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Flight of the Pigeon
Australian paceman Glenn McGrath addresses a press conference in Melbourne on Saturday. — AFP
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Kanika Minocha (left) and Irina Brar with their trophies they won in the Malaysia Truly Asia Ladies Classic 2006 at the Panchkula Golf Club on Saturday.
— Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan
Flashback
Chandigarh eves register win
Cops to face Shers in final
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Flight of the Pigeon
Melbourne, December 23 The 36-year-old paceman’s announcement that he would not play any more Tests after the current Ashes series brings the curtains down on the career of one of the game’s all-time great bowlers, only two days after another bowling legend Shane Warne said he would not play any international cricket after the Ashes series in which two more Tests are to be played. Out of his 555 Test wickets in 122 matches, McGrath accounted for 51 Indian batsmen in 11 Tests, getting the scalp of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar six times in their much-hyped duels. In one-dayers against India, he took 34 wickets in 25 matches. Nicknamed Pigeon, McGrath is third on the list of all-time wicket-takers behind only Warne (699) and Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (674). McGrath, who had only yesterday dismissed reports of an impending retirement, made known his decision after a training session here ahead of the fourth Ashes Test starting on December 26. “It’s probably a perfect or fitting ending. It’s only been the last few games that I’ve really thought about it.” “To me it feels like the right time to go and I’ve trusted my instinct in the past and I feel it’s time to trust it again,” McGrath said. While the last Ashes match (Jan 2-6) in Sydney before his home crowd would be his swansong Test, the World Cup in the West Indies (Mar 11-April 28) would be his last ODI engagement. The bowler said the injuries that he has had for the past three years did not pre-empt the retirement decision. “I have no doubts that I could have continued on probably for another couple of years. The body’s feeling as good as it ever has, recovering well. I’ve sort of surprised myself (by) how well I’m pulling up.” Clarifying the denial comments attributed to him yesterday, McGrath said: “The plan we came up with was for Shane to announce it before the Melbourne game and I was going to announce it before Sydney. “(But) with the scrutiny and the hearsay and what’s happened mainly in the last few days, I wanted to get it out in the open, get it over and done with, basically, so we could get back and concentrate on the last two Tests. With all good plans, they’re good in theory but they don’t seem to work.” McGrath said Warne and he had considered delaying their announcements in the event of Australia drawing or losing the Perth Test, where eventually their win sealed an Ashes victory. “Hopefully Shane and I coming out now, it’s not a distraction for the last two Tests. I think the timing of it couldn’t be more perfect for both Shane and I.” McGrath, who became the third Aussie after Damien Martyn and Warne to announce his retirement during the Ashes, also said he looked forward to playing the remainder of the series now that the announcement was off his chest. “Hopefully we can get out there and play as well as we have for the whole summer and really nail these last two Tests.” The bowler did not think that his departure would leave a vacuum in the Australian side, saying there was plenty of talent waiting to make the grade. However, he did concede that the gap left by Warne would be difficult to fill. “To me he’s one of the best cricketers there’s been.” McGrath is likely to spend more time with his wife Jane, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. He had spent most of 2006 out of international cricket to be with his wife. However, McGrath said his wife’s illness had played no part in his decision. “In respect to Jane, her health has nothing to do the decision I’ve made here today or over the last few weeks.” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said McGrath had achieved the rare distinction of being a consistent match-winner in Test and ODIs for 13 years. “They say bowlers win matches, they must have been thinking of players like Glenn McGrath when they said that,” Sutherland said. “His remorseless accuracy and forensic probing of the slightest weakness in a batsman’s technique is legendary.”
— PTI
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Federer loses wicket, wins hearts
Cuddalore, December 23 The tennis icon tried his hand at cricket, but he was clean bowled by a delivery from a boy at Chinnur Pudupettai village, near Cuddalore town, about 320 km from Chennai. “Federer tried to play shots but he did not last long,” District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi told The Tribune. Federer, a goodwill ambassador of Unicef since April, is touring this tsunami-hit district ahead of the second anniversary of the disaster. After an overnight stay at Pondicherry, Federer visited Chinnur Pudupettai village to see the permanent houses built for tsunami victims. He was briefed on the role played by volunteers in teaching people the use of modern sanitation facilities and safe drinking water. He also watched a play staged by children, “God’s Elephant”, the tale of an elephant going to the skies. Federer was told that theatre was part of the psycho-social care programme sponsored by Unicef to help victims overcome their initial trauma and empower them to face the challenges of life in a post-rehabilitation scenario.
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Practice match
Durban, December 23 However, the Indians had a good look at Munaf Patel and were reasonably pleased with the way the lanky medium-fast bowler performed. Patel bowled his eight overs for 25 runs and claimed two wickets. If he does not show any side effects from today’s efforts, Patel could have a reasonable chance of making it to the final eleven for the second Test, starting on December 26. Among the other bowlers — Indians actually made eight of their squad members bowl on the final day — Harbhajan Singh accounted for three batsmen for 26 runs, while Sourav Ganguly turned his arm over to claim two scalps. VRV Singh managed a wicket but the biggest disappointment was Irfan Pathan, who was smashed for 74 runs from his 11 overs. For the hosts, Rivash Govind made 88 from 128 balls with six fours and a six. Morne van Vuuren made a quickfire 50 from 53 balls with four fours and three sixes. Scoreboard India (1st innings) 270-6 dec KwaZulu-Natal XI (1st innings) McMillan c Laxman b Ganguly 36 Lazarus lbw Patel 9 Govind st sub (Dhoni)
b Harbhajan 88 Bekker c VRV b Ganguly 14 Van Vuuren c Laxman b Patel 50 Mabuya c sub (Dhoni)
b Harbhajan 5 Smit not out 18 Frylinck c Jaffer b vrv 6 Govender c Pathan b Harbhajan 1 Y Singh not out 2 Extras
(lb-3, w-2, nb-9) 14 Total (8 wkts, 67 overs) 243 FoW:
1-22, 2-80, 3-104, 4-201, 5-211, 6-216, 7-228, 8-230. Bowling:
Zaheer 10-2-25-0, Sreesanth 5-0-10-0, Pathan 11-1-74-0, Patel 8-2-25-2, VRV 11-2-26-1, Ganguly 8-2-23-2, Kumble 7-0-31-0, Harbhajan 7-0-26-3.
— Agencies
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Irina, Kanika clinch titles
Chandigarh, December 23 The golf icon slugged it out on the greens, which had undergone “top dressing” to return an 83 card held with a gunshot start. Her nearest rival Parnita Garewal, who also won a ticket for Malaysia, finished with a card of 86. “It was terrible playing on the sandy grass. They should look after the greens, it is such a picturesque course”, said Irina. It was a warm sunny day and the club had been decked up with Tourism Malaysia banners. But the first nine greens were too sandy. The General Manager, Brig I.S. Punia, who has taken over recently, stopped the top dressing. But by then nine holes had already been covered. Brigadier Punia said dressing is usually done sometime in March-April or September-October. Kanika Minocha clinched the title in the 0-9 handicap division with a score of 30. She became one of the four to make it for the Malaysia tour. Sonali Chhiber made it for Malaysia from the 18-24 handicap section with a score of 25. The other two who have made it for Malaysia from the amateur category are Mani Chander and Dimple Minocha. Shivali Aggarwal, a Class IX student of Saupins, clinched the trophy for the longest drive.
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Flashback
New Delhi, December 23 Making light of a stingy supply of ammunition, Indian shooters excelled at the various ISSF World Cups and World Championships across the globe, the Asian Games in Doha and Commonwealth Games in Melbourne to become the toast of the nation. The shooters — junior and seniors together — picked up as many as 129 medals, including 31 silver and 29 bronze. The year was also unique in the sense that the sport found new heroes in “Goldfinger” Samresh Jung and promising rifle shooter Tejaswini Sawant, while Jaspal Rana made a historic comeback, winning three gold medals at the Asia besides one silver. Abhinav Bindra became the country’s first-ever world champion and Manavjit Singh, who clinched the title in trap event, became the second Indian within a week’s time to win the World Championship title in Zagreb, Croatia. The duo surpassed legendary Dr Karni Singh’s watermark of trap silver medal attained at the 38th World Championship in Cairo, Egypt, in 1962. Rifle shooter Navnath Fartade also hogged his share of the limelight by winning the world title in the juniors’ rifle event at the same championships. Rana rolled back the years to corner glory at Doha and sum up the year on a golden note for the country, starved of shooting gold since 1994 when as an 18-year-old he had won the first gold for India in Asiad. Rana, now 30, however, minced no words when he said shooters might not be able to repeat their feats if their problems were not addressed. He complained about inadequate ammunition, equipment and even the ranges, besides the absence of a “worthy” coach. Samresh Jung, who had set the momentum early in the year by winning as many as five gold medals in pistol events and also being adjudged the best sportsperson at the Commonwealth Games, had only given an indication of the dazzling time ahead for the Indian shooters. Jung, although could not impress in the World Cups or the World Championships despite carding Olympic level scores in the selection trials. He, however, concluded the year on a positive note with a team gold and team silver in the Asian Games. Up-and-coming rifle shooter Gagan Narang kept his promise by putting up an excellent show in the Commonwealth Games and then clinching the first Olympic quota place for the country by beating Chinese marksmen to claim the title in the first World Cup of the year in Guangzhou immediately after the Commonwealth Games. Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was more in the news for reasons other than his on-field heroics. The Lt-Col, who was struggling to adjust with his newly acquired double bore Perazzi, struck form at right time and clinched the Olympic quota place by winning the double trap gold medal at the Cairo World Shotgun Cup. But what captured more news space was that an airlines misplaced Rathore’s gun on his way back home and it was damaged when he recovered it. It meant the 37-year-old had to once again adjust to the gun and it put paid to his aspirations at the all-important World Championship, where he could not even qualify for the final. Rathore, who could not perform to his potential in the year's last major assignment in Doha Asian Games, managed an individual bronze and a team silver. But he again made news when the games organising committee accused him of being “rude” with the volunteers and security personnel at the event. He also blamed the organisers for not conducting the shooting competition professionally. Among women, Anjali Bhagwat might have lost her place to Tejaswini Sawant in her pet event, 10 m air rifle, but she showed her class by winning the Olympic quota place in the rifle three position in the second World Cup of the year at Resende, Brazil. Avneet Kaur Sidhu, an emerging talent, also secured a quota place early enough. The six quota place-winning Indian shooters also included Manavjit, who had won the trap silver at the Kerrville World Cup, and Abhinav.
— PTI
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Chandigarh eves register win
Chandigarh, December 23 Winning the toss, Chandigarh elected to bat and scored 106 runs in 20 overs. Dev Kumari and Vijay Laxmi of Chhattisgarh chipped in with two wickets each. In reply, Chhattisgarh could muster only 62 runs after losing eight wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. Only Sharmila provided some resistance with 14 runs. Navroj took two wickets. Chandigarh captain Shivani was adjudged the best player. In the second match played at the same venue, Andhra Pradesh beat Gujarat. Gujarat won the toss and elected to bat. They scored 51 runs in 20 overs for the loss of fivewickets. Urvi and Dimpal scored 11 runs each. Andhra Pradesh achieved the target in just six overs. Anusha thrashed Gujarat bowlers all over the field and scored 32 runs comprising three huge sixes and two fours. She was adjudged the best player. The third match of the day was played at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, between Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. Madhya Pradesh elected to bat after winning the toss and set up a target of 177 runs. Pallvi scored 84, Yogita 43 not out, and Shveta contributed 12 runs. Chanchel and Sankita of Delhi took one wicket each. In reply, Delhi could just score 147 runs for the loss of one wicket. Nupur scored 58 n.o., Sneha 41 and Neha contributed 30 n.o. Pallvi of Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the best player.
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Cops to face Shers in final
Jalandhar, December 23 In their last league match at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here, the two teams played out a 1-1 draw. Both sides failed to score in the first half. In the second half, Punjab Police earned a penalty corner soon after resumption. Drag-flicker Jugraj Singh made no mistake in converting it. Four minutes later, Sher-e-Jalandhar secured an equaliser through a field goal by Tejbir Singh. In another match, Punjab and Sind Bank defeated Corps of Signals 4-2. Mandeep Singh scored two goals, while Lakhwinder and Rajwinder got one each. Sunil Lakra and Paramjit Singh struck for Signals. In the last league match, Border Security Force (BSF) blanked Rail Coach Factory (RCF) 3-0. Raj Singh posted two goals, while Habil Topno scored one.
— UNI
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Melbourne, December 23
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