Cricket Roundup Aug 19

Zaheer bowled well
By Anil
August 20 2005

The Afro-Asian ODI Cricket Cup takes off with an exciting and close opening game, and an Ashes match is drawn after Aussie tailenders hold off England again.

Africa v Asia ODI Cup

The cynics were up in arms against the notion of cricket being played between the best players in Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

The excuses for this opposition kept changing. First, it was that cricket shouldn't be played in winter. However, that argument quickly ran out of steam when you consider that daytime temperatures at the South African venues were approaching 80 degrees F, perfect weather for cricket.

Then, it was that the pitches in SA are unsuitable at this time because grass on them is either frozen or dead, which is puzzling when you consider the temperatures. This was dismissed after the chief curator's statement that the grass is growing thickly on the pitch, and will need to be shaved off prior to the match.

Next, the critics complained that there is no rivalry between Asia and Africa, and that this series was creating an "unnecessary and artificial rivalry", which must have sounded just as unconvincing to themselves as to their listeners.

They also fumed about the fact that the timing of the games was tuned to air live at prime time in India, the biggest audiences for these games.

But when you consider that this series has been organized by Jagmohan Dalmiya, arguably the most powerful man in the cricketing world and the chairman of the newly-established Afro-Asian Cricket Council, and that the resulting partnership could disrupt the currently monopoly in the ICC in future voting patterns, the position of the detractors and their rapidly changing reasons becomes clearer.

To their undoubtedly great disappointment, the first ODI of the series was a humdinger, played in highly competitive spirit. It could have gone either way, but Africa won it by 2 runs.

Some of the greatest players in the world -- names such as Murali, Sehwag, Inzamam, Pollock, Kumble, Kallis and many others -- played in a game which provided a level of entertainment that perhaps even the most enthusiastic fans watching could not have anticipated.

Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan players applauded each other and exchanged high-fives, while Kenyan cricketers got an opportunity to play in a team environment with many of the best South African cricketers. There was much more than just good cricket on display here.

Crowds will likely get larger for the second and third games to be played during the weekend. And despite the frustration of those critics, huge audiences will tune in and enjoy those matches.


Ashes

For the second time in a row, Australian tailenders were able to effortlessly hold off and frustrate the best of the English bowling attack.

Given 5 overs to run through the last Aussie partnership between number 10 Brett Lee and number 11 Glen McGrath, on a fifth-day pitch deteriorated with footmarks all over and five days of sun and rain, neither Harmison nor Flintoff nor Jones could bowl a delivery that penetrated the defense of these tailenders. McGrath is believed to be amongst the worst batsmen seen in international cricket for a long while.

The finish was desperately close -- just as close as the second Test of this series -- but both matches had a common element: the inability of the English pacemen to run through a number 10-11 partnership on a worn pitch. The reluctance of Vaughan to use Giles in conditions tailormade for spinners betrayed a striking lack of confidence in his specialist spinner.

Fast bowler Harmison has now had two poor matches on the trot: in Old Trafford he took 2-114 for the match, whereas in Edgbaston he could only manage 2-110. Vaughan finally delivered with the bat in the first innings, but failed in a crucial second essay where fast runs were the need of the hour; whereas Ponting finally scored a much-needed century in the second innings but failed to see through his side, leaving the worst batsmen in the side to face the music for 5 overs in difficult conditions. They fortunately did.

Fielding from both sides was shoddy, with numerous catches dropped all around and behind the wicket. Reverse swing was on display from the English side, which was curious, for the English Duke ball is not known to enable such swing, especially not in English conditions. At least, not without assistance in the form of ball-tampering. There was apparently no report from the umpires, so on face value it would appear that English bowlers have suddenly acquired the capability of exploiting a weapon which for long they have looked upon with deep suspicion ever since it was invented by Pakistani pacemen.

The end result is that while the Ashes have become more competitive, this may have come at the expense of quality. The English strove to take advantage of a clear decline in the standard of the aging Aussie team, but in this match they missed a golden opportunity to seal the series which they may regret for a long time to come.


20/20

Hit and giggle cricket has arrived in India, with six teams including foreign players slugging it out in Bangalore in the Unibic 20/20 Cricket championship.

India has never suffered a lack of interest in Test or ODI cricket, particularly the latter. A third form of cricket devised to renew flagging interest in the game in England would appear to be redundant in India.

In the first matches of the tournament, run-scoring was not as rapid as some would have you believe is the norm, nor were the crowds rolling in.

Time will tell if audiences in India, the primary financers of cricket worldwide, will allow 20/20 cricket to eke out a place in the sport.