The world of cricket

Adam Gilchrist, one of central figures in the Australian cricket team, and child sponsor with World Vision (an organisation involved in poverty eradication), emphasised on the need for sportspersons to get involved with projects making a positive impact on community development.

“Sport is one of the world’s most powerful tools. We, sportspersons, can make a difference to lives of people less fortunate than us.”

He is the sponsor of an eight-year-old child, Mangesh, living with mother and two brothers in a slum area of Mumbai called Marol, as part of World Vision programme.

Launching World Vision India on Monday at the Taj, Gilchrist informed about his plans to visit Mangesh at home to get first-hand impression of the impact on `child a sponsor’ project on the child, family and community.

Awareness needed

Gilchrist pointed to the necessity for awareness among players about dangers of drugs in the wake of pace bolers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif testing positive for nandrolene. He was responding to a query about the latest development in Pakistan cricket, following an internal drug test by the PCB.

Gilchrist said: “Banned substances have been around in sport and in cricket, for a long time.

It is for the players to be aware about it and keep away. We in Australia are following the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) guidelines.”

Responding to question whether drug use in cricket was common knowledge, in the light of incidents in the past featuring Shane Warne and now involving the two Pakistan bowlers sent back from the Champions Trophy 2006, the Aussie said: “I feel the Pakistan players may have taken it (banned substances) by mistake. We have been through this before, losing Shane Warne before the World Cup, but did not allow the incident to pull us down.” Warne had been sent back from the 2003 World Cup after blood samples revealed presence of hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride, both diuretics normally used to aid temporary weight loss but also masking agents for performance-enhancing drugs.

Australia went on to win cricket’s premier event. The leg-spinner served out a one-year ban.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Tuesday said the doping episode involving Pakistani pacemem Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif had come as a big surprise to his team and recalled how they had come out well from a similar scandal four years ago to win the World Cup.

“We have all been surprised and a bit shocked to know about the allegations. We don’t know much about it. It’s a PCB matter and they have to get to the bottom of this. We have to play tomorrow and that’s all we are focussing on,” he said on the eve of the match against West Indies.

Having gone through a similar scandal involving champion leg-spinner Shane Warne in 2003, Ponting said his squad did well to recover from the mighty blow.

“It was obviously pretty hard for us at that time. We had a team meeting once we found out about Shane’s incident. We decided to get everything out in the open and talk about it as much as we could that night itself so that it didn’t continue the next day into our cricket,” Ponting said.

Like the Pakistan Cricket Board had done prior to this edition’s Champions Trophy, the Australian Board had also tested all its players at home before the World Cup, which resulted in Warne’s positive dope test for a diuretic.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, who missed the series-clinching win at Karachi, has said that he will pick and choose his matches from now on to protect his back.

Inzamam, 35, stood down from the Test and also missed much of the previous match at Faisalabad with back trouble.

“It is not a career threatening problem but it does become a nuisance if not taken proper care of,” Inzamam said. “In future, I will try to sit out on matches where possible.

“I plan to sit out Test and one-day matches where nothing much is at stake. Then I can take a rest in order to preserve myself for the more important games. If we have won a series, I can rest in the final games and it gives us a chance to blood young players.”

Doctors have already advised him not to take long flights.

The last six months have been particularly demanding on the left-handed Kolkatan, who lost his captaincy to Rahul Dravid, was engaged in a very public spat with coach Greg Chappell, lost and then reclaimed his Test place, and is no longer a prominent force in the one-day scheme of things.

Two years back, Sourav Ganguly returned from Pakistan a triumphant captain, having played his part in India’s 3-2 victory in the one-day series and their 2-1 victory in the Test series. This time, the 33-year-old has made an early departure from this country, not considered for selection to the limited-overs side for a third series in a row.

The last six months have been particularly demanding on the left-handed Kolkatan, who lost his captaincy to Rahul Dravid, was engaged in a very public spat with coach Greg Chappell, lost and then reclaimed his Test place, and is no longer a prominent force in the one-day scheme of things. Despite the vagaries of selection, Ganguly maintains a positive outlook. His remodelled approach to batting has seen him bat with assurance and composure, though as he told Deccan Herald, he would have been happiest building on his 34 and 37 in the final Test against Pakistan.

“I think I am playing well,” Ganguly said, shortly before leaving for India on Friday. “The last three-four months, I have been batting well. I had a couple of good innings here but obviously, if I could have converted them into big knocks, it would have been good.” (more…)

It was a moment rich in irony and imagery. At the ground where he made his Test debut 16 years ago, brimming with promise and intent to take on the world, Sachin Tendulkar was on all fours, visibly shocked and angry, as Mohammed Asif beat him and uprooted the stumps.

The delivery wasn’t exceptional, neither was Asif’s pace. Just that Tendulkar’s reflexes failed to get him in position for the one that was slower and low on bounce and got past between his bat and pads.

If Sachin’s decision to walk in Faisalabad raised eyebrows and prompted whispered questions, his dismissal in Karachi, and his abysmal run of form over this series, has brought it out in the open: Is it time for Tendulkar to take a break from the game?

Consider this:

• In the two Tests in which he’s batted, on friendly tracks, his scores read 14, 23 and 26. Those same Tests have seen 8 centuries and 11 half-centuries

• His average of 21 is better only than that of Anil Kumble and Rudra Pratap Singh

• In two of the three innings he’s been out bowled, the most ignominous form of dismissal for any batsman, let alone one of his experience (more…)

FORMER Test umpires demanded stronger penalties for obnoxious behaviour as Adam Gilchrist was charged with dissent after disappearing for an overdue holiday yesterday.

Out-of-form Gilchrist flew home to Perth for a two-match break from the VB series which was scheduled before the start of the series.

While Gilchrist was in the air, umpires Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar were viewing footage of him complaining to Dar about not seeking assistance from the third umpire following a run-out appeal against South Africa’s Boeta Dippenaar at the Gabba on Sunday. Dippenaar, though well past the crease, failed to ground his bat in what would have been a tight call. (more…)

South African fast bowler Andre Nel said he was racially abused by a supporter during the third cricket Test against Australia in Sydney today in the latest incident of its kind to mar the series.

Nel, who is white, complained to skipper Graeme Smith during play and informed the umpires who later told match referee Chris Broad. Nel was the subject of several taunts, some of which were abusive. At one stage he joined in, clapping in time and egging on the crowd to keep chanting.

“This racial abuse is totally unacceptable and we hope that the Australian authorities can stamp it out,'’ Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Officer Gerald Majola said in a statement. “Our players must be protected at all costs and be allowed to play cricket without being the targets of racial abuse.'’

In Perth, South African players Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Garnett Kruger and Shaun Pollock were taunted in Afrikaans, prompting condemnation from the International Cricket Council. A spectator was ejected from the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the second Test after making racist and other offensive comments toward Nel. (more…)

Star Sri Lankan spinner Muthiah Muralidaran has hinted at quitting after the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, citing the stresses of family life.

“I will play until 2007, then keep an open mind about whether to play or not,” Muralidaran told the Herald Sun.

“I have got married. In another 10 days time, I will get a baby boy. I am looking forward to that. I have enjoyed my cricket for 15, 16 years. Now I have my family life,” he added. (more…)

Shane Warne would consider coming out of retirement from one-day cricket to play in next year’s World Cup - as long as it did not affect his Test career.

The 36-year-old leg-spinner bowed out in 2003 to prolong his playing days in the longer form of the game.

Warne took 96 wickets in 2005, breaking Dennis Lillee’s 24-year-old record for victims in a calendar year.

“It would be nice to play in the World Cup but it depends on what I want to do with my Test future,” he explained.

“At the moment I’m retired from one-day cricket and I think my Test cricket’s proven to be as good as it’s ever been. (more…)

Leading Test wicket taker Shane Warne has said he would quit cricket altogether if his three children become affected by his pending divorce from wife Simone.

“If they start to get affected then everything will stop,” Warne told News Limited newspapers in Australia on Sunday. “I’d have to stop everything.

“With everything you do, unfortunately there are some sacrifices you have to make.

“For me, playing international cricket for Australia and doing the best I can for a long period of time, my kids are the ones who miss out on some dad time.

“It’s not to say they don’t get time — they get a lot and I’ve had a lot of impact on them growing up.” (more…)

Sourav Ganguly is not sure whether losing captaincy has helped him sharpen his batting. “For last five-six months I have been batting well in whatever little I have played in domestic and international level.

“I also scored runs in Zimbabwe as captain. So I don’t know whether I am playing better because I am no longer the Indian captain,” Ganguly said after a well compiled 88 against Tamil Nadu here on Friday. “But yes, it’s a different phase. The responsibility is less because as a captain you have to do many other things,” he added.

Commenting on his chances of being successful in Pakistan he said: “Not just me, the entire team should play well there. It will be a series between two good teams. Whoever plays well will get better of the other.”

As captain he has had fond memories of the first ever series win in Pakistan a couple of years ago. “That’s the past. The important thing is how we begin in Lahore in the opening Test,” the former skipper observed. (more…)

Sourav Ganguly was suspended from bowling in a Ranji Trophy match between Bengal and Tamil Nadu at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Ganguly was barred for straying onto the pitch in his follow-through. That cut short his successful bowling spell where he had already picked up three wickets in Tamil Nadu’s first innings.

Sourav had been specifically asked by the BCCI to play the match before leaving for Pakistan along with Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble and Parthiv Patel.

Ganguly came out to bat later in the day and was on 8 not out at stumps with Bengal in trouble at 32 for 3. Earlier, Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 218 with Hemang Badani top scoring with 67.

Seeking to put behind his poor form with the bat, Virender Sehwag has promised his fans “a new Sehwag with a new technique” in the coming year which begins with India taking on arch-rivals Pakistan in a Test and one-day international series.

Sehwag admitted candidly that he had not performed to his potential in the recent past, but said he is confident of overcoming the slump in Pakistan.

“I know I have not played up to the expectations, especially in the one-day games. I have been able to score 20s and 30s but could not convert them into big innings. But I believe this is a thing of the past,” he told Aaj Tak in its programme ‘Seedhi Baat’ to be telecast on Sunday.

“In the new year, people will see a new Sehwag with a new technique and I am confident of making good scores.” (more…)

Turbanator Harbhajan Singh on Friday ridiculed Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s reported TV statement in which the paceman had said that Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were scared of his bowling.

Talking to reporters here, the Indian off-spinner said only time would tell who was scared of whom.

“Let us face each other at the ground and see who is sacred of whom? Shoaib Akhtar may find himself scared of our batsmen,” he added.

He said one should realise that Shoaib would be playing on his home grounds and might find himself under tremendous pressure to perform. (more…)

December 31, 2005, will be an important day for Indian cricket. The end of the year will also mark the end of the Rs 100 crore contract which master blaster Sachin Tendulkar signed with WorldTel five years ago.

And up for grabs will be one of the most iconic brand s that India has ever seen. Sixteen years and around 23,000 runs in both forms of cricket and counting, brand Sachin Tendulkar is still going strong and if the past is any yardstick, then the last innings of his cricketing life will see the unfolding of the true potential of the brand.

And if you are tempted to think that post the expiry of the WorldTel contract, brand Sachin will be viable only for the remainder of his playing life, then think again.

Industry observers believe that Sachin as a brand is worth a whopping 100-200 % more than the present value and the aura will continue to hold sway even after he hangs his gloves. (more…)