The Surfer
A hair-raising drama and a crisis
The current fuss is just another in a long line of controversies that had no lasting ill-effects on the game of cricket, writes Jon Henderson in the Observer .
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
The current fuss is just another in a long line of controversies that had no lasting ill-effects on the game of cricket, writes Jon Henderson in the Observer.
One of the main reasons cricket is so wonderful is its crowded cast of crackpot characters and rich history of skulduggery, the latter being an inevitable consequence of the dopey old game's beautifully intricate construction.
The Dawn's Kamran Abbasi minces no words in his column:
Full postVintage Australia showing age
Tim de Lisle, writing in The Times , sees the current England and Australian teams on extreme ends of the age spectrum:
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Tim de Lisle, writing in The Times, sees the current England and Australian teams on extreme ends of the age spectrum:
It used to be England whose players went on forever, while the Australians picked them young and sent them packing at about 32. Not any more.
Past greats mixed on pre-Ashes boot camp
Neil Harvey has called the pre-Ashes boot camp as "absolute garbage" but Alan Davidson differs
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Neil Harvey has called the pre-Ashes boot camp as "absolute garbage" but Alan Davidson differs. Find out why in The Age.
Full post"All it can do is get someone hurt. They call it a bonding exercise, but these guys have been playing together for 10 years. If they're not bonded by now, forget about it."
'Those phones will no longer ring'
Writing in The Indian Express , S Santhanam relives some special moments with former Test opener and gentleman cricketer Vijay Mehra, who died of a heart attack yesterday
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Writing in The Indian Express, S Santhanam relives some special moments with former Test opener and gentleman cricketer Vijay Mehra, who died of a heart attack yesterday.
Mehra always took keen interest in the domestic matches and would often ring this writer to get the scores of different teams and players. Those phones will no longer ring, I have lost a close guide and admirer.
Also read K Datta's obituary in the Times of India.
Full post'The ICC should get rid of Hair'
Arjuna Ranatunga speaks to G Krishnan in The Hindustan Times regarding his stance on The Oval farce and his stint in Sri Lankan politics.
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Arjuna Ranatunga speaks to G Krishnan in The Hindustan Times regarding his stance on The Oval farce and his stint in Sri Lankan politics.
The ICC was wrong in having Hair in its panel. When teams had problems with him, he was kept out. By bringing him back in its panel, the ICC has rehabilitated him of sorts. It is very important for the ICC to get rid of people like Hair. By not doing that, not only teams but also countries get upset with each other.
Hooray for Raja, a sport to the end
Geoff McClure remembers an interesting anecdote about Wasim Raja, who died recently, during his first meeting at Perth almost 25 years ago:
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Geoff McClure remembers an interesting anecdote about Wasim Raja, who died recently, during his first meeting at Perth almost 25 years ago:
I challenged him to a wager involving the rest of the match. At odds of 2-1, Raja would win $100 if he took at least one wicket when Australia's second innings resumed next day and then score a half-century when Pakistan batted. But, on my insistence, part of the deal was that he also had to celebrate each achievement by standing in the middle of the pitch with his both arms facing towards the heavens.Read here to find out more.
"Never." Never? "Never."
That was Dominic Cork's reaction when Brian Viner of The Independent asked if he ever raised the seam of a cricket ball
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
That was Dominic Cork's reaction when Brian Viner of The Independent asked if he ever raised the seam of a cricket ball. That was convincing enough. Looking ahead to the C&G Trophy final between Lancashire and Sussex, Cork looks ahead to the big match with all the downbeat insouciance of a child on Christmas Eve who suspects that Santa is bringing him a puppy. He also looks back at his career with England and his mood swings, which often hampered his progress. Read the full piece here.
I'm an aggressive cricketer, I like to get stuck in mentally, as well as physically, and there are 11 Australian cricketers very similar to me but nothing's ever said about them because they're very successful.
Emails cast Hair into the wilderness
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
 |
 |
Mike Selvey writes in the Guardian on the latest twist in the Darrell Hair saga:
Whatever his motive, Hair was unwise and naive to think that his suggested course of action was an easy way out. As far as the ICC is concerned, he is dispensable, and in disclosing his correspondence, they have all but cut off at the knees his career as an international umpire.
Also check out Richard Williams' piece in the same newspaper where he says, "Hair appears to have demolished his claim to moral authority. Whether he was being greedy or stupid, or even just pragmatic, will be of no importance."
Full postPakistan will now need a new leader
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
The Pakistan Cricket Board has much to answer for writes Asif Iqbal in The News.
In this entire controversy, the relationship that Darrell Hair enjoys with other functionaries of the ICC has been a revelation. The match referee Mike Proctor wanted to restart the match but could not prevail upon Hair to do so; the ICC chief executive, who plays a rather bigger role than his position as a paid executive of the ICC would perhaps merit, is also reported to have spoken to Hair, but to no avail. One would have thought that in terms of the hierarchy of the ICC, both the match referee and certainly the chief executive are above the umpire but Hair could flout both.
Jarman recalls SA's tampering under Woolmer
Barry Jarman, the former match referee, says he confiscated a ball from the South African team, which was being coached by Bob Woolmer , when it was only 16 overs old because the seam had been lifted
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Barry Jarman, the former match referee, says he confiscated a ball from the South African team, which was being coached by Bob Woolmer, when it was only 16 overs old because the seam had been lifted. He talks to Robert Craddock in The Courier-Mail about the 1997 incident.
Jarman kept the issue secret until yesterday, when he produced the ball which has been in his possession ever since he demanded it be replaced. Jarman, no longer on the refereeing panel, noticed the ball was being scratched by two fieldsmen who would then lift their shirts and rub sweat into one side of it, causing an imbalance that would make it swing at freakish angles.
"The ball is only 16 overs old, yet one side has been tampered with and you can see where they have run their thumbnails down the seam which opens up," he said. "The open seam [which caught the sweat] meant one side was heavier than the other ..."
Jarman told the umpires to immediately replace the ball, triggering a fiery exchange with Woolmer. "They all went berserk, including Bob Woolmer, who raced into my office and said 'what's going on?'," Jarman said. "I said 'your guys are stuffing around with the ball, mate'. I told him who it was and he went out with his tail between his legs.
Full post