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Clarke for England

Thursday, September 11 2003

Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan have been awarded Life Membership of Cricket NSW at a Barbie in Sydney last week which saw Alan Davidson step down from the position of President. Cricket NSW returned a net profit last year of $2,002,724 which barely covered the bar tab at the AGM.

As an additional measure, the association voted unanimously to fully incorporate the NSW Sheilas Cricket Association into Cricket NSW. Funny. I thought Lillian Thomson opened the bowling for the Aussies 30 years ago.

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As September arrives, the thoughts of old, burned-out cricketers usually turn to a long retirement growing cabbages in their allotments, searching for their slippers and pushing shopping trolleys into people in the supermarket.

English batsmen, on the other hand, appear to have had a new lease of life this year with Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and a bunch of other geriatrics looking forward to winters in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Caribbean.

Such a shame that 'Sir' Alec won't be with them, though. He will be at Stamford Bridge watching his beloved Chelski, sitting at the edge of the pitch wearing one of those nice red 'Chelsea Pensioners' uniforms.

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Well, that was a right kick in Latif for the Pakistani wicketkeeper, wasn't it? A five-game ban for 'claiming' a catch which, allegedly, had been grassed.

At 91-5 and with Alok Kapali and Rajin Saleh beginning to forge a partnership for Bangladesh, Yasir Ali found the outside edge of Kapali's bat and Rashid Latif appeared to take a fine, tumbling catch. The clue came when they turned up the stump-microphone and you could clearly hear the appeal from the keeper : "Oops! Er, I mean, how is that?"

Still, one man's loss is another man's extra portion of pudding at lunch. Pakistan's prodigal son, Inzy, now takes over the captaincy - which gives him the opportunity to set exactly the field he wants, i.e. him right next to the gate leading to the pavilion steps for the last over before the end of each session.

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In the midst of all the controversy surrounding Rashid Latif's 'unfair catch', and the excitement brought about by Bangladesh ALMOST winning a test match, one thing appears to have gone largely unnoticed - that of the dismissal of Younis Khan, run out without facing a ball.

Khaled Mahmud bowled to Inzy (who else?) who pushed the ball to Mohammad Ashraful at mid-off. The large one started the engine, engaged his feet and called Khan through for what appeared to be a regulation single.

Realising that he was running towards the danger end he dug in his heels, causing Khan to do likewise. Ashraful, predictably, misfielded the ball momentarily, allowing Pakistan's captain-to-be to scamper home. Khan, like a good non-striker, was watching his partner for advice - and was taken by surprise as a large, Inzamam-shaped blur raced past him like a starving man in a meat pie factory.

Knocked back by the slipstream, Younis Khan was still floundering when the direct hit saw him run out by a yard. Some things never change.

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One thing struck me regarding the England v South Africa test series - the standard of the umpiring was by and large superb. Sure, there were the odd mistakes - after all, umpires are human too - but overall the men in the middle were exemplary in their decision-making.

So take a bow messrs Harper, Venkat, Bucknor, Hair, Bowden and Taufel - especially Taufel.

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Clarkewatch, Dateline 10 September, 2003

The effect which one duck can have on the world of cricket can never be underestimated.

During this season, this column has extolled the virtues of one Rikki Clarke, Surrey all-rounder with the huge teeth potential, the prime cause of tectonic mayhem up and down the country on more than one occasion. Well, the Clarkemeister has made it - straight into the test and one-day squads for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

If he has a blinder of a tour, I take all the credit. If he doesn't, the phrase 'Stupid selectors must be listening to journalists instead of watching the players' springs to mind.

More later


Posted by Eddie