to have played with a guy of his calibre.It would be great to see him go out on his own terms, when he wants to.” The pressure would ensure Waugh batted with steely resolve in the last two Tests, England captain Nasser Hussain said. “He’ll probably be trying to get as many runs as possible to prove people wrong,” Hussain said. “Well, so far (Waugh’s) only had (four) innings so we’ve kept him down, but he’s just one player. “We’ve got to work out how to get a few up the order out before he comes in. “His record’s pretty good against us, so I’m sure he’s got a point to prove but like I say we’re not targeting Steve Waugh, we’re just trying to gently work our way through their batting line-up.” Waugh had no comment when he arrived here today with Shane Warne’s replacement Stuart MacGill, declining to speak to the media as television crews shoved microphones in front of his face and repeatedly asked questions like, “Is this the end, Steve?” He will hold a press conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground tomorrow.
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Hussain still nurses hopes of beating Aussies Melbourne, December 23 “The way I look at it is, I tell the boys they have 10 days to turn around the Test match tour, to go out there and beat Australia in a Test match,” Hussain told a news conference. “That will still be a great achievement...the Test series might be lost but we have got to move on from that.” England, 0-3 down in this series, last toured Australia in 1998-99 when skipper Alec Stewart’s side lost the series 1-3 despite scoring a 12-run win in a rain-soaked fourth Test in Melbourne. The fourth Test in Melbourne starting on Thursday is a chance for another Englishman to play the match of his life, as paceman Dean Headley did four years ago on the same ground, Hussain said. Headley took six for 60 in the second innings as Mark Taylor’s Australia were bowled out for 162 chasing 175 to win. “(That win) still gives us very fond memories and that’s why we play the game really,” said Hussain, who made 19 and 50 in the match. “For someone like Dean Headley, that will probably be his greatest day as a cricketer. Just because the series had gone is an irrelevance to Dean now.” “It’s a great arena. Maybe that had something to do with the way Dean Headley bowled and Darren Gough (five for 96 in the first innings) and a few others played.” “There are 10 possible days left (the fifth Test in Sydney starts on January 2) hopefully of having those sorts of feelings.” Hussain’s England failed to win any of their first 13 games on tour in Australia and suffered heavy defeats in each of the first three Ashes Tests. England’s two one-day wins against Sri Lanka last week were encouraging but would not help the tourists much against the top-ranked side in Test and limited-overs cricket, Hussain said. “It won’t do any harm obviously. But I think everything that you’re judged on will be against Australia,” the captain said. Hussain said Australia were fantastic but not faultless. “Like any side they’re beatable, in whatever sport. Whether it’s Manchester United in football or Australia in cricket or whatever.” England have sent home five injured bowlers, Darren Gough, Simon Jones, Chris Silverwood, Andrew Flintoff and Ashley Giles, during the tour and are nursing Andy Caddick back to full health for the fourth Test. Hussain said he expected the 34-year-old Somerset fast bowler to be fit for selection despite hobbling off the WACA Ground in Perth on Friday with a jarred ankle after taking three for 30 in the one-day international against Sri Lanka. “We’ll find out in the next couple of days. He gets a lot of stick, Andy Caddick at various times, some deservedly, and he keeps on proving people wrong,” Hussain said. “Like the other day...he was our best bowler and went a long way towards winning that game. We just have to see what the wicket’s like and hope that he is fit.” Fast bowler Alex Tudor, who was struck a savage blow by a Brett Lee bouncer in the third Test in Perth, has recovered physically after needing six stitches in a wound above his left eye, Hussain said. “There’s no hiding place. You’ve just got to get back on the horse and get back into Test cricket,” he said.
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Boycott battles cancer, to know result next year London, December 23 Boycott was diagnosed with the illness in September after problems with his throat and tests showed he had a tumour at the base of his tongue and three secondary tumours in his neck. One of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, Boycott has spent the last few months undergoing intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy at a Leeds hospital. The treatment has left him unable to take solid food and seen him lose two stone. Doctors believe the 62-year-old has every chance of recovering fully and Boycott is now resting at his home near Wakefield, awaiting further results. Boycott revealed to the The Yorkshire Post: “The diagnosis was a bolt from the blue.” “I felt a lump when I was shaving one day. I told the doctor and I was being tested within days.” “The rest you know. There were four lots of chemotherapy. And then I began the radiotherapy on October 22. I asked what the prognosis was and was told it was very positive. “Of course there are no guarantees in this situation, but doctors say I have a good chance and I’ll be fighting it.”
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Ropar Hawks stun
PSEB Nabha, December 23 In other matches, Ropar Hawks once again came up with a polished performance to shock PSEB, Patiala 4-2 while SAIL chalked out a 2-0 victory against Amritsar XI. Though the SSB lads let in a J. Bhengra penalty corner in the seventh minute, they tightened up their defence and did not allow their opponents much leeway. Some pleasing runs down the middle by P.Lakra and Sunil Sawant fetched the artillery men three penalty corners in five minutes- all of which went abbegging. Deadlocked 1-1 at the end of regulation time, it was the penalty shoot out that settled the issue in favour of the Hyderabad outfit 5-4. Thapar Academy boys today left too many gaps in their defence which their rivals to repeadedly took take advantage of. For SRC, Satnam scored a brace, both the goals coming of penalty corners, while the other scorers were Suman Minz and Rajpal Singh. Ranjit scored for the Sansarpur team. After a goal-less first half, Punjab powermen changed the tempo and achieved the desired result when Harwinder Singh showed fine oppurtunism in latching on to a pass from the right flank to send it home (1-0). Hawks were quick to equalise when Amandeep Singh swiftly dodged past the defense and scooped the ball over the custodian (1-1). In the shoot out, the powermen’s custodian fumbled which gave the Hawks a 4-2 verdict. |
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BSF to meet PSB in
final Jalandhar, December 23 BSF defeated Railway Ferozepore XI 2-0 and England Gymkhana managed to hold Central Industrial Security Force 2-2, while in the boy’s section Escorts Ramesh Chander Memorial Academy crushed Ropar Hawks 3-0 on the final day of pool matches. Border Security Force today played a defensive game and made beautiful moves to overcome the Ferozepore outfit. In the 11th minute Mangu Tirkey of BSF received a diagonal pass from Harbhajan Singh and made no mistake in hitting the ball into the net to open the account for his team (1-0). Marinus Lakra further increased lead in the 23rd minute through a field goal, when he dodged the Railway defenders (2-0). At the lemon break score was 2-0 in favour of BSF. In another match, England Gymkhana managed to hold CISF. At the start of the game CISF got a penalty stroke and Gurtej successfully sent ball in the box in the second minute to open the account (1-0). International Prabhjot Singh of England Gymkhana scored the equaliser in the 19th minute (1-1). Arvind of CISF again put his team in the driver’s seat by converting a penalty corner in the 28th minute (2-1). At the lemon break CISF were leading 2-1. After the breather, in the 51st minute Prabhjot Singh got a pass from his team-mate Jashpal Jutla and put ball in the box with a straight shot to score an equaliser for his team (2-2). In another match in the boys’ section ERCMA crushed Ropar Hawks by three goals as they dominated the proceedings throughout the match. ERCMA got 12 penalty corners in the game. |
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Salgaocar overcome Mahindras Mumbai, December 23 Mahindra United suffered yet another humiliating defeat in front of their home crowd and are stuck on six points from eight matches while Salgaocar increased their tally to 13 from eight matches after the win. The match turned out to be a dull and drab affair with the teams making just four good moves in the entire 90 minutes of play. In the 25th minute, Salgaocar striker Dudo Omagbemi’s floater almost beat Mahindra custodian Naseem Akhtar before the youngster did well to cover his tracks and collect the high ball cleanly. Five minutes later Mahindra mid-fielder Abhishek Yadav, who seemed to be very slow on his feet, failed to head home medio Biby Thomas lob and the teams went in to the breather without disturbing the scorers. In the 65th minute the visitors could have gone ahead but their mid-fielder Tomba Singh hit out from close range with only the rival goalkeeper to beat. However, 10 minutes later Sunday scored the match-winner after getting the ball from the mid-field. Salgaocar’s Dudo Omagbemi was given marching orders after a rough tackle for the second time in the match.
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Saras Oswal
wins Shimla, December 23 While Saras Oswal and Namrata Viswas remained in the lead in their respective positions during both the legs, Krishna Kumari incurred no penalty point during the second and final leg to move from sixth place to third place, displacing Daksha Gupta and Madhu Deshta, who were joint third at the end of first leg. |
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Gymnasts do Ambala proud Ambala, December 23 The two gymnasts today distributed sweets to celebrate their achievement at the War Heroes Memorial Stadium. They said their good performance at the recently-concluded National Games was due to hard work during training rigorous sessions. They stated that even though the competition was tough, they had performed better than others. Their colleagues observed Surekha Rana and Pooja Chauhan had been working hard for achieving their goal. “Not only are they hardworking, they are also focussed. They would practice regularly,” a gymnast said. |
X-RAYS SHOW CRACK IN ASHES URN COACH MATHAEUS TOMMY HAAS JUNIOR TT |
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Jalandhar, December 23
