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India bank on experience,
England on youth
Indians can lift their game: Reid
Pathan banking on English experience
Vaughan pins hopes on Harmison
An ‘Indian’ in English side
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China gives red carpet welcome to athletes
Thai medallists get five-star treatment
Subroto Cup from today
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India bank on experience, England on youth
Nottingham, August 31 England have gone for a complete reliance on youngsters while India is sticking to its plan even in the face of depressing outcomes — believing that form is temporary and class is permanent. After a disastrous performance in the triangular one-day series this summer when they won only one of their six games against the West Indies and New Zealand, England have sacked five and infused fresh blood which, they feel, would serve them well in the 2007 World Cup. India, on the other hand, despite the setbacks in Sri Lanka and Holland, are still going with the tried and tested rather than blood youngsters like Dinesh Karthik of Tamil Nadu who was a mere passenger in Holland and might find himself in a similar role in England. England have put their faith in the likes of Gareth Batty, Alex Wharf, Anthony McGrath and Andrew Strauss as they look to build the nucleus of the new side. It is largely an inexperienced side despite the presence of Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, explosive allrounder Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough and Ashley Giles. But the promise of fast bowlers Steve Harmison and James Anderson gives them hope they could settle the insult of the NatWest Trophy of 2002 when India lost only one game to them and successfully chased 326 in the final at Lord’s. Much has changed since then as India have dipped in form in one-day cricket despite reaching the final of the 2003 World Cup. However, they remain a formidable Test squad. England, similarly, have made rapid strides in Test cricket and have scorelines such as 3-0, 3-0 and 4-0 from their last three series — yet in one-day cricket they also continue to flounder. England have had a disastrous year in one-day cricket when they could win only two games from seven in the West Indies and then at home returned a score of 1-4 from six NatWest games. Harmison and Anderson, despite at their potential best in Tests, have gone for runs in one-day cricket and the presence of old warhorse Darren Gough is expected to rein in the young colts. Gough’s performance this summer, in the twilight of his career, has been exemplary as the Yorkshire veteran has an economy rate of less than five per over. In batting, Vaughan and Trescothick are proven performers and the induction of fresh blood like Andrew Strauss has been most welcome. Strauss already has one century and three fifties from his short career of 11 matches and his strike rate of 75-plus from 100 balls faced is not bad either. Then there is Flintoff, who is acquiring the reputation of a one-man army. Wicketkeeper-batsman Geraint Jones and Paul Collingwood are brisk scorers in all form of cricket. Vikram Solanki might not have had much runs under his belt this season but he remains electric in the field. India, on the other hand, is banking on its batting stars to carry the day. Despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Indians are rich in batting wealth. Most of them carry an injured pride from recent matches and would like to recapture their batting glory. Tendulkar’s absence also gives a chance to skipper Sourav Ganguly to take position as opener and Laxman, too, moves up the ladder at number three. Both Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid have much to play for in the coming weeks — the same is the case with Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. The bowlers once again have been placed in the hands of experienced coach Bruce Reid — even though his is an ad-hoc arrangement. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble will again vie for the spinner’s slot in the team. As of now, Laxmipathy Balaji, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra look certain starters. Teams (from): England : Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones, Anthony McGrath, Gareth Batty, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, James Anderson, Steve Harmison, Alex Wharf and Ashley Giles. India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Rohan Gavaskar, Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. |
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Indians can lift their game: Reid
Trent Bridge, August 31 “They came out of a break after the superb showing in Australia and Pakistan and immediately it is not easy to get back into groove,” said former Australian seamer Reid, whose services the Indians have sought to get their bowling combination sorted out. “But they have a couple of big tournaments in England and you would find the intensity would lift. They would be back where they were in Australia and Pakistan.” Reid’s confidence should serve as a good boost to the Indians who are desperate to regain their vaunted form and have been set back by the loss of batting ace Sachin Tendulkar for the three-match series against England due to an elbow injury. By what Reid saw of the Indian fast bowlers in the past two days, the former left-arm paceman is pleased with the progress Irfan Pathan has made and feels Laxmipathy Balaji has gone a “little away” from what he had adviced the young Tamil Nadu fast bowler in Australia. “Irfan is okay but Balaji has tried out a few things. They are very young and have got enormous talent. Young boys always try and change a few things and talk to other people as well.” “They are learning and trying to do what is best for them. Between my knowledge and theirs, we try to work out what is best for them.” Reid is also pleased by what he has seen of Ashish Nehra and feels the Delhi left-arm medium-pacer has refined his action since he last saw him in Australia. “Nehra looks better than what he did in Australia. He has got over a couple of niggles and is getting through to the crease better. Hopefully he can now bowl well again. “So we should make a good unit with a couple of left-arm pacemen and a couple of right
armers.” Reid said in his association with the team in the past two days, he had impressed on them to try and bowl as many slower deliveries and yorkers as possible. “Obviously, they are going to play a major role, especially in the last 10 overs when it is crucial that these deliveries come into play.” Reid said even though his stint with the Indians would be interrupted during the NatWest Challenge because of his commitment with Hampshire where he is coaching, he should be available full time to them during the Champions Trophy. “But I am there for the Champions Trophy and we could have a regular arrangement in future,” he said.
— PTI |
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Pathan banking on English experience
Trent Bridge (England), August 31 “Of course the length here is different but this is not the first time I am making a trip to England. This is my fourth trip and I understand the conditions,” said Pathan who has emerged as India’s spearhead and is expected to revel in conditions ideal for swing bowling. It was Pathan’s trip to England as an under-19 cricketer in 2003 which brought him into national consciousness and subsequently pushed him into the bigger league of international cricket. India need that pep from their bowlers as most of the major batsmen are in the middle of a slump coming into these two crucial tournaments in England. But Pathan does not think that the failure of the batsmen in the team is putting extra pressure on the bowlers. “Batting failures or not, as bowlers we have our targets in mind. In any case, batting failures don’t affect me as I concentrate on the stuff which I have to perform,” said the Baroda
bowler. Pathan welcomed the return of Bruce Reid as bowling coach and said even the short time that the Australian has been with the team in the last couple of days has helped him considerably. “His concentration was on action and it always helps my bowling when I keep my action simple,” said
Pathan. “He might be with us for only a few days before the start of the NatWest Challenge but it all depends on the interest you show. We learn a lot from him. It’s all a matter of what frame of mind you are in.” In the absence of an injured Zaheer Khan, Pathan is the spearhead of the attack but instead of being daunted by the responsibility, the young Baroda left-arm paceman is revelling in it. “When you are trusted with the new ball and the responsibility which comes with, it actually gives me confidence and it is not a burden,” he said. India are to play three one-day internationals against hosts England for the NatWest Challenge (September 1-5)
before starting their engagements in the Champions Trophy beginning on September 10.
— PTI |
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Vaughan pins hopes on Harmison
Trent Bridge, August 31 "Over the last one year he has turned out to be a real world class performer. He showed in the summer that he is going to be a big threat with the white ball. If he gets it right, I am pretty positive he could put the Indian batsmen under some pressure," remarked Vaughan after his side's gruelling practice session here today. Vaughan, however, is not ready to take it easy against the Indians, who according to him still have a batting side as good as any in the world, notwithstanding their slump in the two recent tournaments in Sri Lanka and in Holland. "Their records speak for themselves, they have a huge amount of experience. They are very exciting to play against. We need to make early inroads to find any weakness in their batting." Skipper Sourav Ganguly told reporters that the team needed to look at what it did well in the last two seasons, post the famous NatWest Trophy final victory over England at Lords rather than let the dismal failure of a few games affect its confidence. “It is just a mindset really and I am sure we will draw inspiration for our good performances and deliver the goods here. England has been playing some outstanding cricket in the Tests and we have to play well to beat it,’’ he said, hoping that the good batting surface at Trent Bridge will facilitate his batsmen’s return to middling form. Ganguly brushed aside suggestions that the team needed to rework its strategy a bit. “The seven-batsman formula has worked well for us and we have won many games because we have chosen to add depth to the batting by including an extra batsman. Remember, we dont have genuine allrounders like some other sides do,’’ he said. The Indian captain was clear that Rahul Dravid would continue to keep wickets and that Rohan Gavaskar would get a look-in as the specialist batsman ahead of reserve stumper Dinesh Kaarthick. “Dinesh is here only as a cover for Rahul,’’ he said. “We have to do this because we dont seem to be finding quality allrounders in our domestic cricket.’’ Meanwhile, England captain Michael Vaughan hoped his team would carry some of its confidence from the Tests to the one-day game as well. “We are playing one of the best one-day teams in the world. Hopefully, we will have learnt from our mistakes (during the NatWest Series against the West Indies and New Zealand),’’ he said.
— PTI, UNI
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An ‘Indian’ in English side
London, August 31 For someone who did not step out of Rajasthan for the first eight years of his life, Vikram, however, considers himself no less English and his adopted country greeted him as potentially “a right-handed David Gower”. The 28-year old cricketer hit a crafty ODI ton against South Africa at the Oval but was later dropped for the tour to the Caribbean. Recalling his childhood days, Vikram said: “For years there (Udaipur) was no cinema in the town. One guy had a video recorder and charged people to sit in his house watching videos, and that was all there was. But I played loads of sport. I taught myself to ride a bike. I became very good at roller-skating. And I played cricket. My mother would tie her sari up and bowl to me for an hour in the garden, as a reward for doing all my schoolwork.” Talking about his parents, Vikram said: “It would make a great Bollywood script.” His mother, Florabel Petula Lawford, wears a sari and is a devout Hindu. She grew up in the sub-continent and in her persuit to learn Hindi, she fell in love with her teacher Vijay Singh Solanki and they eventually married. Talking about his international debut against South Africa in Bloemfontein, Vikram said: “I was so proud to wear that England blazer. It was what I had dreamt of.” “I was going in at four and I didn’t bat. Nasser (Hussain) and Knighty (Nick Knight) knocked them off and we won by nine wickets. And I fielded down at third man, which was strange, because for Worcester I had always fielded close in. I didn’t think I was automatically going to be in the ring, but even so, I had never fielded at third man before.” When asked about his dreams of earning a Test cap as well, the cricketer, hailed as one of the most naturally gifted British strokeplayers, said: “I’ve made the mistake in the past of looking too far ahead, and it’s come back and bit me hard. Without wanting to fall back on clichis, without saying I’m taking every day as it comes, that’s just what I’m doing.”
— UNI |
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Lanka complete 5-0 sweep
Colombo, August 31 With this win, Sri Lanka swept the series 5-0. Batting first, Sri Lanka amassed 308 runs losing eight wickets in 50 overs after South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat first on a pitch that favoured strokeplay. Later, South Africa was dismissed for 259 runs in 48.1 overs helped by a superb 5 for 61 from legspinner Upul Chandana. South Africa lost out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs with the total on 11, bowled off the inside edge by left-arm seamer Nuwan Zoysa. Smith showed promise with a well-compiled 25, hitting three fours, but fell run out to a sharp throw from Chandana at deep square-leg when he attempted a second run. Kallis and Jacques Rudolph joined at the departure of Smith and added fighting 114 runs in 137 balls for the third wicket scoring with singles and two and hitting loose balls to the boundary. South Africa needed to score at a rate of nine runs per over at the end of 35 overs when Rudolph came out to hit Chandana and was caught by Tillekeratne Dilshan at short mid-on for 48 runs. Rudolph faced 60 balls for his runs which included two fours. Mark Boucher made a quick 24 runs off 19 balls before being stumped by Kumar Sangakkara off Chandana. He hit two fours and a six. Kallis departed after making 101 runs, his 13th one-day century, when he top-edged a sweep against Chandana to give Kumar Sangakkara an easy catch. Trying to increase the scoring rate, South Africa lost their last five wickets for 49 runs. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Gunawardene b Pollock 0 Jayasuriya c Gibbs b Smith 79 Jayantha c Boucher b Klusener 51 Sangakkara c Kallis b Langeveldt 72 Jayawardene lbw b Langeveldt 39 Dilshan b Langeveldt 18 U Chandana b Pollock 12 Lokuarachchi run out 4 Maharoof not out 5 Zoysa not out 1 Extras
(lb-11, w-12, nb-4) 27 Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 308 FoWs:
1-0, 2-125, 3-164, 4-248, 5-279, 6-295, 7-302, 8-303 Bowling: Pollock 10-0-58-2, Ntini 6-1-36-0, Langeveldt 7-0-31-3, Smith 7-0-48-1, Boje 9-1-41-0, Klusener 6-0-42-1, Duminy 2-0-10-0, Kallis 3-0-31-0. South Africa: Smith run out 25 Gibbs b Zoysa 6 Kallis c Sangakkara b Chandana 101 Rudoplph c Dilshan b Chandana 48 Boucher st Sangakkara b Pollock c Lokuarachchi b Jayasuriya 11 Duminy c Gunawardene b Chandana 0 Klusener c Chandana b Boje not out 21 Langeveldt c Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 2 Ntini c sub b Chandana 7 Extras
(b-1, lb-3, w-6) 10 Total (all out in 48.1 overs) 259 FoWs:
1-11, 2-59, 3-173, 4-210, 5-221, 6-222, 7-225, 8-239, 9-242. Bowling:
Zoysa 8-0-25-1, Maharoof 6-0-42-0, Dilshan 5.5-0-30-0, Jayasuriya 10-0-48-3, Lokuarachchi 6-0-29-0, Herath 3-0-19-0, Chandana 9.1-0-61-5, Jayantha 0.1-0-1-0.
—AP |
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Serena, Federer in second round
New York, August 31 Williams made quick work of Kleinova, taking just 53 minutes to finish off the 26-year-old from the Czech Republic in front 23,000 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday. “I think everyone out here would prefer to win all their matches really easy,” Williams said. “I know I do. It saves my energy.” There were no major upsets on opening day of the $ 17.8 million Grand Slam event as men’s top seed Roger Federer hammered out a 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 win over 2002 French Open champ Albert Costa and sixth seed Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-2. Williams advances to the second round where she will square off with American countrywoman Lindsay Lee-Waters. The 22-year-old Williams had more winners (35-3) and aces (7-0) than Kleinova and won 83 per cent of her first serve points. “I am finally getting to a point where I’m actually playing better and focussing better,” Williams said. “I think I performed at a decent level.” This was Williams’ first singles match in a month as she embarks on a mission to reemerge as the best female player in the world. “This (US Open) is my favourite (Grand Slam tournament) because its the first one I ever won,” she said. Williams, who has won this event twice before (2002, 1999), skipped last year’s US Open after undergoing surgery to repair a damaged left knee that kept her sidelined until March. With both Serena and her sister Venus absent due to injuries, Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne captured the 2003 title. Serena made a last-minute decision to pull out of the Athens Olympics but said her knee started feeling better the day after she decided not to get on a plane to Europe. Asked how her knee felt during Monday’s match, she said, “I am feeling pretty good out there.” Serena, who lately has been spending more time talking about what she plans to wear on the court than how she plans to beat her opponents, hasn’t won a major in over a year. Yesterday, she warmed up with a pair of knee-high black boots but decided to discard them for a regular pair of sneakers in the match. “It is like a rebel look. I am being really rebellious,” she said. Federer avenged one of his few losses in 2004 by defeating Spain’s Costa in the first round.
— AFP
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China gives red carpet welcome to athletes
Beijing, August 31 A military brass band struck up a rousing tune as the 245 athletes stepped off the plane and shook hands with Li Changchun, a senior Communist Party leader. Some, including Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan, were given bouquets of flowers. Scores of fans dressed in China’s national colours of red and yellow congregated on the tarmac and waved banners and small flags, some jumping for joy. At the terminal, they mobbed the athletes for autographs. “I felt the support of 1.3 billion people at the games,” Hu Jia, gold medal winner in diving, told Central China Television. Hurdles star Liu Xiang — the first Chinese man to win gold at an Olympic track event — grinned broadly as he talked to reporters. “This is a breakthrough and a miracle,” Liu said. “I’m going to maintain this momentum.” China won a best-ever 32 gold medals at the Athens games, second only to the USA. It far exceeded sports officials’ stated hopes for about 20 gold medals. “Now I can say proudly that we have fulfilled our pre-games goal in a perfect way,” Yuan Weimin, head of the Chinese delegation, was quoted as saying in the China Daily newspaper. The country’s Olympics-mad government, which will host the 2008 summer games, has urged all Chinese to learn from the athletes’ winning ways. “The motherland is proud of them and the people of the capital also feel proud,” Liu Qi, president of Beijing’s Olympics organising committee, told reporters at a ceremony to welcome the Olympic flag to the city. The folded flag was brought in by four athletes, then unfurled to applause. A banner in the room read: “Welcome the Olympic flag, do a good Beijing Olympics.” Feng Kun, captain of the winning women’s volleyball team, spoke on the athletes’ behalf. She recounted all medals that China won and thanked the country and its people and th e leaders for their support. “These results are the product of the concern of the party and government and of the strong support of society,” she said. “They do not just belong to the individual athletes who won the medals, but also to the motherland and the people.” Even basketball superstar Yao Ming — criticised by Chinese sports officials for expressing disappointment with the team’s loss in its debut game — struck an optimistic note on his return. “Through this experience, we have noticed the gaps between us and the other teams,” said Yao, wearing wraparound sunglasses in the bright morning sun. “We have to learn from those precious experiences. We have four more years to prepare for 2008.”
— AP |
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Thai medallists get five-star treatment
Bangkok, August 31 Thailand won eight medals — three gold, one silver and four bronze medals — at this year’s games in Greece, the best performance to date for the Asian kingdom. The first gold medal was won by woman weightlifter Udomporn Polsak, the first Thai woman to win an Olympic medal. Three other female weightlifters, Pawina Thongsuk, Wandee Kameaim and Aree Wiratthaworn, won a gold and two bronze medals, respectively. Thailand’s previous two Olympic gold medals, won at the Atlanta and Sydney games, were all won in men’s boxing. In Athens, Manus Boonjamnong won the gold in the light welterweight division, while Worapoj Petchkoom won the silver in the bantamweight and Suriya Prasathinphimai won the bronze. Yaowapa Boorapolchai won the bronze in women’s taekwando. All eight medallists were driven in a convoy of convertibles, including classic Buicks, Mercedes Benzs and a purple Rolls Royce, from the Royal Queen’s Park Hotel to Government House.
— DPA |
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Subroto Cup from today
New Delhi, August 31 Twentysix teams in the under-17 section and 26 teams in the under-14 section, including a school team from Bangladesh, are participating in the tournament. Air Marshal H.S. Garkal, who is the vice-chairman of the Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society, will be the chief guest. Aero modelling, sky-diving and yoga will feature the gala opening ceremony.
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