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There’s another side to ‘evil’ Anderson
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A day after overhaul, Fletcher stays inscrutable
pro kabaddi league
HI, SAI on collision course
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There’s another side to ‘evil’ Anderson
London, August 20 Burnley has an Indian history too, actually — Lala Amar Singh, the Indian pace pioneer, played for the Burnley Cricket Club (BCC) in 1939, as did Dattu Phadkar in 1960. It has an Indian present too — Bharat Tripathi, son of Bareilly-born Pankaj Tripathi, is the captain of the Burnley Cricket Club. The 180-year-old BCC’s most famous product, though, is James Anderson, a man who hounds India. Eight years ago, when Anderson took six wickets in his first match against India, he blushed every time anyone congratulated him. The next year at Lord’s, he took seven wickets against India. When he was brought to discuss his bowling with the media, he was very reticent and soft-spoken — sitting barely three feet away, we had to frequently ask him to speak up a bit. He stuck to his soft mumble. Anderson is still shy off the field, but on the field he becomes a veritable cuss-word machine who spews venom uninterrupted. This, added to his amazing skill as a swing bowler, has made him an anathema to all opposition. It was the fate of the Indian team to suffer this summer. “What’s helped me in the last five or six years is the fact I’ve been aggressive on the field and had the odd word,” Anderson said at the end of the Test series. Perhaps Burnley, 45 km from the megacity of Manchester, also needs to be aggressive to be more successful — it was a large cotton town at one time, but now Burnley worries that its importance is receding. Burnley’s population fell from 92,800 in 1981 to 86,900 last year. The Burnley Council is worried that it’s faced with an ageing population — the number of people over 65 has been increasing steadily, the number of people in 0-15 age group has been declining. Burnley is the sort of place everyone leaves to make it big — James Anderson left it, too, when he was spotted as a raw paceman in the BCC team. His father, an optician and an amateur cricketer, still has his clinic in the town; his mother is a homemaker and James Anderson says that coming from a single-income family made him more aware of the value of money. Burnley residents are surprised when they hear of the awful things Anderson has been saying and doing on the cricket field — the language he uses, the threats he makes. For them, Anderson hasn’t changed at all. Michael Brown, who knew Anderson as a little boy, himself turned out for BCC and is now the club chairman, laughs it off when he’s told of the things Anderson says on the field. “He’s was very competitive, but he was also a very shy boy,” he says. “And he’s remained the same — he hasn’t changed at all off the field. So it’s a big surprise to hear what he allegedly has been saying on the field. Maybe he started doing this to fire himself up or to rattle the opponents.” Early this month, Anderson acknowledged his gratitude to BCC. As he spoke, people had to perk up their ears — Anderson remains an extremely soft-spoken individual. “It’s very nice to come back here and see a few familiar faces,” he said after handing the club a plaque. “I don’t get the chance that often so it’s nice when I do come here… Without the Burnley Cricket Club I would have been able to make the progress I did.” He seemed shy and uncomfortable — and he was all the more so when he spoke with fans in an interactive chat session. ‘This plaque recognises and thanks Burnley CC for the role it played in developing James Anderson into an England international,’ say the words on the plaque handed by Anderson to BCC. It has found a place among huge gallery of photographs at the BCC —among these are many that have Anderson in a prominent position. Anderson loves music, and has been associated with the Nordoff Robbins charity — which helps children and grown-up with learning difficulties through music therapy — since 2012. A director at Nordoff Robbins, Jo Carter, says that Anderson is in regular touch with the charity, and helps in raising funds for it. “He visits children with special needs,” says Carter. “For instance, his visits to Eduardo, an autistic child, have made the child more social and happier.” That’s a far cry from the trash-spewing Anderson of Test cricket. During the Nottingham Test, Anderson angered Indians when he abused MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. Anderson accepted that he used his right arm to “push Jadeja’s shoulder to get him to turn around and go back towards the Indian dressing room”. This went unpunished – it’s quite remarkable. It’s also remarkable that Anderson has been officially charged for bad behaviour only once before, in 2007. Anderson may be more cautious now, but in his mind he knows what made him really successful. “The reason I struggled, I think, in the early part of my career is because I was the timid, shy character that I am off the field (when) I was on it,” he said recently. “That didn’t help me — and working with people to try to get the best out of me, that’s what we found. Try to be aggressive.” The legend of the shy Beast of Burnley, possibly England’s greatest swing bowler, is likely to endure. |
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A day after overhaul, Fletcher stays inscrutable
London, August 20 "Dhoni, you're a great wicketkeeper," sang out the children as the Indian captain came to the edge of the field to retrieve the balls hit by the batsmen. Dhoni playfully threw the ball at the kids, and they caught it and threw it back at him and squealed in delight. They expressed their admiration of Dhoni - when the world seems to have turned its back on him - and the Indian captain, with a smile and a laugh, ensured that he had their lifetime's affection. At the other end of the field, the mood was more sombre — the ever-grave Duncan Fletcher, his job on the line, pursed his lips and pointed here and there as the practice continued. His assistants — bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penny, both given a forced break by the Indian cricket board — are still with the Indian team. Their Indian replacements, Bharat Arun, Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar, are yet to join the team. Ravi Shastri, the new director of the team, was present at the Oval Test and met the Indian players yesterday, but he's reportedly winding up a few commitments before joining the team. He has asked the BCCI for some time before he could join the team. India take on Middlesex in a practice limited-overs match on Friday, before they play England in the first One-day International on Monday. Few mediapersons were present, but the team's media manager, Dr Redhills Baba, was vigilant, trying to do his duty — on the field, he scurries around to fetch the balls hit by the batsmen. He also tries to make sure that no one can hear even a whisper of what Fletcher says to Dawes. Reportedly, Fletcher is unhappy with the way the changes have been brought about in the Indian team's support staff — mid-series and with no discussion with him. If he was dejected, it didn't show today - well, he always looks dejected. Not even the ringing laughter of the children could bring a smile to his face as the horror tour of England comes to a close. |
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Ignored again, Manoj threatens to sue Sports Ministry
Patiala, August 20 The controversial recommendation of boxer Jai Bhagwan for the prestigious Arjuna Awards stands after the selection committee on Tuesday decided not to make any changes in the original 15-athlete list. Sports Authority of India director general Jiji Thomson, who was part of the Awards committee, said the panel discussed seven athletes in the review meeting but it was unanimously agreed that no changes were needed. Manoj said that he had been assured by the sports secretary and Thomson himself that his name would be added in Tuesday's meeting and their backtracking was a "betrayal". "When my elder brother met the sports secretary on August 13, the sports secretary had admitted that there was a mistake on the part of the ministry by mistakenly thinking that I was involved in a dope offence. Ajit Sharan had told my brother that my name will be added in the review meeting," Manoj, who is in the national camp at the NIS here, said. "The SAI DG himself called me up the next day (August 14) that my case will be considered and no injustice would be done to me. He assured me that my name will be added in the Arjuna list. But all these turned out to be false promises and they have backtracked now. I have a trial for the Asian Games next week and I am in severe mental stress," he said. "First, they tarnished my image by mistakenly calling me a dope offender and then betrayed me by backtracking on what they had promised. It's an insult and betrayal," a dejected Manoj, who won a gold in 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, said. Manoj's elder brother and coach Rajesh Kumar said that he will file a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. "This is an injustice to my brother. What motivation an athlete will have to bring laurels for the country if he is treated like this. I will file a case at the High Court in Chandigarh very soon." "I will file an RTI first and then the case in the High Court. I will ask for the points Manoj has got under the marking system used by the selection panel and the points earned by the 15 recommended athletes. That information will be used as evidence in the High Court case," said Rajesh. Rajesh also wondered how Thomson can claim that Manoj has time with him and he can get the award later on. "How can it be? He (Manoj) won a gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and this achievement will not be considered for next year's Arjuna Award as only four-year achievement is counted. Next year's Arjuna will start counting achievements from 2011 onwards," he said. Rajesh said sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also assured, through his personal secretary, that the case of Manoj will be addressed and those officials who committed the mistake of taking him as a dope offender will be taken to task. "I sought a meeting with the sports minister on August 13 and I waited for him late on that day. The Minister returned to office around 9:30pm after some work. The Minister sent his PS to tell me that Manoj's case will be reconsidered in the selection committee meeting. "The PS also told me that the officials who placed Manoj's name as a dope offender before the selection panel will also be taken to task. But now it turns out that all of it was a mere talk in the air," he said.
— PTI |
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India suffer 2-0 defeat against Pakistan
Bangalore, August 20 Pakistan were the better side in all departments of the game between the Asian Games-bound sides of the two countries at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Pakistan richly deserved the accolades for putting up a gritty show and for not allowing the home side to make comeback into the game. India will need to step up the gas if they hope to go past the group stage in the Asian Games. Captain Kaleemullah and Saddam Hussain found the Indian net in the 39th and 90th minutes respectively. Kaleemullah converted a free-kick in the 39th minute. Kaleemullah's free-kick sailed into the back of the net after a Lalrindika Ralte foul, giving Pakistan a 1-0 lead. Then, in the dying moments of the game, Saddam placed the ball into the far post and sealed the match for Pakistan.
— PTI |
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Jaipur rein in Bulls, rise to the top
Jaipur, August 20 The match began with bad news for Bengaluru, who had to play without their best raider Ajay Thakur. However, that did not stop the Bulls' charge as Jaipur were left with only two men by the second minute. Bull's Rajesh Mondal, in an unstoppable mood, ousted Rohit Rana, his fourth victim until the 12th minute. But Panthers’ Rajesh Narwal stopped the charging Bulls by bringing down three of their players, including captain Manjit Chillar. Following it up in the very next minute, Jasvir Singh did his bit by ousting two Bengaluru players. In a closely fought game, the scores at half-time were 17-20 in favour of the visitors. In in the second half, rejuvenated by the crowd's thunderous cheers, Jaipur earned their first lona points and gradually strengthened their grip on the game. — TNS
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‘Shahabad academy lacks facilities’
Kurukshetra, August 20 “At present I don’t even have a single hockey stick or a ball to train the young children. Because of the lack of proper facilities and equipment, about 100 players from the Shahabad academy have taken admissions in Punjab academies,” Baldev said. Blaming Hockey Haryana, Haryana Olympic Association and the District sports officials for the situation, Baldev said, “We have won many tournaments over the last 20 years and have produced many international level players but we don’t have the facilities anymore. So the players have started shifting to Punjab. The officials are busy with politics in Hockey Haryana and they are ruining the children’s future.” Baldev added that the academy had received only 400 composite sticks since January 2010 which was insufficient. “Every year around 100 players practice here. And apart from the shortage of equipment, the quality of the equipment is low-grade. The balls are hard like rocks and the sticks do not sustain for long. We need international level flood lights, a girls’ hostel and a proper coaching staff. Besides this, we need 300 composite sticks, 800 balls and another 100 Kookaburra balls every year.” “Also, I have asked the senior officials to organise state level trials. Shahabad can’t be expected to produce that number of international players,” Baldev added. Meanwhile, District Sports Officer SS Rana said that Baldev’s allegation was baseless. “No official wants to ruin the career of any budding player. Since no purchase was made in 2013, the department doesn’t have sticks to distribute. We get our stock from the main store and we are yet to receive it. Around 975 hockey sticks, including non-composite sticks, and 883 balls have been given to the Shahabad nursery and academy since 2010.” |
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HI, SAI on collision course
New Delhi, August 20 The government did not clear the camp that was slated to start in Bhopal yesterday and SAI blamed HI for the cancellation. “HI was allocated a budget of Rs 10.50 crore for its Annual Calendar of Training and Competitions for 2014-2015. HI was required to determine its priorities for competitions and training within this budget,” SAI said in a statement. “HI is reported to have substantial funds of its own, raised from various sources. It is expected that these funds would also be used to meet the expenditure.” Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra responded by saying that SAI was welcome to inspect HI’s balance sheet. “We gave a proposed budget of Rs 42 crores for the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition. But SAI only allocated Rs 10.50 crores. SAI only gives 75 percent of that amount, while the rest is borne by us,” Batra said. “Our source of income from sponsorships and other sourced is just Rs 12 crore. And we end up spending more than that.”
— PTI India, Pak hockey teams in same pool at Asiad
New Delhi: India have been clubbed alongside arch-rivals and eight-time champs Pakistan in the 10-nation men’s hockey competition at the Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea, from September 19. In Pool B, besides Pakistan and India, the other competing nations are China, Oman and Sri Lanka.
— PTI |
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