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BCCI to safeguard
players’ interests Present Aussie side not
sledging much: Sourav
The enigmatic turner from Kandy |
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Assam confident of
holding National Games Moya, Nalbandian in Rome Masters final
Churchill finish 4th
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BCCI to safeguard
players’ interests
New Delhi, May 9 Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and
Sourav Ganguly were among India’s leading cricketers who initially refused to sign the contracts with the game’s governing body, the ICC, ahead of 2003 World Cup in South Africa. After considerable controversy they signed amended contracts and the World Cup went ahead. ICC’s commercial partners, Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), rights holders for ICC tournaments till 2007, have slapped a compensation claim of Rs 220 crore on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the ground that the Indian players had not honoured their contractual obligations. But the BCCI sees no merit in the claim. Wiser by the happenings of last year, BCCI has decided to be more “cautious” when the ICC player contracts come up for review in 2005-06. “The board has to be cautious in future. It will do everything to protect the interests of the players. We cannot allow the same mistakes to be repeated,” BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya told PTI in an interview here. The BCCI has made it clear that it was opposed to certain clauses in the existing contracts and indications are that the games’ governing body may alter the contentious clause on personal endorsement during ICC events. “The Indian players have been affected by the clause on personal endorsements. It has put them in difficulty. It is difficult for others to realise the depth of the problem,” Mr Dalmiya said. “May be some players from Australia have such a problem, but other countries are not much affected,” he said. “It is time that we find a new system, a system which does not conflict with the interest of the players, so that such disputes can be avoided,” Mr Dalmiya said. Top Indian cricketers had objected to certain restrictive clauses on personal endorsements in the contracts and agreed to take part in the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and the World Cup only after the apex body made some concessions. The players mainly opposed the ambush marketing and player images clauses in the participating nations’ agreement, which arose from a $ 550 million rights deal signed by the ICC with GCC for its events up to the 2007 World Cup. Mr Dalmiya said the GCC had slapped a compensation claim of Rs 220 crore for Indian players’ failure to honour their contractual obligations but the claims would not “stand the test of law” as they were highly exaggerated. “The claims have not been withdrawn. We felt that bogus claims have been raised against us and we have brought all this to the knowledge of the ICC. “Of the Rs 220 crore claim, 10 to 15 crore was on account of England not playing Zimbabwe and New Zealand not playing Kenya,” Mr Dalmiya explained. “Our lawyers have been working and we have been able to show on paper that these claims would not stand the test of law,” he said. The BCCI chief also claimed that the GCC had not properly marketed the World Cup. “We feel that the marketing was inadequate. If proper marketing had been done, we could have got more money.”
— PTI |
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Present Aussie side not sledging much: Sourav
Kolkata, May 9 “I was in fact surprised the last time we visited Australia. The team as a whole concentrated more on the game rather than sledging. It has gone down a huge way. This Australian side does not sledge a lot like their previous teams,” Sourav said. Talking about the series in Australia he said, “We have beaten them more often in the Test series recently. But they have had the better of us in the ODIs, something we would like to change. All I can say is that they are the best team in the world, but we are not far behind them.” During the course of the discussions when the most successful Indian Test captain got really up, close and personal, Sourav said, “developing the team into a winning side was a gradual process and coach John Wright, physio Andrew Leipus and trainer Gregory Allan King had big roles to play. We had a bunch of talented players both old and new and we are happy to have transformed into a winning side.” Asked what was the motivation, he said, “Playing for India is motivation enough. The other yardstick is how desperately you want to succeed. If they don’t deliver they will no longer be a part of the team. That is also a huge motivation.” Sourav was also all praise for Pakistani pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Sami. “They are fantastic bowlers. Its not easy to play them when they keep on bowling at you at 90 mph.” On his comments that he would pull the chain to stop the Rawalpindi Express, Sourav said, “I was asked how do you plan to stop the Rawalpindi Express. It was a press conference and I said by pulling the chain. Trains are stopped by pulling the chain, isn't it. It was meant to be in lighter vein and nothing should be read into it.” Sourav also praised rookie keeper Parthiv Patel for his batting prowess. —UNI
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ICC to expand game to 100 countries
Lahore, May 9 “Cricket is a unique sport and the ICC aims to develop this game into a truly global sport by fostering the game in the ICC’s existing member countries, while also attracting new affiliate members,” ICC president Ehsan Mani said. The ICC currently has enrolled 89 countries — 10 full members, 27 associate members and 52 affiliate members, but the world’s governing body wants to expand the game to 100 countries. “That is our target. As well as increasing the number of playing countries, the ICC is targeting an improvement in the playing standards of its associate and affiliate members,” Mani told an international cricket seminar organised by the Asian Cricket Council. Only four countries — Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh — were given Test status in the last 52 years. Bangladesh has struggled to compete against the other nine Test playing countries and has drawn just two Test matches out of 28 since gaining Test status in 2000. “Bangladesh has faced a challenging time since its entry into Test cricket. The ICC has been working very closely with the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the ACC to assist in the high performance development of the game in Bangladesh,” Mani said. Mani said he expected six associate member countries to join the 10 full members before the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. Associate member Kenya qualified for the semi-finals in last year’s World Cup in South Africa, but its application for full membership was deferred until 2005. “Kenya wants to play more one-day internationals and we have allocated an extra half a million dollars to them to further improve the quality of their game,” Mani said. “We saw from the performance of not only Kenya, but Canada, Holland and Namibia (in the last World Cup) just how the game is moving ahead outside the Test playing countries. This has enabled the ICC to open the next world cup to more nations than ever before,” Mani said. The ICC will spend $ 100 million for the development of cricket between 2000 and 2007, half of which has been allocated to Asia. “The game requires resources to support the development initiatives around the world,” Mani said.
—AP
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The enigmatic turner from Kandy Muttiah Muralitharan has taken more Test wickets than anyone in history. When he retires, he will leave a mark that will not be surpassed because it is improbable that any other bowler in the post-modern era will have the lasting power to breach the 700-wicket mark. Till Dennis Lillee passed Lance Gibbs 309 wickets, the Test bowling record was, briefly, with a spinner. It is extraordinary that a spinner should now promise to hold the record forever in an increasingly pace bowling-oriented game. But then Murali is not an ordinary spinner in any sense of the term. Of course, a mental asterisk will be placed next to his achievement every time his name crops up in a debate on over-arm bowling which has been the norm in cricket for well over a century. That will have a lot to do with his wristy and
elbow bowling action which, regardless of what the analysts may say, does not pass muster. But then Courtney Walsh is said to have chucked his bouncer, at least that is what many batsmen who faced him whispered about the Jamaican in whose case no bio-mechanical fuss was, however, made. Fortunately for him, Walsh was not humiliated with several sensor pads placed all over his body as if he were some creature out of a sci-fi film. We quote statistics for everything, but not for Murali’s achievement which I find very strange. Here is a spinner who has taken his Test wickets at an average a fraction below 23. Twenty-five runs per wicket is a figure that only fast bowlers have bettered in history. Of the five fast bowlers among the seven men who have passed the 400-wicket mark in Tests, only Richard Hadlee and Curtly Ambrose have a better average cost per wicket figure. Even Shane Warne, freely acknowledged to be the finest slow bowler in history and which saw him being voted as one of the five cricketers of the 20th century, takes his wickets at a cost just above 25 runs. Such has been the success rate of Murali and Warne even in what is now being thought of as another golden age of batting that we have to hand it to them not only for being such great bowlers but also great characters who have withstood the ravages of the prying age and media hype. What defines Warne and Murali is their bowling action. Warnes has always been completely legitimate while Murali’s ‘doosra’ has brought in, not entirely without reason, a further cloud of suspicion. Let’s not get sidetracked on racial issues and umpire Darrell Hair’s predilections here. It is risible that an expert like Foster should say that while Murali has been measured, in simulated conditions, to exceed the legal limit of bowling arm straightening by 200 per cent or more, it is fine because more detailed studies have to be made of spinners bowling actions. I believe Foster was asked to study Murali’s doosra and report the findings and not hand out ridiculous recommendations with regard to how the bowler can be corrected. This is a bit like saying someone is a little pregnant. The simple truth is Murali bends the rules when he unbends his bowling arm to bowl the ‘doosra’. Murali continues to bowl the wapish leg spinner that turns almost as much as his off breaks which he will turn even on tarmac. So long as he does bowl the other one with the connivance or otherwise of an ICC which is petrified of threats of legal action by the Sri Lankans, the legitimacy of Murali’s world record will be questioned.
— UNI |
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Murali “should be cherished, not admonished”
New Delhi, May 9 Muralitharan went past West Indian paceman Courtney Walsh’s tally of 519 wickets to become the highest Test wicket taker during Sri Lanka’s crushing defeat of Zimbabwe at Harare yesterday. But the spin wizard’s monumental feat has been over shadowed by the raging debate over the legality of his bowling action and the verdict on his away going delivery for which he has been reported is still awaited. To some extent, the on-going dispute between Zimbabwe’s cricket administrators and the rebelling white players had also impacted the spectator turn-out at the Harare Sports Club, with only 300 reportedly present to witness Muralitharan’s achievement. Nevertheless, pundits and fellow cricketers have hailed the
office as “the greatest”, although there were some crying foul of the phenomenal bowler. Indian legend Erapalli Prasanna said he was proud because a spinner had finally won the race against fast bowlers. “I am delighted spinners can now be placed on a par with fast bowlers. That spinners are setting targets for pacers is highly satisfying.” “It caused a lot of pain to hear that spinners have no role to play in modern cricket. People started saying cricket lacks quality spinners. It’s a matter of great pride that Murali and Shane Warne’s achievements will be widely talked about now,” Prasanna said. Contemporary leg spinner Anil Kumble predicted Murali could very well dream of 800 Test scalps. “I am sure he won’t stop at this (521 wickets). He is probably aiming at 800,” said the Indian who himself is just three wickets away from the 400 mark. Back home in Sri Lanka, the media hailed their hero as the numero uno. “Had Muralitharan been a boxer like Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight champion, he would have proclaimed to the world in typical Ali style: ‘I am the greatest’,” wrote Sa’adi Thawfeeq in the Sunday Observer, Colombo. Kevin Mitchell, writing in The Observer, London, compared Muralitharan with the slow bowling greats of the past and pricked holes in anti-Murali arguments. “Whatever the earnest men of some Test players, cricket is a game best played with a smile and a flourish. Give me Gower before Boycott, Sehwag ahead of Ganguly. And most definitely give me Muttiah Muralitharan above his army of mean-spirited critics,” Mitchell said. The writer attacked the very foundation of the law dealing with illegal deliveries. “Why is chucking inherently wrong? Because the rule-makers, who have always sided with batsmen, say it is,” Mitchell said. “Chucking is an emotive word, employed by people who misguidedly imagine they are the guardians of cricket’s long-held virtues,” Mitchell wrote. “Nonsense. Once, bowling round-arm was illegal. So, too, was bowling overarm. The action has evolved, not always smoothly and often with a lot of arguing. “He is unquestionably a genius and should be cherished, not admonished. “He is a spin bowler to stand comparison with the acknowledged masters of the art: Wilfred Rhodes, Bill O’Reilly, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and his contemporary, Shane Warne.” Reputed English cricket writer Scyld Berry, one of the few reporting the Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe series, made a statistical comparison between Muralitharan and Warne, who has 517 wickets. “Statistically the off-spinner and leg-spinner have much in common. Both have bowled over 30,000 balls in Test cricket; though Murali averages 5.8 wickets per Test, and Warne 4.7, they have similar strike rates per balls bowled: one wicket every 58 balls for Murali, and every 59 for Warne,” Berry wrote in the Daily Telegraph, London. Former Australian captain and umpire Barry Jarman though sounded the jarring note. “It makes a joke of the game - it makes me sick talking about it,” Jarman told The Daily Telegraph, Sydney. “Everyone knows he bowls illegally ... He is a lot worse than the University of Western Australia people reckon he is.”
— PTI |
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Greatest moment after ’96 win: Dias
Bangalore, May 9 “It is the greatest achievement for a cricketer. For Sri Lanka, it is a fantastic moment....the World Cup win in 1996 and Murali breaking the world record. They are the greatest moments. We are proud to be Sri Lankans”, Dias told PTI here. Muralitharan took two wickets for 37 runs against Zimbabwe at Harare yesterday to surpass the record of West Indies’ Courtney Walsh, who has taken 519 wickets. Expressing confidence that the 32-year-old bowler could carry on for another seven years, Dias said the spin wizard should get 1000 wickets. Describing Muralitharan as a determined, committed and dedicated cricketer, Dias said: “I am sure he will go on and on because that’s his life. He enjoys bowling and just wants to be in the centre and get going. “He can easily go on for six-seven years. He likes to take wickets and Sri Lanka needs his service. I think he will go up to 1000 wickets. In the next six-seven years, he could play some 60 Tests and take another 500 wickets”. Terming Muralitharan a genius, Dias said the off-spinner is the best bowler in the world. “No one can match him. For me, he is a genius. There is no bowler in the world like Murali”, said Dias, who played in his country’s inaugural Test against England at Colombo in 1982. “I remember facing him when he was a young kid and when I was at my peak. As a school boy he got me out to the second ball. He still continues in the same way...getting batsmen out between the bat and pad”, said the former right-handed stylish batsman. Dias, who played in 20 Tests and scored 1,285 runs, is currently the coach of the Nepal cricket team. Members of the team are in the city to play a few practice matches as part of preparations for the ACC Trophy in Malaysia from June 12 to 22. — PTI
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Murali costliest against India
New Delhi, May 9 For each of the 51 wickets he has taken against India in 12 matches, Muralitharan has given away 32.94 runs compared to 10.45 for each Bangladeshi wicket or 16.41 for each Zimbabwean batsman snared by him. Each wicket against Australia has cost him 31.42 runs while against Pakistan he has an average of 23.85. His average against other Test playing nations are — England (20.73), New Zealand (23.69), South Africa (22.68) and West Indies (19.60). Muralitharan became the highest wicket taker in Test history when he took two for 37 in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Harare yesterday surpassing West Indies’ fast bowler Courtney Walsh’s record of 519 wickets. The off-spinner achieved the milestone in just 89 matches while Walsh had taken 132 Tests for his tally. Australian leg- spinner Shane Warne has 517 scalps to his credit from 110 matches so far. Although statistically the spin wizards have much in common, the off-spinner has a better wicket-taking record per Test — Murali averages 5.8 wickets per Test and Warne 4.7. The similarities — both have bowled over 30,000 balls in Test cricket and their strike rates is almost same — one wicket in every 58 balls for Murali and one in every 59 for Warne. Muralitharan, who turned 32 last month, was the youngest and fastest (87 Tests) to reach the 500-mark in a home series against Australia in March. The Sri Lankan had held twin world records of 44 hauls of five or more wickets in a Test innings and 13 of 10 or more in a match. Muralitharan, who made his Test debut in 1992-93 against Australia at Colombo, recorded his best bowling figure of nine for 51 against Zimbabwe at Kandy two years back. His best against India is 8 for 87 at Colombo in 2001. Muralitharan’s country-wise break-up of wickets:
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Shoaib charms
cancer patients Lahore, May 9 During his two-hour visit at the hospital yesterday, Shoaib spent time with the patients and played cricket with them to cheer up their otherwise dull life. The children sported an ecstatic look as Shoaib took pictures with them and doled out autographs. Talking to mediamen during the visit, Shoaib said: “The children need our attention” and vowed to play his part whenever chances came his way. He also appealed to his affluent fans to generously donate money to fight the disease.
— UNI
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Schumacher cruises to Spanish GP win
Barcelona, May 9 The composed victory took the German driver’s season-opening tally of wins to five and left him needing just one more victory, at the next race in Monaco, to beat Nigel Mansell’s 1992 record season-opening performance. And it never looked in doubt as he recovered from losing the lead at the start to head home Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello to help secure the Italian team’s third one-two of the season. Their rivals were left trailing in their wake and it was Jarno Trulli, and Renault, who were closest this time as they claimed the final podium place behind the Ferrari pair. He finished a lonely race 32.2 secs behind race winner Schumacher, who eased off in the final laps, and just ahead of home favourite Fernando Alonso to claim his first podium of the season and cement Renault’s place as ‘best of the rest’. Schumacher’s victory took him 18 points clear of Barrichello with Briton Jenson Button still third in the championship. Ferrari are now 40 points ahead of Renault with BAR-Honda a further 10 points back in third. —AFP
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Assam confident of holding National Games
Guwahati, May 9 Meanwhile, secretary of Assam Olympic Association(AOA) Mukut Medhi has threatened to commit self-immolation if the games do not start on time. Mr Medhi complained that the AOA had not been receiving the requisite funds. “We are confident of holding it on schedule once we get the requisite funds,” he said. The National Games are slated to begin here on November 23, 2005 with more than 10,000 athletes and sportspersons from various states vying for top honours in 29 disciplines. Capt Bordoloi, who accompanied a group of mediapersons to different venues being prepared for the games, emphasised that hectic infrastructural and developmental works were continuing on a war footing so that the games could be held on its scheduled date. Capt Bordoloi said the main athletics stadium, indoor stadium and an aquatics complex were being constructed on a huge plot of land at Sarusajai on the southern fringe of the city. The cost of the land had been estimated at Rs 11.21 crore and the state government had already provided Rs 10 crore from its fund. He said steps were also being taken for acquisition of 277 bighas of land at Tapessia in Sonapur and Kamarkuchi. Replying to a question regarding fund mobilisation, Capt Bordoloi said: “We are supposed to get the funds from the Planning Commission, state government, Donor, Sports Ministry and NEC. He said the state government was yet to release Rs 22 crore that they got from Donor. Another 25 crore was expected from the Planning Commission by next year, Capt Bordoloi added. He said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had already constituted a core committee headed by Assam Additional Chief Secretary C. Babu Rajeeb recently to monitor the progress of infrastructural and developmental activities on a day to-day-basis for making the game a success. — UNI
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Moya, Nalbandian in Rome Masters final
Rome, May 9 Moya, who had only lost once to Zabaleta in seven meetings, served supremely and his ferocious forehand rarely let him down as he wrapped up the match in 77 minutes at the Foro Italico. The 27-year-old Spaniard made the breakthrough in the sixth game, breaking the unseeded Zabaleta before closing out the set without breaking sweat. And Moya continued his dominance in the second, breaking in the seventh game before punishing Zabaleta’s weak serve once more to complete the job. Moya, who had never gone beyond the quarter-final before in his previous eight appearances in Rome, was at a loss to explain why he hadn’t done better in the Italian capital. “I don’t know why I have struggled here, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before my luck changed,” he said. “I like it here. I like the court, I like the tournament and I like the people.” “It’s been a great week for me and my confidence has grown with every match. “I’m looking forward to the final and I will try to go out there and enjoy myself.” — AFP
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Margao, May 9 With this win, Churchill, who have concluded their league engagements, have finished with 36 points from 22 matches ensuring a fourth place finish in the final standings. On the other hand, having already bagged the title after taking unbeatable lead, East Bengal, which was hit hard with injuries to their key players this time round, remained on 46 points from 21 matches. After a barren first half, Churchill, who held more of the exchanges and scoring chances, especially in the second half, scored the all important goal in the 75th minute. It was a diagonal pass by Rajesh Meetei from the left to Santa Singh, who essayed an angular shot that beat keeper Sangram Mukherjee, to find the far post. With a one man advantage in the entire second half after referee K Shankar gave East Bengal’s Mike Okoro marching order in the dying minute of the first half for abusive language, Churchill could have led by a bigger margin had they utilised the chances that came their way. Yusif Yakubu, the current leading scorer, was presented three scoring chances but was unlucky as his solo effort was thrawted by the crossbar and later defender Shasty Duley made a goal line save. PTI
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Indian Skipper Sourav Ganguly feels that the current Australian team is not much of a sledger and instead concentrates more on playing the game
hard. The Indian captain, during an interview to a private FM channel in the city last night, said: “Sledging has gone down to a great extent with the Australian team.”
Muttiah Muralitharan has taken more Test wickets than anyone in history. When he retires, he will leave a mark that will not be surpassed because it is improbable that any other bowler in the post-modern era will have the lasting power to breach the 700-wicket mark.
