PRABHAKAR_RAW_DEAL_GAVASKAR_MAY94

"Prabhakar got a raw deal" (by S.M.Gavaskar, May 94)

Brian Lara's century on debut for Warwickshire must have pleased them no end, for the county had signed him up at the eleventh hour in place of the injured Manoj Prabhakar. They must be patting themselves on the back at having registered the signing of the decade. Almost as soon as he signed for Warwickshire, Lara went on to set up the world record for the highest individual score in Test cricket. The inquiries for membership started to increase after this and his debut century in county cricket will have lengthened the queues further.

Counties rely a great deal on mebership support and more the members a county club has the more prosperous it is supposed to be. And this is where Prabhakar being unfit comes into the picture. It is a fact that Prabhakar's signing was not a unanimous decision of the County COmmittee and it certainly did not cause the excitement that was hoped for as far as membership was concerned. His injury in New Zealand came as a blessing for the county who then asked him to fly to England for a fitness test. Now when Prabhakar returned to India from New Zealand he was told that it would take about four to six weeks to be fit. This was in mid-March so it meant with the county season starting in late April he would be in a position to fulfil his contract. However he was called by the county for a fitness test in early April, at which point he was never going to be fit anyway. The county then used this excuse to replace him with Lara.

It would be interesting to see when Lara was actually signed for Warwickshire. Was it before Prabhakar was declared unfit or after? That would explain the county's eagerness to have the fitness test. One does not know who Prabhakar's agent was, if ever there was one, but there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that Prabhakar has been dealt an unfair blow. Hopefully he has got some compensation, though no amount of financial return can make up for the way he must have felt on being told he was unfit. After all, even if he had missed a couple of early games he could still have played the rest of the season. I am aware of the fact that nowadays counties are only allowed to register one overseas player, but Prabhakar's injury was never going to sideline him for the major part of the season. Why he has even started playing as was evident from his appearance in Hyderabad in the sixes tournament. That was when the county season had not even started. Now Lara might well go on to win the Championship or a one-day title for his county, but his signing and Prabhakar's sacking have not left a pleasant taste as far as Indians are concerned.

Waqar Younis of Surrey was also declared unfit, but he had an appendicitis operation in early April and was told to rest for two months. And with Pakistan due to tour Sri Lanka in July/August that would have left him with barely a month to play county cricket. So his being replaced is understandable and the signing of a West Indian who has not even played Test cricket must have saved a huge amount for Surrey, for Waqar is one of the highest paid, if not the top paid star.

Lancashire have stuck with Wasim Akram though he too will be unavailable from mid-July to August. This is a crucial time in county cricket for most teams are making a push for the championship and the one day competitions are in their final stages. Wasim though, will be returning to finish the last three weeks of county cricket in September.

The Indian captain Azharuddin, who has begun the season for his county Derbyshire in a blazing manner wil have to return early too as India is due to take part in a triangular competition in Sri Lanka along with Australia in September. How Derbyshire is going to react to Azhar leaving a few weeks early remains to be seen though to be fair to Azhar he did not know that the series was being planned when he signed with Derby. Even now it is in some doubt, but surely international programmes should not be decided in the last minute. Earlier when the Sri Lankans made a visit to India, plenty of benefit matches were affected and while the centres which had one-day matches made their pile and Indian cricketers improved their personal aggregates it was the ordinary cricketr, for whom a benefit means so much, who suffered. Why, with the Sri Lanka tour being followed by a tour to New Zealand the board even had to cancel the SAIL sponsored one day tournament. SAIL refused to sponsor the tournament because the stars would be away in New Zealand and since it was the first time they were holding the tournament, they were quite right in wanting to make a big bang of it. Hopefully the Board will chalk out its programme, domestic and International, like they do in England where schedules are fixed more than a year in advance.

Look at the recent tour of West Indies by England. They finished about a week before the county season started. So the English players could be there for the start of the season, as well as those West Indians who were contracted to play in England. The West Indies Board too arranges its schedule in such a way that it's players' livelihoods are not affected. So tours of West Indies finish in April and rarely stretch into May, which will have the counties hopping mad. It is because the Board consider their situation that the West Indies players give everything when they play for West Indies. One is not suggesting that they would not otherwise, for there is a thing called personal pride, but it must be nice to know that the Board is considerate of the fact that by and large a West Indian cricketer's big source of income is playing cricket in England.

If India does decide to go to Sri Lanka for the triangular, Azhar would have a big problem with Derby and other counties will think again before approaching Indians to play for them. Azhar's prob- lem can be lessened considerably if he is allowed to skip the camp that is mandatory before a tour. After all since he will be playing cricket he will be in touch, unlike others who will be having a break of a few montsh and will thus need to get back to fitness at the camp.

It is perhaps too late to do anything now, but hopefully the Indian Board will avoid last minute schedules of tours from the ensuing season so that its players are not left embarrassed as they leave commitments unfulfilled, whether in India or abroad.

(Source : ???)