Kasprowicz seizes the day

A year ago, Michael Kasprowicz appeared to be yesterday's man. Young fast bowlers like Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken were challenging the incumbent trio of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee for spots in the Australian side, and Kasprowicz's international career seemed all but over.

But Kasprowicz then received an unexpected recall to the national side, for their tour of Sri Lanka early this year, where he seized his chance - and he's holding on to it tight. A series of exceptional performances - a matchwinning 5 for 45 in a one-dayer in Colombo, and a brilliant 7 for 39 a series later in a Test at Darwin - cemented his place in the side, to the extent that even though Lee is fit again and back in the squad, Kaspowicz is expected to retain his place in the final XI during the forthcoming tour of India.

Speaking to the news agency, AFP, Kasprowicz said, "It is very tough, it goes without saying. It is not only them [McGrath, Gillespie and Lee] but there are a lot of other great cricketers in Australian first-class cricket, so it's very honourable to be selected again. All I can do is try to do my best. If I get the opportunity to go out and play for Australia it's up to me to bowl well.

"That way there's no regrets. Competition is healthy within a team. If there are more people challenging for a position in the team then it draws the best out of everyone and the team certainly benefits."

Kasprowicz went on to say that he did not feel out of place when he returned to the Australian side, as he had enjoyed long associations with many of his national team-mates. "I played Australia Under-19s with Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist. I also played with Matthew Hayden right through youth cricket in Queensland. It all adds to a good feel in the side."

Kasprowicz has often been labelled as a subcontinental specialist, mainly because of his excellent performances during Australia's tour of India in 1997-98, but he brushed aside the suggestion that this was a limitation. "When people say I'm a subcontinental specialist, I say it's nice to be special at something," he said. "I think what's helped my game is playing a high volume of cricket. County cricket, for example, has helped me a lot because you do play on a lot of different surfaces, different pitches. Even the Glamorgan home wicket in Cardiff, Sophia Gardens, is quite a low, slow wicket.

"Obviously Australian bowlers prefer to bowl on nice hard bouncy wickets because that's what we have at home and that's what we've grooved our game on. But it's about adjusting when you come across other surfaces and certainly when you come to India the wickets are slower and lower, and that's something I've taken on board now."