The Surfer
Beau Casson could make his Test debut for Australia next week and to get to this stage he has had to deal with more issues than most cricketers, as Chloe Saltau writes in the Age .
Casson was born with a congenital heart defect known as Fallot's syndrome. The condition makes it difficult for him to lower his heart rate after extended periods of physical exertion, and has prompted three open heart operations. He works to a modified training program, in which he is granted extra time to recover from exercise. He is monitored regularly.
A pair of ducks for Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood on the first day at Trent Bridge was the worst possible result for England’s two out-of-form batsmen
Naming an unchanged side for the fifth time in a row for the first time in 124 years has been tripped out as something worthy of pride. Yet the statistic that should be on the minds of the England hierarchy is that this is likely to be the 12th Test to go by since the team posted a first-innings total of more than 400, which tends to suggest that change, rather than continuity, is required.
Harsha Bhogle, in his column in the Indian Express , looks at the reasons behind Rajashtan's IPL success story
The key to team spirit is communication and this would have been Warne’s greatest challenge. The only language that his think tank spoke was also the language that a lot of players in the team would have been uncomfortable with. But by gelling so wonderfully, and it was great to see, Warne showed that the language of cricket and the intent to communicate can over-ride strange nouns and verbs. It is a huge learning, one that enemies of foreign coaches would do well to reflect over. Language and culture can be a barrier for those who choose to look upon it as a barrier.
In his column in The Times , Michael Atherton says that two documentaries on Monday evening, one about Hansie Cronje and one about Basil D'Oliveira, proved conclusively that sport remains the finest polygraph test known to man
As England begin the third Test, their bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, discusses swing, Steve Harmison and the day that Malcolm Marshall taught him the value of hard graft, in a chat with the Independent's Brian Viner
Gibson understands Sidebottom, a fellow late-bloomer. But then Sidebottom is an uncomplicated man. Not so Gibson's erstwhile Durham team-mate, the enigmatic Steve Harmison, still omitted from the squad but posting a timely reminder of his talent with a hat-trick against Sussex at the weekend. Gibson does not presume to comment on the selectors' decision, and indeed is relishing the chance to work with an attack unchanged in five Tests, but he feels he understands Harmison better than most, and is certain the 29-year-old can force his way back into the reckoning.
Despite having been embroiled in many controversies; the man who still is a folklore hero, has not lost his bearings
Kapil is nothing if not pragmatic and his run-ins with the board are well documented. But he does not care and believes that a time will come after a decade or so when the players' voice will become powerful. And he thinks it has to do with the players getting richer and richer. “When I started playing, I could see that the earlier generation was frustrated. So, probably was mine, but once the money comes in and the players are no longer dependent on the largesse of the Board for making a living, a change will take place.”
Asif, 25 by his own estimation, will know now that even his best-case scenario — being found not guilty on a technicality or for lack of conclusive evidence, and there’s nothing to suggest that so far — his life will never be the same again.
Will the ICC wake up to the reality of a player-centric popular tournament and create a window so that all, including the English players, can get into the IPL and enjoy the competition and the monetary benefit, asks R Mohan in the Asian Age .
The closing ceremony of the tournament made the commentators look classy, it was that bad. It was a mix of a cheap Bollywood variety show, a circus from hell and a school annual day.
We have read how Warne got the best of the mosquito squadron that was at his command but what we didn’t read about was the backing of the support staff of the Rajasthan Royals, and one of them was a former Mumbai opening batsman Zubin Bharucha,
Zubin Bharucha had handed over the opposition players’ analysis to Shane Warne who hadn’t seen many of the players in the opposition. The assessment of Bharucha and the implementation of Warne seem to have clicked.
Shane Warne has proved it takes more than money to buy instant success even in the IPL, says Mike Selvey in the Guardian
Warne's latest incarnation, leading the Rajasthan Royals to success in the Indian Premier League, has put paid to the notion that anyone with a bottomless pit of money can buy their way to instant success. Warne's team were certainly not composed of bumpkin cricketers punching above their weight, and they had some big players. They might have come cheaper than some of their rivals but they were by no means cheap.