Sporting An Opinion

Australia won the World Cup for a third successive time and congratulations to them. But we aren’t referring to that when we say ‘deserving end’. We refer to the unfortunate scenes at the end of the match when no one knew what was going on. The umpires were just short of telling Australia not to celebrate since technically they could have come back on Sunday to complete the remaining three overs while Australia was intent on celebrating a convincing win. In the end, though, it simply highlighted the ICCs two-faced nature. In short, the tournament got the shoddy end it deserved.

On the one side, the ICC wants cricket to improve by popularising it, they are also raking in more money than ever before but the paying public remains in the dark about how the game is run. Never mind how it’s run off the field, one would think that the ICC would not be so stuck in the old times that they would not even alter the playing conditions and rules. With just three overs left, it should have been the opposing captains’ or at least the match referee’s call to end the match. There was no way Sri Lanka was going to score 74 runs in 3 overs!

Once again, though, what will happen is most people would say that’s the past now and let’s look ahead, but things don’t change that easily with the ICC. Don’t be surprised if a similar scene is played out sometime in the future.

Moving to the cricket, there is much debate around at the moment about Australia’s dominance and whether it is good for the game. Of course not. No monopoly has ever benefited more than one entity. But in the case of Australia, it isn’t a monopoly. There is no rule that says another team cannot be as good as or better than Australia. There are eight potential teams who can be as good, but they don’t do the right things. It is not Australia’s fault that the other teams are so bad!

Sri Lanka would like to argue that they aren’t as bad, and it was one innings by Adam Gilchrist that took the game away from them. New Zealand would argue they aren’t as bad and it was just a good innings from Mahela Jayawardene that cost them. And the argument would continue until Ireland said they are not so bad, it was just six good teams that beat them! You get the point!

The 2007 World Cup may just be voted the worst of all till date. It was long, boring and never really got going. The flavour of the West Indies was missing and the ticket costs were prohibitive to ensure full stands – something that should be a given throughout the World Cup. A lot of work has to be done before 2011, but one thing that won’t happen is empty stands!

There were 16 teams when the tournament kicked off about a month-and-a-half ago (yes, it’s been that long) and now stand the final two. Yet another Australia versus a subcontinent team final. This is a plot that has been played out since 1996 and a team from the subcontinent has made the final on the last six of seven occasions (1987 being the only exception). It is the last four World Cups that would interest us at the moment.

Starting 1996, the dominance of Australia has been on the rise and it was only an upstart Sri Lankan team that stopped Australia short of lifting the Cup. But in 1999, Pakistan could not repeat that and in 2003, India failed miserably. An Australian win on Saturday would complete the trilogy so to speak after which they may ride away into the sunset of cricketing excellence. But that’s no fun. It will be more fun if Sri Lanka can win and challenge Australia’s dominance while the best Australian outfit is still around.

Man to man, these teams are perhaps the best matched. Sri Lanka may in fact have a couple of players over the Aussies. The exciting part to look for in the final (if the part is indeed played out) will be the battle between the Sri Lankan bowling and the Australian middle order. Sri Lanka, in fact, may be the only team with enough firepower to stop the Australian top three. And they will definitely need to be stopped if Sri Lanka wants any hopes of winning.

In Mahela Jayawardene and Ricky Ponting, there will be two of the best captains of the tournament facing off and each of them is backed by an outstanding unit with good batting and great bowling. Sri Lanka’s worries will lie in their top order batting. Upul Tharanga made a difference in the semi-final but he is just as enigmatic as his senior partner Sanath Jayasuriya. Both are just as liable to fail early on and this could affect the Sri Lankan chances whether they bat first or second. It is, however, too late to get Marvan Atapattu into the team just for the final. Not to mention unfair on an in-form Tharanga!

Barbados will finally see the sun set on this never-ending World Cup. Will the sun also set on the Australian reign of eight years? Over to you, Sri Lanka…

In all preceding World Cups, a captain’s good form has often an indicator of whether a team could win the tournament or not. In 1987, Allan Border led the way; in 1992, Imran Khan was at the forefront, in 1996, Arjuna Ranatunga was there right at the end while in 1999 Steve Waugh had a defining moment. In 2003, Ricky Ponting was the centurion in the final and in 2007, we had four captains, all in the semi-finals, in fine touch. One of them has now fallen (away) but the other three are still there to fight.

Of these three, one more shall fall today. Graeme Smith is young, brash and to a large extent, greatly talented. He has what it takes to play against Australia, but he may be missing what is needed to win against them. Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, is a captain who has never lost in the World Cup and he isn’t about to let that record go now! Aiming for his second straight final and a shot at becoming only the second captain ever to win two World Cups after Clive Lloyd (1975 and 1979), he is a man on a mission and in the best form he has been in for a long time. In fact, his form has not dipped over the last few years!

Facing off today, these two captains will rewrite history no matter what. An Australian loss could trigger a change in the world order of cricket, while a South African loss will get Australia closer to that third consecutive title. Like we said before, South Africa has the team, the players, but they suffer from no mental strength and conviction to proceed any further.

There will be a lot of players on both sides who may hang up their boots after their World Cup is over. For players like Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher, there is also the ghost of 1999 to exorcise. Whether they are thinking about that or not (and they claim not to), it will be a tool Australia will use against them come game time. For some players like Adam Gilchrist who don’t know what it’s like not to win a World Cup, a loss could indeed be shattering. He has been in the Australian World Cup team since 1999, a loss in the tournament is unheard of. In fact, he has lost only two matches in three World Cups and while some may argue that it’s unfair and it will level out sooner or later, the fact is it may not happen this time.

There is a lot that is going for an Australian win at the moment and South Africa are the underdogs. They should make use of that situation and play naturally without undue pressure. Even if many believe that only South Africa could beat Australia, the cannot think of this once they are on the field. A good semi-final is promised again, but let’s hope it isn’t as one-sided as the first one.

After everything that has been said, done, won, lost, it all comes down to two good days. Forget the last month-and-a-half. Congratulations to the four semi-finalists. Now, do they have the stomach for two more outstanding performances?

And outstanding is what is required. New Zealand takes on Sri Lanka today and in a perfect match-up, Muttiah Muralitharan will be the biggest threat to New Zealand’s slightly spin-scared batsmen. For Sri Lanka, they need to watch out for the big man, Shane Bond.

The last two World Cups threw up some badly one-sided semi-finals and finals. Apart from the legendary Australia versus South Africa semi-final in 1999, there haven’t been too many good matches at this stage since almost 1996. But one gets the feeling that this time, there will be more fight in both the semi-finals and the final.

For one of the two teams today, it will be goodbye. But that will perhaps not be because they played badly. It could be more because they were overwhelmed by the occasion and could not handle the big match pressure. Sri Lanka and New Zealand have had relatively easy routes to the semi-final unlike South Africa who really had to fight it out. So if any team cannot handle the pressure, it could be one of these two.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand are perhaps the best-matched teams of the tournament. They both won five of their seven Super Eight matches; both lost a game to Australia (well, who didn’t?) and while Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in their match, that probably won’t count for much in the semi-final where the stakes are so much higher.

It is rather tough to pick out a winner from these two since both have a good batting and bowling line-up. But on the topic of who would want to chase, one has to think it’s Sri Lanka. They have a slightly better defined batting order and New Zealand would fancy their chances of restricting Sri Lanka to a manageable total. On the question of what is a manageable total, it’s tough to say.

The curator of the Sabina Park in Jamaica thinks the team winning the toss should bowl first which indicates the presence of moisture and assistance to bowlers early on. This could also mean that the target the team batting first sets won’t be in excess of 300. But as we have seen throughout the World Cup, the team batting first can get steamrolled in the second session if their total is not competitive.

Once again, we won’t hazard a guess about the winner. It’s come down to the final four and in five days, there may be a new World Champion. The battle begins today.

The Indian cricket board announced a ‘new look’ team for next month’s tour to Bangladesh and there were to very big names missing in the one-day team: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. While it doesn’t seem like the end of the road for them, the signal is clear. Their days may be numbered unless they start performing more consistently. But what is the definition of perform for these two greats? Unlike a greenhorn for whom a 30 or a 40 could be seen as a good effort, such a score is barely enough for these two. They need to score big, score fast, score attractively (fans like to see them play well) and do all this every time they go out to bat.

While Virender Sehwag gets another lease of life (wonder why Rahul Dravid is supporting him so much), lady luck has not smiled as nicely on Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh. One cannot help but feel that this could well be it for Ajit Agarkar. He has not performed half as consistently as he should or he can and he simply refuses to learn his role with the bat. The tag all-rounder is unfit for him and he always gets selected as one. With Pathan also being dropped, who is India’s all-rounder?

The death knell could well have been sounded for Harbhajan Singh as well with the inclusion of Romesh Pawar who needs to perform well in Bangladesh to make the cut for England. For Harbhajan and Pathan, the road back looks tough but this will be the real test of their character and they could take a lesson or two from Zaheer Khan.

Meanwhile, England has a new coach: Peter Moore replaces Duncan Fletcher who resigned a couple of days ago. Fletcher’s match against the West Indies will be his and he, like Brian Lara, who will be playing in his last match, will be hoping for a winning finish. Michael Vaughan could well be another player we see for the last time in an ODI and while there is uncertainty about his future in the shorter game, he would also like to bid a winning goodbye.

Lara’s career (and not just in ODIs) ends tonight. And unless there is a coaxed return to the team by selectors, he will not be seen on a cricket ground on the international stage. In his 16 years, Lara has been the one West Indian cricketer who looked like he belonged on the big stage all along. He was one of the major West Indian crowd pullers and his loss will be a big blow to cricket in the Caribbean. For tonight, though, let’s just enjoy him on the field one last time.

As you glance down the top run scorers list for the ongoing World Cup, you can’t help but notice one anomaly: an Englishman! The only player from a team not in the semi-final, Kevin Pietersen is typical of everything not English in this World Cup. He is a fighter, scored consistently and is ready to take the fight to the opposition.

There is another anomaly: a West Indian. An even rarer sight. But Ramnaresh Sarwan, despite his failure in the last match against England, is marginally ahead of such players as Michael Clarke, Stephen Fleming, Adam Gilchrist and even Kumara Sangakkara.

These two players represent teams that promised much over the course of the last one-year and when the time to deliver came, buckled. They did not have enough support from players around them and that was the only consistent thing about their teams!

Compare this with the other players in the top ranks and you will notice that there are some rather high-ranking players from the teams in the semi-final. Of course that’s the reason they made it this far anyway.

Among the semi-finalists, there are some head to head comparisons that could prove interesting. For the two Australians in the top ten, there are two South Africans. Things get more interesting when you note that both captains are up there with Ponting at number 2 ahead of Jacques Kallis only on strike rate while Graeme Smith is at number six only 39 runs behind the two. The one man who has run away from everyone else of course is Matthew Hayden. His aggregate of 580 is only 113 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 693 set in South Africa. The rate at which he is scoring runs that could fall in the semi-final itself!

Of the other two semi-finalists, Scott Styris finds himself as the lone Kiwi in the top ten while Sri Lanka has two representatives: captain Mahela Jayawardena and the stalwart Sanath Jayasuriya. Eleven runs separate the two teammates while Styris is ahead by over 50 runs.

The reason we are looking into this is to try to understand which teams have a better chance of winning their semi-finals. Sri Lanka looks favourites for more reasons than having two batters in the top ten. They have players like Murali and Vaas who have been there before and won the cup once. The pressure and expectations won’t be completely new to them. New Zealand has Craig McMillan and Stephen Fleming to call on their experiences from the 1999 semi-final loss to Pakistan and they would do well to remember their lessons well.

The South Africa versus Australia semi-final would be keenly contested and there are some old scores to settle there. The 1999 semi-final for one! Australia won’t let South Africa forget that day and there are some survivors from that match too. However strong they may be, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher won’t forget that too soon.

Four well matched teams with players in form. The Englishman only has Brian Lara’s run-out to hang on to for now!

Australia and New Zealand are perhaps the two best teams in the tournament at the moment. Sri Lanka hurt themselves when they lost so badly to Australia. And they are not entirely out of the clutches of the Aussies just yet. New Zealand plays the world champs today and if they win well enough to have a better net run rate than the Australians, they could well top the group and leave Sri Lanka to face Australia in the semis.

Australia is not known to be afraid of any team, but in a stage like the semi-final, one bad day is all they need to be knocked out. And they may want to especially avoid the South Africans. For today’s match, though, New Zealand will do well not to lose badly. Not to sound defeatist, but the Australians are looking far too strong for absolutely anyone and despite the recent control the Kiwis have over the Aussies, it will take much more to beat the Australians in the World Cup; it’s not been done since 1999!

New Zealand has had a slightly tough time up the batting order and would do well to sort out that issue asap! Scott Styris, their best batsman, also would like to have some more runs on the board when he comes in to bat and even if these runs are not scored at a lightning rate, it would be important that New Zealand preserve wickets for an assault later.

As for the Kiwi bowling, they would do well to pick up some early wickets. Especially Hayden and/or Gilchrist. Even if one of them gets away, it can be fatal! The game would be very interesting since neither team would want to give away too much in terms of strategy or weakness! It will be a bit of a game of poker in addition to the cricket and since both teams will play at full strength, the mind games would be really interesting.

Ponting versus Fleming; the two best tacticians in the game will be at full tilt. And the last time New Zealand beat Australia, Ponting wasn’t there. So there’s another score to be settled.

West Indian captain and all-time great Brian Lara will be playing his last one-day international today against Bangladesh. In an illustrious career spanning 16 years, Lara has been the standout player for the West Indies through their worst phase. But at 37, he isn’t exactly young and the West Indies doesn’t seem to have made too much progress since he entered the team as a youngster.

The bowling is just as undisciplined and the batting uncertain. Chris Gayle, who was hoping for a better outing at home, let himself and the team down regularly and as a result, it was Brian Lara who had to come out and try to save the team throughout the tournament. But sooner or later, he too, was bound to fail. And once that happened, the West Indies challenge was nothing more than a mirage.

Brian Lara can be accused, if anything, of perhaps not taking on as much responsibility as he should have by coming up higher in the batting order and asking the rest of the batsmen to rally round him. But there was always the risk that he would get out early and expose the rest of the batting. It wasn’t an easy decision and he could have been accused either ways. In the end, one has to say he did what he thought was best… it just didn’t work.

One thing that Lara cannot be accused of, however, is trying to bring quality youngsters into the side. While he may not be able to take credit for all youngsters who have made it to the team, he certainly deserves credit for showing confidence in them and trying to make world-class players out of them. Beyond a point, though, even he can’t do much. The real shortcoming of West Indies cricket has been a lack of confidence and no matter how many youngsters they blood, they don’t think or look like they could win.

Lara himself, unfortunately, hasn’t won as much as he deserves. Individual records aside, he hasn’t tasted much success that lesser players in better teams have. With his last appearance coming up today, he would like to finish with a win.

Thankfully, we would be able to see Lara bat in Tests for a while longer, but this will be his final ODI salvo. A great player would be missed and unfortunately, he leaves no legacy to speak of either. G’bye Brian!

After the English, it is the turn of the South Africans to be embroiled in a drinking controversy. It is alleged that after their loss to New Zealand, South African cricketers were seen drinking in a bar till 4 am. Right or wrong is another issue and with the South African team making an emphatic entry into the semi-final, it may just be overlooked. But what is the problem with the young cricketers?

Graeme Smith has said that the team follows a 48-hour curfew policy. This means that the team members may not party 48 hours before a game. The New Zealand loss was on April 14, Saturday and the England match on April 17, Tuesday. So the players may well have been within their rights to party. But the issue here was should they be partying after a loss? Captain Graeme Smith backed the involved players saying that they were entitled to letting off some steam in a high-pressure tournament and after an especially difficult loss.

This, however, isn’t the first time (nor will it be the last) that a team has been in trouble. Some years ago, there was the incident involving the Australian team in a bar in India. More recently and in this World Cup itself was the English team’s shenanigans. Andrew Flintoff has been caught with his pants down (metaphorically) once too often and if reports are to be believed, he has lost his chance of being England captain.

If, however, such outings are going to help a player unwind and not affect his performance in the next match, is it entirely wrong? Is just the impression they give of not caring after a loss that affects fans? As professionals, cricketers would know that they have lost and they need to buckle up to win in their next match. They would have gone through their analysis and known where they went wrong. Should the fans even have an opinion about this?

After the South African incident, some fans were quoted as saying that this behaviour was not welcome since the team wasn’t performing as expected and the money (good money, mind you) the fans had paid to come all the way and support the team was not being repaid by the players with on-field performance. But isn’t loss a part of any sport? The extreme reactions of the Indian and perhaps Pakistan fan apart, most other countries react moderately to losses in cricket. But their fans do seem to expect appropriate behaviour.

As for the question about who the bad boys of cricket are, it would be England. Based purely on off-field behaviour and linked to on-field performance!

Two mentally fragile teams will fight a battle for survival today when England takes on South Africa. The numbers have been crunched, the permutations and combinations done and the requirements are clear: England must win to keep their semi-final hopes alive. South Africa needs to win to ensure a place in the semi-final. But as always, there is some fine print.

Should England win today, they would be equal with South Africa on points and have a chance of making a clean entry into the semis if they beat West Indies in their last Super Eight match. But should England win today and lost to the West Indies, it would come down to net run rate between the two teams and once again, Graeme Smith’s men could well lose out. Their run rate is already in the negative and another loss won’t help it at all. Unless England loses disastrously to the West Indies, they should go through. All this, of course hinges on the fact that they need to win today. A loss today will be goodbye for England!

Coming to the match, England seems to be the fitter of the two sides with South Africa unsure of Herschelle Gibbs’ availability. England has its team sorted out and now it’s a question of performing. Easier said than done, of course, but England needs to draw on their experience of beating Australia in the CB Series final to make an impact. Plus the mini-battle of Kevin Pietersen v South Africa would also spur him on to perform better. One cannot ignore the lack of form that Andrew Flintoff has been going through. He needs to come good today and along with Paul Collingwood would be called upon in the closing stages to up the run rate.

But a bigger worry for England would be the top order. It’s a crucial match and they cannot afford to be 40/3 after 15 overs. Even if they are 60 after 15 overs, they need to ensure it’s without loss. And to this effect, Michael Vaughan needs to open with Andrew Strauss and not Ian Bell. Pietersen could come in at number three to boost scoring and offer some variety to the batting and Bell could help stabilise the middle order.

South Africa is suspect to good bowling. It could be fast or spin… doesn’t matter. So long as there is accuracy and some penetration backed up by above average fielding, they are susceptible to shooting themselves in the foot. With the right amount of pressure and some consistently good bowling and fielding, England can make sure that the Proteas go into their own shell and never come back out! Their batting can collapse especially if Gibbs isn’t around. Justin Kemp who is as reliable as an umbrella in a tornado could well replace him! Robin Peterson, the South African answer to Monty Panesar, isn’t close enough to being as good as Monty but South Africa has some good quicks. Unfortunately, they all get predictable after a while. That is, if the batting team can hold their ground long enough.

It should be a good match but unfortunately, both teams are capable of playing defensively and making it a question of survival rather than an emphatic statement. Someone will choke for sure. Will it be Vaughan or will it be Smith?