Experimentation can bring further misery for New Zealand

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The New Zealand cricket has been harmed endlessly by the inconsistency of their movers and shakers. Every team in the world makes minor changes in their outfit once in a while but the frequency with which their selectors keep doing is mind boggling to say the least. Even wholesale changes could be acceptable if the idea is to rebuild but to make sweeping changes after literally every series or so doesn’t make any sense at all.

I am not sure why there is a culture of experimentation rampant in the New Zealand cricket for so long. There could have been an odd brainy or visionary individual whose passion was to try out new youngsters and he might have been the motivating force in implementing such an adventurous policy. But the manner in which almost every selection committee has treated its own cricketers so shabbily makes us think that they are probably not serious about the sport.

Cricket no doubt is a sport, the gentleman’s game to be specific. But the game of cricket was revolutionized in the 1970s by a man called Kerry Packer. With the greater number of broadcasters coming into play and the limited overs games becoming more and more popular it was no longer an amateur sport. It has become one of the most rewarding professions in many parts of the world.

Apparently the New Zealand cricket administrators have yet not been able to grasp the fact that they need a more professional approach in building their teams to stay in demand globally. New Zealand certainly has some disadvantages as compared to Australia, England or South Africa due to its extreme weather and also the distant location.

Under the circumstances the New Zealanders should have been more proactive because they were competing against heavy odds. Their inconsistent selection policy has only brought more miseries for them. They are one of those visiting teams the sub-continental countries are reluctant in hosting. They don’t pull crowds because they lack the desired number of quality players in their squad. How would the quality players get the opportunity of unfolding their talents when they are discarded after just one failure.

It will be in the interests of the New Zealand cricket if their selectors take a leaf out of the book of other leading nations who have managed their affairs admirably in the given scenario. Everyone has a problem or two up their sleeves but better managers handle them skillfully to get out of the mess. Is it easy to pick up teams in countries like Australia and India who currently face embarrassment of riches. The answer is no. But they have devised means that are working with the common denominator being common sense.

There hardly seems dearth of talented cricketers in New Zealand. It’s only the questionable approach of the selectors that has prevented them from producing the stalwarts like Glenn Turner, Richard Hadlee, John Wright and Martin Crowe. Their system can produce outstanding players if their talented youngsters are provided the confidence.

There is absolutely no element of surprise in finding changes in the New Zealand line-up for the upcoming home series against the West Indies. Unlike the 1980s and early part of the 1990s the visitors from the Caribbean are themselves not in good shape but some elementary mistakes from the New Zealand selectors could give them a lifeline.

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South Africa on a mission to tame Aussies

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The upcoming three-Test series between Australia and South Africa is a mouth-watering prospect for the cricket enthusiasts. Being played in the festive season of Christmas and New Year it should generate tremendous interest Down Under and beyond.

South Africa are running high on confidence and they have every reason to belief that they have the guns to silence the Australian juggernauts who have been ruling the world for a very long time now.

The contest between the top two ranked sides of the world at present will be watched with great interest in every nook and corner of the globe. The only not so pleasant aspect of the series is that it is limited to just three Tests.

With the game’s administrators eager to sandwich more limited overs games than ever before in pursuit of quick bucks, the Test cricket is obviously the sufferer. The number of Tests is being reduced and it’s quite disappointing to find a series of just two Test matches getting wider acceptance.

What the cricket chiefs so conveniently ignore is the fact that in some cases the Test matches can create greater interest and hence bring in more revenue that is the bottom line these days.

What a pity that the Test series between the top two sides of the planet will be limited to only three Tests. It can still produce fireworks, excitement, tension and drama but it may not match the grace and dignity of a full five-Test series.

The worst part of a three-Test series is that the team drawing the first blood gets huge advantage and conversely the loser of the opening game has limited opportunity to bounce back in the series. That’s why very rarely the teams having conceded the first Test have gone on to the clinch a three-match series.

Unlike the past, it could be the Australians at the receiving end this time round. The first Test is to be played at Perth where the pitch is known to have extra bounce and zip. With the presence of the fast bowlers like Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel in their ranks, South Africa have the edge over the hosts in the pace bowling department and they stand a very good chance of going one-up in the series.

I agree with the South African skipper Graeme Smith that his side has the best chance of winning the series in Australia, a feat yet not accomplished.

Besides having a lethal pace attack, capable of destroying any batting attack, South Africa have an established opening pair and two of the world’s best all-rounders in Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher.

The Australian pace trio of Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark could have their work cut out against the experienced South African batters who are also quite used to getting runs on bouncy strips. With no Shane Warne to worry them, the South African batsmen will not mind slow or even spinning wickets either.

Similarly the likes of Mathew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds, who have scored prolifically in the recent past, may find life much tougher in the middle against South Africa’s spirited pace attack.

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Golden opportunity for Yuvraj Singh to cement place in Test side

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The resumption of England’s tour to India has gladdened the hearts of millions of cricket enthusiasts all over the world but one man to whom this could mean he most is none other than the mercurial Yuvraj Singh.

The enterprising left-hander, who has had an outstanding ODI series, has been rewarded by the selectors as he has found his way in the Test squad for the two-Test series against England starting on December 11.

It’s a golden opportunity for Yuvraj, having phenomenal record in the limited overs games, to cement a place in the Test side. He has been deemed as the natural successor to the now retired former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

There are quite a few similarities between Yuvraj and Ganguly. Both of them believe in taking the attack to the opposition. India certainly needs an explosive matter at number six following the grafters of the caliber of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman all of whom are experts in playing long innings.

Yuvraj hasn’t enjoyed yet the kind of consistency that was being expected from him in the limited opportunities having coming his way. To be fair with him, he was not given a long enough run to settle in the team.
Obviously it was not easy to walk into the middle-order already having four world class batsmen. He was drafted in the playing even only when one of the fabulous four was struggling for form or fitness.

With Ganguly having now retired, Yuvraj should not have the pressure of being there just for an interim period. If he fires in the Test matches in the manner he has done in One-day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals there is no reason why he should be a regular member of the Indian Test team for a number of years.

There are two major factors in Yuvraj’s favour now and he should make the most of them. Number one the retirement of Ganguly takes the press off his head. He can be assured of a place in the Test side now if he keeps scoring prolifically.

Number two he has been in exceptional form during the past few weeks. He was absolutely magnificent in the one-dayers having blasted back to back hundreds. He finds himself in a very good position now to carry this terrific form into the Test matches. He should fancy his chances of dominating the same set of England bowlers in the two Tests as well.

It’s just a matter of putting things together for Yuvraj. If he plays his natural aggressive cricket without losing his composure he looks all set for big scores in Test cricket too. He has tremendous potential and he needs to improve his Test record. He deserves better figures than 1050 runs in 23 games spread over a period of five years.

The kind of attacking cricket the Indians have been playing lately Yuvraj fits perfectly in their plans. He has a great opportunity to prove to the world that he has the talents to succeed in the longer version of the game too.

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New Zealand’s inexperience costs them dearly in Australia

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There was hardly any element of surprise in watching New Zealand getting whacked by Australia in the just concluded two-Test series. The Aussies were as ruthless as ever in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval after having struggled a bit to put their acts together in the first Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, which they didn’t win as convincingly as they would have expected.

New Zealand had escaped punishment in the first Test primarily because the Australians were returning from a tough tour of India where they had been at the receiving for most of the time in the four Tests.

Australia entered the first Test against New Zealand without getting a proper break after that demanding tour which must have been at the back of their minds. But it was their good fortune that they were to tackle a team from New Zealand that was short of experience.

The Australians won the first Test by 149 runs on the fourth morning. By the time they moved into top gear in the second Test the margin became much wider. The inexperience of the New Zealanders was brutally exposed at the Adelaide Oval where they were hammered by an innings and 62 runs.

New Zealand have slumped to the eighth position in ICC Test rankings after losing both the Test matches in Australia. They are only ahead of only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe the two bottom ranked outfits in world cricket for quite sometime.

New Zealand’s defeat at the hands of Australia should hardly surprise anybody. Neither is there any surprise in finding them at the third last position in the ICC rankings. The New Zealand cricket has functioned in a way leaving doubts in many minds.

The most surprising aspect, however, is the statement of one of their former captains and a batting great, Martin Crowe, who has called for a complete overhaul of the way New Zealand are managed.

Changing and chopping has been the way of life in the New Zealand cricket. They have hardly ever given the desired run to their talented youngsters, putting them under undue pressure with the inconsistent selection policies.

They have discarded their players far too quickly, not allowing a team to settle down. Blooding the youngsters can be described as a move in the forward direction but they cannot justify sidelining them after just a few matches.

New Zealand, for the past many years, have produced more of bits and pieces cricketers rather than specialists. Daniel Vettori was handed over a team to combat the mighty Australians without any depth in batting. Besides the skipper only medium-pacer Chris Martin and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum had proper experience of Test cricket.

How did their cricket authorities expect to compete with the Australians while fielding as many as eight players in the playing eleven having negligible experience.
I am not sure how influential was the outgoing coach John Bracewell in the selection matters but Martin Crowe has blasted him.

"We've put a coaching regime in place and they have got in the way of the development of these talented cricketers. The last five years have been probably the most destructive to our game in the history of our game," Crowe was quoted as saying.

Let us see how much difference their new coach, Andy Moles, who takes over ahead of this month's home series against West Indies, is able to make with the available resources.

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Brett Lee: The most lethal fast bowler in world cricket

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

What a fascinating sight it is to watch Brett Lee steaming in and deliver a thunderbolt that has the batsman ducking or swaying. And if the length is fuller and the line straighter the batsman is into a hurried shot to prevent his stumps from going to a walk.

There are very few genuine fast bowlers in the business today. Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar may have been the quickest of the lot but he has missed more matches than actually having played in the recent past for different reasons.

New Zealand’s Shane Bond was extremely lethal but he suffered injuries at regular intervals. Steve Harmison of England generated enormous pace but his inconsistency with line and length led to his ouster from the side. Fidel Edwards of the West Indies remained an awkward proposition with his fiery pace but he has also been laid low by fitness problems.

There are two young fast bowlers who appear capable and fit enough to continue for the next few years, Dale Steyn of South Africa and Ishant Sharma of India. We should be hearing a lot about them for the years to come.

The most complete fast bowler on the scene at the moment, however, is the Aussie speedster Brett Lee. It’s great to see him operating at more than 140 kilometers an hour even on most docile of tracks. His intensity is always high and it are the tough characters like him that keep the team motivated in the most demanding of situations.

Lee is a lion-hearted cricketer. He has taken the responsibility of spearheading the Australian attack after the retirement of Glenn McGrath who was a master of line and length.
Lee doesn’t possess the accuracy of McGrath but he has more pace to frighten the batsmen.

Obviously it’s not easy to intimidate the batters of the class of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid on any kind of surface but he has shown the skills to test them.
He had looked impressive in patches in the Test series in India, in the absence of real support from the other end, but he is back with his wicket-taking habits on the home turf.

The pitch at the Adelaide Oval, where the second Test against New Zealand was wrapped up inside four days, was as slow as any pitch in India but Lee and company dismissed the visitors cheaply two times.

Lee picked up four wickets in the first innings to limit the New Zealanders to a paltry 270 on a perfect batting strip where’s Australia average first innings score during the past 10 years was in the excess of 500.

It needed the heroics of wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, besides the grit of Michael Clarke, to earn a sizeable lead for Australia and the platform was set for having another crack at the New Zealanders.

Lee was taken for 17 runs in an extended first over during which he overstepped three times when New Zealand came out to negotiate nine overs on the third evening. The openers, Jamie How and Aaron Redmond, survived the fiery burst from Lee and company.

But it was a different story on the fourth morning when Lee ripped their top-order with a sensational spell. Although he was hit for a few runs by Brendon McCallum, fast running out of partners, he did pick up his fifth wickets of the innings.

Lee’s return to top form augurs well for Australia who prepare themselves for a tougher challenge against South Africa. They will need Lee to fire if they are to dominate their formidable opponents.

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Brad Haddin comes of age at the Adelaide Oval

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Sunday crowd at the Adelaide Oval could not have wished for a more entertaining holiday package. Australia’s new wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin obliged them with a delightful maiden Test hundred that would go a long way in cementing his place in the star-studded side.

What a sight it was watching Adam Gilchrist stand and applaud what indeed was a very special hundred. It could be the first of the many centuries that are to flow from the blade of Haddin.

The expectations are far too high from the Haddin not only because he is representing Australia but the main reason is that he has taken over from a man called Gilchrist who is considered as the greatest-ever wicketkeeper-batsman in the history of the game.

Life could not be easy for anyone succeeding a genius like the legendary Gilchrist. Haddin has needed only nine Tests to register first Test hundred but it looks like ages if you compare it with the high standards set by Gilchrist.

Haddin had not fared all that badly with the bat in his earlier eight Tests either but a batting average of just over 26 was considered ordinary because of the exploits of his predecessor.

It was in the fitness of things that Gilchrist was right there at the Adelaide Oval to celebrate the moment of triumph for his successor. The great sportsman that Gilchrist is, he was observed applauding the hundred as passionately as any other cricket fan.

Haddin’s maiden Test century would do his confidence a world of good and this could translate into many more hundreds in the next years as Australia remain one of the busiest sides around.

Trust me if Australia ever needed Haddin to fire was when he landed at the crease on the third morning of the second Test with the inexperienced New Zealanders right on top and threatening to run away with it.

Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds had been dismissed in one Chris Martin over with the second new ball and the Australians were still 23 behind New Zealand’s first innings score of 270.Michael Clarke was well set but there was a danger of him running out of partners if the New Zealand bowlers made the most of the shining new ball. Enter Haddin with the pendulum having swung towards Daniel Vettori’s young side.

It was Haddin who turned it around with his aggressive batting. He did it in the Gilchrist style, believing that attack was the best form of defence. He toyed with the New Zealand bowling that was beginning to look lethal. His positive approach instilled greater confidence in Clarke who also started playing his strokes more freely.

Haddin has a reputation of being a smart thinker having displaying his qualities while captaining New South Wales (NSW). His decision to go after the New Zealand bowling was a calculated move and it worked.

His 181-run sixth wicket partnership with Clarke, who reached his fourth Test century, changed the complexion of the game. Clarke perished after scoring 110 but Haddin stayed on to blast 169. With the tail-enders firmly in control, he was in sight of a double hundred when he was plucked just inside the rope.

His belligerent knock allowed Australia to lift their score to 535, giving them a handy first innings lead of 265. As it turned out, the New Zealanders could not bat well under pressure to be bowled out for 203 in their second innings.

Haddin was very rightly chosen as Man of the Match as Australia won the game by an innings and 62 runs to wrap up the two-Test series 2-0.

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Sehwag’s brilliance knocks England over at Cuttack

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Although India’s skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, credited his bowlers for engineering the win over England in the fifth One-day International at Cuttack that allowed the hosts to move into 5-0 lead but in my opinion the exhilarating knock of opener Virender Sehwag settled the issue.

270 wasn’t a modest total by any stretch of imagination on a pitch where the bounce was variable. The dew factor did create problems for the bowlers in gripping the ball but there was plenty in the wicket to keep them interested.

It would have been a different ball game altogether, had India not got off to a flying start through their tried and trusted opening pair. Sehwag in particular was in his typically devastating mood.

Sehwag’s awesome batting display overshadowed even the genius of Sachin Tendulkar who kept the scoreboard ticking over from his end too. Together they built a platform from where India could have lost only due to self-destruction.

The 136-run opening partnership meant that more than half of the target was achieved and since the runs had come at a very brisk pace there were far too many overs available for the incoming batsmen to get their eyes in.

The start becomes so vital while chasing a big target. It could have been a different story to relate if the Indian openers had consumed overs in settling down and then one of them or both of them had perished without making a worthy contribution.

When Sehwag is on song every bowling attack looks ordinary. The trio of Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison were put to sword once more. They bowled well but they were unable to prevent the belligerent opener from playing in the manner he desired.

It was another Sehwag show basically that powered India to a six-wicket triumph with more than half a dozen overs to spare. His 73-ball 91 was a treat to watch. It was perfect entertainment for the crowd.

Another century for the master blaster was there for the taking. But a cruel umpiring decision denied him the milestone he so richly deserved. He was on top of the bowling from the word go. To have done so against a decent fast bowling attack and that too on a double-paced wicket was quite an accomplishment.

Sehwag is in the middle of a purple patch and his timing of strokes is something out of this world. His hand-eye coordination is second to none and the manner in which he blasts the fastest of bowlers is a treat to watch.

Tendulkar was castled just after completed another masterful half-century. He was undone by Harmison’s change of pace after having executed a series of delightful shots on either side of the wicket.

Tendulkar’s departure brought in Yuvraj Singh to the middle and there was anticipation for more fireworks. But Yuvraj came and went quickly and when Sehwag was also given out the very next ball there was a glimmer of hope for England.

But skipper Dhoni and left-handed Suresh Raina batted very sensibly and their solid half-centuries ensured another comfortable victory for the hosts. Dhoni was at the receiving end of yet another rough decision from the umpire as he was long way out of the crease when adjudged leg before.

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Pakistan’s controversial cueist Saleh Mohammad calls it a day

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Saleh Mohammad has had a stormy career. This immensely gifted cueist has made Pakistan proud more than once but he has also been involved in uncalled for controversies.

His recent decision to call it a day rather abruptly doesn’t make sense. He has been the country’s most prolific cueist at the international level for the past many years. He was still doing well but he has decided to withdraw himself from the national snooker circuit due to personal reasons.

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), disclosed that the veteran cueist had verbally informed about his plans to quit the game.

“Saleh, who represented the country in the recently concluded IBSF World Snooker Championship in Wels, Austria, informed us the other day that he was not in a position to continue playing the game due to family and financial reasons. We tried to convince him to play for a few more years but he felt that his business interests might get hurt by doing so,” the PBSA President revealed.

“We advised Saleh to submit a declaration in writing in this regard or publicly announce his retirement so that his name could be removed from the national ranking chart. We are yet to hear from him despite having called him on his cell a few times,” Alamgir Shaikh added.

The PBSA President admitted that Saleh’s absence would create a vacuum as he has had the reputation of being a world-beater.“There is no doubt about the class of Saleh. He established himself as one of the leading amateur cueists of the world, having toppled some of the big guns during his illustrious career,” he noted.

He agreed that there was no lack of performance or inconsistency in form on part of Saleh even of late.The PBSA, the governing body of the game in the country, had always backed Saleh having bailed him out on numerous occasions. He should have had the courtesy to consult the administrators of the game before making such an important decision.

Saleh has had outstanding record during the current year. He rewrote history by becoming the first player to score a maximum 147-point break at the Asian Championship in Dubai earlier this year.

He extended his brilliant form in the inaugural Sangsom 6-Red Snooker International held in Bangkok, Thailand, just a few months later. He went down fighting in the pre-quarter-finals but earned the distinction of recording the maximum break of 75 in the quickest time. He did it in just two minutes and 54 seconds.

Saleh, seeded second for the knockout stage of the competition following his sterling performance in the league matches, was ironically downed by Thailand’s Noppadon Noppachorn, the only amateur to have forced his way into the quarter-finals.

His greatest accomplishment, however, had come five years ago in China when he reach the final of the World Championship 2003 by winning 14 matches on a trot. His surprise defeat in the final denied him the title that he richly deserved. 1999 was another landmark year for Saleh when he completed a grand slam by winning all four national ranking tournaments.

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