First Donald, Now Jonty?

Following fresh from the news that South African fast bowling legend, Alan Donald, was to be appointed as England's bowling consultant, comes the news that England are to approach another South African cricket legend, Jonty Rhodes, to be their fielding coach.

Donald is to join England on a 5 week consultancy basis, during the remainder of the West Indies series, and will then have his situation reassessed, and could be given the job full time. It now seems that new England coach, Peter Moores, is to move quickly in offering Jonty Rhodes the post as fielding coach. This would see Rhodes join the new coaching team of Moore's, former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower as his number 2, and Alan Donald as the bowling coach. Showing that Moore's wants the best men for the job and not necessarily the best English man.

The first man approached for the job as fielding coach was Trever Penney, who had worked with England in the past, but he turned the job down and took up a position with Western Australia. Rhodes, who had been working with the South African team, was only contracted up until the World Cup, and as he has not been offered, or asked for, a new contract from South Africa, Moores has identified him as the man for England.

Unless South Africa take these reports as a warning and tie down their man to a new contract, they could again lose one of their best assets to another international team. Although always seen as one of the best fielding teams in the world, Rhodes has been credited with lifting the bar again as South Africa have enjoyed fantastic fielding performances during the duration of his work with them.

Aussie crowds embarrass Moody

Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka coach, said he was embarrassed by the derogatory reaction and negative attention directed towards Muttiah Muralitharan by Australian crowds. Muralitharan's unorthodox bowling action came under scrutiny in Australia, where he was no-balled for a suspect action on two tours.

The treatment meted out by the crowds in reaction to these on-field episodes prompted him to boycott Sri Lanka's 2004 tour to Australia. John Howard, the Australian prime minister, joined the clamour by labelling Muralitharan a "chucker".

"As an Australian when I have been with the Sri Lankan team in Australia, or playing against them in the World Cup, it's the only situation we find in the whole of the cricketing world where we have this disgraceful slant on a cricketer," Moody told The Australian.

"My take on it, and I hope I'm right, and I've shared this with Murali, is that it's Australia's nature to show that response in a way of respect and acknowledgement of someone who is pretty special and unique".

Moody, who has taken up a coaching role with Western Australia, puts this attitude down to the competition between Muralitharan and Shane Warne, who finished his career as the world's leading wicket-taker with 708 Test victims. Muralitharan is second in the all-time list with 674 dismissals.

"They're protecting their own," Moody said. "Australia has produced the greatest legspinner of all time and Australians are very proud of that. There's that constant comparison between Warne and Murali, but I just think you cannot even begin to try and compare the two."

Muralitharan was first no-balled by Darrell Hair in the 1995 Boxing Day Test and Ross Emerson also called him in an ODI at Adelaide four years later. When the Sri Lankans walked off the field after the second incident, only an intervention by the respective boards and the ICC saved the tour.

Muralitharan's action was subsequently cleared under the ICC's 15-degree rule. He has toured Australia since his 2004 boycott and looks set to visit Australia again in November for a two-Test series.

Ford For India?

Graham Ford has entered the race to be the next coach of the Indian cricket team. Ford previously coached South Africa, as well as working in South African domestic and English county cricket.

With Dav Whatmore being the only name mentioned it was widely believed that he would be named as coach in the coming weeks, however it has not been suggested that Graham Ford has entered the fray. It is believed that the Indian players initiated communication to try get the best man for the job, and with John Wright and Tim Moody already committed to jobs in Australia, the players began talking to other players and former players within the game. The name of Ford figured at the top of many peoples lists, and he received glowing recommendations from the likes of Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusner and Jonty Rhodes, all of whom worked with Ford at domestic and international level.

Ford gained prominence when he lead a young Natal team to the domestic double in South Africa during the 96-97 season. He helped bring through the likes of Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusner, Dale Benkenstein and Neil Johnson as well as working with Malcolm Marshall and Clive Rice. After leading a couple of South African A tours he was named as assistant to Bob Woolmer for the national team, before taking over the post after the 99 World Cup. South Africa won 9 of the 11 series he was in charge for before is axing after a disastrous tour of Australia, where it was felt that he paid the price for internal power games within South African cricket. Ford is widely acknowledged within the South African game as one of the most knowledgeable and tactically astute coaches in the game.

Woolmer Was Not Murdered?

In what will be an embarrassing u-turn by Jamaican police authorities reports coming from British newspapers suggest that they will soon announce that Bob Woolmer was not murdered, but died of natural causes.

Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room the day after the Pakistan team he coached had lost to Ireland in a World Cup group match in March, effectively knocking the former World Cup winners out, and allowing the Irish, first timers at the global event, and made up primarily by part timers, to progress through to the Super 8 phase. With rumours of a sinister cause of death leading the front pages of many newspapers, the Jamaican police announced that after a post mortem they were now treating the death as murder. Suggestions that Woolmer was killed by an under ground match fixing mafia, by radical Muslim fans, and even suggestions that his own players were involved began to do the rounds.

With the case stretching for weeks and then months with no new leads the theory that Woolmer had died of natural causes began to gain momentum. An investigation by a UK Home Office pathologist who flew to Jamaica to help seems to have been the route of the change in direction of the case. It now seems that Woolmer died of heart failure caused by chronic ill health and possibly diabetes. Woolmer was not in good health and the stress of the failure of his much hyped team, and the possible reactions and reprecautions, may have played a hand in his death.
The results of a 3rd pathology report should be known soon, but are expected to back up those of the 2nd report, that Woolmer was not murdered, but died of natural causes. The broken bone in his neck, which was behind many suggestions that he had been strangled, is now believed to have been caused by his fall.

While speculation and rumour have lead this case more than any really facts or leads, the news that Woolmer died from natural causes, and not at the hand of any sinister element, must come as a relief to both his family and loved ones, and to the cricketing world in general. However, after all that has gone on before, they will only truly be able to move on once the speculation becomes fact. Hopefully the coming weeks will give them the peace they crave.

Percy Sonn Dies

The ICC president, Percy Sonn, has died at the age of 57, in Cape Town, South Africa. Sonn had surgery on his colon on Monday and passed away due to complications that arose after the surgery.

Sonn was the former head of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, and became president of the ICC in 2006. He was well known and respected as an administrator in cricket during Apartheid, and played an important role in the integration of cricket in South Africa. He also formed, and headed, the Scorpions, who went after people committing serious economic crimes, drug trafficking, and organized crime.

Sonn is survived by his wife, Sandra, and their three children.

SA to Lose Donald?

Alan Donald, the former South African fast bowler, is set to take up a role with the England national team, as a bowling coach.

Reports suggest that Donald is set to join the new setup in English cricket under new coach Peter Moores. Moores has already acted swiftly in bringing in former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower as his number two, and an appointment of Donald will prove that the English set up are keen an appointing the best men for the job, irrespective of nationality. Flower and Donald have both had extensive experience in County cricket, as well as international cricket, and so would be well accustomed and knowledgeable of English cricket.

Suggestions coming out of South Africa are that Donald will join the team for the third test against the West Indies, and will stay with them on an initial 5 week deal, rather then permanently. Whatever the case it is surely a call to the South African cricket authorities to be more proactive in using the vast experience and knowledge that they have in their former playing greats, or risk losing them. Jonty Rhodes was employed by Pakistan for a similar 5 week period before being brought into the South African fold as their fielding coach. They improvement in standard was noticeable for all to see and surely they don't want to risk the same impact that a former player of theirs would have on another national team? Rhodes was only contracted up to the end of the World Cup, and if he wants to carry on South Africa must take every set to ensuring it is with them.

Donald, who has ties in England from his county cricket days, is known to want to coach at the highest level, and would love to be involved in the South African set up, but must be growing tired of waiting. If he is to be offered a full time deal by the English, and is thus lost to South Africa, it will be through no fault of his or the English. They have recognised the need for someone like Donald in their setup, especially with the miss firing Harmison, and they must be applauded for making a positive move in rectifying the problem and ensuring that their bowlers have all the help that is needed. A South African attack that has been accused numerous times of not being able to finish off the tail would benefit from someone like Alan Donald. The reluctance of the Proteas setup to involve past players is an aspect that must be addressed. The past players are willing and able but can not sit around waiting forever. The high performance centre is making use of Gary Kirsten and has had Donald involved, but the deals should be set up to ensure that they are looked after so they will not be tempted by other teams. While Donald has enjoyed his time working with young players, he sees his role as working with international players, and not up and coming hopefuls, and they should have been rectified.

People such as Brian Macmillan, Fanie de Villiers, Craig Matthews, Darryl Cullinan and Pat Symcox have something to offer and if South Africa want to be the best then they need the best to help them. By allowing their assets to be used by others, by allowing others to benefit from their resources, while they themselves are in need of help and improvement, is not only foolish, but stubborn to. Donald should not be in a position to be looking for work with England, he should be working with the South African national team - his national team.

Twenty20 Cricket World Cup Match Schedule

All set for the first ever Twenty Twenty Cricket World Cup. The draw for Septembers inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa has been made and sees a number of intriguing clashes which include England facing the Aussies and India taking on Pakistan.

Sri Lanka will play New Zealand and Kenya in Group C of the tournament.

Cricket South Africa have confirmed the groups for the tournament, which will be held over two weeks in the Republic where Twenty20 cricket is hugely popular.


The opening match will be played on Tuesday, September 11th and the final on Monday, September 24th 2007.

Groups

Group A - South Africa, West Indies and Bangladesh
Group B - England, Australia and Zimbabwe
Group C - New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Kenya
Group D - Pakistan, India and Scotland

The top two teams in each group go through to the Super Eight and matches will be played at Newlands in Cape Town, Kingsmead in Durban and the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Venues
Johannesburg - Wanderers
Durban - Kingsmead
Cape Town - Newlands

Match Schedule

Tuesday, September 11th 2007
South Africa v West Indies 1800 - Johannesburg


Wednesday, September 12th 2007
New Zealand v Kenya 1000 - Durban
Pakistan v Scotland 1400 - Durban
Australia v Zimbabwe 1800 - Cape Town


Thursday, September 13th 2007
West Indies v Bangladesh 1000 - Johannesburg
Zimbabwe v England 1400- Cape Town
India v Scotland 1800 - Durban


Friday, September 14th 2007
Sri Lanka v Kenya 1000 - Johannesburg
Australia v England 1400 - Cape Town
India v Pakistan 1800 - Durban


Saturday, September 15th 2007
Sri Lanka v New Zealand 1400 - Johannesburg
South Africa v Bangladesh 1800- Cape Town


Sunday, September 16th 2007
Winner Group C v Runner Up Group D 1000- Johannesburg
Winner Group B v Runner Up Group A 1400- Cape Town
Winner Group A v Runner Up Group B 1800- Cape Town


Monday, September 17th 2007
Winner Group D v Runner Up Group C 1800- Johannesburg


Tuesday, September 18th 2007
Winner Group C v Runner Up Group B
1000 - Durban
Winner Group B v Winner Group D 1400- Johannesburg
Runner Up Group A v Runner Up Group C 1800 -Johannesburg


Wednesday, September 19th 2007
Winner Group A v Winner Group C 1400 -Durban
Runner Up Group B v Runner Up Group D 1800 -Durban


Thursday, September 20th 2007
Winner Group B v Runner Up Group C
- 1000 Cape Town
Runner Up Group A v Winner Group D 1400 - Cape Town
Winner Group A v Runner Up Group D 1800- Durban


Saturday, September 22nd 2007
E2 v F1 1400 - Cape Town
E1 v F2 1800 - Durban


Monday, September 24th 2007
Final TBA Johannesburg

Smith to Miss Ireland Tour?

With South African captain Graeme Smith having just undergone knee surgery, having injured his knee taking a catch to dismiss Kevin Peterson in the World Cup, there is now a strong suggestion that he miss the trip to Ireland at the end of June for a match against Ireland and three against India.

In a season that includes the 20/20 World Cup, being held in South Africa in September, as well as series against New Zealand, the West Indies, Pakistan and India, it would be seen as vital that Smith's knee be allowed to fully recover before he is rushed into action. With Smith likely to be an important figure in South Africa's 20/20 World Cup hopes, it may be advisable that he miss the short series in Ireland and instead have a much needed rest, and be 100% for the new season.

Should Smith miss out then Jacques Kallis will lead the team against India and Ireland. Kallis has previously led the team when Smith had missed a test match through injury. While South Africa may not have been happy with their world cup performance, it is unlikely that whole sale changes will be made to the team that, apart from the inconsistency shown during the world cup, have had a very successful last few years. The spin bowling option may be one that could see a change, with the likelihood of Johan Botha or Thandi Tshabala, or both, being included in the touring squad, giving the team more options and variety than it has previously had.

Smith will more than likely also not make the team representing Africa in the Afro Asia series in Bangladesh

Feels like England won't ever take another wicket

Matthew Hoggard's injured; Andrew Flintoff still can't bowl; Liam Plunkett was ineffectual; and once rain fell, Test Match Special may as well have been retitled 'the Steve Harmison puzzle'. How the hell are England ever going to win a Test ever again?

As ever, we don't have the answer. James Anderson will probably come in for Matthew Hoggard. Anderson hasn't been in form, but then again neither were any of the batsmen who scored hundreds in this match.

We'd give anything for Steve Harmison to get things right though. The alternative - an England attack of willing fast-medium bowlers - is too horrible to contemplate.

We can see it now: Three or four accurate, yet nondescript, typically English bowlers. There's a big partnership, but no matter how relentlessly they pitch the ball on off stump, the batsmen just don't seem troubled. India, Australia or whoever close on a billion for none.

At least Steve Harmison's bouncy and quick. That's why he plays. We've never seen a bowler top 90mph with such little effort. When all's well, it really is an easy game for Steve Harmison. Unfortunately, all hasn't been well for some time now.

Don't drop him though. The grass isn't greener. It's mend Steve or nothing in our eyes. There are a couple of promising bowlers, but Steve's promise is still greater, no matter what's happened.

Cross-posted at kingcricket.blogspot.com.
New site at kingcricket.co.uk.

Wessels to Reign In Descipline?

There are rumblings within the South African cricket community suggesting that Kepler Wessels may be installed as the new manager of the national cricket team. In a board meeting last week, held to access the performance of those at the helm of the World Cup team, it was confirmed that both coach Mickey Arthur and captain Graeme Smith would be retained for a further two years. The meeting also outlined the need for the team to create a new role within the set up for a team manager.

There have long been suggestions that there is a clique of players within the South African team who have had a to big influence on the team, having shown a distinct lack of maturity and have had an adverse affect on team discipline. This has been seen as partly to blame for the rumours of team moral taking a hit, as well as the belief that the psychological strength within the team is not strong enough to beat Australia or to win the big games, such as the World Cup semi final loss.

The appointment of Wessels, should it happen, would serve to reign in the disruptive force within the set up, ensure a greater level of team discipline, as well as serve to increase the mindset of the players by increasing their mental strength. While Wessels has had problems with members high up in the South African Cricket Board, it is believed that those fences have been mended, and that his appointment would have the backing of all. Wessels, who captained South Africa from 1992 until his retirement in '94, where Hansie Cronje took over, has been fairly outspoken of issues within South African cricket, and has been particularly critical of their performances against Australia. It remains to be seen whether a working relationship between him and Smith would be successful. However it has been suggested that Smith having to much influence and power within the team was one of the principle reasons put forward when addressing the needs for a team manager.

Wessels is a strong character, who has played for both Australia and South Africa, and may be the tough, no nonsense, figure that South Africa needs in its set up, as they rebuild after the World Cup. Before any announcement is made Wessels will lead a South African emerging players team to Australia where they will compete against similar teams from Australia, New Zealand and India. This role may be an indication of the trust that the UCB now has in Wessels, and should he prove successful the managers job may be his on his return.

Chaminda Vaas Injured in a County Match

Sri Lankan fast bowler, who was a contracted Middlesex bowler in 2007 English county season, Chaminda Vaas has been released from hospital after colliding with the advertising boards while fielding.

There was a 27-minute delay during Middlesex's nine-wicket defeat to Essex in Sunday's Friends Provident Trophy match after Vaas careered into the hoardings as he tried to take catch England all-rounder Ravi Bopara.

Sri Lanka paceman Vaas, 33, was admitted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford after leaving the field on a stretcher.

He was assessed by a consultant before being released at around 7.30pm.

Middlesex coach Richard Pybus told BBC Online: "Chaminda unfortunately fell back into the boards and hit his head."He's been taken to do some neurological tests.

"He was conscious and could feel his fingers and feet. You've got to be very careful with an injury like this.''

Source: The Sri Lanka Rounder

Afridi hammers Bandara & Prasanna combination

Sri Lanka Lost the match, but it was a real thrilling batting display by Shahid Afridi after a long time. Despite the fact that, his innings took the match away from Sri Lanka, I really enjoyed his spirit.

At one point, Sri Lanka was slowly taking control of the match, by strangling the Pakistani run rate, but all of a sudden Afridi came out of his crease repeatedly, and hit 32 runs in a one over by Malinga Bandara. Four off the first ball, followed by another in the second ball. Then Afridi thought fours are not big enough. He jumped out of his crease like a tiger approaching his pray, and hit Malinga Bandara for 4 consecutive sixes off next 4 balls of the over. Just brilliant as that!

Sri Lankan wicket keeper, Prasanna Jayawardena was acting as a dummy behind the wicket. With Afridi aggressively coming out of the crease, it was very predictable he’s going to do it for every next ball. But Prasanna, as the wicket keeper never communicated with the bowler, and formulate a plan to get his out stumped.

Had it been Murali and sangakkara combination, or Warne and Healy (Or Warne and Gilchrist) combination, would they allow a batsman to come out of the crease for 6 or 8 balls in a row like that?

We’ve seen in many occasions, when batsmen coming out of crease so attackingly, Sanga walks into Murali and have a little word. (Or else, scream at Murali in Sinhala “Moo eliyata enawa wedi… Kakula paththen dala balamu”). 99% of the time we see the batsman get out stumped after such a conversation between Murali and Sanga. But Bandara and Prasanna, never worried to coordinate like that.

I know we can’t blame them for that, because experience plays a major roll their. They would have taken this as a learning opportunity. Prasanna will have to keep wicket for Murali in test matches for a foreseeable future, so he has to get his approach to the game corrected as soon as possible. We know in modern day cricket, wicket keepers play a main roll in keeping the momentum of the fielding team, and strategizing the bowling effort. But we never saw that contribution from Prasanna yesterday.

All in all, it was very evident that we missed Murali and Sanga a lot. Loosing 4 player from the World Cup squad, would have affected the Sri Lankan performance, but the whole idea of this tournament was to bring out the young players. So, let’s hope even if we lost the match, young players gathered some experience. But the other thing our players have to keep in mind is, “you promised to win this tournament for Moody”.

All credit to Afridi and Pakistan. It was a great come back after getting out of the world cup so early.

Sri Lanka Cricket look towards John Wright as the next coach.

This morning The Island reported, "John Wright seems the overwhelming favourite" to be the next coach of Sri Lanka cricket team.

Sri Lanka Cricket, has shortlisted some high profiled names in the field, and according to the SLC sources, ex-New Zealand test cap (Ex Indian coach) John Wright leads the table among others.

"John Wright has done a wonderful job with India and he’ll be our favourite choice," a cricket official told ‘The Island’ yesterday

"We’ll be talking to him and if he’s willing to take over, we will go ahead with John," the official added.

Former Australian opener and coach Geoff Marsh, former South African coach Graham Ford and Greg Shepherd, who is the coach at Victoria, Australia have been other names that have been thought of as suitable replacements, but for the moment the former New Zealand opener looks to be the choice of most top officials.

"John is a proven coach unlike most of the other names that have been thought of. That means his price will be high too compared to some of the others, but nevertheless it’s an investment worth making," the official said.

But I personally have other ideas. It was "non proven" coaches (at international level) who had been succesful with Sri Lanka all the time. Look at Whatmore. Look at Moody. They evolved as top coaches, with Sri Lanka. So, I personally prefer if the board go for some new name, rather than bringing an ex-Indian coach to Sri Lanka.

One of the senior players of the national team told ‘The Island’ before the team’s departure to Abu Dhabi that it’s vital for the board to bring in a coach who will take the team to the next level instead of someone who tries to stamp his authority. "Tom was ideal. He was very methodical and tried to improve every aspect." he said.

Boycotting the Zimbabwe Tour - Right or Wrong?

For me, this is a real ’sitting on the fence’ argument, because I can see both sides of the story and I think they have equal merit.

On one hand, I think it is the right thing to do to be seen as not supporting a terrible regime in Zimbabwe. If we did go over, then it sends a message that we don’t care about anything else going on in the country, we just want to play cricket and that we condone the atrocious way that the government in power treats its citizens.

On the other hand though, sport has always been a great medium for change in countries. If we did go over, the people who are so oppressed in Zimbabwe would definately get a boost and this may spur on a time of uprising and (hopefully) peaceful protest. I can see how by not going, we are taking away something that the Zimbabwe people have been looking forward to for some time.

All in all however, I think that the government did the right thing in banning the cricket side from going.

What do you think?

Moody will Return to West Australia. Who Will Be the next Sri Lankan Coach?

Successful Sri Lankan coach, Tom Moody declared his resignation from Sri Lanka Cricket coach position, and said that he will return to West Australia where he started his coaching career. There were speculations that Moody is going to be next English coach, but he decided against it at the end.

Sri Lanka Cricket has made a request to fielding coach Trevor Penney to act as caretaker coach for the side's series against Bangladesh in June-July.

Moody said his family, who lived in England while he worked in Sri Lanka, played a large part in his decision. "It was a very difficult decision to make given the strong relationship that has been built between SLC and myself," he said.

"But at this stage in my life it was important that I made a bigger commitment to my family. However, I will be more than happy to assist in whichever way I possibly can for the continuous success of SLC."
It is expected Moody's advice will play a role in determining who succeeds him.

When Tom Moody was appointed as Sri Lanka coach, many questioned whether it was the right decision. When he leave his possition, he has proven a point that it was a right decision by SLC. We've seen, Dav Whatmore coming out of the blue and doing miracles with 1996, WC winning Sri Lanka team. Moody did the exact same thing. Now, both Whatmore and Moody are highly demanded Cricket coaches in the international level.

So far there's no reports of who would be the next coach of Sri Lanka Cricket team. As at now, the position for "coach" is vacant in all 4 test playing nations in the sub continent, making it more difficult for all 4 boards to attract "quality" coaches, at "reasonable price".

Gilchrist Cleared by MCC "the Guardians of the Laws of Cricket"

Finally we have a verdict from the law makers.

"MCC’s Laws Sub-Committee has issued a statement in which it concludes that “the incident could not be classed either as contravening the Law or as breaching the Spirit of the Game.”

The debate gone all over the internet to office trains now has to come to an end. There were questionable grey areas in Gilly's act, so no one could possibly say Sri Lankans are "sore losers", for raising this issue. Now, that the "Guardians of the Laws of Cricket" saying that Adam Gilchrist haven't done anything wrong, we have to admit that.

"In this case (Adam Gilchrist in the ICC Cricket World Cup Final), apparently the addendum to the inside of the batting gloves was not for protection from injury, but to improve the way the batsman gripped the bat handle. This should not be considered unfair. Similarly, it has never been considered unfair for batsmen to use two grips on the bat handle."

Did ICC really Changed the Rule Books to Legalize Murali's Action?

As the "squash ball controversy" is heating up the cricket world phenomenally, some Aussies are rubbing some old wounds by dragging in the Murali-Hair controversy into this. Some Aussies with extraordinary loss of "short & medium term memory", are accusing "ICC changed the rules of throwing, to accommodate Murali's action". And they further accuse, ICC did this under the pressure from Sri Lanka and the Sub Continent.

It's really amazing to see how these people tend to forget the facts so quickly. Some one has to speak up and remind these people the facts they try to forget.

History of The Issue

Let's just go back to the history. At the time of Murali-Hair affair took place in 1995, it was the duty of on-field umpires to judge a delivery as illegal or "thrown" on with visual judgment alone. The accepted way of doing this was, the square leg umpire to watch the bowlers arm and make the judgment. Because the head umpire (standing behind the non-strikers wicket) is assigned with a duty to watching the bowlers front leg for over stepping, at the point of ball leaving the bowlers hand. No human being could watch a bowlers front leg, and the elbow positioning of the bowler, at a same instance when the ball is delivered.

But Australian umpire Darrel Hair did that miracle. He re-written the history book, as the first umpire in the history of cricket, to call a bowler for throwing while standing in the head umpire's position. So, it was very clear that Mr. Hair was deliberate of calling Murali for throwing, and therefore he forgot that "throwing" should be called by the square leg umpire.

This issue was raised before the ICC by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, and ICC demanded an investigation into Murali's action. In an biomechanical test done with Murali's hand, it was revealed that his elbow had an unusual tilt at his birth. This tilt, would have actually helped Murali in turning the ball, but it was nothing purposely adjusted by Murali.

Biomechanical Test in 2004 ICC Champions Trophy

With the topic of "throwing" becoming a hot topic in Cricket World, during late 90's, ICC conducted a biomechanical test, using sophisticated technology. And, in those tests it was discovered that it is virtually impossible for the human arm to legally "bowl" the ball without any flex of the elbow, more than 15 degrees. The old law allowed to bend the elbow 10 degrees for fast bowlers, 7.5 degrees for medium pacers , and 5 degrees for spin bowlers. Thus according to the old laws, "legal" bowling would be practically impossible for any human being, so some thing had to be done.

After the Muralitharan issue, the ICC carried out a test on all bowlers through video footage during the 2004 Champions Trophy in England. The test brought up some startling results: ninety-nine percent of all bowlers tested were found to flex their elbow to some degree, which was often much greater than the limit set at the time. According to this test, all the Australian bowlers in 2004 Champions Trophy were also chuckers. Looking at some of the old video footages of some great Australian fast bowlers in the past, it was revealed that all of them were chuckers according to this old law.

Change of Rules

It was realized that 99% of the modern day bowlers are chuckers, under the old law of "throwing". So, what can ICC do? Ban all the bowlers? Including Shane Warne, McGrath and Shaun Pollock? The only way forward for ICC was to change the rules.

After a review by an expert panel, the ICC decided to raise the limit to 15 degrees for all bowlers. This limit was chosen as the ICC believed that any flexing of the elbow above 15 degrees would be visibly noticeable.

So, I guess this summarize the whole story. The arguments of some pathetic Australian fans are completely invalid. ICC did not changed the rules to accommodate Murali's action. They did change the rules, after they realized that the old rules were wrong, and it's humanly impossible to be abide by those rules (for 99% of the bowlers, to be precise. Including Shane Warne. Not only Murali).

Dates Fixed for Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan Series in Abu Dhabi

Last few days the cricket world was so busy discussing the legitimacy of Gilchrist's hidden ball, so the attention was taken away from the future events in the playing field.

I'm now bit (may be a lot) bored about the debate about the squash ball, because the things has moved far away from the core of the problem (Whether it was legal or not?). A simple issue which could have been solved by a single statement from the cricket committee of the ICC, now has moved to a big controversy with some Sri Lankan fans talking about a replay of the finals, and some Australians accusing us "sore losers" who cry for the loss in the WC final. I'm not surprised about the reaction of Australian fans, because it's their way of reacting to things unfavorable for them. They simply make some racist comment about subcontinental players and fans, and move on. (Ask any of the black skinned player about how it feels like to play infront of a big crowd in Sydney or Perth) They describe everything from the angle of winning and losing. Not from the aspect of what is right and wrong. Something fundamentally wrong I guess.

Finally, since the issue is now discussed at the top level of the game (not at few blog posts here and there), I'm bit relieved that we would see an end to the controversy pretty soon.

More importantly, we have some "real cricket" coming up in couple of weeks, as the dates for Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan series in Abu Dhabi has finally fixed.

The first of the three match series will be played on 18th of May, followed by the second match on 20th May and the last match on 22nd May. The sad news is Sri Lanka will be missing Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara who have county commitments in England.

Sri Lanka Cricket to question the legality of Gilly's "Hidden Ball" in next ICC Meeting

The longest ever cricket world cup took 47 days to conclude with a dramatic final between Australia and Sri Lanka, but yet it's not all over. Adam Gilchrist's "Squashed innings" which scored 149 off just 104 balls, while all the other Australian batsmen were struggling to score more than run a ball is now the hottest topic in the cricket world. This adds as yet another incident to the Australia's long history of "cheating in cricket", which includes the famous "under arm last ball" by Trevor Chapel, under the advice of then captain Greg Chapel, in an ODI against New Zealand.



So far, the legality of Gilly's innings was questioned by only the cricket fans and by few members of the blogging community. There's enough evidence to say that what Gilly did was illegal. A Squash ball cannot be a cricketing equipment, under any law either in Cricket law books or Squash law books. Australian cricket blogger JC, indirectly admitted that "a squash ball won the world cup for their country". All independent analysts (I mean, independent from Australia) agree that the facts raised by churumuri and some of the commenters in that thread, are un deniable. If you are an Australian, it would be hard to swallow most of the facts raised their. It's natural!

But what can a blogging community and fans do about this matter? Nothing but persuading the officials to take some action. I did the exact thing, by writing to some of the leading press and electronic media in Sri Lanka, to build a pressure on Sri Lanka Cricket, to bring this matter up. Then I realized I'm not alone! There were thousands of letters to editors, to some of the leading newspapers in Sri Lanka regarding this issue.

One such cricket fan write to The Island and says "Gilchrist has openly explained that it helped his grip and that means he has used an external substance other than those provided to enhance his batting. We are also perturbed at the Australians’ openly floundering the match rules and getting away. Sri Lanka feel robbed and rightfully so. You may feel that some of this grumbling is due to that"

Now the good news from cricket's point of view is, Australia is not going to get away this time. Sri Lanka Cricket's interim committee official, K. Mathivathan told The Island today that Sri Lanka Cricket will take this as a serious issue, and take the matter to net ICC meeting scheduled to June. He further added "It's unethical for Adam to do that, and laws could be brought to prevent doing such things in the future"

So, the cricket fans around the world now can be assured that Aussies will not be allow to just cheat like this and get away with it easily. But I personally, don't like the argument that the World Cup should be taken away from the Aussies, or the final should be played again. All in all Aussies have now won the world cup (even if it was by cheating), and now it's theirs for another 4 years. So let them posses it, break it or do what ever they want to do with it. What we want as cricket fans is justice. We want a clear statement from ICC that "It is illegal to use squash balls in cricket matches, and what Adam Gilchrist did was similar to what Ben Johnson did in 1988 Olympics"

Did Gilly Cheat? Can a Squash Ball be a permitted Cricketing Equipment under Law 3 (6) (c) (i) of Cricket?

CRICKET fans on the sub-continent have questioned Adam Gilchrist's match-winning innings in the World Cup final because he had a squash ball inside his batting glove.

I first came across with this question, on one of my blog posts about Gilly's batting glove signal. Then I saw, some one has raised the question on Yahoo Answers.

Most interesting and convincing analysis came from this post titled "How legal was Adam Gilchrist’s hidden ball?" (Of course the title is funny) Here the author refers to the laws of cricket and points..

"In other words, Law 3 (6) (c) (i) specifically prohibits a player from using equipment other than that permitted. And nowhere in cricket’s 42 laws is there a mention of a squash ball as a permitted item."

A very logical question raised by the Sri Lankan cricket fans is "What if Sanath Jayasuriya came with a squash ball hidden inside his glove and score a century? Will the Australian media and Cricket authorities keep silent?"

This question is very logical given the behavior of Australian media and the authorities, when it comes to matters like ball tampering charges against Sri Lanka on a ROCK hard pitch in Perth, and calling Murali for chucking.

I don't think even if Sanath came with a squash ball hidden inside his glove, he couldn't play such a brilliant innings as Gilly that day. There's no debate about the excellence in Gilly's innings. The only question is, whether it is legal to use Squash balls in cricket? How would you differentiate this from Hansi Cronje using a walky talky on the field? Why don't the law allows bowlers to use extra plasters to tighten their grip on ball?

So the topic is wide open. "Did Gilly Cheat? Was it legal to do that?" That's the question. No questioning about the brilliance in his innings. Have your say in the vote caster on the sidebar of this blog. We'll wait how the ICC and other authorities take on this matter.