ICC hits back at Bucknor

London, May 11
The International Cricket Council today hit back at Steve Bucknor for claiming that broadcasters misused technology, saying the veteran umpire was a very good example of why the game needed to rely more on TV footage.

‘Technology has helped umpires’

New Delhi: Steve Bucknor might say technology has undermined umpires, but a seasoned television producer and an active international umpire believe that it has actually enhanced the image of men in white coats.

Steve Norris, head of productions at Ten Sports, said television has shown that umpires get their decisions right more often than not while ICC International umpire K. Hariharan agreed that some technology, if not all, was much welcome.

“I often say to people: Go back 20 years to the days of run out decisions without cameras. You have to just imagine how many times players were hard done in those instances,” Norris told PTI.

Television has taken the pressure off the umpires, it has made some of the decisions so much easier.

“In general, all these years technology has only proved that umpires make the right decision, that majority of their decisions are correct.” ICC Elite umpire Bucknor, the most experienced ever having stood in 111 Tests, recently alleged that television crews doctored match pictures to favour popular batsmen and thereby show umpires in bad light.

“I am very surprised to know what Bucknor has said,” Norris said.

“I have been in this field for 20 years and I have never come across such a thing. It just doesn’t happen. There might have been technical mistakes but that is absolutely human error which batsmen, bowlers and everyone does.”

Asked to comment on Bucknor’s remark that production crews often failed to provide crucial frames, Norris said, “Normally there are 25 frames per second. What Bucknor is talking about we call between frames,” he explained.

Hariharan was cautious in his remark on Bucknor’s charge. “I have not come across such a thing but if Bucknor says, he must have had such an experience,” he said.

And the Indian welcomed ICC’s recent decision to expand the scope of technological help to umpires. “The earpiece connected to the stump microphones is really very helpul,” Hariharan said. — PTI

West Indies clinch series

Gros Islet, May 11
Undefeated half-centuries from opening batsmen Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon propelled West Indies to an overwhelming 10-wicket triumph in the fifth one-dayer against Zimbabwe under lights at the Beausejour Stadium.

Chasing a modest victory target of 153 in their allocation of 50 overs, West Indies did not lose a wicket, and Gayle had the privilege of hitting the winning runs in the first day/night ODI in the Caribbean yesterday, when he drove Prosper Utseya through extra cover for the last of his 13 fours.

Gayle also hit a six in his undefeated 95 at better than a run-a-ball to earn the man of the match award, and Chattergoon supported with eight boundaries in an unbeaten 54 from 78 balls to give West Indies an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the seven-match series.

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo and compatriot Dave Mohammed had wrecked Zimbabwe’s batting to leave West Indies their modest target.

Bravo captured three wickets for 24 runs from 9.2 overs while Mohammed collected three for 37 from 10 overs on his ODI debut, as the Zimbabwean were dismissed for 152 in 49.2 overs after choosing to bat.

Diminutive batsman Gregory Strydom cracked four fours and two sixes in the top score of 48 from 73 balls.

Zimbabwe captain Terrence Duffin gave support with a painstaking 38 and Brendon Taylor gathered 21 at close to a run-a-ball.

Gayle and Chattergoon were never troubled and carried West Indies safely to their destination.

Gayle reached his 50 when he steered Tawanda Mupariwa to third man for two in the 19th over and continued to clobber the bowling, especially left-arm spin bowler Keith Dabengwa, who he struck for his only six straight into the players’ pavilion.

Chattergoon enhanced his reputation as a player with immense potential with his dogged batting, and reached his half-century, when he played Prosper Utseya into cover for a single in the 24th over.

Zimbabwe never recovered, after Mohammed bowled Vusimuzi Sibanda for four in the 19th over to leave Zimbabwe on 48 for three.

The Zimbabweans had suffered an early setback, when opener Piet Rinke was caught at second slip off Taylor in the second over for his second duck in as many matches.

Brendon Taylor then came to the wicket and with Duffin got things moving before he was caught at mid-on off Bravo for 21 in the 16th over.

Zimbabwe continued to lose wickets steadily, but Mohammed struck two telling blows in the 40th over, when he removed Dabengwa hit wicket for seven and bowled Blessing Mahwire. also for a duck.

Strydom entered during this period and was inching his way to his half-century. adding a valuable 40 with Mupariwa for the eighth wicket, before Bravo removed them both as the last three wickets fell for no runs in the space of six balls.

West Indies enjoyed back-to-back victories by five wickets and 98 runs in the first two matches at St. John's, and an 82-run triumph last Sunday at Georgetown. The third match also scheduled for Georgetown last Saturday was cancelled because of rain. The series concludes at the weekend with a double-header at Port of Spain’s Queen’s Park Oval.

Scoreboard

Zimbabwe

Rinke c Lara b Taylor 0

Duffin run out 38

Taylor c Collymore b Bravo 21

Sibanda b Mohammed 4

Chigumbura c Bravo b Gayle 12

Strydom b Bravo 48

Dabengwa hit wicket b Mohammed 7

Mahwire b Mohammed 0

Mupariwa b Taylor 11

Utseya not out 0

Ireland b Bravo 0

Extras (lb-1, w-10) 11

Total (all out, 49.2 overs) 152

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-42, 3-48, 4-77, 5-91, 6-112, 7-112, 8-152, 9-152, 10-152.

Bowling: Collymore 9-2-17-0, Taylor 9-0-34-2, Bravo 9.2-3-24-3, Gayle 8-1-24-1, Mohammed 10-2-37-3, Samuels 4-0-15-0.

West Indies

Gayle not out 95

Chattergoon not out 54

Extras (w-4, nb-3) 7

Total (no wkt, 27.4 overs) 156

Bowling: Mahwire 4-0-19-0, Ireland 4-0-25-0, Mupariwa 5-0-32-0, Rinke 1-0-6-0, Utseya 8.4-0-37-0, Dabengwa 5-0-37-0. — AFP

England off to good start

London, May 11
England were comfortably placed at 318 for three at stumps on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka here today.

Trescothick hit a masterly 106 before he was dismissed.

Sri Lanka off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan captured his first wicket at Lord’s today.

Muralitharan dismissed Strauss for 48 with the final ball before lunch to take his overall Test haul to 612.

The England left-handers had taken full advantage of a pitch offering little to the Sri Lankan medium-pacers after stand-in captain Andrew Flintoff had won the toss and opted to bat.

England signalled their attacking intentions by leaving out batsman Ian Bell and preferring the pace and lift of debutant Sajid Mahmood to the swing off Jon Lewis.

Scoreboard

England (1st innings)

Trescotick c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 106

Strauss c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 48

Cook c Sangakkara b Maharoof 89

Pietersen not out 54

Hoggard not out 2

Extras (lb-3 nb-13 w-3) 19

Total (3 wkts, 90 overs) 318

Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-213, 
3-312.

Bowling: Vaas 25-2-77-0, Maharoof 18-1-94-1, Kulasekara 18-2-63-0, Muralitharan 27-8-69-2, Dilshan 2-0-12-0. — Reuters

Chappell raises burnout concerns

Mumbai, May 11
Admitting that excessive cricket was a matter of concern, India coach Greg Chappell today asked the BCCI not to overburden its champion players as it could lead to premature end of their careers.

The Board has clamped gag orders on players from speaking on certain issues, including burnout, to the media but the coach and the captain are free to express their views. — PTI

Pay heed to complaints of players: former greats
Ashish Shukla

Kingston (Jamaica), May 11
Do not gag them but heed the complaints of the likes of Virender Sehwag and Shahid Afridi about fears of player burnout, some leading voices in the world of cricket said today.

Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer and ex-England skipper Graham Gooch expressed the view that honest opinions of players should be listened to.

But in an interesting take on the warning given by the BCCI to vice-captain Sehwag for talking about too much cricket, former West Indian fast bowling great Michael Holding suggested that the relationship between the Board and the Indian players was that of an employer and an employee.

Ranatunga stated that excessive cricket could make players mentally stale and better pay cheque alone was not the answer for it.

“I am not sure if excessive cricket or travelling is the reason for complaint but if true, it could cause mental staleness among cricketers. Extra money alone isn’t the answer.”

Gooch, the highest run getter in England’s history, said it was time the administrators started to treat players like grown up individuals rather than pull them by the ear everytime around.

“Players are grown up, why shouldn’t they be allowed to express an honest opinion,” Gooch remarked.

“It is natural for a Virender Sehwag or a Shahid Afridi, those players from whom so much is expected of, to voice an opinion as the pressure creeps up on them,” Woolmer told PTI.

“It would be wise for all administrators to heed the players, they don’t all have to agree with them but listen at least.”

There have been tell-tale symptoms of Indian players groaning under the weight of international cricket with the likes of Sehwag voicing fears of burnout and captain Rahul Dravid demanding that players’ association be formally recognised.

Instead of sounding sympathetic, Indian Board issued gag orders on the cricketers.

Holding said the Board these days very much owned the players and were in a position to dictate to them.

“Things like what the Indian Board are doing has now become the norm unfortunately. You have to look at it in the light of an employer and an employee to some degree. If the board has the player on a retainer contract, the Board pretty much owns the player and can then dictate what they can and cannot do.”

However, Woolmer said if such signals were ignored by authorities, more and more players would start to feel the pressure similar to Sehwag.

“It is the kind of pressure that only very few understand, it is the kind of pressure that all players will start to feel more of as the game continues to expand.”

Woolmer also pointed out that the game has seen more injuries to cricketers in the last decade than at any point of the recorded history of the game.

“In the last 10 years, there have been more recorded injuries to players than ever before. This is caused simply by the increase in one-day internationals and shorter rest periods between Test matches. I guess world cricket is pushing the product almost to the utmost,” Woolmer said.

“Lack of rest periods mean that players cannot recover in time despite the scientific-based training programmes currently in use.”

Citing an example, Woolmer said during Pakistan’s forthcoming tour of England, his team would fly to Scotland on June 25, get one day to recover and practice and then play Scotland on June 27.

Woolmer said excessive cricket was the byproduct of growing television interest with players spending more time on the field than a soccer player but getting paid 10 times less!

“Because of the growing television interest and therefore the increased revenue, the TV companies have to have more cricket in order to recover the money they have outlaid.

“The players are paid better than ever before but the fact is they spend 10 times more time on the playing field than a soccer player and are paid 10 times less.”

Woolmer said because of excessive cricket, game’s superstars like Sehwag would find motivation a major problem.

“International cricket today is played at a rate similar to that of domestic county cricket and therefore motivation becomes a problem, having to raise the bar everyday as opposed to looking forward to the next series.”

“On the one hand it is good to spread the game of cricket, but on the other the danger of turning a player into a vegetable as he just walks on to one cricket field and then another without rest of motivation also seems illogical.

“The balance between doing the right thing for cricket and doing the right thing by the players is a fine line and worth the discussion with the players,” Woolmer said.

Indian Board officials have sought to allay the fears by stating that they were playing only 12 Tests and 30 one-day internationals a year as prescribed by the ICC.

However, a closer scrutiny shows it up to be a false claim. For example, India has so far played six Tests and 14 one-day internationals in the first four months of the year.

There is still a tour of the West Indies ahead (four Tests, five one-dayers), a visit to Sri Lanka in September, Champions Trophy in India in October followed by a visit to South Africa. An offshore visit to the United States is also pretty much on cards.

Indeed, from now onwards till the next World Cup in Caribbean, or in nearly next 12 months, a regular Indian player could at the most have a break of only 10 weeks. — PTI

Sehwag to cut down risky shots

Mumbai, May 11
Virender Sehwag has decided to cut down on risky shots and spend some time in the middle to give his team solid starts on the tour of the West Indies for which he is to leave with the other Indian team members early tomorrow morning.

“I had not done well against England and would try to improve in the West Indies. I am looking forward to spending some time at the wicket. I am not going to take too many risks,” said the dashing opener here today.

Sehwag said he wanted to give the team a good start on the Caribbean tour and praised the performance of youngsters like Suresh Raina for finishing some of the one-day matches well in the season just gone by.

“I want to give the team a good start. We have some good youngsters who have done well. Raina, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, Yuvraj (Singh) and (Irfan Pathan) have finished a few games for us,” he said.

Sehwag said the team was bound to miss the presence of Sachin Tendulkar who is recovering from a shoulder operation and is hoping to be available for the four-Test series to follow the one-day series in the West Indies.

“We will miss Sachin (in the one-dayers). He’s a God of cricket,” Sehwag said about the player on whom he’s modelled his batting style. — PTI

DP Azad to launch cricket academy
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 11
Cricket Dronacharya D.P. Azad will soon launch a cricket academy in Chandigarh.

To be run under the Dronacharya Sports Promoters Association, it will be known as D.P. Azad Cricket Academy.

Talking to media persons here today, D.P. Azad, who has produced a number of Test and international stars, including Kapil Dev Nikhanj, Yograj Singh, Chetan Sharma and Ashok Malhotra, said: “The need for starting a cricket coaching academy on modern and scientific lines in Chandigarh has been felt for a long time. Young cricketers, their parents and teachers have been requesting me to start an academy and impart training to budding players. I yielded to their request, especially when St Stephen’s Principal Harold Carver offered me all the facilities to establish the academy.”

Giving details of the project, Mr Azad, former Director of the Pace Bowlers Cricket Academy, a joint venture of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Sports Authority of India, said “Our main emphasis will be on inculcating the basic requirements. As I have expressed it is the wrong action, wrong holding and throw of ball, use of wrong shoulder, wrist, foot, incorrect stance, grip and back lift etc over the period which lead to injuries.”

Mr Azad said: “the academy would impart training in the age groups of 8 to 10, 10 to 12 and 12 to 14. Not more than 20 players will be accommodated in one group.”

Mr Azad will be assisted by qualified coaches.

Board and lodging facility will be provided to outstation trainees. Those interested should contact cricket coaches of St. Stephen’s School during school hours or at mobile number 9888342170 for registration.

Hendrick leads by one stroke in Asian Masters
Tribune News Service

South African Hendrick Buhrmann fired a superb six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the inaugural Aamby Valley Asian Masters at the Aamby Valley Golf Club, near Mumbai, on Thursday.

The Indian challenge in the US$ 400,000 Asian Tour event was led by the experienced Feroz Ali and young challenger Ashok Kumar who despite missing some easy birdie putts trailed the leader by a single shot and were tied for the second spot along with Australian Adam Groom and Englishman Simon Hurd.

Australian Adam Groom and England ‘s Simon Hurd, who enjoyed a terrific run of six consecutive birdies on his homeward nine, matched Ashok and Feroz Ali.

The 42-year-old Hendrick missed a par on the 16th else Hendrick could have tied the course record.

The South African who is playing in his 11th year on the Asian Tour is yet to record a win in this region.

Ashok Kumar capitalised on the par fives, going four-under on those holes. He was on the green in two, on three of the four par-fives.

The highlight was on the 12th when he crunched a six iron to two feet for a tap-in eagle.

Feroz Ali, who started on the tenth came in seven birdies and one eagle, but he also had three bogeys.

Top scores after 18 holes: Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA), 67 — Simon Hurd (Eng), Adam Groom (Aus), Firoz Ali (Ind), Ashok Kumar (Ind), 68 — Simon Griffiths (Eng), Keith Horne (RSA) 69 — Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas), Uttam Singh Mundy (Ind), Mukesh Kumar (Ind), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Luke Hickmott (Aus), Kane Webber (Aus), Corey Harris (USA), Martin Rominger (Sui), 70 — Pat Giles (Aus), Shaaban Hussein (Mas), S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind), Dinesh Kumar (Ind), Marcus Both (Aus), Barry Hume (SCO), 71 — Michael Wright (Aus), Amandeep Johl (Ind), Pornsakon Tipsanit (Tha), James Stewart (HKG), Jason King (Aus), Yasin Ali (Eng), Gurbaaz Mann (Ind), Bryan Saltus (USA), Simon Nash (Aus).