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hockey Jacques
Kallis: The premier cricket all-rounder Thank
heaven another Pakistan tour is over cricket How
Kallis compares with the best of the rest
Time to restore Pakistan hockey's 'gold property' The next assignment is the Asian Games in Doha; are we prepared for that? Who knows? How detrimental a slight lapse of concentration results in sometimes, can be gauged by looking at Mohammad Saqlain's momentary miss in the fifth-place playoff against England at Monchengladbach, Germany. Just around three minutes
before the regulation 70 minutes, the Pakistan captain's brief but fatal slip
near the left of the circle led to James Tindall grasping the opportunity and
giving the pass to an unmarked Martin Jones who netted the ball to give
England a 1-0 win and the fifth position in the World Cup tournament. But yes, the story of the 2006 World Cup is much bigger than Saqlain's mistake against England. And just imagine how many Saqlain-like or close-to-Saqlain-like errors the Pakistan squad might have committed, the blunders, or rather the mixture of blunders, which downgraded the record four-time world champions to the sixth spot. There is no superior title to the World Cup in field hockey and Pakistan, after finishing sixth in the 12-nation competition, now find themselves in a very awkward position at the world hockey stage. The Green Blazers have failed miserably in hockey's three major global contests -- World Cup, Olympics and Champions Trophy -- in recent years. Pakistan's last year of glory in these events came in 1994 when our boys clinched the World Cup in Sydney besides winning the Champions Trophy the same year at Lahore. What to talk of our teams' bleak shows in the Olympic Games except for jogging the memories of the Pakistan Hockey Federation's (PHF) top officials, our captain and all the national players that we haven't seen our boys proudly glancing their 'golden property' at the victory stand since the 1984 hit in Los Angeles. When the country, which introduced the brainchild of hockey World Cup besides designing the event's trophy, which has produced a long line-up of superstars, which has an established name in the world hockey despite lacking in the technical and physical infrastructure of the game when compared with the technologically advanced European giants like Holland, Spain and Germany, plunges so deeply, it really hurts. What went wrong in Monchengladbach at the Pakistan camp? Same old query? But what can be done, as the output we gained there is also 'the same old'. Pakistan's former stalwart Hasan Sardar has pressed for the system to be overhauled for the revival of national hockey, saying that even a foreign coach can't achieve anything with the present set of players in the current circumstances. But the big question is: how? Hasan also highlighted the need to introduce financial incentive and job security for the emerging players. However, this is the social or instead the socio-economic aspect of the scenario. Our former heroes of the 1970s and 1980s didn't get any attractive incentive. Did they? So how did they excel? Shows that passion and commitment are vital for success besides inducement of reward. The facts present at the field remain the established and documented set of ground realities: the Pakistan team didn't play well in Monchengladbach; they fared poorer than what their opponents did; and it seems there was no clear vision that could inspire the team at a prestigious occasion like the World Cup; veterans Sohail Abbas and Waseem Ahmed's return to international circuit also didn't have any major impact on Pakistan's collective effort in Monchengladbach. When teams like South Korea and England finish above Pakistan (fourth and fifth respectively) in the final 2006 World Cup placings, one fails to understand what sort of attacking stance chief national coach Shahnaz Sheikh was referring to before the start of the World Cup. Some of the former Pakistan Olympians have raised the weak display of Pakistan's aggression in the World Cup. After launching their campaign against lowly a Japan side with a resounding 4-0 win, Pakistan failed to beat Spain (2-2) and New Zealand (4-4). However, the most astonishing result came up against Argentina who trounced the Green Blazers 1-0 in a match that was more important for Pakistan, for a semifinals spot, than it was for the South American team who eventually finished at number 10 in the competition. And as expected the Olympic champions Australia completed the Pakistan rout in the pool games by registering a one-sided victory (3-0). Wait a minute. There came a twist, a typical Pakistan sport twist. In a play-off against Holland, Pakistan emerged, quite amazing! Isn't it? Getting beaten at the hands of Diego Maradona's compatriots and downing the Dutch, one of the top-class hockey squads in the world, 3-2, is indeed not an ordinary turn. But unfortunately the turnaround came too late. And then appeared the final episode of the drama with England beating Pakistan in the play-off for the fifth place. Don't remember this is Pakistan hockey? The 21st century Pakistan hockey! But one thinks the modern hockey has become an absolute team sport all over the globe where the balance between individual game and combined effort has to be determined minutely, applied practically and maintained as a permanent part of the strategy. One of the primary reasons for Pakistan's failure in Monchengladbach, as it has been for recent years, was the predominantly individual game that our players exhibited, sidelining the joint sprint on many occasions. Whether giving central role to players' individual games is a premeditated step taken by the team management remains a big question. But if the individuality is appearing due to lack of communication among the players, which seems to be more likely while watching the games, then this has to be changed at the earliest. While noticing the players of teams like Australia, Holland, Germany and Spain enjoying a refined level of mind-to-mind communication, one can ask, "Why not Pakistan?" If Pakistan hockey has to survive the cutthroat international stage, our team management will have to seriously consider about giving regard to collective play. In this connection, The Asian style should not be abandoned totally but some basic changes have to be made besides raising the physical fitness levels of the players who apparently lack stamina. The 2006 World Cup also caused some stunning results too. Holland, after crushing India 6-1 in a pool game, failed to enter the semifinals and lost to Pakistan, only to finish an amazing seventh! And Argentina, who beat Pakistan, lost to minnows Japan twice (3-4 and 1-2). The Germans, taking full advantage of the home conditions and crowd, overpowered the strongly placed Australia 4-3, retaining the World Cup in a fascinating final on September 17. The 2006 World Cup hockey is now in the ranks of history. The earlier we forget Pakistan's show in Monchengladbach, the better. But the next assignment is the Asian Games in Doha; are we prepared for that? Who knows? After being squeezed 2-9 by Holland in the Champions Trophy before the World Cup, perhaps the Pakistanis took on the Dutch in a 'totally different mood' at Monchengladbach, may be one of the reasons Saqlain and company won 3-2 -- an outstanding result indeed. But this mood has to be infused in Pakistan hockey on permanent basis if we want our 'gold property' back in Beijing 2008 and in the challenges beyond. The
writer works as a sub-editor
at 'The News'. His
e-mail address: pakshaheen65@yahoo.co.uk Jacques Kallis: The premier cricket all-rounder His number of runs, number of wickets, bowling averages and number of catches are almost identical in both Tests and ODIs On Monday last, though the
opposition was less than ordinary but the South African all-rounder Jacques
Kallis grabbed an extraordinary distinction when he became the first
cricketer to score 8,000 runs and take 200 wickets in both Test and One-day
Internationals. He got this unique honour in South Africa's six-wicket
triumph over minnows Zimbabwe in the second One-day International of the
three-match series at East London. The stand-in South African captain reached the grand landmark when he pushed the first ball he faced, bowled by medium-pacer Piet Rinke, to mid-on for a single. Kallis, who scored 26, went into the match with 7,999 runs and 205 wickets in One-day Internationals. In the longer version of the game, he has scored 8,033 runs and taken exactly 200 wickets. Kallis, who has already overhauled Sobers's runs tally, is certain to overtake great West Indian all-rounder's bowling figures in the near future. He requires just 36 wickets to surpass Sobers's mark of 235 Test wickets. Kallis has been a leading performer for South Africa since making his debut in 1995, with 24 hundreds at an average of 56.40. He justified his world class all-round status consistent and above-all match-winning performances. Kallis launched his Test
career against England at Durban in 1995-96, but was less successful making
just 1. In 1996-97 he missed South Africa's next Test series in India,
through injury but returned in the following home season. Kallis hit his
first Test half-century at Rawalpindi in 1997-98. Then he made his maiden
century against Australia, at Melbourne and guided South Africa to a fighting
draw in the same season. After scoring his maiden century, Kallis settled
down particularly in Test cricket. In the next season, the classic all-rounder played leading role in the 5-0 demolition of West Indies. He enjoyed an outstanding series with bat and ball scoring 485 runs and taking 17 wickets. This included a stunning performance at Cape Town where he made 110, 88 not out and claimed seven wickets in the match. Then in a home rubber against England, Kallis struck 105 at Cape Town that put South Africa on track to claim the series. In the 2001-02 season, Kallis began a wonderful run of form with unbeaten scores of 157 and 189 against Zimbabwe. The 2003-04 season was a marvellous period for prolific Kallis, who amassed four centuries in as many Tests against West Indies and added to his extraordinary run of form with an unbeaten 150 against New Zealand at Hamilton. Kallis continued his terrific for against England when he struck three centuries in 2004-05. The he hit the fastest Test fifty -- 24 balls -- against a depleted Zimbabwe before two more tons in West Indies, where he became South Africa's leading Test run-scorer leaving behind Gary Kirsten's 7289 in Antigua. In the previous season, Kallis was selected for the Super Series but he could not contribute sufficiently. He also hit two centuries against world champions Australia at Sydney (111) and Durban (114) in the following winter. Jacques Kallis, who is a few days away from his 31st birthday, has plenty of cricket left in him. Some more rare distinctions are waiting for Kallis in the coming months. He needs just two and eight catches respectively to complete a century of catches in Tests and ODIs which would definitely be a rare double. He is also on the verge of completing another century -- a century of sixes in ODIs. At the moment he has 98 sixes in his kitty. Remember, Kallis also completed his 100 Test matches against New Zealand at Centurion a couple of months ago this year and became only the third South African to complete the century of Test matches after Gary Kirsten and Shaun Pollock. After watching his superb performance with both bat and ball, one can predict that Kallis would add many runs and wickets to his existing Test and ODI tallies. Kallis, who is regarded as a calm and composed cricketer, has transformed himself into a great fighter in both forms of the game. An analysis of the list of all-rounders show, that there is no one who's chasing Kallis's feats. There are competent all-rounders like Andrew Flintoff, Abdul Razzaq, Irfan Pathan and Shahid Afridi in the race but they have different kinds of frailties. Though veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya stamped his superb status in ODIs with 11104 runs and 278 wickets, he can't be termed as a frontline all-rounder in Tests. Kallis's Test and ODI record is quite interesting to read. His number of runs, number of wickets, bowling averages and number of catches are almost identical in both Tests and ODIs. The
writer is a staff member at
'The News' Lahore ghalibmbajwa@yahoo.com A
SELECT BAND OF ALL-ROUNDERS (over 1000 runs and 100 wkts in Tests & ODIs)
All-rounders Tests Runs Ave Wkts Ave ODIs Runs Ave Wkts Ave J H Kallis (SA) 102 8033 55.78 200 31.71 233 8025 43.61 207 31.89 Kapil Dev (Ind) 131 5248 31.05 434 29.64 225 3783 23.79 253 27.45 S M Pollock (SA) 102 3515 31.95 395 23.42 261 2821 25.18 349 24.39 I T Botham (Eng) 102 5200 33.54 383 28.40 116 2113 23.21 145 28.54 C L Cairns (NZ) 62 3320 33.53 218 29.40 215 4950 29.46 201 32.80 A Flintoff (Eng) 62 3127 32.91 186 31.32 102 2674 34.28 110 25.81 R J Hadlee (NZ) 86 3124 27.16 431 22.29 115 1751 21.61 158 21.56 Imran Khan (Pak) 88 3807 37.69 362 22.81 175 3709 33.41 182 26.61 W P U J C Vaas (SL) 94 2503 22.75 307 29.51 281 1814 13.74 354 27.39 D L Vettori (NZ) 71 2136 24.83 219 34.96 173 1043 14.09 167 33.58 S K Warne (Aus) 140 2958 16.61 685 25.25 194 1018 13.05 293 25.73 Wasim Akram (Pak) 104 2898 22.64 414 23.62 356 3717 16.52 502 23.52 C L Hooper (WI) 102 5762 36.46 114 49.42 227 5761 35.34 193 36.05 H H Streak (Zim) 65 1990 22.35 216 28.14 189 2943 28.29 239 29.82 R J Shastri (Ind) 80 3830 35.79 151 40.96 150 3108 29.04 129 36.04 OVER
3000 RUNS AND 150 WICKETS IN TESTS All-rounders Mat Runs HS Ave Wkts Ave BB J H Kallis (SA) 102 8033 189* 55.78 200 31.71 6-54 G S Sobers (WI) 93 8032 365* 57.78 235 34.03 6-73 I T Botham (Eng) 102 5200 208 33.54 383 28.40 8-34 C L Cairns (NZ) 62 3320 158 33.53 218 29.40 7-27 A Flintoff (Eng) 62 3127 167 32.91 186 31.32 5-58 R J Hadlee (NZ) 86 3124 151* 27.16 431 22.29 9-52 Imran Khan (Pak) 88 3807 136 37.69 362 22.81 8-58 N Kapil Dev (Ind) 131 5248 163 31.05 434 29.64 9-83 S M Pollock (SA) 102 3515 111 31.95 395 23.42 7-87 R J Shastri (Ind) 80 3830 206 35.79 151 40.96 5-75 OVER
3000 RUNS AND 150 WICKETS IN ODIs All-rounders Mat Runs HS Ave Wkts Ave BB S T Jayasuriya (SL) 364 11104 189 32.75 278 36.82 6-29 Wasim Akram (Pak) 356 3717 86 16.52 502 23.52 5-15 J H Kallis (SA) 233 8025 139 43.61 207 31.89 5-30 Imran Khan (Pak) 175 3709 102* 33.41 182 26.61 6-14 N Kapil Dev (Ind) 225 3783 175* 23.79 253 27.45 5-43 L Klusener (SA) 171 3576 103* 41.10 192 29.95 6-49 Shahid Afridi (Pak) 230 4860 109 23.25 192 35.89 5-11 S R Waugh (Aus) 325 7569 120* 32.90 195 34.67 4-33 Abdul Razzaq (Pak) 217 4297 112 30.69 236 30.54 6-35 C L Cairns (NZ) 215 4950 115 29.46 201 32.80 5-42 C Z Harris (NZ) 250 4379 130 29.00 203 37.50 5-42 CL Hooper (WI) 227 5761 113* 35.34 193 36.05 4-34 Thank heaven another Pakistan tour is over 'It explains above all how it is that we can find ourselves in the absurd situation where an umpire can cause the biggest crisis the game has ever known' It is with a sense of
relief -- as always -- that one welcomes the end of a Pakistan tour of
England. That might be a strange thing for a cricket enthusiast to say, but
tours by the Pakistan cricket team to England are about many things with race
and Islamophobia coming much higher in the list than cricket. One gets a real feel of this if this one happens to spend time in a press box on an English cricket ground when Pakistan are in action. Square inch for square inch, there is perhaps no spot in the world more reminiscent of the attitudes of the Raj and what appears in the papers the next morning reflects that. All Pakistani sides since 1992 have had to play under extreme media pressure where every single movement of a Pakistani player is examined under the microscope time and time over; it is as if the cricket is the secondary interest, the primary one being to find some anti-Pakistani angle to what is happening. Thus when Shoaib Akhtar was shown with his thumb over the ball in the Southampton one day international, the cricket, for all practical purposes went out of the window. The alleged "ball tampering" was all that everyone was interested in, notwithstanding the fact that the umpires had had a look at the ball and did not seem in the least interested. We had a situation in which there was "evidence" of a crime but without a crime being actually committed, which was not an easy one to resolve. So marked is this feverish search for some anti-Pakistan angle that after the Oval controversy, one English cricket writer went to the extent of suggesting that Hair had perhaps acted as he did in England's second innings at the Oval because he suspected ball tampering in the first innings but could not pin it on anyone, so he decided to do something about it in the second innings -- albeit again without pinning it on anyone. The ball moved around corners, we were told, after the 45th over, although it was not mentioned that by the 45th over, three quarters of the England side were back in the pavilion. Regrettably, the sponsors of the Test series give no awards for idiocy. It is of course, only Pakistani bowlers who will be focused on by TV cameramen. Perhaps we will have to wait till we get Asian cameramen before cameras are focused on English and Australian bowlers as well and that may be a while yet, given that even Asian TV networks with cricketing rights have not woken up to what is going on . One can cry oneself hoarse saying that ball tampering is not an exclusively Pakistani phenomenon but you will not see a line anywhere reflecting that. I was on a BBC world service TV interview with former Indian wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer, in which Engineer said that during his days with Lancashire, there were three Lancashire seamers, all of whom had won England colours, who lifted the seam so noticeably that he could feel the lifted seam through his wicket keeping gloves. Straightforward and uncomplicated as Engineer is, he went on to name the three in a the live TV broadcast. It passed with only a resigned smile. If the three were Pakistani names, they would have been on front pages up and down the country. The continuous Pakistan baiting in the national media provokes reactions from the million strong Pakistani community in the UK. But since these reactions have no organised way of expressing themselves and cannot, in potency, match the barbs carried by a powerful media, the result is increasing alienation borne of frustration and anger. Cricket is about the only form of activity in which Pakistan can claim a positive international profile. When its competence even there is denied, the repercussions of that denial go far beyond cricket for Pakistani immigrants in the UK. For sport, by its very nature, has an objective system of appraisal whereby if you score more runs than me or score more goals than me, you are supposed to be better than I am. There is nothing subjective about deciding whether two goals are more than one or whether 200 runs are more than 190. But even in sport, whether the standards of judgement are objective, if I am denied the recognition I deserve, the obvious question a hugely disadvantaged community asks itself is what chance do I stand in forms of activity where the standards are subjective, like jobs and admissions to universities? Thus cricket journalism in the mainstream media has been one of the major causes of alienation of the Pakistani immigrant community in the UK; and it is one of the reasons that, at least till 9/11, the Pakistani immigrant community in the US, where cricket is not an issue, had made a better job of integration than here in the UK. It is unfortunate that the one form of activity in which Pakistan excels should be the most permeated by racism. That has to do with the origins of cricket in the colonies, where cricket was the chosen medium for transmitting the values on which the Empire was based. One of the main values pumped through the game was the inviolability of the umpire's decision, no matter how visibly wrong he may be. That was the basis on which the British Empire was run; pansy ideals like official accountability could have no place in a system where three hundred thousand ruled over three hundred million. Thus it was that when a British official slaughtered almost four hundred unarmed peaceful civilians in an enclosed area in Jallianwala Bagh, he was only recalled home. That was 87 years ago, but cricket still works on the same mindset. Which explains how it is that ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed finds it fit to issue regal edicts warning Inzamam and members of the Pakistani management to refrain from giving comments on the Oval fiasco, while he himself feels free to express himself leaving no doubt in anyone's mind where his sympathies lie on that very issue; it explains how it is that while it is no secret that Pakistan feels extremely uncomfortable with Darrell Hair, he has yet been appointed to every single series that Pakistan has played in the last eighteen months; it explains how it is that while Clive Lloyd could not be appointed to adjudicate on the Oval ball tampering charges because one of the umpires, Billy Doctrove, was a West Indian and there would be a clash of interest, but there is no clash of interest in Speed handling fellow Australian Hair's case at the ICC; it explains how it is that out of ten umpires on the elite panel, Australia with a population of 25 million has three representatives while India with a population more than 40 times that of Australia, has none; it explains how it is that even though the population of Asian cricketing nations is some ten times that of western nations, they have but two umpires in the elite panel of ten against eight westerners. And it explains above all how it is that we can find ourselves in the absurd situation where an umpire can cause the biggest crisis the game has ever known, demand half a million dollars for walking away from the mess he has created and the game's governing body can still think he has a future in the game! There was a time when injustice was in the natural order of things and although it still is in international relations, it is now less easy to accept it in the sporting arena. Other sports have moved on, but cricket lags behind. Thank heaven, therefore, the Pakistan tour is over and the injustices that Pakistan faces while on tour, which make this anything but an even sporting contest, is something that British Pakistanis can put behind them, at least for the next half a dozen years. Given the almost unbearable belligerence under which a Pakistan team has to play in England, it is admirable that they perform as well as they do. Shahed
Sadullah is Editor of 'The News' London cricket The pending decision: PCB is still chasing shadows! It would need diligent handling of the ball-tampering issue and Inzamam, as it seems, will be on the wrong end of the stick And so, in this last week
as the ICC disciplinary committee's hearing draws close we come to Pakistan's
biggest test of the year, and their biggest challenge ahead of the Champions
Trophy next month; one believes it. Clear this hurdle and they have a
realistic chance of running Australia close, said an ex-cricketer and a
dedicated supporter of the Shahrayar Khan-run PCB. One just can't buy this.
Decision or no decision, one must be very honest to say that Pakistan cricket
has been And coming close to Australia means that we are actually overestimating the credentials of the PCB hierarchy and to some extent, the team management. Lot has to be done and sordidly one must opine, we may have to have a new PCB chairman, a new set-up and a new line of action to even think coming close to the top team in the world. Retrospectively one must say, we are messed up and about to say good bye to any hope of revival of Pakistan cricket. Presently forecasting Pakistan topping up in the World Cup 2007 would be like imagining Kashmir being liberated without a ruffle. Too crooked, too starry-eyed and too intolerable is the state of cricket management in the country. Instead of wasting time in self-protection and self-projection, thwarting the sensible explanations of The Oval incident, its high time reality must be met with the full force of conviction, and only levelheaded solutions in the coming weeks will provide that.† Recently we have been hitting the ground bare-footed, chasing the shadows, pleading not guilty and just trying to pass the buck. None, not even Shahrayar Khan's most trusted director has stood up to take the brunt; such has been the ennui, lack of interest and apathy. Inzamam-ul-Haq, the main focus of attention by now must be very clear that in historical terms, he would be fighting his case alone. What he needs to do is to take the responsibility of The Oval fracas. However, it would need diligent handling of the ball-tampering issue and Inzamam, as it seems, will be on the wrong end of the stick. He should let things happen regardless of the gravity of the storm expected to break out after Ranjan Madugalle gives the verdict. Endurance will be a big achievement in itself. Sardonically, Inzamam this time in England will again be with the two individuals PCB Chairman Shahrayar Khan and (ex) Manager Zaheer Abbas who were very much at The Oval when the forfeiture was taking place. Interestingly, Zaheer must be a sordid man, having lost his job to an ex-Pakistan team colleague Talat Ali Malik, widely hailed as 'TAMS' in the cricketing circles. Here one must give a punch line by saying that Talat is a very nice man, well-honed and extremely well-versed with the ICC laws and bylaws. He has been an ICC match referee besides holding senior appointments in the Pakistan International Airlines. One remembers him working very effectively as Station Manager PIA in Manchester, often pulling up Asif Masood Shah, his long time friend. Talat was being backed by Saleem Altaf, PCB's Director Cricket Operations, but as it is known Chairman PCB was not one too keen to listen to him. At last, it seems, repercussions of The Oval wrangle have brought Altaf in a position of power; it seems so with Syed Abbas Zaidi, Director Board Operations, slipping a trace backwards. Talat's appointment needs to be appreciated though he'll be subjected to extremely difficult conditions in the Pakistan camp with Bob Woolmer persistently in quest of identity. And Waqar Younis (bowling coach) and Mushtaq Ahmad (assistant coach) both Inzamam-ul-Haq's lifelong friends also in the fray. Mushtaq's appointment is a bit mystifying. One is bewildered to see Mushtaq being given an office of responsibility contrary to Justice Qayyum's report, whereas the same PCB top brass has been reproachful, condemning Saleem Malik, irked to see him play at the Gaddafi Stadium, if one remembers correctly. While we celebrate Talat's appointment and wink at Mushtaq's, Zaheer will be travelling to England with the man who has actually removed him from the coveted office. Such is the cricket diplomacy. Diplomacy or hypocrisy that one needs to figure out before we really get into intricate details of Zaheer's rising above his self; one must not forget his unmatchable contributions for country's cricket; it may well be in the line of duty. Here goes another story like Frank Sinatra's Von Ryan's Express! One must fluster to see the same old men, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly holding the trump cards, from The Oval affray to waffling during the Sky Sports interview, from superior oration to greater experience to dwindling morale toÖwell, you name it.† The outcome of ICC Disciplinary Committee's hearing for Shahrayar Khan may well become a requiem; hope not that it turns into Harry Tatelman's Richard Burton starrer 'Raid on Rommel'. To some the raid on Shahrayar is just around the corner and that the count down has already begun. It's high time that we start counting the days. In historical terms, our brazen-looking Inzamam should be in for big trouble. PCB has become the Laurel & Hardy prototype, as one mentioned in one of the preceding articles and they tend to reinforce it with flashing regularity. One heard that Zaheer Abbas was not 'sacked' but relieved of his duties since he will be going to England to attend the disciplinary committee hearing; Inzamam will also be there so why didn't they relieve him of Pakistan's captaincy? This is PCB's comedy, we tend to reaffirm it. We shouldn't be the one for rash predictions. We mustn't forget that the decision may well bite us hard and wage an attritional campaign. To Pakistan's discredit, first and foremost they just don't have a settled set of individuals who, supposedly aren't comfortable working with each other and who didn't know how to force lawful interpretations of the ICC Code of Conduct while the Test at The Oval was being forfeited, barring that they have been educated by their lawyers, they would be together in front of Ranjan Madugalle. Compare this with the chaotic progress through largely fruitless day four of The Oval Test. In a spur of the moment Inzamam got into a big mess and it needed to take one hell of a lot of explaining to get him out again. Look for parallels, and this contest resembles two Chief Justices issuing separate 'Cause List' in the Supreme Court in the late 1990s. It was complete shambles; the one at The Oval was no less than an impulsive school mentality decision that threatened Inzamam's otherwise smooth future as Pakistan captain. There has been a clear cut shift. One doesn't clearly knows about PCB's vitriolic stance over Inzamam taking the team to the World Cup but the virtuous batsman has recently gone public, hitting back at critics finding fault with his leadership during the England tour saying that there was a lobby which lost no opportunity to show him in poor light; was he referring to some one in the PCB or pointing towards an ex-captain who once was his mentor. The administrative imperative to save oneís skin may well actually see Inzamam falling by the wayside as the disciplinary committee meeting looms. One must here say that ball tampering is all uproar about nothing. The ball should be the bowlers'. Many bowlers came and went, revealing tricks of the trade as aged as the game itself. Fast bowlers, if the narratives were believed, spent so much time lifting the seam that it is a wonder they had the strength to bowl at all after their exertions. Umpires seem to have carried penknives in their pockets for no better reason than to offer them to the bowlers who chewed their fingernails and so couldnít pick the seam properly or improperly. Arthur Mailey in his autobiography 10 for 66 and All That, published by Phoenix House in 1958, recounted how he carried again resin in his pocket, rubbing it into the ball to obtain a better grip, and a better tweak. When the resin was out, spin bowlers put in long spells in the olden days and made business to shake hands frequently with the wicket keepers because their gloves were being coated, with birdlime. Similarly Mailey confirms that he picked the seam for his bowlers Gregory and McDonald it was time to resin up the ball and fiddle out some batsmen. Intentionally grinding down one side of the ball, using a fingernail or something less personal, is a more recent phenomenon. Although bowlers have always worked at keeping one side of the ball polished, except in 1966 when as an experiment it was banned for a season. It used to be that natural forces took their toll on the unpolished side. The speed with which the ball lost its shine on the hard Australian grounds of the 1920s and 1930s, quickly removing the possibility of swing at speed, is given as one of the reasons for the use of bodyline by Douglas Jardine against Sir Donald Bradman in 1932-33. Modern top dressing, unfortunately, keeps the outfield lush, with the result that the shine stays on the ball longer. Consequently, the contrast of rough and smooth, professed by some exponents to be a component of swing, is longer coming, and that is why some bowlers took matters into their own hands, so to say. How it works is another matter. The real fascination of the ball-tampering scandal was the opportunity it provided to observe other attitudes against Pakistanis. By making allegations of ball abuse, the media implied that England lost the Test series because the Pakistanis cheated in 1992, just as it was the Germans' fault when England had to withdraw from the ER Mechanism and let the £ lose its value. It was much easier to blame someone else for these unpalatable defeats, rather than acknowledge the fact that in 1992 England was not up to it. There was nevertheless sufficient official concern about ball tampering in the county games for the TCCB to take pre-emptive measures against it. At its summer meeting in 1990 the Board increased the umpires' powers with respect to Law 42.5, Unfair Play: Changing the condition of the ball, so that roughing up the surface could be dealt with in the same way as picking the seam. In the playing conditions authorised by the TCCB, the penalty for both offences thus became the replacement of the deliberately damaged ball with an older and inferior one. It is oblivious, then, that the TCCB was aware in 1990 that roughening the ball was going on in county cricket. Its measures to control this were equally apparent, being announced after the summer meeting, and yet several seasons passed before the public was made fully aware of this particular aspect of ball abuse. It was not until the tour of England by Pakistan in 1992 that a sense of righteousness developed about a practice, which, if not rampant, was already in existence in county cricket. The absence of any campaigning vigour against all ball-tampering in county cricket in 1990 and 1991 could, of course, have resulted from unawareness. Unfortunately, giving the matter such prominence in 1992 left the English press open to charges of prejudice against the Pakistanis, rather than concern for the laws of cricket. One seems to recall a New Zealand bowler in 1990 working industriously at the seam as he walked back to his mark but this did not have picture editors screaming for incriminating photographs. Of course he was not making the ball swing all over the place, and New Zealand were not beating England. What brought matters to a headline was Allan Lamb's allegation in the Daily Mirror, at the end of the Pakistan tour. 'How Pakistan Cheat at Cricket' was the caption. The banner blazoned, and within a week the lawyers were dropping writs at Lord's. What complicated the issue even more was that the replacement ball was said not be of much inferior condition to the original, as specified by the TCCB's playing conditions concerning Law 42.5, and the learned friends leapt on this technicality like pit bull terriers on a kitten. Surrey were playing Leicestershire at the Oval, where their dexterity with the ball was not to the liking of umpires Barry Dudleston and John Holder. It all added substance, not the substances needed adding, to a nice little story Vic Marks told in his Observer column about an abused ball being handed round as captains meeting at Lord's in 1991. When it reached David Hughes of Lancashire he gulped as he recognised the evidence. He passed it on to Ian Greig of Surrey who, adhering to the forthright tradition of the family blurted out: 'This looks like one of ours'. Apparently, Marks continued: 'The England team were cautioned during the fifth Test against West Indies in 1991. That England team contained two Lancashire players, in Philip DeFeratis and Mike Atherton, and Surrey's Alec Stewart'. The umpire who took a second look a the ball at The Oval in 1991, the Test that England won to square the series against West Indies, was John Holder. It was his opinion that untoward damage had been done to the ball's surface, although the ball was not changed. What was changed, however, was Holder's ranking as an umpire? It is just a pity, in the circumstances, that someone with an awareness of the problem was not asked to stand in a series which, given previous accusations about the Pakistan bowlers, had the potential to be a difficult one. Here it's not about ball-tampering, it's not about losing it's about the fact that we would long be cursing The Oval forfeiture. There are many things which are apparently untenable. Inzamam shouldn't be trying to defend the indefensible. If the ball tampering was done and it wasn't the result of the ball hitting the hoarding or concrete then obviously it wasn't gouged by the seraphs. If it was done by our own humans and Inzamam was oblivious of what was happening under his nose, he still needs to take the rap. He needs to accept the responsibility, gallantly, with dignity and get on with the last leg of his career. He fits in the fray and is very much needed to take Pakistan to the World Cup 2007. He still has a lot to offer; one just can't shrug him off, just like that. If variety is the spice of life, there is no reason why cricket should not benefit from a dash of a coriander. On the other side of the road, Shahrayar Khan's seems trumped by The Oval aftermath; it seems his end is right at the doorstep? Counting the days would just be a formality. NOTE Since
this article was written, it had been revealed that Zaheer Abbas will not be
required to be present at the ICC hearing on September 27 and 28. This means
that he is not going. The
writer is a former Media Manager of the PCB, former assistant manager of the
Pakistan team, official historian of Pakistan Cricket, ex-cricket analyst of
the PCB and the Pakistan team, former manager coordination of the ACC and
ex-selector of the now defunct PCA
How Kallis compares with the best of the rest He is a man with an ability, mental strength and presence of mind to change the situation. Jacques Kallis is a true South African champion South Africa won the One-day International series against Zimbabwe convincingly by 3-0 on Wednesday. There was no contest between the two teams and it was a simple one-side affair, but South Africa will remember the series as in the third ODI the Proteas posted 418 runs. It was the second time that the visitors have scored over 400 runs in an ODI. In March this year, South Africa chased a record 434 against Australia at Johannesburg and won the match. Jacques Kallis will also remember the series, specially the second One-day International as he became the first cricketer in the history of the game to reach 8,000 runs and 200 wickets in the Test and One-day Internationals. He is also South Africa's all-time highest run-getter in both forms of the game. Only Jacques Kallis and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka have achieved the 8,000 runs and 200 wickets double in ODIs. Kallis and the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers of West Indies are the only players to post this double in Tests. In 102 Tests, Kallis has 8,033 runs and 200 wickets. After the Zimbabwe ODI series Kallis's one-day score has reached 8,075 runs in 234 matches with a very good average of 43.64 including 13 hundreds and 57 fifties. In the longer version of the game he has scored 8,033 at an average of 55.78 with 24 centuries and 40 half-centuries. Kallis is also very near another landmark to complete 100 catches in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. Now he has taken 98 catches in Tests and 92 ctaches in ODIs. He is rated the number one all-rounder in the world. Kallis was also declared ICC Test Player and Player of the Year in 2005. Jacques Henry Kallis is among the very few batsmen in world cricket who have an over 55 batting average. Indian captain Rahul Dravid has the highest average among the current players with 58.75 while Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has the second position with 58.22 in 105 Tests. Kallis is at the third position with 55.78 average, while other leading batsman like Sachin Tendulkar (55.39), Matthew Hayden (53.08), Virender Sehwag (52.12), Brian Lara (52.05) and Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (50.88) are behind Kallis. He is a man with an ability, mental strength and presence of mind to change the situation. Jacques Kallis is a true South African champion. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh once said that "we had tried simply everything against this guy, but we can't find a weakness in his game". He has the ability to construct an innings ball-by-ball, playing each delivery on its merit, no matter what is happening to the rest of the batsmen in the team. Kallis is a magnificent player with a solid technique and this, together with a cool temperament, makes him a top-class Test batsman. Kallis made his Test debut against England at Durban on December 14, 1995, but in his first innings he made just one run. His next seven Test innings produced only 57 runs, leaving him with an average of 7.13. In his next Test a knock of 61 against Pakistan saw his average rise to 13.11. The selectors continued taking risks as they picked Kallis for South Africa's tour of Australia, hardly the place to tour if you're looking to improve on your record. Playing in front of a massive Melbourne Cricket Ground Boxing Day crowd, Kallis made 15 in the first innings of the first Test against the Australians, but in the second innings, with the Proteas set an improbable 381 for victory, Kallis showed a magnificent fight and mental toughness to occupy the crease for three minutes shy of six hours in making 101. That effort saved the Test for South Africa, and became the turning point in Kallis's career. Jacques Kallis made his One-day International debut against England at Cape Town in 1996 -- batting at number 7 he scored 38, the second highest score of the innings after Shaun Pollock's 66.
Khurram
Mahmood works in the art department in 'The News on Sunday' in Karachi khurrams87@yahoo.com
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unsystematically run; haphazardly run; run on half-broken wooden wheels.