Should I stay or should I go?
Players who did not walk gently into the sunset
Sidharth Monga
11-Sep-2008
By not picking Sourav Ganguly for the Rest of India squad, India's selectors
have perhaps sent a message to the 36-year old: that he has overstayed
his welcome. They did so two years ago, too, but Ganguly survived that setback. He has never been the sort to go quietly. Most such men make for fascinating viewing and great stories. A few look abject, a few miss out on a farewell Test; others make
strong comebacks. We look at 11, of all kinds, from the last 25 years.
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Steve Waugh
Trevor Hohns may have just been doing his job when he told Waugh before the third Ashes Test in 2002-03 of the succession plan he and the rest of the Australian selectors had in mind, but it didn't quite have the desired effect. Waugh's brother Mark and Ian Healy had earlier accepted the plan and moved on, but Steve would not. "I left the meeting accepting two more Tests without runs would make the decision easy for all concerned," he wrote in Out Of My Comfort Zone. The fifth Test was the deadline, after which, as Hohns said, Waugh would be "judged on form, like any other player". As "any other player", Waugh was on shaky ground: since his century on one leg in the previous Ashes, he had averaged 26.36 in 14 Tests. His back, though, rested comfortably against the wall, and he scored half-centuries in the third and fourth Tests of the series, and a famous century in the next, at the SCG. In the year that followed, he averaged 71.25, and scored a century against West Indies and two against Bangladesh. He finally got a teary sendoff from thousands of red-handkerchief-waving Australians during his farewell series against India in 2003-04.
Trevor Hohns may have just been doing his job when he told Waugh before the third Ashes Test in 2002-03 of the succession plan he and the rest of the Australian selectors had in mind, but it didn't quite have the desired effect. Waugh's brother Mark and Ian Healy had earlier accepted the plan and moved on, but Steve would not. "I left the meeting accepting two more Tests without runs would make the decision easy for all concerned," he wrote in Out Of My Comfort Zone. The fifth Test was the deadline, after which, as Hohns said, Waugh would be "judged on form, like any other player". As "any other player", Waugh was on shaky ground: since his century on one leg in the previous Ashes, he had averaged 26.36 in 14 Tests. His back, though, rested comfortably against the wall, and he scored half-centuries in the third and fourth Tests of the series, and a famous century in the next, at the SCG. In the year that followed, he averaged 71.25, and scored a century against West Indies and two against Bangladesh. He finally got a teary sendoff from thousands of red-handkerchief-waving Australians during his farewell series against India in 2003-04.
Ian Botham
In the summer of 1993, Botham, and everybody else - the selectors, the press, the public - knew his time was up. But he wanted to finish with a last, memorable Ashes. That England had failed miserably on their tours to India and Sri Lanka gave him hope. After all, he had played the 1992 World Cup, at the age of 36, largely because no one had been found to fill his shoes. Botham staked his claim in the tour-opener in Arundel, a limited-overs game where he took the wickets of Allan Border and Damien Martyn and gave away 29 runs in ten overs. "Are the Australians trying to play him into the side?" Ted Dexter, the chairman of selectors, wondered in a radio interview. When the call came from the selectors, though, after England lost the first two Tests, it was to ask if Botham would want to lead England A to Holland. That was when he realised he had played his last international match, and retired. But not before he had another go at the Australians, scoring 32 as Durham forced the tourists to follow on in another tour game.
In the summer of 1993, Botham, and everybody else - the selectors, the press, the public - knew his time was up. But he wanted to finish with a last, memorable Ashes. That England had failed miserably on their tours to India and Sri Lanka gave him hope. After all, he had played the 1992 World Cup, at the age of 36, largely because no one had been found to fill his shoes. Botham staked his claim in the tour-opener in Arundel, a limited-overs game where he took the wickets of Allan Border and Damien Martyn and gave away 29 runs in ten overs. "Are the Australians trying to play him into the side?" Ted Dexter, the chairman of selectors, wondered in a radio interview. When the call came from the selectors, though, after England lost the first two Tests, it was to ask if Botham would want to lead England A to Holland. That was when he realised he had played his last international match, and retired. But not before he had another go at the Australians, scoring 32 as Durham forced the tourists to follow on in another tour game.
Marvan Atapattu
Atapattu's indifferent relationship with Sri Lanka's selectors veered firmly into hate-hate territory during the 2007 World Cup when he warmed the bench throughout the event. He was then overlooked for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. He then refused to play a Test series against Bangladesh, citing the mental turmoil the selectors had caused him. That made it two years in which he had not played a Test - given his injury-struck 2006. The killer blow came when he was not selected for the tour to Australia, but the Sri Lankan sports minister intervened to get him into the squad. Atapattu was one of Sri Lanka's more solid batsmen on that tour, but clearly his troubles with the "muppets led by a joker" were not over and he announced his retirement in Australia - not, however, before he had proved his point.
Atapattu's indifferent relationship with Sri Lanka's selectors veered firmly into hate-hate territory during the 2007 World Cup when he warmed the bench throughout the event. He was then overlooked for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. He then refused to play a Test series against Bangladesh, citing the mental turmoil the selectors had caused him. That made it two years in which he had not played a Test - given his injury-struck 2006. The killer blow came when he was not selected for the tour to Australia, but the Sri Lankan sports minister intervened to get him into the squad. Atapattu was one of Sri Lanka's more solid batsmen on that tour, but clearly his troubles with the "muppets led by a joker" were not over and he announced his retirement in Australia - not, however, before he had proved his point.
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Sourav Ganguly
Leaked confidential conversations and emails marked the acrimonious falling-out between Ganguly and India's coach, Greg Chappell in 2005. The affair devolved into a prime-time drama that lasted about a year, culminating in what seemed liked the axe for Ganguly. But Ganguly went back to domestic cricket, trained hard, and waited for his chance. It arrived after a miserable Indian batting failure in the ODIs in South Africa in 2006-07. Enter Ganguly, who first rescued India in a tour game, then helped set up the Test win in Johannesburg. Following the comeback he has scored 1667 runs in 21 Tests at 45.05, including three centuries and his first double, before the axe has now seemingly fallen again.
Leaked confidential conversations and emails marked the acrimonious falling-out between Ganguly and India's coach, Greg Chappell in 2005. The affair devolved into a prime-time drama that lasted about a year, culminating in what seemed liked the axe for Ganguly. But Ganguly went back to domestic cricket, trained hard, and waited for his chance. It arrived after a miserable Indian batting failure in the ODIs in South Africa in 2006-07. Enter Ganguly, who first rescued India in a tour game, then helped set up the Test win in Johannesburg. Following the comeback he has scored 1667 runs in 21 Tests at 45.05, including three centuries and his first double, before the axe has now seemingly fallen again.
Habibul Bashar
Easily Bangladesh's best Test batsman, Bashar has been a doubtful starter for them for a while now. When India toured in 2007, he was the captain and under the cosh in the wake of a string of ordinary performances. He responded by quitting the one-day captaincy in an attempt to take off some of the pressure. The selectors went a step ahead by taking the Test captaincy away as well. Bashar continued to play Tests, though, going on what proved a disastrous tour to Sri Lanka before being dropped for the second home Test against South Africa. He has yet to play for Bangladesh since, though months short of turning 36 he told Cricinfo, "I am not finished yet." He said he had contemplated retiring during India's tour of Bangladesh, but changed his mind after a meeting with Ganguly. Oh well.
Easily Bangladesh's best Test batsman, Bashar has been a doubtful starter for them for a while now. When India toured in 2007, he was the captain and under the cosh in the wake of a string of ordinary performances. He responded by quitting the one-day captaincy in an attempt to take off some of the pressure. The selectors went a step ahead by taking the Test captaincy away as well. Bashar continued to play Tests, though, going on what proved a disastrous tour to Sri Lanka before being dropped for the second home Test against South Africa. He has yet to play for Bangladesh since, though months short of turning 36 he told Cricinfo, "I am not finished yet." He said he had contemplated retiring during India's tour of Bangladesh, but changed his mind after a meeting with Ganguly. Oh well.
Mohinder Amarnath
"Let us talk about the future of Indian cricket, not the past," said Raj Singh Dungarpur, India's manager for the 1982 tour to England, by way of explaining the omission of Amarnath, who had scored 185 in the Ranji Trophy final - enough, some thought, for a comeback after three years out of the Indian team. Amarnath was 32 then. Six months later he was indeed back, scoring three centuries in his comeback series against Pakistan; 91 and 80 in Barbados against Holding, Roberts, Marshall and Garner; and helping India to their World Cup win. His second innings continued until he was 39, and did feature odd comebacks here and there.
"Let us talk about the future of Indian cricket, not the past," said Raj Singh Dungarpur, India's manager for the 1982 tour to England, by way of explaining the omission of Amarnath, who had scored 185 in the Ranji Trophy final - enough, some thought, for a comeback after three years out of the Indian team. Amarnath was 32 then. Six months later he was indeed back, scoring three centuries in his comeback series against Pakistan; 91 and 80 in Barbados against Holding, Roberts, Marshall and Garner; and helping India to their World Cup win. His second innings continued until he was 39, and did feature odd comebacks here and there.
Viv Richards
There was no bad blood here, but Richards did want to play the 1992 World Cup; he had played in the four before it. Had he been selected for the tournament, he would have been playing a match immediately after his 40th birthday. He had reason to believe he could make it to the side, as he was West Indies' leading run-getter in the last ODI series he had played, and second in his last Test series to his successor as captain, Richie Richardson. The fact, however, was that he had last scored a Test century in April 1989, and had played 21 innings without a hundred since. In the end Richards was not picked for the World Cup, and he announced his retirement shortly after.
There was no bad blood here, but Richards did want to play the 1992 World Cup; he had played in the four before it. Had he been selected for the tournament, he would have been playing a match immediately after his 40th birthday. He had reason to believe he could make it to the side, as he was West Indies' leading run-getter in the last ODI series he had played, and second in his last Test series to his successor as captain, Richie Richardson. The fact, however, was that he had last scored a Test century in April 1989, and had played 21 innings without a hundred since. In the end Richards was not picked for the World Cup, and he announced his retirement shortly after.
Danny Morrison
One of Steve Rixon's tasks when he became New Zealand coach was to drop Morrison, along with "giving the Mark Greatbatches, the Dipak Patels and Justin Vaughans a final go". And dropped Morrison was, in 1997, when he was closing in on 31 and was being troubled consistently by injuries. In the year and a bit leading up to that point, he had played four Tests, taking 14 wickets at over 40. But he didn't give up until the knockout blow came: when the selectors ignored his claims and instead chose Shayne O'Connor to replace the injured Simon Doull for the Independence Cup in India. "Reluctantly, the selectors have reached the decision that Danny Morrison does not figure prominently in selection plans for the medium to long term," national selection panel convener Ross Dykes said. As fate would have it, Morrison had a great last Test, batting with Nathan Astle for close to three hours for the last wicket as New Zealand managed to hang on for a draw.
One of Steve Rixon's tasks when he became New Zealand coach was to drop Morrison, along with "giving the Mark Greatbatches, the Dipak Patels and Justin Vaughans a final go". And dropped Morrison was, in 1997, when he was closing in on 31 and was being troubled consistently by injuries. In the year and a bit leading up to that point, he had played four Tests, taking 14 wickets at over 40. But he didn't give up until the knockout blow came: when the selectors ignored his claims and instead chose Shayne O'Connor to replace the injured Simon Doull for the Independence Cup in India. "Reluctantly, the selectors have reached the decision that Danny Morrison does not figure prominently in selection plans for the medium to long term," national selection panel convener Ross Dykes said. As fate would have it, Morrison had a great last Test, batting with Nathan Astle for close to three hours for the last wicket as New Zealand managed to hang on for a draw.
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Javed Miandad
"They tried to prematurely push me into oblivion," Miandad wrote of Pakistan's selectors in Cutting Edge. It started when the captaincy was taken from him, even though Pakistan had won the 1992 series in England and the one-off Test in New Zealand under him. As a batsman he had averaged 58.5 in those six Tests. A quiet summer in the West Indies and the recurrence of a back injury followed. Having made himself available for selection, Miandad "sensed that they had made their mind to do away with me altogether". He went through a farcical fitness test and faced hostile bowling from his team-mates in the nets. He fought his way back for Zimbabwe's visit that year, but after being overlooked for the next three assignments announced his retirement at an emotional press conference. Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari subsequently convinced him out of retirement and he fought his way back up to the national team. He then hurt his knee playing football in Lahore just before the tour to Sri Lanka. He recovered to take part in the 1996 World Cup, but never played another Test.
"They tried to prematurely push me into oblivion," Miandad wrote of Pakistan's selectors in Cutting Edge. It started when the captaincy was taken from him, even though Pakistan had won the 1992 series in England and the one-off Test in New Zealand under him. As a batsman he had averaged 58.5 in those six Tests. A quiet summer in the West Indies and the recurrence of a back injury followed. Having made himself available for selection, Miandad "sensed that they had made their mind to do away with me altogether". He went through a farcical fitness test and faced hostile bowling from his team-mates in the nets. He fought his way back for Zimbabwe's visit that year, but after being overlooked for the next three assignments announced his retirement at an emotional press conference. Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari subsequently convinced him out of retirement and he fought his way back up to the national team. He then hurt his knee playing football in Lahore just before the tour to Sri Lanka. He recovered to take part in the 1996 World Cup, but never played another Test.
Dean Jones
When in 1992-93, Jones made way for Damien Martyn, he most likely didn't know he had played his last Test, at the age of 31. He kept playing one-day cricket, in the hope of making his way back into the Test side. On the 1993-94 tour to South Africa, the message was driven home: he was taken along only for the ODIs, and even then he was dropped for the final game. "I've basically always wanted to be a Test player and I felt my chances were running out," Jones said then. There was to be a twist to the tale, though. Jones kept scoring prolifically for Victoria and Derbyshire, and just before the 1996 World Cup, came close to national selection. He had come out of retirement to stake claim for Australia A in 1994-95 Benson & Hedges series, but was ignored. A year later he was selected in the Australian A side to take on West Indies at the SCG, and was also named in the preliminary 18-man squad for the World Cup. That, however, was where it ended.
When in 1992-93, Jones made way for Damien Martyn, he most likely didn't know he had played his last Test, at the age of 31. He kept playing one-day cricket, in the hope of making his way back into the Test side. On the 1993-94 tour to South Africa, the message was driven home: he was taken along only for the ODIs, and even then he was dropped for the final game. "I've basically always wanted to be a Test player and I felt my chances were running out," Jones said then. There was to be a twist to the tale, though. Jones kept scoring prolifically for Victoria and Derbyshire, and just before the 1996 World Cup, came close to national selection. He had come out of retirement to stake claim for Australia A in 1994-95 Benson & Hedges series, but was ignored. A year later he was selected in the Australian A side to take on West Indies at the SCG, and was also named in the preliminary 18-man squad for the World Cup. That, however, was where it ended.
Graham Thorpe
After a year of "now-I'm-ready-now-not", Thorpe finally made himself available for the series against South Africa in 2003. He was overlooked initially, but scored a century in the last Test, at The Oval. He went on to make 1635 runs at 56.37 from 23 Tests after that comeback, and also passed the milestone of 100 Tests. However, come the 2005 Ashes, on the verge of his 36th birthday, Thorpe was not quite part of the selectors' plans. He made himself available for selection, having recovered from a back injury, only to be told, rather unsubtly, that he was no longer required, when he was not picked for the first Test, following which he announced his retirement.
After a year of "now-I'm-ready-now-not", Thorpe finally made himself available for the series against South Africa in 2003. He was overlooked initially, but scored a century in the last Test, at The Oval. He went on to make 1635 runs at 56.37 from 23 Tests after that comeback, and also passed the milestone of 100 Tests. However, come the 2005 Ashes, on the verge of his 36th birthday, Thorpe was not quite part of the selectors' plans. He made himself available for selection, having recovered from a back injury, only to be told, rather unsubtly, that he was no longer required, when he was not picked for the first Test, following which he announced his retirement.
Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo