Shamik Das


Tuesday, June 30, 2009

And then there were four

"Champione, champione, ole, ole, ole!"

MICHAEL VAUGHAN'S retirement today from Test cricket leaves England with only four survivors from the Ashes-winning side of 2005.

He joins Ian Bell, Ashley Giles, Steven Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Geraint Jones and Marcus Trescothick in bidding farewll to international cricket just eight days before the Ashes resumes.

Indeed, England's recent poor run may, in part, be put down to the break-up of that team, who never played together again, injuries, loss of form and mental illness putting paid to the unit which brought them such success.

Of the 47 Tests they have played since that triumph England have won only 14 - nine of those against New Zealand and the West Indies - with no series wins against teams ranked level with or above them in the ICC rankings.

Bell and Harmison, if they can conquer their repective demons, may yet return, but for Vaughan and the rest, it's a case of thank you and goodnight.

Andrew Strauss  Andrew Flintoff  Kevin Pietersen  Paul Collingwood

So what chance of a repeat success, and a first major series win since defeating Pakistan in 2006?

The four who remain from '05, Vaughan's four successors as captain - Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss - now form the backbone of the team and will all need to be at the very top of their game if England are to regain the Urn.

Completing the batting order are Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara, a mixture of relative experience and noviceness, who'll be followed by wicket keeper-batsman Matt Prior at six, with Flintoff dropping down to seven.

The bowling attack, however, will be the section with the most questions hanging over it. James Anderson ad Stuart Broad look certain to start, alongside Graeme Swann and one of Adil Rashid or Monty Panesar.

And it's not just England who'll be without so many former stars, Australia will be without Shane Warne, Glen McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, who all featured in the 2006/7 whitewash series.

BBC Sport: Michael Vaughan's career in pictures
Cricinfo: Key moments in Vaughan's career

Friday, June 26, 2009

Say it isn't so, so it ain't so

Bye Michael: Rest in peace brother

Turn off the phone, turn off the radio,
Don't wanna get out of bed, don't wanna go to work,
Don't wanna buy no newspapers, don't wanna switch on the net,
Say it isn't so, so it ain't so

Wanna turn back the clock, wanna dance like mad, like I'm Bad,
Wanna party like it's 1989,
Remember the good times, remember the songs,
Say it isn't so, so it ain't so

ABC, 123, Black or White, we don't care,
Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, but you weren't no criminal,
Earth Song, saving the world, before it became cool,
Say it isn't so, so it ain't so

At close to midnight, hearing the news, a shiver thru my spine,
Can't believe it's true, can't believe you're gone,
Elvis, Lennon, Diana and now you,
Say it isn't so, so it ain't so

Michael Jackson: 1958-2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Time for FIFA to take real action against racism

"Hear, hear, hear!"

FINE words, but is anyone listening?

Black players abused at football matches in Spain and Italy, in club and international matches alike - with far worse abuse hurled at them in Eastern Europe - Champions League, UEFA Cup, league games, friendlies and qualifiers, on the abuse goes, yet still the governing bodies do little to stop it.

Time and again FIFA and UEFA, when faced with racist chanting, booing and whistling, and in some grounds the equally repellent spectacle of Neo-Nazi banners and salutes, have shied away from taking action.

Instead of points deductions, closed-door orders and expulsions from European Championships and World Cups, all FIFA and UEFA have done is to issue paltry fines of no more than a few thousand pounds to national associations whose fans have misbehaved.

And it's not just with teams that the authorities have been soft - racist players and managers have got off scot free as well. Think back to 2000, when Lazio's Serbian midfielder Sinisa Mihajlovic received nothing more than a short ban for calling Arsenal's Patrick Vieira a "black s***", though he was made to issue a grovelling apology in front his own fans at the Stadio Olimpico, during which he was heckled by the Ultras.

Luis Aragones    Sinisa Mihajlovic

More recently, former Spain coach Luis Aragones wasn't even given a slap on the wrist for referring to Thierry Henry in the same derogatory terms, fined only £2,000 by the Spanish FA, retained as their manager and not forced to say sorry; that he went on to lead Spain to Euro 2008 glory merely rubs salt into the wounds.

FIFA must have been grateful that Italy's terrible performances in the Confederations Cup spared them the sight of the world and European champions standing shoulder-to-shoulder behind the "Say no to Racism" banner last night, though the irony of such an image would not have been lost on them, seeded as Spain and Italy were to meet in the
semi-finals.

When it comes to the crunch, the European and world governing bodies simply do not have the bottle to take the tough decisions and punish the wrongdoers, focusing instead on criticising the Premier League for its wealth - as UEFA President Michel Platini has done - or fantasising about scantily-clad girls in short shorts, FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter's solution to increasing the popularity of the women's game.

For all their words and initiatives, for all the anti-racism campaigns in the world, it will not make a jot of difference until FIFA and UEFA hit the racists where it hurts - on the pitch and in the pocket.

By their actions be they judged.

Highlights: Spain 0-2 USA
FIFA: Say no to Racism and Confederations Cup websites
Coming soon: Confederations Cup review

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Probably the best fielding in the world...



ANGELO MATHEWS, I take my hat off to you!

Words simply cannot do justice to the brilliance of your fielding yesterday.



And for those of you out there who believe it should have been signalled a six, here's what the laws state:-

Law, 19.3:

Scoring a boundary



(a) A boundary shall be scored and signalled by the umpire at the bowler's end whenever, while the ball is in play, in his opinion

(i) the ball touches the boundary, or is grounded beyond the boundary.

(ii) a fielder, with some part of his person in contact with the ball, touches the boundary or has some part of his person grounded beyond the boundary.



(b) The phrases 'touches the boundary' and 'touching the boundary' shall mean contact with

either (i) the boundary edge as defined in 2 above

or (ii) any person or obstacle within the field of play which has been designated a boundary by the umpires before the toss.



(c) The phrase 'grounded beyond the boundary' shall mean contact with

either (i) any part of a line or a solid object marking the boundary, except its boundary edge

or (ii) the ground outside the boundary edge

or (iii) any object in contact with the ground outside the boundary edge.



Simples!