SPORTSCOPE

ICC remains in turbulence

Elmo Rodrigopulle

The International Cricket Council which has not had it easy in recent times, will continue to struggle in turbulence now that another Twenty20 tournament has been gunned for take off in October in New York according to Jay Mir, President and CEO and event organizer of American Sports and Entertainment Group.

This Twenty20 bash is to be titled the American Premier League and the organizers are targeting players from all major cricketing nations with the majority of players coming from the Indian Cricket League.

The ICC has given the step-motherly treatment to the Indian Cricket League, refusing to authorize and recognize their circus. Even at the recent Executive Meeting of the ICC, the door was shut to them. How the ICL organizers would go from here would be interesting to watch. Reports have it that the ICL and the ICC would be playing a different kind of game in the law courts soon.

With the ICC turning their backs on the ICL and only recognizing the IPL which is the show of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, there is no way that the APL would even be given a look in. But the APL is ready if they are not accepted to tell the ICC to go to hell and they will go through with their circus.

The ICC has warned players signing with APL that they will suffer the same fate that has befallen the players figuring in the ICL tourney. That means banned from playing for their countries. Not done, say everyone.

Former cricket stars such as John Emburey, Richie Richardson and Sir Richard Hadlee have all signed with the APL and will help get the show off the ground come October. Teams from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, West Indies, America along with a world team will lock horns in this first ever tournament in America.

Jay Mir is a man known to have things his own way and he is confident that this first ever fling would be a resounding success.

The Doosra

Geoffrey Boycott and Rameez Raja both former opening batsmen for their countries England and Pakistan and now doing commentary for Ten Sports in the on going five one-day internationals between Australia and Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were pleading with the International Cricket Council to allow the bowling of the doosra.

Bowlers who bowled this delivery which is delivered with a off break bowlers action, but pitches and turns like a leg break needs a questionable action to deliver. Umpires have quite rightly reported the bowlers who mastered these deliveries - Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Malik. They were subsequently cleared and are still continuing to bowl the doosra.

So there is no need for Boycott and Raja to plead with the ICC. The ICC would have no option but to clear Johann Botha of South Africa and Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and allow them to bowl that delivery with a questionable action. The ICC has not had the guts to ban this delivery. They dare not outlaw it this time round.

Having said that, it was indeed wonderful listening to TV commentators Boycott, Raja, Dean Jones, Tony Greig and Waqar Younus doing their thing behind the mike. All are tops in describing the action in the middle and the manner in which they discuss a point and come to conclusions. They are not scared to call a spade a spade and not some other implement.

It was nice to hear former Australian batsman Dean Jones. He was bowled out of the commentary team when he was doing his bit in Sri Lanka for something he mentioned in jest with no malice. But alls well that ends well it is said and we wish Jones a longer innings this time round. Boycott and Greig are simply stunning.

Indian players left out

The Indian Premier Cricket League is in full swing, not in the country of its birth India, but in South Africa and every game played so far has kept the spectators and those watching it on television in a spin.

All of the top stars such as Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga have obliged their fans and are performing and money that they are paid are fully worth it.

But the top of flops have been the much hyped Keven Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff. Pietersen was bought for a mind boggling sum of money. But he sadly failed to get his usually belligerent batting act going and sure would have disappointed his backers and fans. It is hoped that he would start firing soon.

Flintoff too, has not impressed and is now out of the tournament with a knee injury that has necessitated surgery. The England management is doing their best to have him fit for the World Cup Twenty20 in England and whether they would succeed is just 50-50 now. After the World Cup Twenty20 comes the all important Ashes and if Flintoff was to miss the Twenty20, it is paramount that he be in the pink of fitness for the Ashes.

While everyone is having a good time in Protealand, former Indian cricketers are crying foul that the Indian cricketers playing in the IPL Twenty20 have been treated unkindly. They question the dropping of Sourav Ganguly, V. Laxman and Rahul Dravid who were captains last year. They are also not happy with the treatment meted out to Mohammed Kaif. They also cannot understand as to why the eight teams had to be coached by foreigners. That reasoning is plausible.

Former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar says that the whole talk of IPL being a domestic tournament is a joke.

Aussies successful

The Australians who won the Test series in South Africa, but lost the one-day series that saw them second in the one-day points table seem to getting back their form of old, if the manner in which they are performing is an indication.

After losing the first one-dayer and winning the second one in Dubai they also pocketed the third one and if they continue in the same form can make it 4-1. But one aspect that the Aussies would have to improve is their fielding. Some of the fielders who dropped catches did not know how to position their hands and get under the ball before attempting the catch and as a result many catches were grassed.

The Englismen would do well to take a lesson from their Australian counterparts who are not risking their stalwarts who are going to play leading roles in the Ashes series soon. They have cleverly rested skipper Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and South African tormentor Mitchell Johnson who has the ability of turning out into being one of the best allrounders in the game.