The Surfer

Sunny's days

Nishi Narayanan — 2009-07-10T03:01:14+00:00

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has turned 60 today. The Hindustan Times' Anand Vasu asks him about the World Cup win in 1983, the walkout in Melbourne in 1981, his relationship with Kapil Dev and more.

When you started, where did the self-belief come from and what made your success possible?

To be honest, I did not have plenty of self-belief when I made my debut But I was optimistical- ly confident and maybe that helped me. The fact that I was an opening batsman from schooldays helped me enormously in developing a method to combat attacks.The fact that I had to wait so long to play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy made me determined, and I think determination and concentration were the key.

In the same paper, Gavaskar's uncle, Madhav Mantri, the former Indian wicketkeeper, remembers Gavaskar's early days - from being mixed up with another baby in the hospital where he was born, to earning his first school cap.

Also read Ayaz Memon's interview of Sunil Gavaskar on cricinfo.com.

Who better to talk about Gavaskar than Sachin Tendulkar? The Master Blaster's close association with Gavaskar goes back to Sachin's school days, and continues to date. Sachin talks about his experiences with Gavaskar in the Hindustan Times.

During our first few meetings, it was one-way traffic as I hardly spoke. For one, I was in awe of him, and then, I wanted to make the most of being privy to the wisdom of Sunil Gavaskar. When our coaches told us to follow a particular routine and we asked why, the reply was:”SMG did this”. He was the ultimate example, and to our coaches and to us, if he did something, then we had to do it as well.

Initially, Gavaskar wanted to be a doctor. He also also mentions that playing in his balcony helped him practice with a straight bat. Read many more interesting facts about Gavaskar in his interview with Lokendra Pratap Sahi in the Telegraph.

And on Cricketweb, Swaranjeet Singh writes that Sunil Gavaskar was just the sort hero Indian cricket fans were craving for.

We were fed up of being the good guys who were happy to come second. Players who had long been playing for their batting averages than for the side ... Players who were always individuals and never members of a 'Team India' that never existed. And finally, players most of who were widely accepted as being uncomfortable (to put it mildly) against the quicker stuff. Sunil Gavaskar circa 1971 changed all that.

Veteran cricket journalist Partab Ramchand writes in Dreamcricket that Indian cricket can be divided into two eras - before Gavaskar and after Gavaskar.

Freddie the talisman

Nishi Narayanan — 2009-07-10T01:18:07+00:00

Andrew Flintoff is still the talisman for England he was in 2005 but he is no longer the heart of the team, only a very handy bonus when fit, writes Simon Barnes in the Times.

He got the upstart Hughes, befuddling him and inducing an inside edge, and a rather good catch from Matt Prior. Cue the next Rodin statue — legs once more straddled, chest inflated like a bellows, arms wide, hands high, no smile, gaze level: Freddie Rex. The entire team were ignited with hope and belief. Nothing to do but watch the next wicket fall. The snag was that it didn’t. Flintoff gave us a blazing six overs then took a break. Ricky Ponting and Katich set about digging in. It was as if a light had gone out. It was as if Australia and England had given themselves over to a ritual, a routine in which the England bowlers toiled without reward while the Australia batsmen moved gradually from safe to ominous, and Flintoff watched.

According to James Lawton in the Independent, England's attack, when it came right down to it, was Andrew Flintoff.

Meanwhile Flintoff's victim, Phillip Hughes makes for compelling viewing, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.

Hughes disobeys most of the openers' rules. They are supposed to minimise risk at the start of an innings. The most common way to be dismissed against a new, hard ball is from an outside edge. So the received wisdom is to be wary outside the off stump, to make the bowlers come to you and then to clip them away on the leg-side. An inside edge usually goes nowhere; the outside edge is perilous. But Hughes does it the other way round. His back foot stays on leg stump and his eye is so good that he can hit anything slightly wide of off stump in an arc between extra cover and third man. It is tough for fielding captains to defend those areas square of the wicket.

In the same paper, Barney Ronay writes that being their first home Ashes series, Sky Sports have shaped their summer around hopes of another subscription-shifting grand bouffe of high-cholesterol Big Moments that 2005 was full of. But it's not like that any more.

"I. Don't. Think. They. Have bowled. To Hughes. That well," muttered Michael Holding, almost managing to convince you he really was cross. And as Andrew Flintoff finally beat Hughes' flailing bat David Lloyd erupted with: "Well bowled! That's a reminder of 2005!" Bumble, you felt like saying, it's OK. We understand. Times change.

Sixty not out for Gavaskar

Judhajit — 2009-07-09T12:59:50+00:00

The 1983 World Cup win is the one feat Gavaskar was thrilled to achieve © Getty Images

It was Mr Worthington, the Indian school team probables coach, who changed Sunil Gavaskar's game completely in 1966 from a front-on position to side-on in 30 days. That's the been the biggest turning point in the batting maestro's career. Clayton Murzello in Mid-Day gets him to talk on a variety of subjects from sports officialdom to the 1981 Melbourne walkout, on the occassion of his 60th birthday.

One colleague/friend you miss most?

Eknath Solkar for sure. We grew up together as cricketers. We used to ride in buses from the Brabourne Stadium. Ekki would get off at the Hindu Gymkhana while Milind Rege and me used to proceed to Nana Chowk. I really miss Ekki and we had some wonderful times. After nets we used to go out for idli dosa. Often it would be three masala dosas shared by the three of us. Two lassis shared too. And we were always fighting about paying the bus fare. Ekki was such a simple guy but was very confident of himself. I miss 'Kaka' (Ashok) Mankad too and Sardeeman (Dilip Sardesai) but I miss Ekki the most.

Groundhog Day for West Indies

Nishi Narayanan — 2009-07-09T04:30:57+00:00

The West Indies board and players' association are at loggerheads once again over contracts and the team has boycotted the first Test against Bangladesh. In caribbeancricket.com, Lawrence Romeo calls it a Groundhog Day for West Indies fans, since, like in the movie starring Bill Murray, they find themselves in a repeat situation of what has happened several times before.

Do the leaders of their organizations, Messrs. Hunte and Ramnarine - even though they were once President and Director respectively of the WICB - know each other? Do they care about reaching a beneficial outcome? Have they considered moving beyond the initiation stage of the negotiation and onto the problem solving stage, and hopefully on to some resolution? If as leaders they cannot figure out the way forward beyond the never ending cycle of strike and temporary appeasement, then they are failing as leaders and must either agree to be led, or step aside. Who is the CARICOM leader responsible for cricket, and when is that person going to step up? Can CARICOM, in the face of the failure of all other efforts banish the WICB as an entity from doing business in the Caribbean and start afresh with a new managing organization?

Goodbye to Lee and Clark?

Nishi Narayanan — 2009-07-09T01:55:18+00:00

Waiting for a brain explosion © Getty Images

The first day of the Ashes 2009 is over and the analysis is pouring in. In his blog in Sydney's Daily Telegraph Robert Craddock hopes Australia stick with Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle even it means the end of Brett Lee and Stuart Clark.

None of the young trio have reached their full potential but they skittled South Africa and will test England to the point where Clark and Lee could be squeezed out for good if the frontliners remain uninjured. The only member of the attack who was vulnerable entering the Test was surprise selection Hilfenhaus and he was Australia’s best bowler, a man born to bowl in England with his natural swing. Johnson’s position is non-negotiable and Siddle’s close to it. Hilfenhaus will get better the more he plays. He is the future as much as the present. I hope Australia gives him a decent run. Unfortunately there is no Shane Warne around to trim totals of 400 back to 310.

In the Independent Peter Roebuck writes that the limitations of Ricky Ponting's captaincy were increasingly exposed in the last two sessions of the day.

Far from seeking a fourth wicket, though, the tourists went into their shell after the break, relying for an eternity upon presentable spinners sent down by a specialist and a part-timer. Accordingly Pietersen and Paul Collingwood were able without any particular difficulty to rebuild the innings with sweeps and dabs to cover, shots indicating a reluctance to drive on a grudging deck. Inexplicably, Nathan Hauritz was retained for 14 overs. Presumably Ponting felt obliged to support him and the tactic was overdone. No wickets fell, or looked like falling, for two hours and still he did not intervene. Hilfenhaus was not called upon all afternoon. Upon his reappearance he produced the spell of the day, and was unjustly denied Pietersen's wicket.

In the Guardian, David Hopps declares Cardiff's debut as a Test venue a success.

Somehow this stadium works. It is intimate without being overly cramped, the atmosphere was lively without being crass, the crowd appreciative and knowledgeable. Never before have so many Welsh men and women gathered in one place to support England. They did so with no sense of shame.

Kevin Pietersen looked set for a big score when he tried to play a reverse-sweep to a delivery pitched outside off and top-edged an easy catch to short leg. In the Times Richard Neale asks whether KP is a cricketing genius who should be allowed a free rein or a selfish cricketer who puts himself above the team.

In the Courier Mail, Malcolm Conn writes that Pietersen's brain, or rather when it explodes, will prove the axis on which the series turns.

'I will be a captain again'

Judhajit — 2009-07-08T14:37:50+00:00

Mohammad Ashraful: "I am a cricketer above all." © Getty Images

Mohammad Ashraful seems to have taken the loss of captaincy in his stride, possibly because having played under all Bangladeshi Test captains so far, he had seen them all leave as well. He had resigned to his fate and knew that the same would happen to him too. But Asharful is confident that he "will be a captain again" in the future. Read Utpal Shuvro's translated interview on the Banglacricket.com forum.

There has never been a lack of effort on my part. Unfortunately, I have not been able to show results. I will definitely be able to do so in the future...I did not give up the captaincy even when I wanted to. If I had quit, questions will surely be asked next time I am made captain.

England should start the Ashes as favourites

Jamie Alter — 2009-07-08T02:51:27+00:00

Is Graham Onions ready for the Ashes? © Getty Images

Geoffrey Boycott believes England go into the much-anticipated summer series as the form side. Break this Ashes series down into five categories - captaincy, seam bowling, spin bowling, batting and fielding - Boycott says England have the advantage in at least two and can compete on level terms in the rest. Which is a big change from recent series when, on paper at least, it has been Australia all the way. Read on in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Former England coach Duncan Fletcher posts on his blog in the Guardian that Graham Onions should play ahead of Monty Panesar. Fletcher believes Kevin Pietersen's batting can lead England to success if the selectors pick the right bowling attack.

It is good to see, though, that England resisted the trap of picking Steve Harmison just because of the way he bowled to Phillip Hughes. You can't pick a bloke just to dismiss one batsman, and in any case I believe the seamers who were selected have the ability to keep him quiet. The crucial thing is to make sure Hughes plays with a vertical bat: if you give him width to free his arms he can be dangerous.

In the same paper Mike Selvey says England must be prepared to grind it out in the Ashes and that Cardiff's secrets add to the uncertainties of a series that shows every sign of being attritional.

The Wisden Cricketer magazine have both Gideon Haigh and Peter Siddle writing for their blog, which should make for entertaining and insightful reading during the series.

Vic Marks wonders if England's bowlers, who combined brilliantly four years ago to spearhead an Ashes victory, can conjure up a repeat. He looks at England's bowling options for Cardiff.

David Hopps caught up with former Australian batsman and English county veteran Stuart Law, who bluntly says people should get off Andrew Flintoff's back. Law explains why we should cherish England's talismanic all-rounder for his commitment to the cause.

In the Independent James Lawton suggests that maybe 2005 should be wrapped in mothballs and brought out only when the heat of current Ashes action has passed, such is the standard it set for those who followed.

Marcus Berkmann, author of noted books on cricket such as Zimmer Men and Rain Men, is enslaved for the next seven weeks and says England cricket fans have learned nothing from their past sufferings.

As a fresh generation of stars prepare to make their own moments of history, Will Hawkes tracks down the heroes from series past to ask which contests and controversies have remained with them, and what they have been doing since drawing stumps on their careers.

The Times' Mike Atherton wonders if England's cricketers remember that beautiful but bleak day in Sydney two-and-a-half years ago, and if so, the wave upon wave of Australian triumphalism crashing over them? Do they remember the humiliation they felt on becoming part of only the second England team to be whitewashed on Australian soil?

Allan Border is concerned about Australia's attack, he writes in the Herald Sun, while Peter Lalor in the Australian looks back at the 2005 series.

Poms smell the blood of the Australians

Judhajit — 2009-07-07T15:53:38+00:00

Can Andrew Strauss do a Michael Vaughan? © Getty Images

England have enjoyed a better preparation and start as favourites for The Ashes. Australia have some superb players but appear disjointed. It's been a long time since an Australian team has relied so much on ifs and buts. But things can change, an inspired moment, a great innings and suddenly the bubble is back. Peter Roebuck writing in the Sydney Morning Herald hopes cricket will surpass its humdrum setting.

Over the years Englishmen have rarely gone to cold, damp Wales with any high expectations but this time their optimism is evident. They come in search not of coal or five-pointers but in pursuit of a disrupted Australian cricket team. They come seeking the Ashes...

Although lacking the messianic zeal to regain the Ashes that gripped the population last time around, the hosts are desperate to put the supposedly gum-chewing, unyielding, leathery visitors in their place. More than is sensible and much more than their opponents, English cricket measures itself by results in Ashes series. It is an odd obsession that tells of respect, fear and regret.

To play for Zimbabwe again

Nishi Narayanan — 2009-07-07T12:15:42+00:00

Alester Maregwede played international cricket for Zimbabwe between 2003 and 2005 and is now playing club cricket in Australia where he took his side to its first title in 20 years and won a number of awards on the way. He spoke to zimcricketnews.com about his hopes of playing for Zimbabwe again, playing with Andy Flower and the new franchise system for domestic cricket in the country.

As a kid I played with Andy Flower for the same club, when I was actually the captain, and he passed on a lot of things to me that even now I still use. He also gave me a copy of a book, Mental Toughness in Sports, and what he followed in it is what got him to be the Number 1 batsman in the world. At 24 they said I was too old to be playing and they pushed me into coaching, I had to do 2 years of it and playing and proved that I was good enough to play,and still one of the fittest. I haven't given up playing for my country and I will be making a return - I have always wanted to return to international cricket when we start playing Test cricket again, Test Cricket is the Cricketers ultimate Test.

Freddie owes us, big time

Brydon Coverdale — 2009-07-07T02:23:10+00:00

Paul Weaver writes in his Guardian blog that Andrew Flintoff has borrowed freely from the goodwill of the English public and now he owes them - big time.

There are two images of Andrew Flintoff and they flicker like holograms, struggling for primacy in the mind's eye. One is of his heroic deeds, with both bat and ball, in the Ashes of 2005, when he was truly immense; in the other he reels, like a stage drunk, as he celebrates that famous triumph in Trafalgar Square.
Today, on the eve of another Ashes series, the first picture has faded a little and it is the second that is illuminated by the stronger beam of light. Flintoff has much to do. What he achieves this year against a beatable Australia will help define him. Whether he plays like a match-winning all-rounder or galumphs around like an overgrown mascot will shape our memories of him and, perhaps, even his own.

Weaver also speaks to Stuart Clark, who is ready to take his chance despite a lack of preparation. Surprised by all the fuss over his visa issues and prospect of Gloucester giving Australia a helping hand, Clark says he had no control over matters.

Also in the Guardian, James Anderson tells Donald McRae he wants to be the man who stands up in the key moments during this series, while David Hopps says the concerns about Cardiff hosting the first Test will be forgotten if the Welsh fans "rush down from the valleys as supportively as the Welsh weather".

In the Daily Telegraph, Ricky Ponting recalls each of the five Tests that led to Australia losing the urn in 2005.

In his Guardian blog Andy Bull speaks to John Buchanan, who is revelling in his role reversal as England's adviser.

"You've had a number of Australian coaches come over into the English sporting system to provide some expertise. I'm just one of those pieces that can be imported and hopefully provide some knowledge and assistance."

Mike Selvey is going so say sorry on his next trip to Trent Bridge, because a failure to recognise an unfairly derided fast bowling legend more than 40 years ago still haunts him to this day.

Cricket culture or celebrity culture?

Brydon Coverdale — 2009-07-07T01:55:37+00:00

Nick Bryant, the BBC's Sydney correspondent, writing in the Australian, wonders if the winning culture of the Australian cricket team has been overtaken by celebrity culture.

The emergent face of Australian cricket, at once dazzling and disorientating, stares out this month from the glossy front covers of two glamorous magazines. The first features the Australian vice-captain, Michael Clarke, resplendent in a pair of metallic denim jeans that look so ball-crushingly tight they would struggle to accommodate a stray Murray mint, let alone his protective equipment. The second shows Mitchell Johnson's girlfriend, Jessica Bratich, wearing significantly less apparel; a green and gold bikini emblazoned with the Southern Cross.
Both are reminders that the changes overtaking Aussie cricket are not limited to the exodus of playing legends but extend to its off-field philosophy and dressing-room culture. In pondering the relative decline of a team in transition, the focus naturally has been on the absence of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden. But something else is missing, as well: the sheer bloody-mindedness of the Border years, and the austerity and discipline of the Waugh era. Has not a winning Australian cricket culture been contaminated by the fripperies of Australia's celebrity culture, as the fear factor has come to vie with the celebrity X factor?

Flintoff not dicking around

Jamie Alter — 2009-07-06T03:39:36+00:00

"I've had a dicky ankle and a dicky knee, but that's behind me now, so I can concentrate on playing some cricket instead of being a professional rehabber." Thats Andrew Flintoff keeping it simple ahead of the Ashes. He spoke to the Guardian's Laura Barton.

If there is anything anyone does have on Flintoff, he would prefer not to know. "I don't read the paper every day or worry about what anyone's saying," he says. It is a tactic he has developed over the years, initially as a way of dealing with the constant speculation over his weight and his injuries, and then as a method of blocking out the commotion over the Ashes win.

In the Times Shane Warne writes that Graeme Swann is about to learn if he can live with great expectations.

Swann’s character could really get under the skin of the Australians and if I was the England captain, I would give him full licence to be himself. He isn’t to everyone’s taste. If he is dictating terms, he will have a strut about him and that arrogance and cockiness will be obvious. In that state, he could disrupt Australia’s rhythm.

Graham Onions has featured in selectorial thoughts for years, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent, but only recently has he lived up to his evident potential. Onions has enjoyed a fine season, the highlight of which came with his five-wicket bag on Test debut, and he is the man of the moment. But is he a certainty for Cardiff?

And the last of the summer whine blog has a hilarious 'moving tribute' to the recently retired Michael Vaughan.

The Red Bull run

Brydon Coverdale — 2009-07-06T00:22:37+00:00

In the Courier-Mail, Robert Craddock looks at the many sides of Kevin Pietersen, the man with the greatest potential to unsettle Australia during the Ashes.

Kevin Pietersen is hyperactive at the best of times but he becomes even more so when he throws down a can of caffeine-infused Red Bull just before he bats. He does it to give an electric edge to his senses and, as a consequence, often has a slightly manic appearance about him when he arrives at the crease. That, in turn, can prompt him to set off for death or glory singles to get off the mark - the Red Bull run as it has been dubbed in England. The Australian side is aware of this little foible, and so they should be.
...

The reason he currently has an Achilles heel injury is that on the recent tour of the West Indies he repeatedly jogged up a mountain in St Kitts. He may seem like a maverick but there is a disciplined side as well. He has a fetish for promptness and his biographer Paul Newman said in every interview session he had with Pietersen for their book, Newman never once arrived first.

A phlegmatic captain

Nishi Narayanan — 2009-07-05T13:52:29+00:00

Disastrous Ashes tours usually end in the demise of an England captain. Andrew Strauss, of course, shrugs off such a hypothetical suggestion. He seems capable of shrugging off just about anything. He comes over as the most phlegmatic England captain in living memory, writes Vic Marks in the Observer.

"One of the things that is fundamental to my captaincy and that I have talked a lot about is player responsibility and not encouraging them but making them make decisions for themselves. Vaughan did that and so did Duncan Fletcher. When the England team were playing well under him the environment was the best I have experienced in any cricket." So Strauss recognises that it is crucial to recapture the mood of 2005. "There's no doubt that if you want to play well against Australia you have got to take them on and be prepared to scrap. Anybody who goes in there and just thinks 'Oh no, we'll just stick to our own game' is going to come unstuck. Our players are absolutely certain that they will go out there and go blow for blow.

Afridi reincarnated

Jamie Alter — 2009-07-05T04:57:10+00:00

To a nation that is still savouring the victory at the ICC World Twenty20 it may not go down too well, but the fact of the matter is that there is something more important to celebrate and talk about. It was a tournament where Shahid Afridi reinvented himself and that would mean much more to Pakistan than just the victory, provided, of course, he can keep it going, writes Humair Ishtiaq in the Pakistan daily Dawn.

The biggest gain is in his success to curb the irritating tendency to hit everything out of existence. His one-dimension batting technique was simple: close the eyes and hit through the line. But no more. It was truly and simply refreshing to watch Afridi ducking under the short balls and leaving the ones that wobbled around early in his innings. That he chose the shortest version of the game, which is more about the wham-bam stuff that he is known for than the straight-bat niceties, was a bit ironic but refreshing nonetheless.