Sports Round-up

Badminton

Anthony Clark and Donna Kelloggs’ hopes of avenging their recent defeat by Zheng Bo and Gao Ling ended in disappointment in the Yonex Japan Open quarter-finals in Tokyo.

The national champions, who lost the Birmingham final in three games in March, went down in straight games, 21-12 21-17.

Basketball

Great Britain’s basketball team will effectively secure a place in the 2012 London Olympics if they get through the formality of today’s promotion play-off return leg in Switzerland.

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Cricket

Rahul Dravid has resigned as India captain to concentrate on his batting.

India and Pakistan drew their thrilling Twenty20 match in the World Cup yesterday. Both sides now progress.

Sri Lanka were in record-breaking mood when they beat Kenya by 172 runs in the competition in Johannesburg.

After their batsmen had hammered the Kenyan bowlers by amassing a record Twenty20 score of 260 for six, their attack ensured the Africans’ reply had the tone of a Test-match innings as they crawled to 88 for nine in 19.3 overs.

• Warwickshire have released left-arm seamer Adam Shantry and reserve wicketkeeper Michael Barnes.

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Golf

England won the Ladies Amateur Home International Championship for the 13th time in 16 years when they overcame Ireland 5.5-3.5 at Dunbar.

They were virtually assured of retaining their crown when they won two and halved the third foursomes encounter. Then Kerry Smith and Elizabeth Bennett’s victory sealed the trophy.

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Hockey

Reading and Cannock, last season’s English League and Cup winners, meet at Sonning in their final warm-up match before the English League premier divisions commence next weekend.

Relegated Teddington start their first season in the English League’s South Division with a home match against Exeter University today.

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Tennis

Lindsay Davenport continued her comeback at the Bali Classic yesterday, reaching the semi-finals with an impressive 6-4 2-6 6-2 win over top seed and world No 3 Jelena Jankovic.

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American Football

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been fined $500,000 for using video to tape an opponent’s touchline signals when his side played the New York Jets.

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Rallying

Marcus Gronholm is to retire at the end of the season, bringing an end to a glittering career in which he has won two world titles and could complete it with a third.

“Rallying has been good to me for 20 years now and I’ve always dreamed of ending my career this way, on top,” the Finn said.

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Motorcycling

Casey Stoner was quickly up to speed for the Portuguese round of the World MotoGP Championship in which a ninth victory of a dominant campaign could see him take the crown.

The Ducati rider all but matched the Estoril circuit record as he ran fastest in both free practice sessions, although by only a third of a second from the five-times title winner Valentino Rossi.

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Rugby League

Castleford, the promotion favourites, and Widnes are the only Cooperative National League clubs who can compete in the Engage Super League next season after their stadiums were inspected and given the go-ahead by the Rugby Football League.

Sachin to dabble in tennis

Kolkata, Sept. 14 (PTI): Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, after having clobbered bowlers all these years with his willow, is now all set to try his hand in tennis alongside the likes of Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi.

Tendulkar, who would be here next Tuesday to take part in some promotional events of the US$ 175,000 WTA Sunfeast Open, was scheduled to play a mixed doubles match in the evening where the two tennis stars and another celebrity – yet unnamed – were slated to feature.

Before the fun tennis game, Tendulkar would visit the avenue of stars at the nearby millennium park on the bank of the Hoogly in the morning and put his handprint, according to media release issued by tournament sponsors ITC Foods.

Tendulkar is one of the brand ambassadors of Sunfeast, the confectionary brand of ITC Foods.

A source said while the injured Sania’s participation in the tournament was uncertain, she would participate in some of the sideshows including the fun tennis game.

Besides, the organisers have – as in previous years – arranged for a buggy ride with all the players through some select spots of the metropolis on Monday, the opening day of the tournament main draw.

In the evening, the tennis beauties would walk the ramp with popular fashion models.

The tournaments marquee players Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko would also visit the avenue of stars on September 19 morning.

Sachin leads race, sounded out for post

NEW DELHI, September 14: The big smiles were on for BCCI’s Indian Premier League (IPL) announcement. Sharad Pawar, Ray Mali and Creagh O’Connor posed for pictures with the cricket biggies – Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Stephen Fleming and Glenn McGrath. Soon everyone repaired to Maurya Sheraton’s Kamal Mahal for cocktails.

As the decibel level grew, Pawar withdrew from the party with Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin was taken into confidence. Dravid has resigned as captain, he was told. Sachin has always pitched in for Indian cricket; would he pitch in once more – this time as captain?

Sachin didn’t respond right away, but is learnt to have given his ‘in principle’ nod. He wanted some time to think it through, he said. Until then he wanted no announcement, no loose talk.

On Friday, Sachin cancelled an appointment in Kolkata for September 18 where he was to make an appearance for a biscuit company. That day India’s team for the ODI series against Australia is to be announced. The captain usually plays a key role in the team’s formation. Is this why Sachin cancelled his Kolkata appointment?

BCCI sources told TOI that Sachin was certainly the frontrunner. It was really up to him to decide. “If Sachin says ‘yes’, then the issue is settled. But if he says ‘no’, then we will have to look for someone,” said the source. And who would that be? Sourav Ganguly? The source said that was unlikely, “It will be probably Dhoni.”

Other BCCI sources said there was some talk of having two captains – one for Tests and another for ODIs. If this proposal goes through, Sachin would be made the captain for Tests, while Dhoni would get a leg up and become the ODI captain in addition to his Twenty20 captaincy.

Gives up top job to focus on batting

NEW DELHI, September 14: Sharad Pawar was on a high on Thursday. The final little piece had fallen in place and he was ready to unveil his latest grand scheme – the Indian Premier League (IPL), BCCI’s Twenty20 tournament that could deliver a killer punch to the rebel Indian Cricket League. Pawar’s smile was, therefore, big. He was looking forward to making the announcement to the media, flanked by ICC chief Ray Mali and Australian cricket president Creagh O’Connor.

Then skipper Rahul Dravid asked to have a word with him. Pawar may have had an inkling of what was coming – Dravid had apparently brought up the subject before, including during the tour of England. Sure enough, Dravid came to the point straight – he wanted to quit as captain right away. He was ready to play under anyone, he added. But why, asked Pawar.

Personal reasons, sir, Dravid is learnt to have said. He added his batting was getting affected and he would like to focus on his game.

Pawar’s shrewd mind began ticking. If this news leaked out, it would steal his thunder – the IPL story would be a mere footnote in the Captain Quitting blockbuster. Don’t breathe a word about this, he urged Dravid. He himself didn’t share the news with many BCCI colleagues. He, however, told Dilip Vengsarkar. A new captain had to be found. And quickly, as the team for the ODI series was going to be announced five days later.

But why did Dravid quit? His record as captain wasn’t that bad. In fact, of all Indian cricket captains, his away-match record is the best. In the last couple of series Dravid’s batting might have been not so good, but otherwise he was playing well. So was it true that his batting was getting affected by the pressures of captaincy? Or, were there other reasons for quitting?

Dravid was incommunicado. He switched off his mobile on Friday, but a reporter with BBC claims to have talked to him.

Dravid told him the pressure of captaincy was getting under his skin and he was no longer enjoying the game.

A friend of Dravid told TOI: “Captaincy in India requires skills beyond the field. Things are always written about the captain, some of it informed, some uninformed. The captain needs to cultivate a set of journalists to whom he can give the real story. He needs to do this and much more. Frankly, Dravid wasn’t up to all this.”

When did he realise he wasn’t up to it? Quite some time back, said the friend. “But he didn’t want to be dubbed a quitter. After the England series, he thought he could announce his decision.”

Curry goat cricket gets an international flavour

WELL, IMAGINE this folks, there’s now a World Cup for curry goat cricket.

Yep, yam-lickers from Portland to Hanover, dust off your gloves and pads, oil up that bat and swing for the hills and you too could be a world champion one day. The ultra-abbreviated Twenty20 game is consolidating its place on the world cricket landscape with the championship tournament in South Africa and it’s providing pure cricket entertainment without conscience.

The batsmen get the green light to slog from the get-go and there’s really not much the bowlers and captains can do to stem the avalanche of runs – particularly on these ever-shrinking international grounds.

If a batsman gets out playing the worst shot ever invented, well, that was what he was supposed to do. There’s no place for dilly-dallying or playing yourself in – it’s swing, swing and swing again and damn the torpedoes.

Of course, this game further marginalises bowlers who are basically on a hiding to nothing. Not only do field restrictions and bouncer rules carry over from the original one-day game but the bowlers are also further encumbered by a ‘free hit’ awarded after a no-ball is delivered.

Why not just get bowling machines at both ends and be done with the superfluous hurlers once and for all? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind not going for about 15 an over one likkle bit.

To make things just a little fairer for the bowlers, why can’t each wicket also result in five runs being taken from the batting side’s score and off the bowler’s figures?

Adopt baseball principle

Also, why can’t the baseball principle be adopted where a catch is a catch regardless of where it is taken so, for argument’s sake, a boundary fielder could complete a catch over the line or even by reaching into the crowd?

Meanwhile, captaining in the field must be like getting churned around in a washing machine when the batsmen are in full fIight and your bowlers are getting hammered from you-know-where to breakfast.

All the skipper can do is change his bowlers as often as possible so the batsman can’t get a bead on any particular bowler and place the fielders where the ball just might be hit to them.

Still, introducing new people to this hyped-up version of the game aside, I can’t see any real positive spill-over into Test cricket.

While the once maligned one-day cricket has led to superior fielding techniques and faster run rates in the five-day game, this slugfest has nothing particularly tangible to add because of the unorthodoxy of the batting and wanton battering of the bowling.

Thinking is also optional in Twenty/20 cricket as it’s better to just close your eyes and slog. That, of course, suits people like me just fine.

Don’t be surprised to see some white guy at a cricket field near you soon because this kind of ‘dumb’ cricket is right up my street.

Twenty20 a shot in the arm for the game

To me, this great game of cricket has brought different meanings at various stages of my career. Even my perception on the various formats of the sport has been changing constantly.

Initially, I did learn to accept the limited-overs version with certain amount of scepticism. But now, it appears as if limited-over formats are the order of the day.

It’s early days, but I have a feeling that Twenty 20 cricket might do a world of good, which can only benefit all forms of the game. That this latest and shortened version of cricket has been given World Cup status in such a short span of time is a clear pointer that fans are demanding even more excitement.

There is no doubt that the emergence of limited-overs World Cup in 1975 went a long way in subtly bringing more urgency into the Test arena. The number of drawn Test matches has certainly fallen during the last thirty years.

Apart from being a huge hit with fans craving for a result in a single day, ODIs also proved to be a financial life-saver for those running the game. Being the president of the WACA, I would be interested to see just what effect Twenty-20 cricket has on the game in general.

The purists and authors of coaching manuals might be horrified but this latest version could tempt the taste buds of youngsters and get more kids to at least have an initial crack at cricket.

With competition between sports to attract new recruits already fierce, one can assume that the introduction of Twenty20 should be a shot in the arm for cricket.

Twenty20 cricket hasn’t been around long enough for any major tactics, beyond crash and bash , to be formulated but if world class players are involved then their pride and competitive juices will force them to sort things out.

The appeal of Twenty 20 spectators is enormous in this day and age when not everyone can afford time to watch a five-day Test — or a limited-overs international for that matter.

At Perth, we found cricket fans were greatly attracted by the prospect of coming down to the WACA in the twilight to watch an inter-state game which finished under lights in around three hours. Tests must always be the flagship of cricket, but one-day games are just as important in keeping our great game afloat.