ICC must not shy to 'chuck the chuckers'!
The
determination of the International Cricket Council to quite rightly
chuck the chuckers from international cricket, has not gone down well
with some former cricketers who opine that with the 2015 World Cup only
months away the ICC have acted in haste.
Former Sri Lanka Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, current Pakistan coach
former fast bowling ace Waqar Younis and former West Indian master
blaster Sir Vivian Richards have spoken out against the ICC move.
Firstly to the bowlers who have been called for illegal actions. Sri
Lanka's Sachitra Senanayake, Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Hafeez,
West Indies Sunil Narine, New Zealand's Kane Williamson, Zimbabwe's
Prosper Utseya and Sohag Gazi from Bangladesh.
Must execute without fear or favour
The ICC must not be sensitive to criticism. They have been installed
to do a job of work and must execute without fear or favour from who or
what ever administrator, cricketer or quarter that criticism emanates.
Throw bowlers must be found, named and eradicated immediately. To let
them bowl just because the 2015 World Cup is around the corner should
not stall the ICC. The World Cup must be won fair and square and with no
team having the advantage by playing bowlers with unfair actions that
are advantages to them.
One player who has spoken clear and loud and supported the action of
the International Cricket Council to ban bowlers with illegal actions is
former Australian Captain and master batsman Ricky Ponting.
Illegal action allowed for far too long
Ponting says that bowlers with illegal actions have been allowed to
go on bowling for far too long. He says that for the last 15 years there
have been bowlers with suspect actions have been allowed to go free.
Not only Ponting, there are several other cricketers who are
supportive of the ICC action. Joining in the chorus to keep bowlers with
illegal actions out of cricket is Indian Captain M.S. Dhoni. He backs
the ICC on their move to clamp down on illegal bowing actions.
Dhoni cites bowlers like Ravindra Jadeja and Amrit Misra of having
clean actions and says that bowlers who don't have good actions have an
advantage over others and should not be allowed to bowl.
Ponting supports Petersen
Ponting was also in the news giving full support to the South African
born Kevin Petersen's autobiography on the problems in the England camp
and the allegations he has made.
Obviously what has angered Petersen is his dropping from the England
team with no apparent reasons being given. Petersen was in the England
squad that was given a 5-nil bashing in the Ashes series in Australia.
With one drop batsman Jonathan Trott complaining of depression and
off spinner Graeme Swann deserting the sinking England ship midway
during the series, England needed a scapegoat to slap their disgraceful
showing on and Petersen fitted the bill.
No punches pulled autobiography
Petersen in a no punches pulled autobiography has slammed coach
Andrew Flower and players Matt Prior, Graeme Swann and James Anderson
and making other allegations which autobiography should be a best
seller.
Petersen however was hoping to make a comeback to the England squad
by making his bat do the talking and scoring tons of runs in the county
scene playing for Surrey. But one thing is certain and that is that no
amount of runs he scores will help him to ever sport the England cap
again.
The allegations that Petersen has made must get the England Cricket
Board to wake up from its slumber and probe the allegations and if the
allegations are correct to put the house in order and not harbour any
grudges against Kevin Petersen.
Thank you Real Admiral Fernando
In the gloom that was the debacle and disaster that was the Asian
Games in Incheon, South Korea it warmed the cockles of all scribes to
read the soothing and encouraging words expressed by the likeable and
efficient Chef de Mission of the contingent to the Games Real Admiral
Shermal Fernando.
The Rear Admiral expressed his gratitude and commended the Sri Lanka
media team for a task meticulously executed to the admiration of the
sport loving Sri Lankans. 'The enthusiasm shown by them to cover each
and every match and event Sri Lanka took part was unparalleled in the
annals of sports history.
'They rushed from stadium to stadium to keep Sri Lankans abreast of
ups and downs in Incheon. Media is indeed one of the vital pillars that
could contribute towards securing elusive gold medals for Sri Lanka in
sports and as a sports administrator I salute them for the sheer
commitment displayed with very limited basic facilities. I am truly
proud of them', concluded the cheerful Real Admiral.
Onerous jobs by journalists
Now how many others have been known to admire the onerous jobs that
journalists do to keep their readers abreast with the latest happenings
in the sports world. Once on the job journalists heave a sigh of relief
and relax only once they have made headlines and met deadlines that they
heave a sigh of relief.
Rear Admiral Fernando had a good innings in his first term
asSecretary, Athletic Federation of Sri Lanka. But unfortunately was
stalled in his tracks and not allowed a second innings, much to the
detriment of the sportsmen and women.
Men of the calibre of Fernando are the need of the hour to resurrect
the declining standards of sports in the country has shown in the
debacles that were the Commonwealth and Asian Games. Thank you Rear
Admiral Fernando for appreciating the work done by journalists.
Cycling great Trevor de Silva writes
It came as a pleasant surprise to receive an email all the way from
London from one of Sri Lanka's former cycling greats Trevor de Silva who
won a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1966 - 48 years ago.
Trevor says he stays in the news reading the 'Daily News' and 'Sunday
Observer' every day/week and that he follows my excellent columns
regularly about sport in general.
De Silva says that the last few weeks have been of particular
interest regarding the performance, or lack of it, of Sri Lankan
sportsmen and women at the Asian Games, except cricket. '48 years ago,
in 1966, I won two cycling Bronze medals at Asian Games in Bangkok and
Desmond Goonewardene was placed sixth. Since then no Sri Lanka cyclist
has achieved these standards. 'Desmonmd, Mauice Coomarawel and I used to
train together in the 60s. Maurice represented Sri Lanka at the Rome
Olympics in 1960. I was nominated by the then Ministry of Sport for the
Munich Olympics in 1972 as I had reached the required standard while
racing in the UK. But I had lost the passion for the hard training
required (800km a week) to have a chance of winning a medal. So I
withdrew from the team.
Saddened and surprised
'The question is. If Maurice, Desmond and I could reach these
standards a near 50 yeas ago why not today? I am very saddened and
surprised by this as I am sure the talent is there. I am 72 and I still
train runners and cyclists. I am a Senior Coach for UK Athletics and I
coach cyclists at an international level.
It was nice hearing from Trevor after so long. In the good old days
there was a lot of cycle races like the Tour de Lanka etc. Names of
other cyclists that come to mind are Placidus Schroter, Anthony Symonds,
G.H. Henderson, Kamal Palitha and A.M. Sumanaweera and the energetic and
hardworking secretaries of that time C.T. Devaraja and Amal Suriyage.
But now sadly cycling has gone off the track.
Enjoy life now. It has an expiry date on it.
[email protected]
|