There are certainly a lot of loose cannons in world cricket, especially on the administrative side! Last week, the ICC chief Malcolm Speed got himself into a spot when he decided to comment on the Pakistan pace duo of Mohammed Asif and Shoaib Akhtar. A couple of days ago, Dilip Vengsarkar ensured everyone knew why Sehwag was in the team (“because the captain wanted him!”). One seriously wonders what makes these guys shoot of like this without provocation. Is it that they are looking for their 15 seconds of fame? That wouldn’t seem plausible considering both gentlemen in question get enough press. Is it just carelessness? One would be inclined to think so.
Anyways, moving to action on the field, March 5 is finally here and that means the warm-up matches will start. Teams will get an idea of what to expect with the pitches and who is ready and who isn’t. Andrew Symonds had a net session on Sunday that undoubtedly lifted the Australian spirits.
Elsewhere, though, the South Africans had a bit of a scare with Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp suffering injury scares. South Africa’s team doctor Mohammad Moosajee, however, said that the players had been X-rayed and both returned clear. That’s the only hitch with the upcoming warm-up matches. It can be dangerous for players and an injury at this stage completely heart-breaking and unnecessary.
Most experts and former players have come up with their lists of semi-finalists and two teams seem to be definite to make it that far according to these experts: Australia and India. The other two have included Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa. England have only received an outside chance while Pakistan are lucky they are not being tagged as minnows!
One hopes that the off-field distractions would now reduce as players prepare for a six-week tour that will decide the World Champions. Unfortunately, the practice matches are not available on TV!