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NON SEQUITUR
Last Monday at U-Pundit, Anthony from Chippendale gently chiacked Patrick Smith over an apparent inconsistency in that Smith first said James Hird should be suspended then, after Hird's Anzac Day B.O.G, legendized him.
10. No wonder people hate Patrick Smith. Today he pours truckloads of praise on James Hird. No problem with that. Hird played a great game. But if Smith had had his way the Bomber Skipper wouldn't have even been playing.
Tuesday night on Talking Footy, Steve Price -- no doubt smarting over other recent criticisms -- did the same thing.
By the way, is there some connection between Price and Anthony? Anthony? A little help here?
Anyhoo, far as I'm concerned, Smith operated well within his purview when he criticized Hird's Footy Show comments and called for a suspension. On the flip side, he was justly laudative about the quality of Hird's Anzac Day performance, which, let's face it, was a belter.
Most importantly, there's no reason he shouldn't do both.
There's no doubt had Hird been suspended, he'd have missed the Anzac Day game, and so Smith wouldn't have been able to talk up his game. But he'd have had plenty of opportunities to strut his stuff at a later date. He'd also have had some time to reflect on his wayward comments.
The unacceptable extension of both Anthony's and Price's criticisms -- Mild as they were. OR. Was that a sneer in Price's "Four weeks to two" comment? -- is that the prospect of Hird playing a brilliant game means he shouldn't be suspended for doing something wrong.
Smith can be unjustifiably personal in his criticisms, and people may indeed hate him, but mostly that's their problem, not Smith's. In this instance he was right to call it as he saw it, and neither of his articles compromised the other.
Posted by Tony on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at 17:20 | Comments (3)
Category: Aussie Rules (280)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Today it was revealed former Carlton premiership player Adrian Whitehead was being denied life membership of the club because of legal action he's undertaken against Carlton.
Naturally, the Carlton president at the time of Whitehead's complaint was Big Jack Elliot, under whose stewardship Carlton lost millions of dollars and was fined another million for salary cap breaches.
This morning on SEN Elliot, in response to today's article, was asked whether he thought Whitehead should receive the life membership....
"No. Of course not. He cost us too much money."
Posted by Tony on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at 14:08 | Comments (2)
Category: Aussie Rules (280)
POXY TROJANS
Considering my Nortons email scanner ripped the attachment out of the following email, you'd think it was working fine and evil viruses would struggle to get through. Far as I'm aware, I haven't had virus trouble in the three years I've used it.
Add to that the fact it arrived via my blog email address, and not the one on the Bigpond contact page.
On the other hand, you never can tell....
Dear user of e-mail server "Bigpond.com",Some of our clients complained about the spam (negative e-mail content) outgoing from your e-mail account. Probably, you have been infected by a proxy-relay trojan server. In order to keep your computer safe, follow the instructions.
Advanced details can be found in attached file.
Password - *****
Have a good day,
The Bigpond.com team .... http://www.bigpond.com
Seemed fishy to me. I rang the Bigpond hotline and not surprisingly, they've got some major problems of their own -- not suggesting it's anything to do with this email -- and they're off line.
Something not quite right here. Beware!
Posted by Tony on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 at 11:00 | Comments (2)
Category:
GETTING TO THE PONT
Is it just me, or does it appear Ricky Ponting is rather more prepared to speak his mind than Steve Waugh?
He's only been captain for a few months, but already he's chipped Brian Lara over his "selfish 400", and now he's going against the Cricket Australia grain by venturing controvertial opinions on chucking.
Either way, it would also appear he reads chucking's foremost organ of record, the After Grog Blog, when he suggests testing actions out of the heat of action, and in the "UWA garage", is a doddle to get around. In other words -- my words -- a scam.
Or, far less likely, it could just be he's the Australian captain, knows plenty about the caper, regularly mixes with other assorted and well informed cricket types and is echoing the sentiments of Australian cricket -- not Cricket Australia -- in general.
No matter, he's on the money:
Match test the doosra: Ponting
Ricky Ponting says it would have been easy for Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl with a straighter arm than normal while being tested for an illegal action.
The Australian captain thinks the International Cricket Council needs to view footage of Muralitharan bowling in the heat of a game before making a proper appraisal of his action on delivery of his controversial doosra.
Muralitharan has been found to bend his arm twice the ICC-approved limit for his wrong'un, the doosra, but there have been calls for the governing body to double the limit to accommodate him.
The Sri Lankan has continued bowling the delivery in one-day games against Zimbabwe this week. He cannot be reported again until the completion of the ICC process for dealing with suspect actions in six weeks.
Ponting said there was no guarantee Muralitharan bowled the same way during recent testing by biomechanics experts at the University of Western Australia as he did during a match.
"If you look at the way they are doing that testing, there probably could be ways around it all the time," Ponting told radio station 2MMM.
"I think they have to look at the actual video footage from when he's bowling in Test matches to get a real idea and understanding of what's going on."
Biomechanics expert Bruce Elliott has lambasted the Sri Lanka cricket board for leaking the Muralitharan report, saying it had confused the situation.
"Because of these leaks, public perception would be that our findings were about accommodating Murali. But that's not the case. There are many finger spinners straightening (their arms) more than five degrees, not just Murali . . . The point is that we've made our suggestions and it is now for the ICC to decide."
The ICC should be sent the report this week.
Posted by Tony on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 at 14:44 | Comments (4)
Category: Chucking (91) , Cricket (507)
THE YEAR OF LIVING DIFFERENTLY
This weekend I went out late Friday night. Saturday afternoon I went to Money Valley -- no result. Saturday night went to the London Tavern in Richmond -- Go Dees! Sunday I had lunch with a good friend. And Sunday night caught up with another old friend for dinner. At all places bar Sunday lunch, everyone around me was getting stuck into the juice.
The upshot? No sauce for me. And as of today, it's twelve months exactly and still going strong -- one day at a time.
Posted by Tony on Monday, April 26, 2004 at 09:16 | Comments (11)
Category:
CALUMNY JANE
Politics. There's a lot of it about, but lately none of it's about here.
So, in the interests of editorial diversity, here's a couple items that are poking me in the ribs....
1) Democrat skank and übersicky-taker, Jane Errey. She's getting away with one of your cruder political stunts. Isn't it about time this sham story was tossed? The Gnu's been doing good work and he's all over the crappier media outlets, and their reluctance to do any research.
2) Also jabbing me is Lath Daddy sampling Slick Willy. Not so much that he did it, Latham was caught fair and square and knows it. A bare faced rip if ever there was one.
No, what really bites me is Labor's response. They have the audacity to suggest Howard did the same in quoting facts from a book. Stupidest thing I've heard in a long time. Can't believe it even gets a run.
And Latham's remark? "Glass houses, etc"? Keatingly arrogant. How stupid does he think we are? Don't answer that.
Posted by Tony on Friday, April 23, 2004 at 16:32 | Comments (7)
Category:
TAKE NOTE
Trumpeter Jack George tells another trumpeter Jack Benny (an angel on earth) when it's his turn to solo:
Jack George: "That's you man."
Jack Benny: "There's nothing there for 32 bars."
Naturally, Benny did his bemused hero shtick and the film was OK, pretty good in fact. And Franklin Pangborn rocks - in a mincey pooncey sort of way. Like the tuxed up, pencil moustache gayer in The Simpsons. "Yeeeee-oorrrce."
Other than that I've only seen To Be or Not to Be, which I loved and It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which is a lot better than it's reputation as a massive howler flop, but are there any other good Jack Benny films? It would appear from his IMDb list he's a lot bigger than he deserves to be? Or not to be. Boom. Tish.
Posted by Tony on Friday, April 23, 2004 at 14:37 | Comments (0)
Category: Thirty Two (16)
GET BENT!
Given Chris Broad's replacement by Mike Proctor for the upcoming Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka series -- still love your work, Broads -- it remains to be seen whether any match referee will again dare cite Murali for chucking. Interestingly, Broad's pencilled in to adjudicate the Sri Lanka v Australia series here later this year. That'd be "pencilled". This time round though, with the legalities backing them up, it's refreshing to see the ICC tell the chuckanistas where they can stick their doosra.
First laying down the law down to Chucky and the rule change stooges at UWA, then chipping Sri Lanka over their typically snide insinuations.
And notwithstanding the odd nuance, also to see the three blabs in broad -- subtle me -- agreement.
The Australian:
Murali faces ban over doosra
THE International Cricket Council threw the ball back into Sri Lanka's court yesterday saying off-spinner Murali Muralitharan could continue to bowl the "doosra" at his own risk.
However, it warned he would face a possible 12-month ban if reported again.
The body denied reports it was considering changing its rules for slow bowlers to allow the spinner to keep bowling his doosra or that it would review the rule.
"There has been some media speculation that because the ICC will be conducting further research into the actions of spinners, the current levels of tolerance should not be applied in this case," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said.
"This suggestion lacks common sense.
"If, at some yet-to-be-determined point in the future and as a result of a proper research program, there is evidence to support a change to these regulations, then such a change will be considered.
"Until that time, we will continue to apply the current regulations that have been agreed to and supported by all countries."
Muralitharan was reported after the Test series against Australia and had his action assessed by biomechanics at the University of Western Australia early this month.
That report, forwarded to the Sri Lankan board, is believed to suggest that the off-spinner flexes his arm in bowling the doosra by twice the legal limit, which is five degrees for a spinner and 10 for a fast bowler.
The Sri Lankans, with support from the biomechanics, want more study done on the arbitrary limits.
However, the ICC said last night it had not received a report from the Sri Lankans as yet and said at this stage any action to be taken is up to that country.
The ICC pointed out that under its rules any bowler reported a second time could face a ban of 12 months. However, the international cricket community is cynical about any umpire or match referee daring to report Muralitharan again.
Chris Broad, who reported the off-spinner last month, was removed from the current series against Zimbabwe during the week.
The referee has been the subject of complaints from Sri Lankan cricket which allege he drank with Australian players and is guilty of misconduct, but this was rejected by the ICC.
"The allegations that have appeared in the media and attributed to Sri Lanka Cricket are serious and significant, yet there is not one piece of evidence offered to support them," Speed said.
"There are no specifics - no places, no dates, no times."
Broad also denied the claims.
"It is disappointing for me that such allegations have been made without any substance to back them up," he said in a statement.
Sri Lankan cricket board president Mohan de Silva defended the attack.
"We have brought to the notice of the ICC his (Broad's) general conduct," de Silva said on the weekend.
"It is not a formal protest or a complaint, but a letter to keep the ICC informed. We feel it is part of our responsibility."
The Herald Sun:
Rules won't be bent for Murali's doosra
THE International Cricket Council has warned Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralidaran he faces a 12-month ban if he continues to bowl his controversial doosra.
While a report into the delivery has yet to be released, sources close to Muralidaran have confirmed recent tests proved he bowled the delivery, which turns in the opposite direction to his usual off-spinner, with an action that exceeds guidelines.
Sri Lankan Cricket Board president Mohan de Silva said after reading the University of Western Australia report he was "confident that Murali will be able to continue bowling the doosra".
But ICC chief executive Mal Speed said last night "the existing regulations governing the degree to which a spin bowler can straighten his arm or 'level of tolerance' (five degrees) would be enforced.
"Should any bowler be reported for a second time within 12 months of the first report, the ICC will convene a hearing of its own Bowling Review Group which has the power to impose a ban of up to 12 months should it determine the bowler's action is illegal."
Muralidaran bowls the doosra with an arm flex of almost 10 degrees.
During the six-week period from when he was reported for chucking after the third Test against Australia last month, Muralidaran can continue to bowl the doosra until an official ruling is made.
He cannot be reported again in this period, only no-balled by an umpire.
But once he is told the doosra is illegal and the six-week period expires, he faces a long stint on the sidelines if he is reported again.
ICC regulations state that pace bowlers are allowed 10 degrees of flex, medium pacers 7 1/2 degrees and spinners five.
"(They) reflect the reality that most bowlers straighten their arm to some degree when bowling," Speed said.
"These current levels of tolerance are based on expert advice that suggests beyond a certain level, bowlers will gain an unfair advantage.
"As recently as last September at its meeting of board chief executives in India, the ICC reviewed these levels and all countries were in agreement that the current standards should remain in place.
"There has been some media speculation that because the ICC will be conducting further research into the actions of spinners, the current levels of tolerance should not be applied in this (Muralidaran's) case.
"This suggestion lacks common sense."
Muralidaran, who has 513 Test wickets, is on the verge of overtaking West Indies' Courtney Walsh (519) to become the game's leading wicket-taker.
He is expected to achieve the record in the series against Zimbabwe this month.
The Age:
Muralitharan may face ban
Sri Lanka spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan could be banned for up to 12 months if he continued to bowl his doosra and his action exceeded official guidelines, the International Cricket Council said on Tuesday.
Muralitharan had tests on his action at the University of Western Australia after being reported by match referee Chris Broad during Sri Lanka's Test series against Australia last month.
Sources privy to his assessment said biomechanics experts believe Muralitharan should be allowed to bowl his doosra, a delivery that turns in the opposite direction to his normal off break, even though his arm straightens by about 10 degrees.
Sri Lanka board president Mohan de Silva said after the university report arrived that he was "confident that Murali will be able to continue bowling the doosra".
But, the ICC emphasised that "the existing regulations governing the degree to which a spin bowler can straighten his arm or 'level of tolerance' (five degrees) remain in place and will be enforced.
"Should any bowler be reported for a second time within 12 months of the first report, the ICC will convene a hearing of its own Bowling Review Group which has the power to impose a ban of up to 12 months should it determine the bowler's action is illegal."
Muralitharan, who has taken 513 Test wickets, is on the verge of overtaking the West Indies' Courtney Walsh (519) to become the game's leading wicket-taker. He is expected to achieve the record in the series against Zimbabwe this month, edging back ahead of Australia's Shane Warne (517) on the way.
The 31-year-old bowled in front of 12 cameras at the university with his body strapped in reflective markers so a computer could track his action.
Posted by Tony on Thursday, April 22, 2004 at 09:18 | Comments (3)
Category: Chucking (91) , Cricket (507)
SQUIRM BALL
Despite the best efforts of the two Bruces, Elliott and Yardley, Murali still managed to fail the UWA Bowling Review Process. By DOUBLE the prescribed five degrees. Just imagine how much he exceeds it by when he's out of the UWA "garage" and in the middle of a match, and ACTUALLY trying to get a batsman out rather than roll his arm over at "three-quarter rat power".
I say again ... Hayden ... Kandy ... LBW. Look ... learn ... squirm.
No doubt Ross Emerson and Terry Jenner -- both right on the money -- saw it, because they've taken the long handle to the doosra, in honour of TJ's sitting style, now renamed the Squirm Ball:
Broad won't judge Murali: Emerson
Test referee Chris Broad will never again stand in judgement of Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, according to the former international umpire whose own career went into a tailspin after he no-balled the controversial off spinner.
Ross Emerson yesterday said the International Cricket Council was correct in transferring Broad from the current series between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe but predicted the man who identified Murali's "doosra" as questionable in its action would not officiate in a game involving the Sri Lankan contortionist.
Emerson no-balled Murali in Australia for a "throwing" action in 1998-99, and it cost him his future as a Test umpire.
"Even if the ICC disallow . . . bowling the doosra, who is going to police it?" Emerson asked. "What are they going to do now? I understand that all the umpires have been told it is not in their best interests to call anybody.
"Apparently, it is is not in writing anywhere. If they have taken it out of the umpires' hands, who is to stop Murali bowling his doosra next week?
"Even if the ICC says, when the final decision has not come down for the Test series against Zimbabwe, 'No, you cannot bowl the doosra', who will stop him? The umpires can't.
"If the umpires aren't allowed to call him any more or have been told it is not in their best interests to call him, what will happen?"
Emerson scoffed at the University of Western Australia's recent testing of Murali's action, describing the test facility as "a garage" and saying he had been told Murali was bowling 20kmh slower under scrutiny than the 95kmh he bowls in Tests.
"He was bowling at three-quarter rat power," Emerson said. "Murali's not a dill. He knows he's under scrutiny.
"They are filming him so he is going to do his best - and even with his best he still can't get it right. That shows there is something wrong with his action."
Emerson had no concern with the ICC taking Broad out of the series with Zimbabwe with Murali's action still under review, as "there is a potential for a conflict of interest".
But while unaware of the timing of Sri Lanka's reporting of referee Broad for his "behaviour" during the third Test against Australia last month, he observed: "If the report only went in after Broad reported him, you don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to know what's going on.
"They are running the game. Who? Sri Lanka or the Indian sub-continent? The sub-continent. [Broad] won't do Sri Lanka again. No way.
"He's coming out to Australia to referee on the Sri Lankan tour. Sri Lanka won't let him. They'll let Murali bowl. They'll say it would be unfair for Broad to be there if he has formed a preconceived opinion of him, something along those lines.
"[ICC chief executive] Malcolm Speed is a lawyer so he'll couch it in terms that no one will understand, but everybody will know why Murali is there."
Emerson claimed Sri Lankan officials were launching a smear campaign on Broad similar to that applied to himself and fellow Australian umpire Darrell Hair, who no-balled Murali when others bowed to international pressure to turn a blind eye.
It also emerged yesterday Murali had been told to shelve the problematic doosra while attempts were made to rewrite the rules, after Elliott's tests at the University of WA confirmed it was illegal.
Elliott said he would recommend to the ICC at its executive board meeting next month that a spinner be allowed to straighten his arm by up to 10 degrees. Currently the limit is five degrees. "Rules change in all sports," Elliott said, adding that pacemen should be able to straighten the arm by up to 15 degrees.
"Ten degrees is probably a defendable number from a legal viewpoint. That doesn't mean 10 degrees is correct but at the moment with the data we have it seems to be defensible . . ."
Australian spin guru Terry Jenner described as "extraordinary" a push to change the rules.
He did indeed:
Jenner fears 'open-slather' throwing
Any rule change that allowed Muttiah Muralitharan to continue bowling his controversial doosra would invite "open slather" throwing, Australian spin guru Terry Jenner predicted last night.
Jenner described as "extraordinary" a push to relax the rules on throwing for spinners, after Professor Bruce Elliott, the biomechanist who tested Muralitharan's doosra in Perth recently, told The Age he would recommend to the ICC at its next executive board meeting in Dubai next month that a spinner be allowed to straighten his arm by up to 10 degrees. Currently, the legal limit is five degrees.
It also emerged yesterday that Muralitharan had been instructed to shelve the problematic doosra while attempts are made to rewrite the rules, after Elliott's tests at the University of WA confirmed it was illegal.
"It would not be appropriate for Murali to continue to bowl his doosra at the moment," Sri Lankan board president Mohan de Silva said.
"I am positive that the ICC will eventually take appropriate steps to reflect current studies into bowling actions. Murali has been given advice about his doosra but he is a very strong character and I am sure he will continue to bowl well while this matter is finalised."
But Jenner said the laws of cricket should not be changed, even though the problem appeared to have become intractable because of the acute political sensitivities between the Asian cricket countries and their white counterparts.
"So what we're saying is we want to legitimise whatever it is he's doing just to make it right," Jenner said.
"I find that extraordinary because if it's only five degrees allowed for a spin bowler and Murali is at 10, then it's a blatant breach of the law. This has come about because it's been carte blanche ever since the last time they looked at him."
Muralitharan has not been no-balled by an umpire since 1999, but Elliott's report is believed to show that his arm straightens by about 10 degrees when he bowls his doosra, which spins away from right-handed batsmen.
"Well if you're allowed to keep doing that, then it's open slather," said Jenner, spinning coach and mentor to Shane Warne.
He described the Muralitharan predicament as a tragedy for world cricket, and said some credence should be given to the power of the naked eye.
"If I could take my eye off the actual moment of release and just watch the ball in the air, I think it's exciting and brilliant and all those things, but unfortunately every time I watch the release I squirm in my chair," Jenner said.
"The facts are that if we allow another kid to come through doing what Murali does then the game is going to suffer ... Every kid that I've seen try to (bowl the doosra) runs in and throws it. He's going to be the most successful bowler in Test history and yet you're never going to be able to use him as a role model for any kid."
Jenner said the ICC would come under intense pressure from the Asian countries to change the rules.
Elliott, meantime, expressed disappointment at Sri Lanka's selective publication of his report, but said he thought 10 degrees of extension was a reasonable threshhold for spinner, and up to 15 degrees for a fast bowler, until a more complete database of the world's spinners could be compiled.
Chris Broad, the match referee who reported Murali after the Sri Lanka-Australia series, will not officiate in the series between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, which started yesterday, the ICC announced on Monday.
Posted by Tony on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 at 14:31 | Comments (3)
Category: Chucking (91) , Cricket (507)
GARDINER NO CHANCE
One thing yesterday's down time DID do, was cruelly deprive me of the opportunity to showcase the above champagne headline....
Knee injury ends Gardiner's season
ALL-Australian Eagle Michael Gardiner is confident reconstructive surgery will return to full strength the right knee that has troubled him since late last season.
West Coast's ruckman yesterday decided to write off the 2004 season after he yielded to medical advice that the posterior cruciate ligament required a major operation.
Footy ... I like to watch.
Posted by Tony on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 at 13:20 | Comments (7)
Category: Aussie Rules (280)
BRIAN'S GOOD HAIR DAY
Public Apology: Sorry ... ha ha ... not really ... for the recent dearthage. A minor bout of what he's got, busy business back at school, a friend over from WA and the now traditional mid-week DW downtime have meant a lack of blogortunity.
Anyhoo, after Brian Lara scored his 400, somewhere, sometime, I heard a whisper he'd been given not out on nought. Couldn't get a fix on it though, until now:
A hair's breadth
"Look Hair," I said when I tuned into the television coverage of the Fourth Test match between England and the West Indies at the Antigua Cricket Ground. I was here in Trinidad and the cricket was there in Antigua but Hair was also there even though it was singularly lacking on Brian Lara's head. In fact, Hair, the presence of the one, and the absence of the other, constitutes the major difference between then and now, Lara's 375 ten years ago and his 400 not out now.
"Hair we go again folks," I shouted as Lara got into the three-hundreds. When he made the 400 few people realised that I, a victim of the hair today gone tomorrow syndrome, made a thankful prayer not for, but to, Hair.
Why all this fuss about Hair? Should I have made that famous Rogaine promise, "Hair we grow again" now taken over by Viagra and Levitra? The fact is that while what is left of my hair was standing on end waiting for Lara to pass 380 and establish a new record, I was not all that scared because Hair was standing at one end of the wicket, adjudicating on the game, or umpiring as we know it in cricket. He has gained weight, however, and so expanded the definition or parameters of what constitute a Hair's breadth.
There are times when you feel that umpires are motivated beyond the stipulation (and expectation) of impartiality and fair play. There is a famous story told about several different fast bowlers, from Larwood to Truman. The legend goes that the fast bowler took his long run up and sent down a thunderbolt which hit the batsman below the knee-roll dead in front for a perfect lbw. The victory dance was interrupted when after the triumphant "Owzat" the umpire calmly said, "Not out." The angry bowler sped back to his mark and bowled the next ball at lightning speed. The hapless batsman got an edge and was caught in the slips.
Amid the cheering once more the umpire shook his head and said, "Not out." The bowler was forcibly restrained from going after the umpire and, after being convinced that he should continue, bowled the fastest ball he had ever bowled in his life. The batsman never saw it. All three stumps were uprooted, one was shattered, and the bails were on the boundary.
The bowler turned towards the umpire, shook his head and said, "Nearly had him that time."
Every cricketer has experienced poor umpiring or has been the victim of dubious umpiring decisions. I once played in a bush league in South Trinidad where good batsmen had to ensure that they were never hit on the pads. I bowled a ball outside the offstump which the batsman hit straight into the safe hands of the cover fieldsman. When I appealed, the umpire looked me in the eye and said, "No ball." At the end of the over, as I took my cap from the umpire, the batsman came down the wicket and asked him, "How I batting, Uncle?"
Whatever happens, regardless of how cheated you feel, the umpire has the last word. There is no recourse even when the cameras and slow motion replays show that you're not out. A batsman was given run out and did not agree with the decision. He was still upset when the umpires came in for the lunch break. "I wasn't out, you know," he protested to the umpire.
"Oh no?" the umpire asked mockingly. "Look in the newspapers tomorrow!"
Even at the Test level, there are many controversies. Last year, the umpire rated the best in the world, Steve Bucknor, gave Tendulkar out and was lambasted in the press. With his customary calm, Bucknor answered the criticism by saying that surely he could not have become a bad umpire overnight. Brian Lara has been particularly unlucky. He was given out to a stumping by Ian Healy, Australia's wicketkeeper, when the ball was not in Healy's grasp. He was out caught by Steve Waugh when it was clear that the ball had hit the ground first. Several times, he has been given out "lbw" when the ball pitched outside the leg-stump and the laws clearly state that should not happen, ever.
This is where Hair comes in rather than falls out. A few years ago, Brian Lara had said that Australian umpire, Darrell Bruce Hair, the man from Mudgee, who played for Mosman, and who now lives in England, was the best umpire in the world.
Just interrupting -- tell it to the Chuckanistas.
On Thursday, last week, at the start of Lara's innings, Hair proved it for me, at least. In the defining moment of the match, a ball missed Lara's bat by a hair's breadth. It was so close that any umpire, especially with the vociferous and victorious shout from the English cricketers, and the sound of a snick that could have been ball off bat and not just pad touching pad, might have given it.
The very slow motion replay, not available to the umpire when he made his decision, showed that the ball very narrowly missed the edge and that there was a noise, but most likely from Lara's pads. Had Hair succumbed, we would have missed the finest ever innings in the history of Test cricket.
While Sarwan and Jacobs played their parts as foils to the Lara rapier, Hair was the one I applauded with
"Hair! Hair." It was a courageous and correct decision.
Now when the Trinidad Government wants to honour Lara, perhaps they might think of the poor umpire whose job is thankless and hours are long, whose life is friendless and who is always wrong. Perhaps the airport, but Chicago already has O'Hare and it sounds similar. There is a story about a cricket club secretary in England who, just before a Test match started, got a message from one of his staff that there was an umpire down at the gate with two friends and wanted to know if the club would let them in free.
"Not at all," the secretary replied. "The man's obviously lying." "Why do you say that?" his employee asked. To which the secretary replied, "Who ever heard of an umpire with two friends."
(Via Nardo)
Posted by Tony on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 at 11:15 | Comments (2)
Category: Cricket (507)
ON THE RECORD
So Lara batted on. Well, if the Windies couldn't bowl England out in two days and two sessions, how likely was it they'd bowl them out in three days?
That said, last week I wrote:
Still, it's interesting Tubby Taylor declared on 334 whereas Lara batted on for the record. Speaks volumes, I reckon.
The implication being that Tubby Taylor -- for that matter, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting too -- play to win, whereas Lara plays for himself.
Ponting: Lara's record selfish
The Australian captain doubts whether Lara's magnificent 400 not out, made against England at Antigua last week, will ever be beaten because few skippers in world cricket are willing to jeopardise a winning position by allowing one batsman to spend so long at the crease.
Lara's quadruple century � the first in Test history, eclipsing Matthew Hayden's former world mark of 380 � was almost 13 hours in the making.
As captain, Lara could bat for as long as he liked ... and he did. His decision to keep going until after lunch on the third day, as the Windies amassed an unnecessarily healthy 5(dec)-751, left the hosts without enough time to win the Test.
Ponting said Australia's desire to secure victory as quickly as possible would make it difficult for any of the batsmen, himself included, to beat Lara's feat.
"It's hard to imagine an Australian player doing it, just because of the way we play our cricket. It's generally not the way we play," said Ponting.
"I've read some of the reports in the paper over the last couple of days about Lara's innings. Their whole first innings might have been geared around one individual performance and they could have let a Test match slip because of it.
"They ran out of time in the game � that's not the way the Australian team plays."
Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth last October took just over ten hours in a match Australia won by an innings and 175 runs early on the fifth day.
Ponting said then captain Steve Waugh's decision to let Hayden keep batting, in an effort to break Lara's previous world record of 375, was the exception to the team rule.
"It was a very rare thing what we did with that Zimbabwean Test match, for Matty to be able to bat for as long as he did and go on and make that big score," said Ponting.
"He was given the opportunity to go on and break Brian's record and he did that. He was going to be given another half an hour, or 20 minutes, to try to get to 400 but unfortunately he got out."
Ponting, Hayden, Lara and India's Sachin Tendulkar are the game's pre-eminent batsmen right now, but the Australian No.3 said he was only vaguely interested in individual records.
"It would be nice if you could be the world record holder but at the end of the day, as we've seen, it doesn't necessarily win you a Test match, which is what we're all about," said Ponting.
"Everyone will be chasing it, there's a record there now I'm sure a lot of batsmen around the world would like to have their name next to. Buut we'll have to wait and see how things pan out over the next few years."
Australia plays two Tests next month against lowly-ranked Zimbabwe which has a team in chaos.
Records, both team and personal, will be up for grabs.
Posted by Tony on Monday, April 19, 2004 at 20:31 | Comments (10)
Category: Cricket (507)
SORRY STATE OF UNFAIRS
Sex scandals. Drug scandals. Umpire abuse. Goal umpire abuse. Tribunal inconsistencies. If an incident EVEN gets there. And the far too ubiquitous and corrosive conflicts of interest.
Apart from comprising just another season of AFL fun and frivolity, what else do all these events have in common?
At some stage, lurking with hypocritical intent within the framework of each -- Except perhaps for the COI's, which are loftily shrugged off: "Aww shucks. I'm a good bloke. I wouldn't do anything wrong" -- there will be a specious Public Apology.
A player flagrantly flaunts the rules, and in doing so, is caught bang to rights. He subsequently fronts the media to announce that's he's become a guilt ridden wreck as a result of his uncharacteristic moment of madness.
Those who strutt the rarified corridors of our sporting institutions, the club officials, team-mates, sports entertainment "personalities" and assorted media sucks -- especially those from the network with the most invested in the player -- then attest to said player's "heartfelt contrition", insist his actions were "totally out of character", contend they'd be extraordinarily surprised if the player "ever did it again", and just for good measure, feign sympathy for the injured party. Dramatic voices and concerned looks abound. If they don't feel that's sufficient, they'll then insinuate it was probably -- nudge, nudge -- the injured party's fault.
Finally they'll suggest the player's sincere (forthright, frank or genuine) apology was the sign of a good man ... a fine man ... and yes ... a solid citizen.
Down here on earth, the rest of us call it damage control....
In the sporting circus, even contrition is a polished performanceWhatever the wrongdoing, it's essential to appear sorry - and, in Logies week, there have been several performances worthy of a gong.
For a moment on The Footy Show, you would have thought they were about to pass handkerchiefs around. James Hird had just apologised, all sincerity and operatic voice. Father Eddie, who conducts confession every Thursday night, dutifully wore his mask of concern. Overcome by this act of contrition before him, he empathised: must have been a tough week for you, James. It was all very moving.
Hird was fortunately too far away, or Eddie might have cuddled him. Why wait until tomorrow? The first Logie could have been handed out then and there.
Scott McLaren would be silly to sue, but he is entitled to wonder whatever happened to fairness. Now even he must be thinking: was I the one who screwed up?
Elsewhere, Craig Stevens might be contemplating the same. It's a wonder he hasn't apologised for pushing Thorpey into the pool. Well, didn't he? The kid's not even announced what he's going to do, yet the debate has already ended over who's going to replace him. It's Craig's choice, we say nobly. Umm . . . what choice exactly would that be? Of course, he can swim the 400 if he wants. For New Zealand, perhaps.
Maybe at the end of it all, Thorpe will hand over one of his gold medals. Stevens will blush. Eddie will buy the movie rights.
Hird is a truly terrific fellow, Thorpe has been all grace. But are we playing favourites? It's so much easier to forgive a nice guy, especially if he has a television contract that allows him to clear his conscience.
Similarly, if that was Lleyton Hewitt instead of Thorpe, we'd think a push might not be out of order. It's all about a fair go, right?
Sport as circus has been well-advertised this week. We're not sure what we've learnt, except that athletes first learn to manipulate a ball brilliantly, and then dedicate themselves to mastering the art of the mea culpa at the feet of their agents.
Athletes cannot breathe these days without an agent holding their hand and going, "There, there". Everything is stage-managed to the point where it is impossible to separate the real from the performed anymore.
You can almost hear an agent saying: "Mrs Beckham, please ensure you are seen holding David's hand in public. Of course, indoors you can let go. And if you are going to slap him, please take off that ring in case it leaves a mark."
Hird's story, no doubt, is going to become a case study at every publicists' school. First conclusion: say what you want post-match, not three days later, or "heat of the moment" becomes irrelevant. In case of delayed reaction, ask your manager to suggest your faculties were impaired.
Second conclusion: say what you want to a scribbling reporter in a busy corridor amid the chaos of defeat. That way you can say the reporter quoted you out of context, or better still, had an agenda. Remember, it is difficult to be misquoted on TV.
Third conclusion: if nothing works, one last route to redemption remains - the penitent news conference. Arrive in suit, wife in tow, look suitably downcast, blink back tears if necessary, claim misunderstanding, invoke family and God, read prepared statement with choking voice. View Kobe Bryant tape if necessary. Become the victim.
But here's the problem. Barring John Howard, sorry has become the easiest word and no one is convinced anymore.
Athletes break an opponent's ankle with a tackle that has "deliberate" stamped on it and insist tearfully they have had trouble sleeping since.
They hurl bigoted remarks at rivals, then produce X-rays to show they haven't got a racist bone in their body (teammates will swear to it, but then teammates will swear to anything).
They summon the media or appear on TV to explain themselves, only to conclude by saying: "I would be grateful if the media respected my privacy."
Of course, no one barring those who think The National Enquirer is the gospel believe any of this. No doubt, some of it is genuine remorse, but we are faced with such a barrage of apologies from athletes that we are now conditioned to view them cynically. We don't see regret, we see an athlete desperately trying to preserve an image. We don't see repentance, but an athlete trying to get off lightly.
Not all athletes deserve our scepticism, and the Essendon captain, particularly, does not deserve a genuine goodness to be blotted by one misdemeanour. Except once the circus began, only one thought resonated: haven't we Hird this before?
Of course, there's an inconsistency here too. Brijnath rightly criticises the facile nature of the symbolic get out ... sorry ... ahem ... apology ... then -- by implication -- is critical of John Howard's refusal to apologise to ... well ... someone ... anyone.
Can't have it both ways, Rohit ... sorry.
Posted by Tony on Sunday, April 18, 2004 at 15:28 | Comments (4)
Category:
SYDNEY GREENSTREAK
I'd like to introduce Sydney. Actually, Sydney's not his real name ... duh ... just a cunning alias that seemed to fit. You see, Syd's a Greenie, is happily overweight -- although once, he nearly bought a pack of Limits -- and ... well ... he lives in Sydney.
Don't get me wrong, Syd's a good friend of mine and I like him a lot, BUT ... Syd's a lefty. He also barracks for Collingwood.
So, in response to Andrew Bolt's most recent sap-sucker slap-down:
Barking on about religion
FASTER and faster it grows, this religion of tree worshipping.
Last month, the course co-ordinator of the National Theological Centre, which trains new Anglican priests, was calling for an "ecological Lent".
And now the Age has shown, amen, there really are people who seem to believe trees have souls, dreams and feelings.
Here are some quotes from a three-part series on the "life, death and afterlife" of a eucalypt, the Age chose out of the great East Gippsland forests to immortalise as a symbol of man's inhumanity to trees.
"The Errinundra chainsaw massacre", the page one headline wailed. And who wouldn't wail at the killing of such an amazingly human tree?
"In human years, the tree is now middle-aged.
"It's approaching the prime of its life, says zoologist Stephen Henry", who has "that gentle manner often found in people who spend a lifetime studying plants and animals".
"But it no longer thinks it will open the batting for Australia or play centre-half forward for Hawthorn. That touch of reality may have crept in, but it's still got a lot of years left in it . . .
Posted by Tony on Friday, April 16, 2004 at 14:16 | Comments (5)
Category:
BEEB POLL
No.1 seems strange.
No.3 is probably -- like the show -- a bad joke.
No.10 I've never seen.
The rest though, comedy gold.
Of 11 - 100....
Very good -- 11, 19, 30, 42.
Good -- 25, 26, 31, 75.
Very Bad -- 12, 16, 18, 22, 38, 39, 47, 53, 55, 85.
Missing -- Ripping Yarns, MP Flying Circus.
(Via Nora)
Posted by Tony on Thursday, April 15, 2004 at 11:15 | Comments (19)
Category:
LARA'S THEME
You can chuck -- topical me -- any clich� you like at Brian Lara, "Flawed Genius", "Prince of Batsmen", "Black Bradman", but they don't even come close to doing him justice, because as far as I'm concerned, he's the best batsman I've ever seen.
No doubt about it.
Sachin's astonishingly good, but more conservative, less extravagant. Martin Crowe was graceful. Lately "Jarkes" Kallis can't even seem to get himself out. Viv Richards was a super thrashing machine, Greg Chappell's up there, so are Matt the Bat, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh. Rah-Hool Dravid might just have the best technique of them all. And Wee Wee Luck-Shmaan is as good a batsmen as there is. That is, if he happens to turn up with the correct head -- specifically, what's in it.
However, when Brian Lara's on song, no one comes close.
He combines a copybook technique, superb eye and wonderful wrist work -- what the hell, ALL the requisite physical attributes, including remarkable fitness -- with an apparent inner drive unmatched by any batsmen I've seen -- Boycott, Tavare, Waugh.S included -- to score at a phenomenal rate over long periods, and most significantly, once he's set, NEVER looks like getting out.
Not forgetting, for the majority of his career, he's played in a rubbish side.
Recently, after Matthew Hayden had scored the world record against Zimbabwe, I thought to myself, it won't be long before Lara takes that back.
And good on him. To be perfectly frank -- I KNOW comparisons are odious in all forms -- I never truly rated Hayden's ton against the Zims, and it's satisfying to see the record scored against a bona fide test playing nation. Especially England. For reasons of gloat.
Anyhoo, that's what I think, how about the "experts"?
The Guardian:
Hayden 'knew Lara would beat record'
When Matthew Hayden scored 380 against Zimbabwe last October Brian Lara telephoned to congratulate him for beating his nine-year-old Test record of 375. Yesterday, after Lara celebrated an unbeaten 400 in St John's, the Australian returned the favour.
"I spoke to Brian over the phone this morning and passed on my congratulations for what was a truly amazing effort," Hayden said. "I wanted to let him know how appreciative I was when he contacted me in Perth, and I thought it was only appropriate that I pass on my own best wishes to him and his family.
"I sort of had the expectation that he was going to break the record. He really had it in his sights. He's truly taken it to a new level.
"Breaking Brian's record against Zimbabwe was one of the most memorable days of my cricketing life but records are made to be broken and, as a batsman, I guess they can fall at any time."
Michael Holding, the former West Indian fast bowler, admired Lara's strength of character after a poor run of form.
"Honestly, I never thought he would do it again," he said. "He is a great player, but at the age of 34 and with so much responsibility on his shoulders with the team not doing so well, I really did not see him breaking the world record.
"It takes a lot of stamina, a lot of grit and determination and 400 runs is a lot of runs. It is good to see that after 10 years Lara still has the appetite for huge totals."
More Guardian. Ignoring the leftoid spin, they eventually get to the cricket:
The beam in Bremer's eye
Who says history doesn't repeat itself? I have been an addict of West Indian cricket ever since, at the age of eight, in Kingston, Jamaica, I was taught how to hold a bat by the great George Headley. In 1957, I was back in Jamaica serving Her Majesty as a conscript in her armed forces there. Skipping my duties, I bribed my way onto a tin roof at one end of Sabina Park in Kingston and, in conditions of uncomfortable ecstasy, watched every run of Garfield Sobers' record-breaking test innings of 365 for the West Indies against Pakistan.
I passed the Windies addiction on to my children, especially to my son Matt. In 1994, Matt, then 27, took his summer holiday in the West Indies primarily to watch the Test series against England. In Antigua, he watched every run of Brian Lara's record-breaking 375, and has never tired telling us all about it.
In recent years, the euphoria of those magnificent occasions seemed to wane. Lara's record was broken and the current Test series has been a shocking disappointment to us West Indies addicts. But on Monday morning, a bank holiday, I rang Matt with urgent news of which he was well aware. Exactly 10 years after that historic innings in Antigua, in the final test of the series, in Antigua, Lara was 313 not out. Matt hurried over and together we watched the maestro go on to the all-time record of 400.
It is difficult to compare these things over such a long period, but watching Lara is certainly far more nerve-racking than watching Sobers. Sobers always seemed safe; Lara, with his high back-lift and flashy style, far more vulnerable. But if I had to choose between the two, I'd go for Lara. From Monday's great batting feast, I remember, in particular, two exquisitely dainty late cuts played off the spinners, neither reaching the boundary.
Well, anyway, a great three days for me, definitely something to tell my grandchildren about. In fact, my grandchild Joe, 2, was there on Monday, and I tried on several occasions to alert him to the sensational history that was being played out in front of him, but he showed not the slightest interest.
The SMH injects a note of circumspection:
Lara gets 400, but what's the score?
Don Bradman always said records were meant to be broken, but even he might have questioned whether they were meant to be broken quite this often.
Cricket's blue-ribbon individual honour - the highest score by a Test batsman - was set again yesterday, Sydney time, when the West Indian captain, Brian Lara, made 400 not out against England in the fourth Test in Antigua.
In so doing, Lara not only became the first man to score a Test quadruple hundred, but with almost indecent haste snatched back the record Australia's Matthew Hayden claimed from him when he made 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth last October.
Hayden telephoned Lara at the St John's ground to congratulate him, returning Lara's gesture when Hayden outstripped his 375 this summer.
But while the West Indies celebrated, elsewhere questions were being asked about whether it was good for the game that such mammoth scores were being posted so frequently.
It took 20 years for Englishman Len Hutton's record 364 to be broken by the West Indian great Garry Sobers's 365 not out in 1958. It was then another 36 years before Lara seized the record with his 375, also against England in Antigua, and then nearly 10 years before Hayden claimed the title.
Now, Hayden's record has been usurped after only six months. Only 19 scores of 300 or more have been made in the 127-year history of Test cricket, and six of them have come since 1997.
The former Australian great Greg Chappell feels bowlers will rise again, but admits the game's officials need to correct the imbalance. "The balance between bat and ball should be pretty close together, but we haven't had that for a while," he said.
Pitches play more predictably, partly due to the technology used in their preparation and partly due to an overcorrection from curators and administrators keen to stop matches finishing early.
The relatively recent introduction of boundary ropes has made fours and sixes easier to score, while helmets and curbs on short-pitched bowling have also helped batsmen.
Some also worry that the high workload of modern cricketers leads bowlers to play within themselves to guard against breaking down, while umpires have become reluctant to give batsmen out lbw, fearing bad calls will be exposed by television.
While the debate intensifies, Lara will enjoy his regained position, earned after more than 12 hours at the crease.
"It's hard to believe - a great feeling. It's been really, really tiring but I feel great," said Lara, 34, who kissed the turf as he reached the record.
Hayden was mildly disappointed at losing the record but said he had enjoyed his time at the top.
"I've enjoyed an incredible wave of euphoria for the better part of six months," he said.
And ahead of Australia's two-Test tour of Zimbabwe next month, he did nothing to allay fears this record may not last, either, saying: "The gauntlet is there, that's for sure."
Chris Lewis in the World's Best Tabby recalls the Antiguan agony -- "Antigone?" ... No? ... Moving along then:
Lara pain will remain
CHRIS LEWIS claims England's bowlers will never forget the agony of toiling away while Brian Lara hit his world record 400.
All-rounder Lewis was the bowler when Lara first broke the world record in Antigua 10 years ago with 375.
And Lewis, 36, said: "I've been trying to forget about that innings for the last 10 years but I haven�t managed it because I can still feel the pains!
"I knew he was about to break the record and thought about a line-and-length ball.
"But I dug one in and, for a split second, I thought he'd hit it in the air. Before I knew it the ball was over the boundary.
"It's very similar circumstances as that was another very flat wicket at the same venue.
"It's knackering and demoralising but at least this England side have won the series."
Aussie Matt Hayden took the record with 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth last October.
Lewis, now playing for Clifton in the Derbyshire League, said: "It seemed cheeky when he told Hayden the record was only on loan."
But Hayden said: "I spoke to Brian over the phone and passed on my congratulations for a truly amazing effort."
CMJ in The Australian waxes Lara-cal:
Lara's epic a sign of pure genius
TO break the most famous of batting records once might conceivably be ascribed to good fortune; to do it twice is proof of pure genius.
A work of art by the most gloriously gifted batsman of his time is what all present at the Antigua Recreation Ground over the first three days of the fourth Test between the West Indies and England have been lucky to see.
Every follower of sport knows that to have great talent is one thing, to apply it at important times quite another.
The most admirable part about Brian Lara's innings of 400 not out yesterday was the physical and mental courage it took to create it.
The 34-year-old has confronted and overcome a great mental demon. He has not liked batting against England's fast bowlers, Steve Harmison in particular, in this series, but he rose above his doubts and fears to fulfil his astonishing destiny.
In the process he has done a huge service to the faltering reputation of West Indies cricket.
Lara is to contemporary West Indies what Don Bradman, the only other Test batsman to pass 300 more than once, was to Australia before World War II.
Lara's failures are headline news; his triumphs a call for national celebration.
As there was a popular song, Our Don Bradman, celebrating the greatest sporting phenomenon of the age and declaring him public property, so there is a tuneful number, sung in Trinidad for this year's carnival by Rootsman, the popular calypsonian, simply called Lara.
The message is that Lara is still the best, that a young side needs time to develop under their father figure.
Lara has spoken so much more about the team in this series than he has about himself and that was his whole intention again when he faced the interviewers on Sunday night after reaching 313.
Of the approaching record Lara said, with great and genuine modesty: "I don't think it's much to rant and rave about. It's a really nice, flat track. It was different last time. Then we were winning the series and you've got to look at this in the context of this series, which we've lost. So really it doesn't mean that much."
Well, there is some truth in all that and although this may be his and the world's highest Test score, it is not the biggest achievement in Lara's life.
This is the boy genius from a huge, poor family in the village of Santa Cruz, near Port of Spain, who announced his presence on the world stage with 277 against Australia in Sydney in 1993.
He then burst into world fame the following year with the highest individual Test score (375) and the highest first-class score in history (501 not out) within six weeks.
It went to his head to some extent, of course. Undreamt riches came his way, along with pretty girls and a house in a prime position, given to him by the Trinidad Government.
His first attempt at captaining the West Indies started well but ended more or less in tears. He was sacked then reinstated during a players' strike before the 1998 tour of South Africa.
It was obvious from the start of his second stint that he had become a wiser as well as an older man.
He has had his moments of bad temper this season and has been fined for dissent towards the umpires, but he has been masterly throughout and stories of unrest within his team emanated from outside the dressing-room, not within it.
He has remained calm and supportive of his failing players, unable to lead them with the bat as they needed, but determined, as he kept saying, to continue to serve West Indies.
His concentration in the past three days has been unshakeable, his resolution unwavering against the short ball. England peppered him especially fiercely with the third new ball, but on this pitch it was a desperate last throw of the dice and Lara never blinked.
As in 1994, Lara proceeded remarkably evenly to his record, refusing to get carried away by his power to hit boundaries.
Perhaps, at the age of 34, his scoring areas are a little more restricted than they were at 24, but during this almost impeccable innings, he played nearly every shot in the book: the late and square cut, the cover drive, the off drive, the on drive, the pull (never the hazardous hook), the sweep and, most productive of all, any number of wristy leg glances and dabs, each placed with the delicate touch of the virtuoso.
Everyone in cricket knew Bradman as The Don. Lara is The Song and he goes with a lovely lilt. Many, even outside India, will claim Sachin Tendulkar to be a greater batsman and, against very fast bowling on bouncy pitches, he probably is. But no one makes the heart sing like Lara in form such as this.
The new Richie (?) reckons there's a hint of Merlin ... Mandrake? ... well ... Catweezle then ... "Touchwood":
Lara the magician
It is not necessarily the case that the finest batsman is the highest scorer. It was certainly not so when, in the 1930 timeless Test just across the Caribbean in Jamaica, Andy Sandham became the first man to score 300. Sandham played for Surrey with Jack Hobbs, who was universally known as 'The Master'. Hobbs made 100 of his 197 first-class hundreds after the age of 40, which suggests it is not a young man's habit after all. The Master's highest Test score was a mere 211.
Viv Richards did not do it, nor did George Headley, Graeme Pollock, Peter May or Denis Compton. Not a Chappell, a Crowe or a Cowdrey, not a Waugh, Walters or Worrell, not even Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar, yet. And that is just the making of a triple hundred.
Brian Lara has now done it twice. Only Don Bradman managed this before him and even the Don was not able to hold the world record on both occasions. Thus, Lara's achievement is a feat of amazing endurance every bit as much as one of skill. Probably, he is not the best player in the world any more but he is still the best at big scores. Given that he is 35 and carrying a pound or two more than in his youth, Lara is proof of the power of the mind - he was at the wicket for 13 hours, for heaven's sake.
The finest piece of batsmanship in this marathon came at the denouement. With his score frozen on 374, and with fraught nerves clearly imposing their own shackles, he suddenly danced down the pitch to a flighty off-spinner bowled by Gareth Batty and flew it gun-barrel straight down the ground and into the second level of the Sir Vivian Richards Pavilion.
The relief was evident at touching upon 380, for Lara indulged himself with a little smile and a barely noticeable punch of the air. Next ball he swept, from a low and confident position, in between the men brought up from the boundary to deny the single. The ball sped away for four more. The batsman threw his arms to the sky. The prime minister of Antigua went out on the pitch to enjoy it. Such a photo opportunity, the highest score in Test history.
Though the Antigua Recreation Ground has been Richards's cathedral, it has become Lara's killing field. Both the 375 and this 400 have been made here, along with a gem of a hundred against India in 1997 and an astonishing blitzkrieg for a hundred more against the Australians in 1999. It is an ideal batting pitch for a man whose ability in the face of fast, short bowling has long been questioned by those who watch him the most, though Lara would balk at this, citing his career record as evidence. The bounce of the ball here is slow and even, the pace off the bare surface is gentle and regular.
Such a pitch allows his genius to flourish. No stroke is beyond him, therefore no line or length can contain him bar, perhaps, the bodyline barrage that England used all too rarely. No man cuts the ball with such precision and along such angles; few drive with equal elan; only the cricketers of the subcontinent and Mark Waugh in the modern era, use their wrists so gleefully to ease the ball through leg-side spaces. Brian Lara is a cricketer who makes magic: the surprise is how long he remains able to sustain it.
Nicholas's Telegraph stablemate, Derek Pringle, bizarrely neglects to mention the day's most exciting highlight ... the Antiguan PM's brilliant name ... Baldwin Spencer:
Lara back on top of the world
World records are destined to be set by only a chosen few, so when Brian Lara reclaimed the highest Test score with an unbeaten 400 in Antigua yesterday, six months after it was taken from him by Australia's Matthew Hayden, something extraordinary was afoot.
The first man to break the 400-barrier in Tests, the 34-year-old Lara now has a first-class score in every century interval between 0-502 (remember his 501 against Durham for Warwickshire), something he had lacked until his quadruple at the Recreation Ground.
The monolithic innings, ably supported by a hundred from Ridley Jacobs, enabled Lara to declare on 751 for five, the highest total conceded by England in Tests, beating the 729 for six scored by Australia at Lord's in 1930.
When this England team are not on pitches that suit their bowlers, they seem to concede records. Their worst defeat, by 562 runs in that match at Lord's, could also be threatened after the top five were removed for under 100.
The series may be dead but rumours of the demise of Lara and West Indies have clearly been exaggerated. The captain declared soon after he reached 400, but not before he had passed Hayden's record of 380 in style, striking off-spinner Gareth Batty for a six to equal it, then four next ball to break it.
It left England facing a massive 552 simply to avoid the follow-on, something that began to look like a speck on the horizon when they lost openers Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick in the first 15 overs.
When Nasser Hussain followed after tea, bowled for three by a fast yorker from Tino Best, the visitors were probably grateful they had not played on pitches like this earlier in the series. Had they done so, they would not have been 3-0 up after three Tests.
Only two bowlers have taken more than 10 wickets here, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, the now-retired masters of reverse-swing. When Pedro Collins began to find something similar, England's batsmen began to look vulnerable and moments after reaching his fifty, Mark Butcher was bowled by a late in-swinger.
With Graham Thorpe following him a few balls later, caught by Collins at long leg after flicking his half-brother, Fidel Edwards, off his hips, England were in deep trouble at 98 for five.
Andrew Flintoff and debutant Geraint Jones, who added 73, stopped the rot as England finished the third day on 171 for five. Flintoff was fortunate to survive when Lara, having initially fumbled a slip catch off Ramnaresh Sarwan, lost control of the ball as he went to throw it up in celebration. Although he beat the ground in frustration, it was the only thing not to go his way all match.
The accepted wisdom is that great sportsmen do not believe in coincidences but even Lara must be mindful of the way they stacked up here when breaking the record for a second time. Same man, same ground, same opponents, same day (Monday), same month.
Even the time was almost exact, the clinching four off Batty coming at 11.43am, three minutes earlier then the one he had struck off Chris Lewis 10 years previously to bring an adoring Caribbean to his feet.
The figures are a close match, too. Ten years ago his 375 lasted 766 minutes and was made from 538 balls with 45 fours. Yesterday the record-breaking score of 384 took 732 minutes and 546 balls with 42 fours and four sixes.
West Indies supporters are an excitable lot at the best of times but the tumult that followed Lara's reclamation of his record was not just joy, it was the release of years of frustration in which the left-hander has carried the batting more often than anyone can remember.
After a victory jog round the square and a bear hug from his batting partner, Jacobs, Lara was congratulated by each England player in turn, pausing briefly to talk to Thorpe, the only person other than umpire Darrell Hair and Lara himself to have been on the field for both world records.
The strife of Brian, which had threatened to consume him, had been wiped away in one great innings and, just as he had done 10 years earlier after making 375 against England here, he kissed the pitch in gratitude.
Antigua's new prime minister, Baldwin Spencer, then strolled on surrounded by heavies to add his blessing. Ten years ago Lara was given a house by Trinidad's prime minister, Patrick Manning, after he had declined the people's request to give Lara his job. Manning is still in power and, by the look of yesterday's knock, so is Lara.
Before the start of this series, Lara stated that he was a better player now than he was when he scored his 375. Yet while the figures remain powerful proof that he is right, this was not as good an innings as the first one.
With the new ball due almost immediately yesterday morning, the best chance of stopping Lara lay with Steve Harmison; his new-ball partner, Matthew Hoggard, was still out with a stomach bug.
Unfortunately, Harmison's habit of running on the pitch in his follow through meant he was barred from bowling after seven overs, following a third warning to go with the two he had been given the previous day. That left Vaughan without his two opening bowlers and Lara simply toyed with him.
Though bowled on 87 by a no-ball from Vaughan, Jacobs hit several sixes in his hundred as he shepherded Lara to his destiny, a journey that saw the pair add an unbroken 282 for the sixth wicket, a West Indies record.
Also in the Australian, Peter Lalor shouts "Eureka":
Lara's ability to go the extra mile
IN the little farming village of Cantaro, Trinidad, they remember a young Brian Lara who was seemingly born the perfect cricketer.
They also remember a youth who valued his wicket so much he would cry when given out.
Perhaps it's that combination of ability and passion that has driven Lara to accumulate some of the biggest scores in international cricket.
The enigmatic batting genius has a score graph that swings as erratically through his career as his moods. Trying to explain why he has three of the highest first-class scores ever is almost as hard as trying to pick his motivation.
In 1994 he claimed the highest score in Test cricket with 375 not out against England at Antigua. A few weeks later he notched up 501 not out in county cricket.
In the next decade there were plenty of tears and two breaks from the game, but now, having had the gauntlet thrown down by Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe last year, Lara responded with 400 not out against England.
Coming into the current Test, Lara had managed just 100 runs from six innings and in the process captained his country to one of its most ignominious home series defeats.
In one innings he has reclaimed the batting record and gone a long way toward restoring the dignity of West Indian cricket.
Opinions vary as to how and why Brian Lara has succeeded at high altitude more often than people of the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting or indeed any who have gone before.
The one thing everybody agrees on is Lara's exceptional ability and concentration.
Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy has stood behind the stumps for many a session while Lara accumulated runs.
"Once he gets through a certain period he is set and when he gets going he is impossible to stop," Healy said. "His placement is immaculate and he has great imagination with the shots he plays. He's got plenty of options.
"There's an element there that is rare. I don't think he's got a greater appetite for runs than a Sachin Tendulkar or a Steve Waugh, but for some reason he's got the ability to keep it moving and not be tied down by anyone.
"He doesn't tire, he's very fit, but I think it's the options he has. He's a wristy player, he's unconventional, he can play the same ball behind point, slog-sweep it for six or he can sweep it along the ground for four or cover drive it.
"He's got all that ability on the one ball and his great skill is to pick the appropriate shot over long periods. He uses his options well."
Former Australian spinner Colin Miller jokes that Lara was his "bunny" for one season, but is not surprised he has set such records.
"He's a bloody good player, a fantastic player and I think the speed he scores at allows him to make big scores," Miller said.
"He is prepared to take bowlers on."
Many would rate India's Tendulkar a better batsman. He has a higher average (57.73) and has scored more centuries (33), but his highest score is 241 not out.
Miller said that Tendulkar might be more technically correct, but it doesn't lead to higher scores.
"Tendulkar doesn't have the extravagance of shots that Brian would play," he said.
"He likes to keep the ball on the ground and he's not playing on wickets that are as true as Antigua. It's a great wicket to play on. You saw that when the Windies got 400 to beat Australia in the last innings of the last tour."
Former Australia captain Greg Chappell said Lara had a combination of ability, opportunity and inclination.
"He's got an enormous talent and a capacity to get into the groove and go on with big scores when he's on the job," Chappell said.
"The thing is that very rarely are scores of that size required � in reality someone who can make 100 can make 200 and anyone who has made 200 can make 300, but 400 is really stretching the envelope, mainly because there's not the need for it."
Chappell argues that in modern cricket most teams are willing to settle for a score of 450 or 500 and going beyond that can often leave no opportunity to win the game.
However, he said in this case, Lara and the team needed something more than a win.
"It was more about making a statement," he said. "The West Indies need a good news story and he has given them one."
Some even suggest today's cricketers are more tuned toward the marketing opportunities offered by a 380 or a 400.
It is said Lara's management were unhappy they could not cash in on his 501 not out because it clashed with a brand of jeans.
Healy says that batsmen today are getting better while bowling stocks have slumped.
"I think batting standards have improved in the past five years," he said.
"At the same time we've lost a lot of bowling experience in the last five years. You've lost maybe eight major fast bowlers.
"But I still think that even though the bowling has been weakened the batting has still improved."
Finally, because there are in fact two teams running around St Johns, Wisden predicts a rosy future for England, that is if the Dead Rubber Syndrome is anything to go by:
It has been England's stated aim for some time to be more like Australia. And in this series, they have done it to a T: stunning victories in the Tests that counted, but foot off the pedal in the dead rubber, that malaise that Steve Waugh never could quite do anything about, even with his all-conquering side.
But now Vaughan's men have a chance to out-Aussie the Aussies. Last year Australia were 3-0 up in the West Indies - and lost in Antigua. And at Sydney in January 2003, they were 4-0 up on England but never looked remotely like batting out the final day of a high-scoring match for a draw, in the face of some probing bowling from Andy Caddick (remember him?). If England can go one better than that and bat through tomorrow, they really will have gone up in the world.
PS: Not here.
Posted by Tony on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 at 13:04 | Comments (16)
Category: Cricket (507)
TALKING EDS
This morning on the radio Gary Lyon and Tim Watson were arguing about whether or not Eddie McGuire should receive a "Please Explain" over his comments on Thursday night that Brent Fewkes was "the goal umpire from hell".
Gary Lyon, a Channel Nine employee, was inflexible....
"He's first and foremost a commentator. So, NO."
Watson, a Channel Seven employee, was just as insistent....
"He's the Collingwood president, there's no excuse. So, YES."
Then in response to Watson's repeated questioning as to whether or not Eddie was EVEN the Collingwood president, Lyon obfuscated and just continued to incant....
"He's a Com-Men-Ta-Tor."
Billy Brownless, a Channel Nine employee, finally popped up....
"Fine Eddie? No chance. They've got no balls."
Rather indiscrete, Billster, but on the money....
League will not sanction McGuire for umpiring comments
THE AFL will not sanction Collingwood president Eddie McGuire for lambasting a goal umpire during the television commentary of the Magpies' 10-goal loss to Brisbane last Thursday.
After a blatant officiating error in the second quarter of the match at the Gabba, McGuire described a first-game goal umpire as "the umpire from hell".
An AFL spokesman said today that the league did not feel that the incident warranted sending McGuire a "please explain" letter.
How the AFL can in Patrick Keane's words....
"That would be an issue for Channel 9, as to how he is perceived as a broadcaster."
....pass the buck in such a shameless -- and yes Bill, gutless -- fashion is totally beyond me. Eddie should have at least been asked in "for a chat".
The comments of Lyon, disingenuous to the point of lying, Watson, provocative as only an opposition broadcaster can be and Brownless, offhanded as is his want, should all be taken with a grain of salt due to them being vested interests. However, they do serve to starkly highlight the problem seen by Tim Lane last year when he refused to work with Eddie McGuire. Namely, there's an obvious conflict of interest.
Then to further spotlight the COI problem, Eddie McGuire, the Collingwood President and Footy Show host, is allowed to get away with abusing an umpire, whilst James Hird, the Essendon Captain and panelist on the self same Footy Show, gets pilloried (Penalty pending) for doing the same thing -- admittedly worse.
It's merely another of the blatant inconsistencies apparent in the AFL that are contributing to my gradual, but inexorable, drift away from the game I once loved, but now approach with a corrosive cynicism.
Just a quick word on McGuire. I don't particularly have a problem with his calling Collingwood games. As long as he's held accountable for what he says.
Up to now I haven't detected any outrageous bias in his commentary, however over the last few weeks I've noticed him "leaning" on missed Collingwood free-kicks in the same way fans do while standing in the crowd cheering on their teams.
All footy fans know what I mean. You almost beg/hope for frees when you're team's involved, but when you're watching a game where you have no emotional investment, you see it in a much more clinical light and virtually never urge for the frees that could have "gone either way".
Overall though, what his commentary highlights is the lack of calling depth in Aussie Rules. It's regularly held by his supporters that he knows how to convey the excitement of a game, but so what? Judging by his screaming style, every third Aussie footy fan could do that.
Where is the smooth, clear voiced, humorous and excitement infused delivery of a Tim Lane or Dennis Cometti?
After Lane and Cometti, virtually every other commentator is either an American hipster style shill a la Clinton "Dished it off "Grybas and Jason "Junk Time" Bennett, or a loud screeching barker, a la Eddie McGuire, Brian Taylor or Rex Hunt. The latter two who often become unitelligable when the game's in the balance.
Me thinks it's time to teach Martin Tyler or Joe Buck about the finer points of Aussie Rules.
Posted by Tony on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at 19:27 | Comments (20)
Category: Aussie Rules (280)
TOUCHÉ WOOD
Alan Wood's been reading the AGB....
Speed cameras out of focus with factPERHAPS because of generally good weather, Easter in Australia this year has seen a welcome fall in the number of road deaths. Sadly, it doesn't mean it won't go up again next year or the year after.
Road deaths and injuries can't and won't be permanently reduced to zero, and it is reasonable to ask whether the increasingly vigorous persecution of ordinary, law-abiding Australians in the name of road safety has gone too far.
As it happens, this is a good time to be asking the question. Whether you know it or not, last Wednesday was World Health Day and the theme for 2004 was "Road Safety is no Accident". So, last week in Paris (where else), the World Health Organisation and the World Bank released the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention.
According to the report: "The world faces a global road safety crisis that has not yet been fully recognised and that will continue to grow unless appropriate action is taken." It estimates 1.2 million people are killed and as many as 50 million injured on the world's roads each year. It quotes projections that these figures will increase by about 65 per cent by 2020.
On closer inspection, it is not the world at all but particular areas of it that face rising road deaths and injuries. A World Bank working paper on which the report relies – Traffic Fatalities and Economic Growth by Kopits and Cropper – estimates fatalities will rise by 147 per cent in India and 92 per cent in China, more than 300,000 deaths a year in each country, by 2020.
However, in high-income countries such as Australia, fatalities are projected to fall by about 28 per cent. Looked at another way, deaths per 10,000 people will rise to approximately two per 10,000 in developing countries, but fall to less than one per 10,000 in high-income countries. It is presently 1.4 per 10,000 in Australia.
There is a quite clear relationship between road deaths and economic growth. Because of the growth in the number of motor vehicles that accompanies rising incomes, the number of road deaths initially increases. The peak is reached when per capita incomes rise to about $US8600 (measured in constant 1985 dollars). Interestingly, this is within the range of income at which other problems such as air and water pollution also peak. In other words, as countries get richer, they can spend more money and effort addressing these problems. Australia is well beyond this stage of development, and the issues now are how much further we can reasonably expect to go in reducing road death and injury, and how we should go about it.
I don't know what the answer is to the first question, but it certainly isn't to zero. As for the second, there are growing signs that the present approach, with its obsession with speed as the cause of road death and injury, is misplaced and excessive.
An article in the spring 2003 issue of Policy, the journal of the Centre for Independent Studies, by UK academic Alan Buckingham, questioning this focus on speed and speed cameras was immediately attacked by the road safety academics behind measures such as the cameras and ever-reducing speed limits.
Yet in an interview in January 2003, federal Transport Minister John Anderson expressed concern that safety experts might be focusing too much on speeding as the main cause of road accidents.
The state where this may already have gone too far is Victoria under the Bracks Government. For example, its use of secret speed cameras, all too often for revenue raising rather than road safety reasons, is creating a growing backlash from Victorian motorists. In October last year the Herald Sun published a letter from "Concerned [police] Sergeants", angry that cameras were being used on roads with artificially low speed limits, low speed tolerance levels and high revenue-raising potential.
The discovery of faulty speed cameras, initially covered up while motorists were fined, lost demerit points and put their driving licences at risk, the relentless persecution of a female motorist for allegedly travelling at a speed her car was mechanically incapable of and other incidents have undermined the credibility of the Government's Arrive Alive road safety program.
Ironically, Victoria gets a tick in the WHO/World Bank report for the activities of its Transport Accidents (sic) Commission and its heavy investment in improving road safety. TAC is one of the Victorian Government's speed zealots. It runs very tacky road trauma ads that have no provable impact on motorists' behaviour.
Last year motorists travelling to and from Melbourne airport were treated to a series of ads along the lines of "save your daughter's life, take off 5". These motorists were travelling on a road with a legal speed limit of 100km/h, presumably approved as safe by the Victorian Government. How many of their daughters, girlfriends, boyfriends, wives and so on died when they continued to drive at 100km/h?
This is seriously silly stuff, but most serious of all is the persecution of motorists who are travelling over the speed limit by as little as 3km/h and of others who, like the great majority of motorists, do speed moderately at times when they can see it is safe to do so.
Laws that are regularly disobeyed by ordinary, law-abiding citizens are bad laws, and more savage enforcement and ever lower speed limits are not the answer. Asked if he had ever been fined for speeding, Victoria's Police Minister Andre Haermeyer replied: "This is Victoria." Says it all, really. It's time the Victorian Government stopped behaving like it had the road safety problems of China or India. Attention needs to turn to better roads, safer cars and other issues.
Posted by Tony on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at 16:28 | Comments (0)
Category:
BECKS MANIAC
Given sex, sport and scandal are inextricably linked, it was no surprise to read that the biggest sports name of them all, David Beckham, was involved in a relationship of sorts with his personal assistant, Rebecca Loos. And, in fact, my first thought was that this wouldn't be the only one.
However, in much the same way as something didn't quite sit right with Democrat sexer-upperer Jane Errey -- Top work Hunter -- my bullshit detector was tingling at the latest Beckham revelations involving Aussie "model" Sarah Marbeck....
Aussie lover obsessedMODEL Sarah Marbeck was obsessed with soccer star David Beckham and set out to destroy his marriage for money, friends claim.
The Melbourne-based woman – at the centre of a scandal engulfing Beckham and his wife Victoria – could not get the soccer star out of her head after a chance encounter in 2001, a friend alleged.
A friend said Ms Marbeck, affectionately known as Ki Ki, was not a soccer fan before having a snapshot taken with the English captain.
Friends claim that during the time Ms Marbeck insists she continued her affair with Beckham by text message she was in Melbourne receiving social security and working in clothes shops.
Those close to her describe her behaviour in recent weeks as erratic and her parents yesterday issued a public appeal for her to contact them.
"She is doing it for the money. She must be desperate for attention," a friend said.
She is just a plain ordinary girl who hasn't achieved anything in life who wants to wreck someone else's life.
The Herald Sun has been told that Ms Marbeck was working as a shop assistant in Brunswick St until three weeks ago.
Ms Marbeck studied interior design at RMIT University part-time and was regarded as a quiet, well-spoken and well-educated girl by those close to her.
She shunned the party circuit but enjoyed the company of men and aspired to a jet-setting lifestyle as a model, the friend said.
The friend said she was not convinced the Beckham affair took place in the way Ms Marbeck described it.
"She told me that David was very faithful. She talked about him being faithful and that all he talked about was his kids," the friend said.
"He said 'I love my wife'. She said he was a wonderful man."
Another friend also expressed doubts.
"She told me everything. She told me about all her boyfriends. She confided in me and there was no way she would have kept something like David Beckham secret," she said.
Snapshots of Ms Marbeck during her time in Melbourne show a bubbly and confident young woman.
She has not been seen since the claims erupted in England last week.
Ms Marbeck could not be contacted last night.
Her lawyer Michael Brereton is expected to release a statement today.
Ms Marbeck is the second woman to allege Beckham cheated on his wife.
Beckham's former personal assistant Rebecca Loos has also made sensational claims of passionate nights with the Real Madrid star.
Ms Marbeck was born in Malaysia but has spent time in Melbourne on and off in recent years.
She has had moderate success as a model in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
She also once worked as a nanny in Sydney, but was left destitute when three female flatmates walked out leaving her with bills to pay.
Friends who have intimate knowledge of Ms Marbeck's background and love life said she first met Beckham at Singapore airport.
Ms Marbeck's first impression was that Beckham talked constantly of being faithful to his wife, another friend revealed.
Ms Marbeck had been linked to a string ofmale friends.
"She is just a plain ordinary girl who hasn't achieved anything in life who wants to wreck someone else's life," the friend claimed.
The journalist who wrote Ms Marbeck's story confirmed she had been paid, but would not reveal the sum.
Neville Thurlbeck said stories he wrote for Britain's News of the World about Beckham's alleged affairs had exposed the former Manchester United's star's marriage as being far from perfect.
"I think what we've done, in the course of writing this story, we have kind of analysed the nature of that so-called perfect relationship and we've exposed it for what it is," he told ABC radio.
"And it's a fraud marriage, it's got its problems.
"Having said that, none of us at the News of the World rejoice in the fact that this marriage is clearly a damaged one.
"What we do say is that we hope that they can repair the damage, that they are able to work things out for the sake of themselves and the children."
Despite the scandal making headlines around the world, Mr Thurlbeck said he had not tried to contact Beckham.
"No, I don't think we need to call him," he said.
"You know, if he wants to issue a statement to us, we'd obviously gladly receive it.
"But you know the News of the World is so certain of its facts that we don't really feel the need to discuss it with him. I don't suppose he would want to either."
As media tart, Gary Lyon, a sportsman who oughtta know -- nudge nudge -- said this morning on the radio: "CHING. KA-CHING."
PS: Get your afairs in order.
Posted by Tony on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at 07:57 | Comments (17)
Category:
I'VE GOT MAIL
Mike owns a restaurant near Leeds and loves his cricket and soccer. And as an English sports fan, is OBVIOUSLY a huge fan of all things Australian.
So, to celebrate Mark Viduka's recent goal splurge, he's promised free ... err ... discounted ... err ... ONE complimentary after dinner mint ... err ... doubled his price for Aussie customers. Triple for Shane Warne and Harry Kewell.
Anyhoo, Mike's undoubted largesse aside, last week he asked this question:
Dear Tony, aka cricket guru.
What do the rules say about the height of a bowlers arm when he releases the ball, the arm has to be strait, but is it also supposed to be vertical ?
I was pondering this as I watched young Fidel Edwards in action last night, his arm comes across a diagonal angle as he releases, giving the appearence of throwing.
No idea there. So I fired off an email to Cricket Central:
Dear Lords Gurus,
I'm an avid cricket watcher in Australia -- it's OK, this letter is not a sledge ... err ... "mental disintegration" -- and I'm following up a friend's question about the bowler's arm at delivery.
He's been watching the England/Windies series and he commented on Fidel Edwards low action. Then we both started wondering if there's a limit as to how low a bowler's arm may be as he swings it over/round his body.
I looked at the No Ball Rule (24) on your website but couldn't find anything specifically related to the angle of the arm.
I guess that's it in a nutshell -- How low may a bowler's arm be as he bowls?
Yours Sincerely
MePS: How did Hoggard get a hat-trick?
Now, even though Lords have their official "Rules Hotline", you never know if you'll get a response ... but I did:
Dear Tony,
Thank you for your inquiry relating to the position of the arm as the bowler releases the ball.
The Laws of Cricket and the ICC playing regulations both prohibit the bowling of underarm deliveries.
The level of the ball in hand in relation to the bowler's shoulder is the critical issue in determining underarm/overarm bowling. The bowling arm must swing over shoulder height during the delivery action for the ball to be considered to be delivered over-arm. Several international bowlers have displayed noticeably lower, or 'round-arm' actions, similar to Fidel Edwards, but still complied well within the Law in this sense.
Yours in cricket,
Tony Dodemaide
Head of Cricket
There you have it. Lords, just like every London pub, is run by an Aussie. Hope he doesn't realise it was me -- one of only FIVE spectators -- heckling him at the WACA in January 1984. Still no wiser on Hoggard.
Posted by Tony on Monday, April 12, 2004 at 14:56 | Comments (5)
Category: Cricket (507)
