Primus inter pares
A week dominated by Sachin Tendulkar's batting, Wasim Akram's mouth, and some daft machoism by South Africa's finest
Every Sunday, we take a different look at the week that was ...
| |
|
Surpassing Sunny It may have taken a while, but Sachin Tendulkar notched his 35th Test hundred against Sri Lanka on Saturday, overtaking Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 which had stood for 22 years. "If you chase landmarks then it becomes a problem," Tendulkar reflected. On Tuesday, there was the rarest of situations when India breathed a collective sigh of relief as Tendulkar was trapped lbw by Muttiah Muralithan for 22. The reason? No-one wanted the little maestro's record to be achieved in an utterly meaningless Chennai Test reduced to two days by torrential rain.
Ill-aimed salvo A hero from a slightly earlier era sounded off with a remarkable broadside which will not enamour him to cricket's rulers in Dubai. Wasim Akram savaged the ICC with language that would have landed someone from another country in deep and hot water. He already had a pop at the ICC a week ago, but that clearly didn't attract enough attention. So he played the race card. "I am against ICC," Akram fumed. "The reason is it's run by all the "goras" [whites]. Passion is here [in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka], money is here and talent is here. All the cricketers who get retired after playing two matches...they work for ICC. From Pakistan, Sri Lanka, nobody gets there." Which, aside from overlooking the effective Asian-block control of the body in recent times, ignores that the president, Ehsan Mani, is Pakistani and that the officials are appointed by the board members.
| |
|
Ray Jennings Mark II The departure of Jennings as South Africa's coach a few months back was mourned by journalists the world over as he was a guaranteed source for oddball quotes. But Micky Arthur, his successor, is not doing badly. With the South Africans starting their Australian tour with an innings defeat against Western Australia (themselves with a 0-4 Pura Cup record so far in 2005-06) , Arthur revealed that the defeat was on doctor's orders. "We got medical advice to just take it very, very easy," he explained, "which is what we've been doing at present." A bit too effectively, some would say.
Anything he can do ... Clearly it's rubbing off on his charges. AB de Villiers, not in the best form, chirruped that he longed to face really fast bowling. "I hope it will be quick," he grinned. "That will turn me on. I enjoy pace." And then Andre Nel, asked about the volatile Australian crowds, challenged them to "bring it on." He added: "I hope people get on my back. It will fire me up and get me going. I am looking forward to it." That's two Christmas wishes that are almost certain to be delivered.
| |
|
One-day thrills New Zealand and Australia showed that there can sometimes be life in one-day internationals with two cracking, high-scoring games. Australia won the first by two runs, New Zealand the second by two wickets - in scoring 332 for 8 they made the highest score to win an ODI, and did so with an over to spare. Brett Lee was almost the anti-hero in the first game. When he started the penultimate over New Zealand needed an unlikely 24 to win. He sprayed the ball around, chucking in a beamer and a wayward bouncer for good measure, and only an excellent final over from debutant Mick Lewis saved the day.
Subcontinental homesick blues If England's 2-0 series defeat in Pakistan wasn't bad enough, it has been an even more dismal story for the Under-19s and women's sides. The U-19s have a 100% record from their Bangladesh tour - 10 defeats out of 10 and counting - but on the plus side it has shown that Bangladesh will be a force to be reckoned with in the next decade. And the women? They were 4-1 in the ODI series in India. In the fourth ODI they were bowled out for 50, the lowest-ever score by an England women's side. "It was nothing to do with our strokeplay," explained Charlotte Edwards, the captain. "We have just talked about it between ourselves and said that we could not have done much about it." At least they drew the Test.
It's better to lose Forget a trophy cabinet, the winners of the Under-14 Dolphin Cup to be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium might need to build a new clubhouse. The organisers have commissioned the world's biggest trophy - it will be over two metres tall and weigh in at 200kgs. The best batsman, best bowler and player of the tournament will be presented with a scooter. To sum it up - the winners get a trophy they cannot move, and the leading players a vehicle they cannot legally drive. It could be the least-wanted award since Andrew Flintoff won a tuk-tuk for being named Man of the Match in an ODI.
Ostriches spotted in Dubai Still the ICC sits on the sidelines over the sore that is Zimbabwe cricket, despite increasing calls for it do something. Another week in the sad farce witnessed the chairman and MD arrested and then freed, two players and the team manager fined for currency offences, and an attempted coup led by a former Supreme Court judge hit the buffers. The ICC has possession of a dossier which lists questions that Zimbabwe's stakeholders want answered, and the players remain steadfast that they will not play for the current board. The most serious allegations relate to massive sums of money which cannot be accounted for. Given that a fair amount of that cash comes from the ICC, it is amazing that it continues to be so blasé about where it has gone. Inconsistent umpiring is another major issue which threatens the credibility of cricket - ask Brian Lara and the West Indies - and yet is another one which the ICC seems to prefer to ignore. Somewhere along the line, someone needs to ask just what its role is in the modern game if not to tackle such issues.
Fingers crossed Flintoff is expected to win the BBC's prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award tonight - so much so that betting was suspended in September and the corporation has flown a 10-man squad to Pakistan to be on hand at 3am local time when the winner is announced. Cue red faces and some rejected expense claims if he is pipped at the post. It had been hoped that Ian Botham, the last cricketer to win (in 1981) would be on hand to make the presentation, but he had to return home early because of a death in the family. England are also in with a shout of the Team-of-the-Year award, but recent setbacks in Pakistan might have undermined that.
Martin Williamson is managing editor of Cricinfo
Read in App
Elevate your reading experience on ESPNcricinfo App.