The Surfer
Waugh and Aussie media back Hair
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
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Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, has come out strongly in favour of Darrell Hair's decision at The Oval, which received scathing criticism in the English and Pakistani media yesterday. Waugh's sentiment is echoed in the Australian papers as well, with most journalists and former cricketers backing Hair.
Waugh felt that Hair did the right thing by abandoning the Test. "I definitely agree with that [Pakistan forfeiting] - if they don't go back on the field the Test is over," Waugh said in News Ltd papers. "That's quite simple. Sunil Gavaskar tried that one on the umpires in Australia [in 1981]. No-one is bigger than the game. The laws are there for a reason."
Javed Miandad was one of the few Pakistani voices that came out against Inzamam-ul-Haq's decision. "Pakistan committed mistake after mistake and put themselves in a no-win situation," Miandad told AFP. "[Irrespective of] whoever has taken the decision but it's the skipper who will face the punishment. Either he should have taken the decision immediately or have played the match under protest. Pakistan has not only lost the match, but also lost the sympathy with the crowd, who came to see the game."
Full postThe Oval mourns dead rubber
Mike Atherton, writing in the Sunday Telegraph , feels that there is only one consolation England can take from their insipid performance at The Oval
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Mike Atherton, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, feels that there is only one consolation England can take from their insipid performance at The Oval. The fact that they've succumbed to the death-rubber syndrome.
Full postUnited Front
With Monty Panesar and Sajid Mahmood in the current England side and Yorkshire teenager Adil Rashid provoking great excitement, the profile of British Asians in cricket has never been higher
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
With Monty Panesar and Sajid Mahmood in the current England side and Yorkshire teenager Adil Rashid provoking great excitement, the profile of British Asians in cricket has never been higher. But is the game as free from racism as it appears? Kamran Abbasi reports
Full postAustralia's early blows fail to connect
Kevin Mitchell, writing in The Observer , believes that the Australians are worried
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Kevin Mitchell, writing in The Observer, believes that the Australians are worried. And as an Anglo-Australian himself, he is better placed than most to judge. The training camps, the barrage of bombastic statements, the average age of the side, it all adds up to a picture of insecurity.
What England will provide this winter will be a side considerably more able and confident than the one Hussain took there to be barbecued four years ago. It is not yet firing consistently, but the signs are mildly encouraging. They will take comfort from their elevation to number two in the world after securing the current series 2-0 at Headingley, although will be disappointed they have not been able to consolidate that supremacy here in the fourth Test
Bigotry at silly point
Mukul Kesavan, writing in the Hindustan Times , looks back at the Dean Jones controversy and advocates a policy of zero tolerance.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Mukul Kesavan, writing in the Hindustan Times, looks back at the Dean Jones controversy and advocates a policy of zero tolerance.
The reason ‘kike’, ‘faggot’ and ‘nigger’ are taboo today is because public opinion backed up by social sanction made them unsayable ... Roebuck and Border and cricket’s commentariat seem to think calling a bearded Muslim a ‘terrorist’ doesn’t belong in the same category of proscribed words. Well, it’s up to us to persuade them that it does, through a policy of zero tolerance.
The Oval debacle
The decision of Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove to award England victory at The Oval has created a massive reaction.
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
The decision of Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove to award England victory at The Oval has created a massive reaction.
Ted Corbett, writing in The Hindu, tries to track where it all began:
The whole affair began, according to tales sweeping the Oval ground, when an England and Wales Cricket Board official went to the umpires' dressing room in the morning and asked them to watch out for ball tampering by the Pakistan players.
Lies, cheating and offspin
In a freewheeling interview to The Indian Express Harbhajan Singh tells Ajay S Shankar about the journey so far and his dream to become India captain.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
In a freewheeling interview to The Indian Express Harbhajan Singh tells Ajay S Shankar about the journey so far and his dream to become India captain.
I always stick with what I feel is right, what I feel is the truth. The effect, later on, may be bad for me, as it has happened a lot of times. And I know there’s a lot of lies going around these days, and there are many times when you are cheated. But that’s the way I have grown up, that’s the way I was taught to be. To speak the truth, stand with the truth.
Pacemen not fit to match up to Oval’s old master
Thirty years on from his destruction of England, Michael Holding is less than impressed with the stamina of the latest generation of fast bowlers, writes Simon Wilde
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Thirty years on from his destruction of England, Michael Holding is less than impressed with the stamina of the latest generation of fast bowlers, writes Simon Wilde
“I’ve studied footage of Harmison over recent years and I can’t detect any technical glitches, so I can only assume the reason he has bowled at 81mph on Friday, which is 9mph down on his usual level, is lack of fitness. That, or he has a mental problem. But I can’t comment on that because I don’t know the man.”
English cricket's knight riders
If cricket has changed over the decades, so have the flashy wheels the players drive
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
If cricket has changed over the decades, so have the flashy wheels the players drive. Mike Selvey compares the eras with some hilarious examples. Read the full piece in The Guardian
Full postNowadays, players - or at least the big guns - drive their sponsored vehicles largely in anonymity. In the days when suppliers insisted on making the cars into billboards, there was something slightly demeaning in sitting at the lights with a large sticker on the driver's door saying Howzat!!!!
Time to see what Broad is made of
Scyld Berry, writing in the Sunday Telegraph , feels Stuart Broad can solve England's one-day fast-bowling problem.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Scyld Berry, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, feels Stuart Broad can solve England's one-day fast-bowling problem.
Broad turned 20 only two months ago, and the one way to spoil him would be over-bowling him and provoking stress fractures. But a few one-dayers for England would round off the season nicely for this wonderful prospect, and would allow Steve Harmison to enjoy a few championship games for Durham.
With England struggling for one-day bowlers, John Stern assesses their fast bowling reserves in the Sunday Times.
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