Bangladesh may not appear the most daunting of touring teams. But as a stand-in skipper of the host nation, the job cannot be too easy as Michael Clarke found out.
A clean sweep victory against a Bangladesh team in a three match one day international series is not necessarily creating sports headlines by any stretch of the imagination. It is with this kind of assurance that Cricket Australia decided to anoint Michael Clarke into the role of skippering the Australian side. While the Bangladesh team provided next to no problems for the Australians, there were plenty of issues within the Australian dressing room that needed a sterner Clarke to turn up own the field.
Clarke, the enigmatic player dubbed ‘the pup’ by his team mates and often found on the more glamourous pages courtesy his fiancé Lara Bingle, stepped into a role for the Australian side when Bangladesh arrived. He was left in charge of the Australian side that has lost three, nay four, of its big players. Ricky Ponting was ruled out earlier while Matthew Hayden pulled up with another injury on the brink of the series. Brett Lee’s unfortunate scenario where the news of the split from his wife Liz Kemp created tremors in Australia and around cricketing circles meant the speedster was forced to take time out to address issues at home and also, with a better frame of mind to face the scrutiny surrounding his personal life.
As big as these blows were though not significant against Bangladesh, Clarke was forced to take an important decision, made tougher still by the fact that the person in question happened to be a friend. Andrew Symonds’ systematic ‘disintegration’ with authority came to a zenith with Clarke at the forefront. The only thing that an Australian management tough on its policy could do was give Symonds an extended vacation to think long and hard not only about India and the prospect of his reception after his infamous tiff with Harbhajan Singh but also, of his future with the Australian side. It was Clarke who had to put his foot down and it was clearly the highlight of the series against Bangladesh. Symonds’ may have been a blow; their friendship may be on the fringes- though it should not be because Symonds has unwitting shown Clarke in a much stronger light, one that bodes well for Australia’s succession policy.
Who said skippering a side against Bangladesh was easy, even for an Australian side?

For Symonds’ fracas, read :
Symonds: Getting into Hot Water for Cooling off!

It was no long before the knives were out. Mickey Arthur can have his cake and eat it too. The South African coach minced no words on what he thought of the one day side. But another South African and another coach is finding himself in the docks for expressing similar views. It’s not the top five who are hanging by a thread; it has been extended to Gary Kirsten as well.
It is a difficult scenario where no coach would like his thoughts be known to the world, at least to the world who will measure the coach for the comments made, not the team. it is even more difficult with such a hounding media hungry for cricket to promote its cause that Kirsten is often asked questions to which there can be no politely avoiding of it. One such question was : is Mahendra Singh Dhoni ready for Test captaincy?
What knowledgeable gentleman of the game would answer no to that question? In light of the dismal series in Sri Lanka where the skipper Anil Kumble himself has been one of the blips on a spinner dominated tour, these uncomfortable questions were bound to be raised. However, what must be carefully noted is if Gary Kirsten paid attention to the contract and its finer details of what he could or could not express his views about. Clearly he had misread those lines or so says the rap on the knuckles from the BCCI delivered via Niranjan Shah.
It is being said that it is unfair to judge the established players on the basis of one flopped series. That could well be true but it would be a greater sinner to not look to the future and begin the succession planning in earnest. The fact that Australia is next on the agenda and that too at home means that players will enjoy some form of immunity, if the BCCI’s habit of cowering on major decisions is anything to go by, and perhaps this will then be the swansong for some of these aged folk. That would then depend on how well India performs at home. History says not too many Indian players have willingly dethroned themselves, neither when they were on the downward slide nor when the opportunity to bow out on a high presented itself. It seems unlikely that it will happen now.
In what must be seen as something taking off on an equal footing, Sachin Tendulkar now joins the ranks of his other aged four in a Ranji tie in the Rest of India side against Delhi. For too long, it has been considered Sachin’s pedigree would not require him to play to prove himself like some of his contemporaries are being speculated to be subjected to. But the fact that domestic cricket has not always been on the agenda once players have hit the international stage could not have been more highlighted than by the fact that all the big names are now likely to descend on this suddenly all-important tie when the selectors sit down to pick a team on Monday. But apart from this discrimination or double standard scenario, the move is being seen as an attempt to see players when they are away from international tour pressure and also, additionally provide match practice against a better domestic side comprising the likes of Virender Sehwag and Ishant Sharma amongst others. Funny what one tour can do!

Pakistan’s hopes to have their team at least participate in an away series have been squashed for all practical purposes. The reasons do not have much to do with the country’s political imbroglio but rather with the host nation’s burdensome barrel full of worries.
The England tour was going on quite to plan until the one day series arrived. It then took away the sheen from the South Africans. Their smirks turned into whining whimpers and like their sulking, the series slipped away. The excuses provided a choc-a-bloc drama but the show that was on view was enough to depress most fans of the South African team to want to turn off their television sets or at least, hope the one day series would fold up soon.
Prayers seemed nearly answered when the fourth one day international at Lord’s was nearly washed away. So near! The shortened game livened up England again and despite Herschelle Gibbs and his heroics, there was little in the tank to provide for a South African late charge. Apart from the England team, not many fans (except for those who turned up at the ground) were too disappointed when the final match at Cardiff was called off. After all, the abysmal performance of the South Africans in the one day series made it hardly anything to look forward to in the final match. Only the England squad, energized by their new skipper Kevin Pietersen, would have rued the opportunity to not make it a clean sweep.
In light of the manner in which the series panned out and the sour note on which the tour ended, the South African touring team hardly seemed like an enthusiastic bunch about the prospect of hosting another tri series or quadrangular series in light of the cancelled Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Perhaps had the result of the series been any different, South Africa would have perhaps been more eager to play hosts.
As it turns out, South Africa can no longer hide the fact that the Kolpak agreement has steadily drained the country’s cricket resources and the senior members of the team are either in a slump or plagued by injury worries with few decent substitutes at the team management’s disposal. The situation has forced the coach, Mickey Arthur to voice a few uncomfortable, inconvenient truths about the tough measures South Africa would have to perhaps employ in order to meet Australia on a near equal footing in a few months’ time. The fact that South Africa named only Kallis as skipper but failed to find a suitable substitute reveals the fragile confidence in the camp about this one day line up.
Graeme Smith seems hampered to address some of the issues himself with his own desperation to get fit before the Australian tour and the tennis elbow becoming a growing worry by the day. With injuries to Dale Steyn, Morne and Albie Morkel, Mark Boucher and the lackluster form of Gibbs and Jacques Kallis, South Africa were perhaps wary of hosting the tournament not only from the point of view of providing some rest for their players but also, not keen to scar the team any more than it has been jolted on the tour to England.
South Africa failed to check the Kolpak exodus. One has only to refresh one’s memory of former South African players to find their names lingering in English cricket! Now the unexpected money booster that have been the IPL and the ICL with the latter taking precedence in terms of worldly introductions, South Africans lost a bunch of all-rounders who on their day have the capability to turn the match on its head. Now faced with the prospect of not only finding all-rounders but also, specialists to fill up unexpected but urgent vacancies. South Africa are now faced with the prospect to turn to England again and hope to entice some of their players back. Not an easy feat what with money flows like milk, cream and honey from the Twenty20 life.

SA Reeling off the Charts: Could This be Really Happening?

While one Australian is on an enforced break, the break seems to have done another man good. Lee is set to come back, trying to put the loss and cost behind him.
Brett Lee’s personal life became the cynosure of all eyes after news of his split from his wife Liz Kemp rocked the world. The picture perfect couple showed once again that pictures never really tell the truly story. Notwithstanding the couple’s infant, their marriage was reportedly on the rocks for well over half a year.
The scandal shocked his team mates and it appeared the WAG life was taking a toll on his podiatrist wife, Liz Kemp, who was also alleged to be having an affair, an allegation most of the Australian wives seem to have to put up with. Lee was certainly finding it hard under the media glare with the Bangladesh series at home and perceptibly forced to take time out to gather his wits.
While the nature of his problems cast doubts over his ability to resume cricket duties for his country at the earliest, it now appears that the Symonds’ fiasco will not prove to be a double blow. Brett Lee has confirmed he wants to get into his white flannels at the first opportunity which happens to be the tour to India.
While Lee has tried to bare his best without alluding to the finer details of his break up, both parties are maintaining a dignified silence of sorts although it now appears clear that neither wants to look back in the days past. It cannot be easy to have the world hound for details. But it seems neither the allegations nor the scrutiny will be over any time soon from the incomprehensible amount of focus on this ‘star couple’ from down under. Perhaps it is this uncomfortable stardom that has made cricketers newfound people in the limelight that has brought such an intense glare on Lee’s personal life.
But it comes as little surprise that this tour to India is not something that daunts Lee, not the public aspect of it. After all Brett Lee is the darling of Indian cricket fans and he has won many a heart over with his off field activities while on field, he may not always have his fans in a fanatical country. Another second innings in Lee’s life, although more of a battle on the personal front, one should say.

It’s finally happening. The exodus costs another team dearly. It looks worse still when a top team loses to a rather lowly one, only making the latter look much better than it really is!
It is hard to imagine that a team that was on a nine match winning streak and looking to extend it against a weather worn England are suddenly finding themselves against the fresh faced hosts who are now looking at a clean sweep of the one day series. But South Africa has been hit hard and the only man not entirely surprised by the turn of events is their coach, Mickey Arthur.
Some of the comments he made would certainly called for his head in certain fanatical cricket playing countries. Arthur certainly thinks this present team has extended beyond its ‘best by’ date and that he was been planning to change it around so that South Africa can be a strong force come 2011 World Cup. This hiccup does not seem to disturb him that much because he knew this would be a tougher task than the Test series.
The reason South Africa stand to lose their number two spot in the world to England (who are climbing away from number six at the start of the series) is because of the number of players they have lost in the last one year. Arthur feels that the team has lost a good bowler up front and a bowler at the death. Shaun Pollock retired and Charl Langeveldt disappeared after refusing to play Andre Nel’s substitute only to comply with quota.
Additionally the absence of all-rounders has hit South Africa hard. While Albie Morkel is batting shoulder injury, permanent damage has been done with players like Johan van der Wath, Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall leaving to join the ICL. The form of Herschelle Gibbs and the seemingly growing speculation about Jacques Kallis have not helped South Africa’s cause either. Their belligerent skipper, Graeme Smith, is going to sit out for sometime till the Australian tour before his tennis elbow allows him to play.
It is hard to believe that England are the deserving number two. They have improved by leaps and bounds but perhaps a fairer event like the Champions Trophy would have assessed sides since the World Cup. England are cleaning up their act. Out go the ‘bits and pieces’ players who originally formed England’s one day line up for the better part of a decade and in come specialist players who are tidying up the loose ends. South Africa though are groping in the dark, and with deceit after their Test victory. One final game will not win the series; it could though just keep them at the number two spot, or just about.

By Kartik Kannan

India finally won a bilateral series in Sri Lanka, and largely the credit goes to some great efforts against the tide by the young brigade. India has been an enigmatic side and particularly in the familiar territory of Sri Lanka, they’ve been caught napping far too often. India had toured the island nation thrice before but had been outdone by the Lankans in two of the three outings. The 85 series saw India and Sri Lanka claim even honours at 1-1 , the 93 series saw India again go down 1-2, playing against 11 Lankan cricketers and 2 umpires and the 97 series saw India being thumped 0-3. It doesn’t make great reading when one wants to peep into the past. Here’s why

The early 80’s were reportedly India’s days in the sun. They had won the world cup in 83, the WCC in 85, and were in roaring form, but bad umpiring, black magic from Percy Abhayasekara(A die hard Lankan supporter) and rain saved the Lankans from a series defeat. A high scoring series in the emerald isles were quite anachronistic of the times but both the sides revelled in some close finishes, but at the end, honours were even.

Sri Lanka were the babes of cricket in the early 90’s but somehow became tigers whenever matches were played at home. Sri Lanka used to undergo a rapid transformation while playing at home, and many teams found Sri Lanka a jinxed place to win matches, and in the last 18 years, Sri Lanka has lost only 4 bi lateral series, against Australia,India, England and Pakistan. Coming back to the 93 series, India started off rather pensively against the Lankans, with a sedate 212/8 in 50 overs, largely built on the back of Mohammed Azharuddin’s 53. Sri Lanka lost their last eight wickets for 50 runs to bow by a single run defeat to India in the first of three one-day internationals. Sri Lanka, needing five runs to win from the last over were bowled out for 211 with Chauhan and Prabhakar running through the Lankans, just when Hathurasinghe,64 and De Silva,62 were making light work of the Indians.

The next match in the 93 series saw India chasing defeat from the jaws of victory and in cricketing chronicles this match in Indian history would be termed the “Khettarama Debacle”. After a great base built by Manoj Prabhakar, who scored 86 in a losing cause, chasing a modest 204, India folded its last 7 wickets for 21 runs to be bowled out for 196. The last game at Moratuwa had the Lankans chase 227 with consummate ease, even though India felt undone by some bad umpiring errors. The local Lankan umpires in those days were quite infamous for some bad umpiring decisions that went against touring sides, and India seemed to have had their last hopes being crashed after a mini collapse triggered by Roshan Mahanama’s fall after a valiant 92.

One factor that went for Sri Lanka was the fact that they had bowlers who could just take the pace off the wicket and bowl a nagging stump-to-stump line. Wickramasinghe ,Ramanayake and Jayasuriya did just enough to keep the Indian run scoring at bay. The Indian batting, apart from Prabhakar and Azhar did very little to justify their talent during testing conditions.

The 97 series, India came to the island nation largely as the underdogs with the Lankans on a huge winning spree following the 96 World Cup Victory. India did their reputation no harm, as they lost the series in an abysmal fashion 0-3 to the Lankans, but they didn’t go down without a fight. The first one day international saw the Lankans beat India by 2 runs, in a closely fought high scoring encounter with Azhar and Jadeja scoring centuries in a losing cause.

The second one day international saw Saurav Ganguly score his 1st one day hundred, but the final total of 238 was hardly going to be challenging against the rampaging Lankans, and the Lankan top order just showed India why they were the reigning world champions. The third one day international nearly saw India suprising the Lankans with an inspired single handed performance by Robin Singh with the bat and ball. Robin Singh’s blistering hundred at number 3, with help from Dravid (78), saw India muster a commanding 291. The Lankan batting started in savage fashion with Sanath Jayasuriya smashing 68 off 38 balls, but his fall hastened a quick Lankan collapse with Sri Lanka on 132-6 in 19 overs. One more full over and India may have well won the rain marred contest, but the rain gods saved Sri Lanka the blushes.

The 3rd one dayer was replayed and India’s good fortunes on the tour vanished as the sun came out the next day. Sri Lanka largely aided by the twin De Silva blitzes of a century and a half century, amassed 264, which was 9 runs too much for India. India had great individual performances going into the tour with the emergence of players like Saurav Ganguly,Robin Singh,Dravid and Abey Kuruvilla, but it was just that the performances came in different matches, and India never found the ammunition to attack when it mattered.

The 2008 series solved the puzzle that India were trying to desperately solve. Sri Lanka was no more a labyrinthine fort to conquer and the pieces started to gel in place for India with youngsters rising to the fore when it mattered. Dhoni and Raina walked the talk with some inspiring ways to tackle Mendis and Murali, and that was the single most important jolt that the Lankans could never recover from. Over the years in these bilateral series, India have managed to solve the jigsaw puzzle with smaller efforts directed at an Indian win, rather than different individual honours. That has been the most important factor causing a change in the way India has gone about playing cricket in the island nation.

By Shreyas Bhide

Dhoni has guided India to some fantastic achievments ever since he was made the captain of the Indian ODI squad - the T20 World Cup, CB series in Australia, ODI triumphs in Pakistan and SriLanka and somewhat above average results in the Bangladesh and Pakistan ODI series. Not to forget his sole assignment as the test captain, where he led India to a series leveller win against the Proteas in Kanpur. Amongst all these assignments, barring the T20 World up, Dhoni’s deputy has been a damp squib throughout.

Its been almost 10 months since those purple days, where Yuvraj Singh was taking over any bowling attack to the cleaners. Since then though, luck’s been hard on Yuvi .. or should we say Yuvi has made it tough for himself. Sample this :
Yuvraj Singh has averaged 14.40 in the Sri Lanka series - 72 runs in five innings. Yuvraj is without a fifty in his last ten innings and without a century in the last 17.
Sometimes, only talent is not enough and Yuvraj Singh is realising that the hard way. A year ago, India’s batting superstar was red hot. His consistency, which had been in question from the start of his career in 2000, had become his strength. The southpaw was churning out one match-winning performance after another and it seemed that the country’s most gifted stroke-player had finally arrived. But cricket is a funny game, they say. It takes you to dizzy heights and just when you are enjoying the view from the top, it brings you crashing down. You then become the view.
When India began their three and a half-month tour to Australia in December 2007, Yuvraj Singh was their trump card. In the form of his life, the southpaw’s career was at its peak and he was almost leading the batting when India landed in Australia. His six sixes off Stuart Broad in the Twenty20 World Cup and the annihilation of Pakistan had him on the top of his game. He had the scores to back him and he got a place in the Tests for himself in the packed middle-order, something which had eluded him for a long time. It seemed like Yuvraj could do nothing wrong, but two Tests later, the tide had turned and he was stranded. The swagger , the attitude was amiss and with 17 runs in four innings, suddenly the sky-high confidence was plummeting down. The tour ‘down under’ had suddenly brought the flamboyant southpaw down and under a lot of pressure. And from there began Yuvraj’s fall, which eight months later is reaching new lows. Let the figures speak: Yuvraj Singh has averaged only 25 in 2008. Compare this with his averages of 45, 53 and 43 for 2007, 2006 and 2005 respectively.
This pretty much gives us the picture of how much trouble he is courting. Former cricketers say it is not his mistakes but his stubbornness not to learn from those mistakes which is taking him downhill. “Yuvraj needs to improve his defence a bit more and his goal should be to eventually play for Indian Test side consistently. Then he will become a better player. Talent is very much there - he is a treat to watch,” Wasim Akram, former Pakistan captain was quoted by The Dawn. Perhaps at a time when the southpaw should be leading the young Indian batting brigade, Yuvraj is almost competing with them to keep his place in the side.
His grievance of batting too low down has been taken care of under the leadership of MS Dhoni. His elevation up the order created even more problems for Yuvraj as he seemed all at sea against the pacers and was bamboozled by the spinners. The next few months will be critical for Yuvraj Singh’s career. With the ‘Fab Four’ in the Indian middle order reaching the home stretch of their careers, places are bound to open up. But the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath are making a strong case for inclusion and Yuvraj may get left behind in the race.
It does help when you have something to blame, but in Yuvraj’s case, his options are drying up fast. He has nobody and nothing, except himself to blame for the sorry state of affairs.

by Trevor Chesterfield

What is all this hullaballoo about the application of some sticky substance on a ball to make it swing?
For those who think it hasn’t happened before Marcus Trescothick’s juicy dressingroom revelations believe in the tooth fairy. As he is trying to sell books to vindicate the issue, it is something which might do so.
Ball tampering though is as tired as any cliché of what takes place in the devious mind of a fast bowler or even captain.
Ninety year-old Sir Alec Bedser, so he tell us, used the natural talent he was given to swing the ball, often late. This had been to fool batsmen to who he was delivering that is was well-concealed half-volley only for the batsmen to edge a catch to the leg-slips. He learnt the leg-cutter trick on the hard Australian pitches of 1946-47.
Fanie de Villiers explains how he also learnt the art of leg-cutters on the hard, unsympathetic surfaces they had in England in the 1990 season when he played for Kent.
In between those years, and as discovered in my umpiring days, as well as from tales in the dressingroom once an editor put an end to what he called “your umpiring foolishness to concentrate your skills on writing about cricket” you get to learn about what type of artificial substances are used to get the ball to swing.
In one club match umpired on a broiling February Sunday in 1967 at a ground called Willowmoore Park, Benoni, South Africa, the captain of the fielding side complained to my co-umpire and I about the state of the ball. He was asking for a replacement. It was a mess, all right: only the softness of the leather and where it was coming apart with the inner seam had been caused by some oily substance, which we guessed (rightly it later turned out) with sunscreen.
As they had been responsible for getting the ball in this condition, they could continue using the same ball until it was due for a legitimate change. There were some fifteen overs to go and the complaints were voluble. You can bet that they didn’t try that trick again.
Legend has it how England spinner Derek Underwood, known during his days as Deadly, once tossed the ball back to his Kent county captain and asked him how he expected to bowl with a ball that had been tampered with by the team’s fast bowlers.
Australian greats Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall of the 1940s through to the 1960s suggested it went on when they wrote books late in their careers: from hair cream to sun lotion and as experienced sunscreen.
Umpires have pulled up bowlers for picking the seam, although Inzamam-ul-Huq went into a huff and refused to believe that his bowlers at The Oval would do such a thing. But Pakistan bowlers have been known since Lord’s 1992 to have infringed. Aaqib Javed had been cited in a book as one culprit.
As with the “we are not cheats” scenario, the ball disappeared from the umpires locker before it could be forensically tested for scuff marks.
Why, Mike Procter, when coach of South Africa on that historic three-match tour of India in November 1991, asked to see the ball at Eden Gardens (the call it The Eden in Kolkata) was alarmed at the scratch and scuff marks on the ball.
By the Gwalior game of that short sojourn, newspaper comments were emerging of Indian bowlers with extra long fingernails and there was a rupture in South African management relations between the team manager, Ali Bacher and United Cricket Board (of SA) president Geoff Dakin over comments made to the media.
These were seen to be a major faux pas on what had been essentially a highly politicised “Thank you, India” tour.
When notes to laws changed in1967 before the 1967/68 season, and done in a bid to get rid of the ball tampering curse, such simple acts as wiping sweat from the brow onto the hand, or sucking of sweets on the field, were banned. But it still continues.
It didn’t need Trestcothick to point it out: cheap publicity as a way of selling a book suggests that the Somerset and England opener was in on the “deal” from the start.
Yet, as Fanie de Villiers explained, sweat from under the arm pit is natural and more effective than anything else as it doesn’t mess up the quality of the leather whereas other artificial substances do.
Former Test umpire, Don Oslear, from England, has highlighted how in 1991 he cited the same (county) team in three separate reports for ball tampering. Nothing was done by the then Test and County Cricket Board.
To suggest that some administrators condone such acts explains how Trestcothick revealing such a cheap trick in ball tampering has been as much a part of the modern game as that from the 1940s, if not before. Maybe it is why Inzamam was able to sulk over accusations of ball tampering, knowing the umpire, Darrel Hair would cop the abuse and he wouldn’t.

Also read:
Fighting Illegality on a Technicality

Just when we were thinking that Team India might romp up the series with a 4-1 victory margin, especially after its historic triumph in the Emerald Island, the team displayed a shoddy performance to lose its final match by registering one of its low score defeats. With no “finals” or “series decider” match threats, in which the Indian team had always struggled, it should have been an easy outing, but, hard working effort by two hard working players had India in trouble.

Winning the toss, the Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene decided to bat first, thoughts of the R.Premadasa pitch helping slow ball bowlers in the second half of the match was obvious in the Sri Lankan skippers mind.

Batting first, the Sri Lankan’s lost their first wicket in the form of Sanath Jayasuriya, but Malinda Warnapura and Mahela Udawatte thwarted the opening onslaught by the Indian new ball bowlers with some sensible batting. At 77/1 things looked stable, but both Warnapura and Udwatte perished in one brilliant over by Irfan Pathan and Kumar Sangakkara followed suite in the next over. Skipper Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera batted slowly but wickets kept falling at regular intervals and by the 37th over, Sri Lanka had lost six wickets with the score card reading 133 runs.

First timer in the series, Jehan Mubarak and an unsung hero Thilan Thushara, who played his best batting in this match by scoring his first half century, ensured that the Lankans post a respectable target on the score board. A word about Thushara is that in all the matches that he played, he was impressive in scoring runs and taking wickets, displaying his ability as a quality allrounder. The two left-handed batsmen toiled to take the Sri Lankan total to 227 runs.

For India, Pathan and spinner Pragyan Ojha took two and Zaheer Khan and R.P.Singh took a wicket each.

With 228 to win, the Indian openers Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir batted with controlled aggression. Gambhir scored his first runs with back-to-back boundaries and Kohli again batted brilliantly for his 31, incidently becoming the highest scorer of this match. But they could not carry for long and were back in the dressing room by the 11th over. Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina batted in the drizzle and after Raina got out, it started to rain and the match was stopped for a brief period of time.

The Duckworth-Lewis method was quickly referred and a new target of 216 runs in 44 overs was set for the Indian team. Soon, Rohit Sharma got out to Nuwan Kulasekara, who by then had scalped all the first four wickets that fell in the second session. Ajantha Mendis was introduced at this point and the spinner responded by taking Yuvraj’s wicket in his first over and his first ball of the match. The Indian score card read 79 for five. Soon skipper M.S. Dhoni was also out, perhaps, this was not his day to be a savior. Mendis and Dilhara Fernando ripped through the lower middle order and lower order batsmen and in no time India were all out for 103 runs, the last six wickets falling for 24 runs. The result, Sri Lanka won the final match by 112 runs as per the Duckworth Lewis revised score.

For Sri Lanka, Mendis took four wickets in his short spell, Fernando took two and Kulasekara with his four initial wickets that started the Indian collapse, was rightfully adjudged the Player of the match. Indian skipper Dhoni was adjudged the Player of the series. India wins the five-match series 3-2.

BCCI plans to upgrade its working system by proposing a new set of selection rules and also by bringing changes in the salary system of the National selection committee. The agenda is supposed to be put forth in the upcoming annual general meeting to be held in Mumbai on 27 and 28 September, promises a much improvised system. If the agenda is agreed by the board, then it will have to make some hurried changes as the existing panel of selectors retires soon after the meeting on September 30.

The new selection policy will define new rules that will be referred for the selection process. The new rules suggests, for a candidate to be considered for the selectors post, he must be a former India player or a domestic cricketer who had played a minimum of 25 first class matches and retired atleast a decade ago and importantly not associated to any of the BCCI’s job roles or of its affiliated offices at the time of his appointment. Rajiv Shukla, one of the BCCI’s top official, says that the board was no more willing to rope in a player to be a selector soon after his retirement, as the board feels that the chances of having some biased options might be on a high. The appointed senior selectors will be receiving a salary of rupees 25 lakhs per annum.

If these rules come in to place, then from the current bunch of five, only Bhupinder Singh can be considered and for a second term as a BCCI selector. Other selectors who are associated with different managements of the board cannot be considered, which only means that we might see a new crop of selectors who will be deciding the Team India squad for the October test matches against Australia.

Rules for the junior selection panel were also prepared on similar lines. The candidate must be an ex-India player or a cricketer who has played a minimum of 25 first class matches and retired five years ago. Also, the candidate must not be associated to any jobs from BCCI or its affiliated offices at the time of his appointment. The appointed candidate will be offered a salary of rupees 15 lakhs per annum.

A similar rule is also being considered to be implemented for the women selection panel. The candidate to be eligible must have played for the Indian team or have played a minimum of 25 first class matches and retired five years ago. Again, the candidate should not be an employee of BCCI or its affiliated offices at the time of her appointment. The appointed candidate will receive a salary of rupees 5 lakhs per annum. Also, BCCI has planned a scheme for presenting a monthly gratis of 15,000 rupees per month, for women cricketers who had played atleast 10 or more test matches and 10,000 rupees per month for players with five to nine test matches. Also, an increase in the monthly gratis for widows of Test cricket umpires are also to be considered in the meeting.

As a mark of good will to other sports, BCCI plans to make a contribution of rupees 50 crores to the National Sports Development Fund, to help promote and develop other sporting bodies in the country. Apart from this, the Board plans to present cash awards to Olympic medalists. Gold winning shooter Abhinav Bindra will be awarded a cash prize of rupees 25 lakhs, whereas bronze medalists, wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar will be presented rupees 10 lakhs each.

In an attempt to develop women’s cricket in neighboring China, BCCI plans to send a coach and also to present cricketing equipments worth 50,000 dollars. Next month, the Indian High Commissioner to China, on behalf of BCCI, will present the proposed package to the Cricket Committee of China.

Hence much to do for BCCI in its annual general meeting and then the selection of the new five national selectors based on its outcome.

How does a team punish a player for skipping a team session: give him more time off! Andrew Symonds and controversy do not seem very far apart. Once again Symonds finds himself in hot water ahead of the tour to India and no prizes for guessing what he was up to!
It may seem like a casual day in the park. How tough can an opposition like Bangladesh be? Perhaps a similar though was running through Andrew Symonds’ head when he decided to use the day before the first one day international for some practice – fishing practice that is. After all some skills need to be perfected against tougher opponents. (Bangladesh’s performance in the first game did not do them any justice either.)
Symonds who opted out of the net session on the eve of the match also ended up missing a team meeting finding himself in deep waters (pun intended). There was suggestions he was drunk thereafter but that was a secondary issue for the team management’s leadership group. The result was that even his closeness with the stand-in skipper Michael Clarke was not going to do him any favours. He was read the riot act (and he has heard a few in his time) and he apologized for his misdeed (and he has said a few in his time).
Now Symonds has a month off to decide on how he intends to approach the subject of his inclusion in the Australian squad. His seniority meant that more was expected of him with Ricky Ponting rendered unavailable through injury, Matthew Hayden pulling out at the last minute and Brett Lee’s marriage fiasco after splitting from his podiatrist wife, Liz Kemp, forcing him to take time out.
Fortunately for Australia, it is Bangladesh and if even against this opposition, they fail because of the absence of Symonds, their status as world champions would have been brought into focus. But it has happened before and Symonds was at the deep end of it on the occasion, only it happened to be a bottle laced rather than a fishing rod. Recall back to 2005 when Symonds turned up still under the influence of alcohol at Cardiff had to be benched. Australia went on to lose that game against Bangladesh. Most recently he was fined for missing the team bus in the Caribbean and his troubles do not seem to be ending any time soon.
No such hiccups on this occasion but Symonds has a habit of staying in the news for the wrong reasons. Most Australians and Indians will be hard pressed to forget the fiasco of the Sydney Test. But Symonds’ past history of misdemeanours are threatening to seriously colour his sparkling cricket career.
Who needs reality television with characters like him around? Why Symonds was not halted from taking off without prior permission or not made aware of a possible team meeting is intriguing. For the Australian bench strength, he is another opportunity of another errant boy. It appeared even the Australian media and public is tiring of the antics, having already witnessed enough with Shane Warne and tolerance may be wearing thin.
Someone better tell Symonds, there is no such thing as off days.

By Kartik Kannan

If ever the SLC(Sri Lankar Cricket) Board get down to honouring one of their players with a cricketing terminology, they’d be happy to replace the familiar “Howzzat” with “How-Vaas-Zaat”, given the yeoman contribution the Lankan pacer has unflinchingly given Sri Lankan cricket over the last 15 years.

Chaminda Vaas is a first of his kind bolwer for Sri Lanka, given that before his time, there was no pace bowler of repute who drew international attention. You had a Wickramasinghe, a Rumesh Ratnayeke, and a Greame Labrooy whose names you could rattle of as friendly bowlers who on their day could mildly trouble the batsmen. Sri Lanka was never known to produce fast bowlers traditionally until Chaminda Vaas showed that pace and swing bowling are two different tenets of the same religion which need to be used depending on the conditions that were presented to bowlers.

From the late 80’s the only buzz Sri Lanka had about its bowlers were always around its spinners who managed to hog attention from Don Anurasiri to Warnaweera, Kalpage and then to Murali, Dharmasena, Upul Chandana and now Mendis. In a nation that largely has spin friendly pitches and with so much attention was on spin bowling, Chaminda Vaas has managed to hold forte and get noticed for his cricketing acumen with the ball.

When he started off, Vaas was a military medium pace bowler who could bowl stump-to-stump line with a you-miss-I-hit philosophy. But soon he learnt the tricks of the trade and had a vicious in coming delivery to the right hander and started concentrating on swing. Vaas’ claim to fame came against the Kiwis in the 95 test series in New Zealand, where he bowled Sri Lanka to their first overseas victory with a rich 10 wicket haul on a Greenish pitch at Napier. He soon became the most penetrative bowler Sri Lanka ever produced at that time. More interestingly Vaas was largely responsible for creating the inroads into the opposition batting order, which opened the sluice gates for the Lankan spinners to weave a web of deceit strangulating the opposition. Just as McGrath put a foot in the door for Warne to attack, Vaas too did the same for Sri Lanka, allowing Murali to run riot by being a support bowler and yet creating a niche for oneself is a tough task, given the unresponsive nature of the sub-continental pitches, the humidity and the batsman friendly conditions.

From a single vicious inswinger, added to the menu over the years, are the reverse swing deliveries, the away going delivery, the disguised slower one in the form of an offcutter. With so many variations, Vaas has become an invaluable asset to the side in terms of getting early wickets and then coming back in the slog overs to curtail the runs. Why Vaas’s career makes interesting reading is because of his perseverance and unstinted effort to make it to the top. There have been days where Vaas’ bowling has been torn to shreds and made to look pedestrian, but the way he comes back at the batsmen have been admirable. Vaas was not really in the thick of wickets during the seasons of ‘98, ‘99 and 2000, but he persevered and came back with a bang in 2001, where he took 58 wickets which was more than what he had taken in the last three years and 23 of them came in a series against the West Indies where Lara literally tore the Sri Lankan attack. To come back strongly is one thing, but to come back with a bang against the likes of Lara and Chanderpaul at the height of their careers is another, and that makes Chaminda Vaas an unsung hero.

In one day cricket Vaas operates with alacrity, and for a frontline bowler who bowls in the initial 15 overs and the last 10, his economy of rate of 4.05 in the subcontinent takes the cake. Very few bowlers have such an economy rate in the subcontinent after playing 200 one day matches. To simply put it, the Sri Lankan cricket fan would have loved being a spectator to Vaas’s gladiatorial conquests, and wouldn’t mind shouting How-Vaas-Zat!

Herschelle Gibbs was imitating Usain Bolt from the dressing room. But there was nothing like a lightning bolt about the innings. The South African chase was just like their performance through this one day series – despondent. The fat lady seemed to be singing herself hoarse when Albie Morkel fell to a clean, clever caught and bowled by Samit Patel, the five wicket man. This is a run through of the dismal day.
When Albie Morkel walked off the pitch looking rather stunned and dejected in that order, South Africa’s collapse was all but complete. Rendered ineffective at the top of the order with Graeme Smith sitting out with tennis elbow, Hashim Amla was the only top order batsman who made an impact after being drafted in. his forty-six must seem like gold in light of the rest of the score card.
Six for 138 was where Morkel had hit two sixes but also, fell to Samit Patel’s agility. The truth of the matter was that South Africa were never really in the run chase. The fits and starts that epitomized their innings was never going to get them very far. If anything, England are edging close to them in the world rankings by the manner in which they are unraveling the South Africans and revealing the chinks.
The change of captaincy failed to bring anything new to the one dimensional South African approach of resignation. Kallis held the same doleful face as did Smith as he watched his team topple ignominiously at Trent Bridge. On the other hand, a coordinated, concerted effort from England first with the bat and then, more impressively with the ball, this was victory well deserved, both of the match and the series.

For the other half of this story, read:
South Africa Have their Backs to the Wall as Smith’s Elbow Gives Way!

Saved by the dozen, is how Mahela Jayawardene must see this game. It is rather ironical how a team that performs with panache till they wrap the series suddenly hit a new low when presented with a match of little statistical significance. No, this is not about the South Africans, this is of the seeming resurgent Indian one day side when Sri Lanka found a rare reprieve.
It is a well known factor at the Premadasa that the team batting second is at a significant disadvantage under the lights. But it seemed even when the match seemed evenly poised when rain interrupted play, matters turned dramatically in Sri Lanka’s favour once rain finally gave way for a shortened game/
The target was revised to 216 in forty-four overs when the rain that halted play during the fourteenth over finally relented. But for India, the end seemed to come sooner than expected. Expected to coast to victory having curbed Sri Lanka during the day, this could then be considered an upset victory for the Sri Lankans.
Going onto the field without their experienced duet composers, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, this was considered a relatively facile plausible Indian victory. Instead it has turned into the Kulasekara song and the Sri Lankans decided to join the chorus.
India had lost Suresh Raina moments before rain forced the players off the field. India were three down but far from being ousted out of this contest. Kulasekara was the only destructor before the rain break but he was soon joined by Ajantha Mendis, the man who everyone said India has sorted out. There would be no more sorting on this tour. Mendis was getting a little back, including his favourite pick, Yuvraj Singh.
Three for seventy before rain turned into six for eighty-five in no time once play resumed. India looked like they were trying to fold the innings quickly and rather impatiently, whether in victory or just to run home after the tour, it was hard to tell. Perhaps the possibility of the reserve day being utilized threatened the flight plans back home and they decided to end the drudgery of the tour on the day itself.
That may seem a little far fetched but it has been that kind of tour and while India would have loved to finish it with a bang, perhaps the spiced up contest after rain and with Kulasekara before that, made matters more slippery for India’s wet hands. Only a century to show. An early end to a wet waiting. The match may have slipped, but not the cup!

To know when Sri Lanka had their troubled moments in their batting stint as India came away thinking that this final match at the Premadasa was in this pockets, catch:
Indian Chase: More than Academics

South Africa suffered a major blow with Graeme Smith finally deciding his elbow had all done all it could. But the team now had to do without the skipper’s resources at a time when the hosts are in the ascendancy and the visitors, well, not many would back them to bounce back.
Mickey Arthur often touched upon the bounce back ability of the South Africans when they toured India. South Africa did show it during the Test series but have found themselves strangely out of depth in the one day game on this tour. For England and their new skipper Kevin Pietersen, this was a dream start and there would be nothing more delightful than to cap with a series victory.
Smith’s injury would have perhaps been exacerbated by the extent of trauma that must be going through the South African dressing room as the inexplicable slump. Not many of their bowlers are fit to the mark but none seem to be in any sort of bowling form either. Dale Steyn coming back from injury, the Morne brothers forcefully injected and Makahaya Ntini short on form as well, England had a golden opportunity to finish the job at the Oval and though their innings while batting veered from one extreme to the next, it appeared the stand-in skipper Jacques Kallis and his team would have a real battle on their hands.
But South Africa had to perform radically different from they way they did in the first two games in order to stop England from running away with it. But it was not going to be easy. England’s batting seemed to taken confidence from the previous encounter when Ian Bell and Matt Prior opened the batting and also, sealed a famous victory for England. The duo carried off from where they left off at Trent Bridge. A century partnership to England and it seemed South Africa were being batted out.
But the strike did come. Prior’s departure opened a little gaping hole that threatened to become a wounded gash. Four wickets including that of the England skipper and South Africa were beginning to see a ray of hope. At 155 for four, England, it appeared, had thrown the initiative back to the visitors. After Bell’s seventy-three, miniature partnerships down the order ensured England found their way again and testing the visitors. Andrew Flintoff was clearly the glue holding the England innings either and capitalized on a listless South African performance.
Unless their batting suggests otherwise, South Africans are not showing their usual fighting spirit. Flintoff’s spirited knocking resulting in an unbeaten seventy-eight for him and 296 for England should be a tough chase for the so far win-less South Africans in this series. Fans will hope it is a close one, one way or the other!