Flat as a pancake

by Scott Wickstein

So I was listening to the cricket last night and talking to Michael, who was watching it on TV, and everyone agreed that the Trent Bridge track was as flat as a pancake.

You can figure that out by the fact that a 'dispirited' New Zealand ran up 295 for 4 at stumps on the first day of the Third Test against England last night.

And it would have been even worse for England if Steve Harmison hadn't taken a couple of wickets late in the day with the second new ball.

Certainly the Kiwis batted well, by all reports, but the bowlers had barely a hope of assistance, and a Test batsman who is able to get set and gets his head down is sure to make a big score.

A plea from the heart- no more flat tracks, please. No one can doubt we are in a golden age of batsmanship and there is a shortage of quality bowlers to get them out. This may lead to a feast of strokeplay, but I always did have this notion that cricket was supposed to be a contest between bat and ball.

This is a global problem. In Australia last summer we had four individual scores over 200 in three tests, (and a 195). A double century, traditionally, was a rarity, once every couple of summers sort of thing.

Since October, we've seen a 400, 2 300's and at least 6 200s. (Plus a rash of 190s- 3 at least.)

What is a century worth these days, in such inflationary times? Sure, there's a real shortage of bowlers going around- but it is not good for cricket in the long run.

Anyway, there's still plenty of runs in this Trent Bridge track- and a 100 for anyone that cares to get stuck in and not give his wicket away.

BlogFC

by Scott Wickstein

I've been reliably informed that the best blog to get all the latest Euro 2004 news and views is the great BlogFC, so keep an eagle eye on that one.

My grandfather on my Mum's side is Welsh, so I don't have a horse in that particular race. If Alan Shearer was still playing for England, I'd probably go for them, but he's not. My family on my Dad's side of the family is German but I'm not going for them- they were by far the most boring side of the World Cup in 2002.

France at their best play the most watchable brand of football so I will support them.

Actually there's a casino here in Adelaide with a decent sports bar so I 'might' go along there to watch a few games. France vs England would be worth watching, and I might pop along to see Spain play as well- surely they can't make a total mess of it again?

(Hat Tip- Arseblog)

Round 12 Preview

by Scott Wickstein

Friday Night

Carlton vs Hawthorn, Docklands

Can it get any worse for the Hawks? Probably not, but that doesn't mean they can win here. The key to Carlton is Brendan Fevola, and there really is not anyone in the Hawthorn lineup who can stop him. Sure, Jonathan Hay is named on him, but after a break it will not be so easy for him.

It is an old football truism that the darkest hour is just before dawn but it has been more then 40 years since the Glenferrie boys have known such hard times. There will be no dawn for Hawthorn in 2004.

For Carlton, who have been through some horrible times in the last two and a half seasons, this could be a celebration of sorts- back to back wins are a rare thing for the Blueboys.

It can not be taken for granted, of course, but Carlton need only to sober up after last week's sensational comeback win to get the four points here.

Saturday

Footscray vs St Kilda, MCG

Footscray's troubles have not been as chronic as Hawthorn, but they are in even more trouble. Whatever happens at Glenferrie, sooner or later the faithful will be back, passionate and paid up.

But in the West, there is no salvation off the field- and not much more on the field either. They are passionate enough but they just are not up to the standard required. No one fears the Dogs anymore. After a reasonable first half, they were brushed aside with ease by Geelong. Against a classy side rebounding after a poor performance last week, you might expect the Dogs to be blown off the park.

The Saints were lucky- they went through a dreadful trough at the right time in the TV rights cycle. The temptation to relocate or abolish the Dogs when the next TV deal comes up must be strong.

St Kilda, as I suspected, had a bad day last weekend, although I didn't expect Sydney to capitalise so well. But they will return to their old ways this week. It's going to be all too easy for them, I fear. This game will only be on Fox Footy and I'd pay not to watch this travesty of a contest

Saturday Night

Essendon vs Brisbane, Docklands

On paper the match of the round. Essendon don't need to worry about aggression in this fixture- they will get the real deal, and if Brisbane chose to attack Essendon players in the Hawthorn style, half the Dons list would be put in hospital.

Happily, Brisbane prefer to attack the ball, and they will be keen to put the heat on the Bombers, who have earned their reputation for beating the weakest teams in the competition. The only quality opponents Essendon have played this year have been Port Adelaide, who beat them by 16 goals.

Brisbane have been hosting Melbourne and Port Adelaide, and have seen them off in fine style. A win here will mean more to Essendon, who have not really proven themselves in 2004, but that in itself will be enough to motivate the Lions.

The match-ups in this fixture are always a droolfest, and this is no exception, but I think Brisbane have just that little bit extra.

West Coast vs Adelaide, Subiaco

Clash of the underacheivers. The main interest is in what sort of deal West Coast will offer to Adelaide for midfield/tagger Tyson Steglein who is looking to return to the West.

West Coast do at least play well at home and should see off the Crows who are going from bad to worse. Nigel Smart has been dropped after a poor game last week; the view in Adelaide media circles is that this is the end of the road for a dual premiership player who tried to play a season too many.

Sunday

Port Adelaide vs Sydney, Football Park

The Power will welcome back Peter Burgoyne and still have hopes that Chad Cornes will regain fitness; Sydney will fret over the casualties from their great win over St Kilda.

Sydney have a sniff here, and Port Adelaide will not have forgotten Sydney's famous victory last year in the finals. Neither side plays with the authority it did last year but Port still have the more to like, and should pick up the points here.

Geelong vs North Melbourne, Kardinia Park

Who wudda thunk it? Geelong are becoming famously reliable and North are being condemned for being inconsistent. Next thing you know they will be praising my sobriety.

The young Cats are a very solid outfit, graced with the occasional burst of Ablett brilliance. They have not let their fans down for two months solid now and are well placed to have a say in September.

North Melbourne, meanwhile, are as variable as the Melbourne weather- their best is very good indeed while their worst is diabolical. So we know that Geelong will turn out on Sunday and give a solid performance. The fate of the match is in North Melbourne's hands- which is no longer the steady set of hands as they were of old, or even last year.

They beat Richmond last week so they are due a poor game, in which case Geelong will dispose of them easily.

Richmond vs Fremantle, MCG

Richmond will be hoping for a rain dance after Freo's surrender in the wet against Melbourne. The fact that they hope for such is a savage indictment of their playing list and their coach, because any side with a modicum of self-respect would fancy their chances of beating the inconsistent and out of form Dockers away from home.

It's time and perhaps past time for Matthew Pavlich to step up and take on the Tigers and win the game through superior character and leadership. He did this last year in the famous "heritage" game against North last year. But such performances are too sporadic for a player of his class. It is time he shook off the 'potential' tag and became one of the real stars of the competition.

Or else he will be tagged as the next Matthew Richardson.

I will tip Richmond here with the trepidation that any man who tips Richmond does so.

Monday

Melbourne vs Collingwood, MCG

For the first time in a while Melbourne go in to the Queens Birthday match as favourites. And facing a Collingwood sans Tarrant, they should win. They can't be taken seriously as a real Premiership threat yet, but surely they are good enough to see off middle-road sides like Collingwood.

Buckley's return won't save the Maggies, who will simply be overwhelmed by the hydra headed Melbourne forward line.

I like this photo

by Scott Wickstein

20-20 Vision

by Scott Wickstein

The ECB is pushing for an international version of its 20-20 format of ODI cricket. This is a 20 over a side hit and giggle affair. It apparently has brought a new generation of fans to the game in England.

You know, like limited overs matches did a generation ago.

I hate to sound like an old fuddy-duddy but what a load of bollocks. The fact is that the game in England has been so badly mismanaged that they can not take an easy to present game like cricket and make it attractive to contemporary audiences.

Australian cricket lovers should not waste a moment on this sort of nonsense.

In writing all this I am aware that the ghosts of Pundits past are pointing out that critics of Limited overs cricket wrote all this in the 1960s. However, back then they did not have limited overs cricket, whereas we do.

This is not being introduced because cricket needs it- it is being introduced because of the incompetence of English administrators over several generations.

Euro 2004

by Scott Wickstein

I rather gather that there's some sort of soccer tournament starting later this week in Portugal. All the big European soccer nations are going battle. Good luck to them!

I'd love to tell you all about it but I don't actually know that much about the European soccer nations, and unfortunatly the tournament will only be broadcast on Foxtel, the Australian satellite TV company.

And I gave up my Foxtel subscription during a recent move, and I won't be able to get it connected in time.

So my advice is to log onto any European soccer site or newspaper, where you'll get wall to wall coverage. Try this one for size.

Ubersportingpundit- where we know when we're beaten.

Sri Lanka ask for rule changes

by Scott Wickstein

Because he can't comply with the Laws of the game, Sri Lanka have asked the ICC to change the Laws of the game.

So let me get this straight. Murali can't comply with the Laws so it is obviouly the Laws that are at fault. Silly me.

Right. And while we are at it we'll allow our fast bowlers to ignore the front-foot no ball rule. Everyone knows that Brett Lee would be a lot more dangerous bowler if he didn't have to worry about that little white line.

What's that you say? You don't fancy facing Brett Lee or Shoiab Aktar from 17 meters away? I wonder why.

Meanwhile, that fiesty crusader, Tone the Terrible, has spotted a quite excellent article by Tony Cozier. Money quote:

In the meantime, the ICC has moved to give the throwers even more latitude.

It has introduced what it calls "levels of tolerance (that) reflect the reality that most bowlers straighten their arm to some degree when bowling."

It is an awareness that seems to have escaped the game's administrators over the past 200 years or so. Those bowlers that did "straighten their arms to some degree" were previously known as throwers.

Remember, this is Tony Cozier writing this- who saw every great West Indian bowler from Andy Roberts to Curtly Ambrose. None of whom needed to straighten the arm.

When the West Indies didn produce a bowler whose action was not quite right, in Jermaine Lawson, they withdrew him from the team and fixed up his action. No dramas, and no mutterings. Muttiah Muralithiran, take note.

No Class

by Scott Wickstein

I might be the only person left who actually watches "Talking Footy" from time to time. This show used to be 'must see' TV for the AFL fan who had even a modicum of intellectual curiousity about the game.

It hasn't gone down as far as the "Footy Show", which is beyond the pale as far as I'm concerned, but it has a 'media watch' segement run by radio "personality" Steve Price.

Crikey.com.au published this piece on the show last month. On Price, Crikey's correspondent had this to say:

An innovation introduced by the Talking Footy team this year has been the Price Check segment. This involves 2UE's Steve Price providing a weekly critique of the performance of the football media. In theory this is a good idea. However in execution it's found severely wanting.

Price is using his segment to play politics, settle scores and pump up his mates. A few weeks ago he provided his "Top Ten" lists of the best and worst of the media performers who are ex-footballers.

Price, by the way, sued Stephen Mayne, the founder of Crikey.com.au in a nasty defamation suit a few years ago- so he's not going to get a good press there.

But anyway, Price managed to get into a slanging match with Kevin Bartlett, a harmless sports broadcaster who did manage to play over 400 games of AFL football. Given that Price is sharp with a writ, Bartlett was forced to apologise for something he said about Price on his radio show, and video footage of Bartlett reading out his apology was shown on Price's segment on his television segment.

Price clearly enjoyed it. It struck me as a particularly squalid and petty thing to do though.

My real concern is that whoever is in charge of the show let him get away with it. For a television show that tries to present something of an 'upmarket' image of itself, it is just bizzare that they allowed such a tacky stunt to be performed.

Column Creep

by Scott Wickstein

It can be a tough gig when you are a sports writer with a deadline. The problem is that most sports take place on a weekend, leaving the poor old scribe scratching his head wondering what to fill in his Wednesday Column.

Here at Ubersportingpundit, we take a day off if we don't have anything to say. In the newspaper industry, it is not so easy. The editor is not likely to be pleased if he has to stick a picture of a rose on the back page because his sporting hack has had a day off.

The AFL, always keen to 'help' its media partners, have come up with a new way of giving us something to write about during the week, with the establishment of the 'AFL Tribunal'. This body has proved to be the scribe's best friend, being an endless source of news and stories for which they can comment on.

And the Tribunal was wonderfully productive last night with the massive penalties handed down in the wake of the skirmish that took place in the Essendon vs Hawthorn game on the weekend. Nearly $70,000 will wind its way to AFL headquarters and four Hawthorn players will receive unexpected vacations. Justin Murphy also gets a rest.

Enough there, perhaps, to write a sensible column, you might think. My first reaction was to spy this little paragraph at the end of the AFL press release:

Meanwhile, Hawthorn's training session at Glenferrie Oval, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, has been called off. Coach Peter Schwab's weekly press conference has also been cancelled.

Curious, isn't it? Have the moved it elsewhere? Surely they must have. Given the way they are travelling, don't you think they might need an extra session?

And what about Peter Schwab cancelling his press conference? I can understand that coaches hate these media duties, but the plain fact is that part of the job is to communicate to the fans where the club is going, and what it proposes to do in the rest of the season. Pity the poor old Hawk fans, passionate and paid up, that want answers to questions.

Alas, Patrick Smith does not consider any of these questions in his column. Instead, he's getting right stuck into the governance of the Hawthorn club and is demanding that the AFL intervene:

The AFL must investigate what happened in the Hawthorn rooms at half-time. It is not good enough for chief executive Andrew Demetriou to say now that what took place in the Hawthorn rooms is replicated regularly in other teams and other leagues around the country. That is an unsustainable position.

If Demetriou's argument had any merit then brawls and 15-game suspensions would be regular occurrences. That they aren't indicates what happened at half-time at the MCG on Saturday was exceptional, uncharacteristic and possibly inappropriate. The AFL needs to know what was said and why. And officials and not just the players must take responsibility for the madness that erupted in the third quarter. It has probed similar circumstances before and it must do so again.

If Smith's argument had any merit, I suspect Andrew Demetriou, not a man to let grass grow under his feet, would have intervened decisively.

Of course, the AFL doesn't need to know what was said or why. The clubs are independant entities, responsible to their members, and should be big enough to take responsibility for their own affairs. If they stuff up, like Hawthorn appear to have done, then they are answerable to the AFL tribunal, where money shall be extracted and vacations awarded.

As for officials being held accountable, I certainly agree that they should be; they should be accountable to the members of the club.

Smith labours under the delusion that having an all powerful AFL is the best way to run the game, when really its role should be confined to running the tribunal, organising the fixtures list, and extracting the maximum possible money out of broadcasting rights.

One need only look to cricket and see how well the ICC is doing trying to run a sport which is much better off being run by the national teams, which are the equivelent of clubs.

I pray I don't ever end up being as pompous as Patrick Smith. Thank goodness for comments boxes where I can be sure you readers will throw tomatoes at me if I end up like that.

Cricket Singles.

by Scott Wickstein

Former Australian Test opener Michael Slater is to announce his retirement tomorrow. Slater has been fighting ill health over the last two seasons that have forced him onto the fringes of the NSW side.

Slater was the herald to a new generation of Australian batsmanship with his aggression and energy. He beat Matthew Hayden out of a vacant opener's spot in the 1993 tour of England and had a up and down career which saw him score 5312 runs at 42.83 with 14 centuries.

My personal favorite was his 176 at the Gabba against England.

*

Australian Chairman of Selectors Trevor Hohns has fired a warning to Glenn McGrath, suggesting that he was 'too slow' and would have to perform in the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka if he was to extend his 95 Test career.

I am personally displeased by Hohn's remarks. McGrath is a cool, professional figure, and does not need to be given a verbal cuff around the ears in public.

*

Muttiah Muralitharan has threatened to sue former Indian captain Bishan Bedi for 'defamatory remarks' about his bowling action. In fact, it seems Bedi went further then that, and Murali's legal eagles report:

"Bedi has always maintained that Muralitharan's bowling action was illegal and recently wrote in a leading sports magazine that cheating is a subcontinental trait. This is a very unfair comment to make."

Nevertheless, such a case could lead to some pretty interesting evidence being tendered, and I do not think Muralithiran really wants to take his chances in a courthouse.

*

English efforts to keep a lid on their press are proving only partially successful- Mike Selvey in the Guardian praises England for being ruthless, but Simon Briggs in the Telegraph asks "Are England ready to challenge for the Ashes?", and compares Harmison and Jones to McGrath and Gilchrist, suggesting that sections of the English cricket media are totally losing the plot.

Despite what I said yesterday, England are a very long way from the standard that Australia, and increasingly India, are able to play at.

Storm in a Coffee Mug?

by Scott Wickstein

The brawl between Essendon and Hawthorn that started on Saturday seems to be continuing in the sports pages. Kevin Sheedy is often praised for promoting the game, but I think a lot of what he says is over-rated; he often isn't very helpful, today's latest being a case in point. Sheedy has come out in the press and alleged that Mark Johnson was choked- that could have been better left for the tribunal to deal with.

Meanwhile it has emerged that the brawl had an impact on the social plans of the players:

In a separate incident, Essendon's Justin Murphy will answer a head-butting charge. He was charged on Sunday over an incident with Hawthorn's Simon Beaumont, who in turn was reported for striking Murphy.

In a twist, Murphy's and Beaumont's partners watched Saturday's game together and the four had planned a dinner for that night. The date was cancelled.

Essendon face Brisbane this week so they really need all hands on deck for that. Hawthorn, on the other hand, are in an even bigger hole then the Adelaide Crows, that is how bad they are going. They are facing the wooden spoon and Dermott Brereton might indeed find himself coaching the Hawks.

Meanwhile in other football scuttlebut, Port Adelaide are looking to extend Mark Williams' contract. With Hawthorn, Richmond, Western Bulldogs and Adelaide all likely to be in the market for new coaches next year, the Power are keen to retain their sometimes controversial coach, who is perhaps under-rated in the Melbourne press.

Shock Horror! Praise for England!

by Scott Wickstein

English cricket has been in the doldrums for a long time- but since 2000 there has been signs of improvement. I thought though that to convince me that there was serious improvement, though, I needed to see England beat New Zealand. I've always had a lot of respect for New Zealand cricket, lead by a canny captain and staffed by very determined cricketers.

Well, they have beaten New Zealand, once again, and quite convincingly too. It pains my Australian heart to say this but England are really quite a good side. They have now won 5 out of 6 Tests against West Indies and New Zealand. Playes like Harmison and Flintoff have taken a step up and new talents like Jones and Strauss have been discovered. Michael Vaughan seems to be a robust and respected captain.

After New Zealand put together a very solid first Innings, England batted quite well to get past it, scoring 526. It must be said that New Zealand's bowling was poor, on a Headingley pitch that was 'doin a bit' in the Yorkshire style. Tuffey, given the responsibility of leading the attack in Bond's absense, was particularly disappointing.

Also disappointing was Fleming, who seemed bemused by his inability to lift a surprisingly listless team.

And New Zealand's batting capitulation was very uncharacteristic. It is true England bowled well, but it is rare that New Zealand batsman capitulate in this way- they fell over quite limply. It was an easy thing for England to knock off a small target, to clinch a series win in a commanding style.

*

Bangladesh, alas, have fallen back into their bad old ways, and conceded a huge score to West Indies, with Ramnareh Sarwan running up 261 not out, and West Indies declaring at 559 for 4.

In their second innings they fell to 3 for 34, before holding out till stumps and are 66 for 3. Defeat seems inevitable, but I hope Bangladesh put up a good fight.

*

Given that keepers have been an important part of the series between the series between England and New Zealand, I have written a post on wicket-keeper batsmen over at Ubersportingpundit Cricket Extra

Monday's Experts - Round 11

by Anthony from Chippendale

Monday's Experts always know what's cooking
How the game was lost and how it could've been won...

1. Put the reincarnation of the "Electrifying Eighties" to one side. No one really got hurt and it had no impact on the result of the match. Much ado about nothing.

Let's be a bit more positive - what about the great marks? Riewoldt and Bartel should each take a bow. A few weeks back it seemed that Ashley Sampi had taken the mark of the year. But marks like Riewoldt's are just as spectacular and more deserving of the title. It was simply spectacular play.

And Fevola's goal late in the last quarter was magic. Not too many goals are generally kicked deep on that broadcast side at AAMI.

2. Last week this observer speculated that Fraser Gehrig might kick 100 goals for the season. But the G-Train was yesterday de-railed at the SCG. 0 kicks, 0 marks & 2 handballs.

Leo Barry was outstanding and it's rare that a full back will so clearly be BOG. But Gehrig did himself no favours. When the ball hit the ground he didn't try. And not once did he really chase Barry out of defence. He became a taller, stronger version of Medhurst or Farmer.

He could still kick the ton but he'll need to apply himself a little better when things don't go his way. Part of the achievement in kicking 100 goals is having the ability to, not only kick big bags, but to boot 2 or 3 when the chips are down.

And Jarred Crouch can add another notch to the belt with his shutdown job on Stephen Milne. Crouch has become the present day version of Andy Collins. He's the best small defender in the AFL. Not only does he shadow his opponent he collects possessions and kicks goals.

3. Grant Thomas might have given footy fans the signs earlier in the week with the trip to the movies. The players were tired and the lull was coming. Sydney played tight man on man footy in what was a pretty tough game. The Swans created a lot of packs and were better at the subsequent clearances.

People like John Newman seem to crap on each week about how high possession footy is in effective and ugly. Well yesterday Sydney's high possession game was a winner. The Swans continually handball and kicked short, particularly inside the defensive 50. Maybe Newman's problem is that the sides he sees playing high possession football don't have the skills to pull it off because there was nothing ineffective or ugly about the way the Swans went about it yesterday.

4. Can next Saturday night come quickly enough? Essendon & Brisbane at the "Pressure Cooker" should be cracker. Expect the Lions to once again draw a 50,000 plus crowd to the Docklands.

And a gutsy win at Subi and Collingwood's return to form should please the Melbourne front office in the lead up to their Holiday Monday game. And in the MCC Members there'll be plenty of tweed with leather patches on hand. And get the rug the out to save some seats!

5. The vultures will be circling the Crows at West Lake this week. And what was Gary Ayres doing taking three players along to the post-match press conference? Ayres would do well to rip the radio out of the car at the moment. KG & Cornesy kick off from 4pm (CST) today and the another switchboard meltdown is predicted.

6. Freo have lost 4 of their last 5 games and are struggling to shake their "Imposter" tag. They were outscored 6.7 to 0.0 that the last quarter of yesterday's game and in that final term Melbourne had 30 more possessions than Fremantle (72-42) with 18 Dockers having three possessions or less the that quarter.

If the Essendon - Brisbane and Melbourne - Collingwood games are the AFL's equivalent of Australian Idol, then next week's Tigers - Dockers game is Popstars! If ever a game is going to stink then it's this one.

7. Comettism of the Week - Two good ones this week.
a. "It's all arms but no sign of Hans Blix."

b. Dermott had just finished giving Dennis a wrap for highlighting a good point.
"You sound surprised that occasionally I get things right. On the outside I'm a slap happy guy and good dancer. But I can talk tactics!"

Brian Lara is a God

by Michael Jennings

In terms of his simple ability to take a game or series that appears to be going against him and completely turn it around, Brian Lara is one of the two best batsmen I have every seen, the other being Vivian Richards. In particular, Lara seems to reserve his best for those moment when all hope seems to be gone. He did it against Australia in 1999, and (from the point of view of his career) he did it against England just a month ago.

Which was why I found it ominous when he announced going in to the second test against Bangladesh that he was going to resign the West Indian captaincy if the West Indians did not win the match. Clearly he was trying to contrive one of those situations where he would personally deliver his best. While he was undoubtedly perfectly sincere in what he said, one also got the impression that he was psyching himself up for a big one.

As it is, Bangladesh showed some fight at times batting first to score 284 in the first innings, but it was not going to be enough if Lara got going. And as it happens, he has got going. As I write, the West Indies are 2/267, with Lara 103 not out off 129 balls. One things that from here the West Indies are likely to compile a large first innings lead, and will then bowl out Bangladesh to win the match and series.

If this happens (as I think it likely will), then some people will probably suggest it is a return to (poor) form from Bangladesh after their fine fighting performance in the first test. I hope this doesn't happen, for when Lara gets going he can do this to anyone. It might be that Bangladesh simply have the misfortune to be in the way.

And just as an aside, Lara is now only 186 runs away from becoming the fourth batsman in test history (after Gavaskar, Border and Steve Waugh) to score 10000 runs. Whilst he probably won't do it in this match, he might.

And it would be a pleasure to see. Whatever might be said about Lara off field, and whatever might be said about his captaincy, the man is without question one of the greatest batsmen to ever play cricket.

Update: Lara out for 119 off 147 balls in 169 minutes. It was fun while it lasted anyway. West Indies are 3/294 with Ramnaresh Sarwan 106 not out, and are still in a very good position to win the match and series.

A bent argument

by Scott Wickstein

Sri Lankan 'spinner' Muralitharan has been named in the squad for Sri Lanka's tour of Australia next month and claims his action is legal:

"I am a patient person and as a spin bowler you learn that trait very quickly," said Murali. "I am adamant in my belief that I operate within the laws of the game, and that my action when delivering the doosra does not give me an unfair advantage. I am confident that the tests and research by the relevant authorities will conclusively prove that my action when delivering the doosra is legal."

I am dismayed that he has changed his mind and that he's going to tour. As far as I am concerned, his bowling action is quite illegal, and I can not in all honesty regard his records as legitimate, nor can I welcome him as a fan.

Imagine if a batsman was allowed to use a larger bat then the Laws of the game permit. That is an exact analogy with this situation. The ICC have subverted the Laws of the game in order to benefit one individual. It is a disgrace.

Muralithiran's defenders are getting remarkably assertive. Amidextri, for example, wants John Howard to apologise for calling Muralithiran a chucker.

And his argument in defence of Muralithiran is, well, astonishing:

My argument is a simple one: allowed straightening of the arm for a spinner is 5 degrees, for a fast bowler 10 degrees. That should be changed. If a fast bowler can obtain 10kmp/h extra by straightening his arm by 10 degrees then a spinner should have the same right to gain a bit of extra bite and kick.

So if Murali's is at 10 degrees then he's not a chucker. If the doosra is at 14 degrees then he should be called, but what umpire can see that in a game?

Tests carried out at the University of Western Australia revealed that Muralitharan's arm when bowling the doosra straightened by 14 degrees. This flexing was reduced to 10.2 degrees after remedial action.

What's remedial action? That he got another chance? Does that mean that he can bowl the doosra with only 10 degrees straightening? If so, then it's a legal delivery.

The biggest problem here is checking on the legality of every ball he bowls. Having camera's watching him every game is ridiculous. Umpires cannot decide on their own whim to call him, and certainly cannot see with the naked eye if a delivery is legal or not. So that means Murali will have to be trusted to bowl within the legal limits. And I don't have any more of a problem with that than I do in trusting, say, Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhtar to keep a straight arm while looking for the speed record and an unconscious batsman.

Now, no umpire is going to dare report or call Muralithiran, so let's not quibble about that. But it seems to me that AmbiDextri is arguing that chucking is okay, as long as it is within certain limits.

It seems to me rather like arguing that an armed robber can continue to ply his trade, so long as his firearm is within a certain calibre. It is an astonishing argument that we should abandon the Laws of the game rather then take a stand for fair play, sportsmanship, and the Spirit of cricket.

ALL chuckers should be called, whenever the umpire sees that there is something not quite right with the action. If you can not agree with that, then what other Law would you not wish to see enforced? The front-foot no ball Law? The Leg-before-wicket Law?

The guy is an out and out cheat. How many batsmen have had their Test careers ruined because of him? Andrew Symonds might be the latest but he's not the first. And because of the cowardice of the ICC and the indifference of the so-called fans of the game, he's not going to be the last either.

Early thoughts on Jose Mourinho

by Scott Wickstein

The task before Chelsea's new manager Jose Mourinho is bigger then it perhaps looks. I suspect that he must win the Premiership to keep his job. Even winning the FA Cup might not be enough, although that is certainly not an easy task.

Jose Mourinho is talking about bringing in a continental style of management, having a technical director, who looks after the wider details of developing players. It might work at Chelsea, it might not.

I think, given the nature of Mourinho's employer, it is a good idea. The first role of the manager is to manage the seniors, and get them to win the title- having a technical director will help keep his mind on the job.

To that end, Mourinho has made a few things clear- he wants a smaller squad, and has already loaned out Veron to Inter Milan. I was slightly surprised by that, because Veron is a fine player, and his first season at Chelsea was marred by injury.

But Chelsea do have plenty of quality midfielders, and Mourinho will, I guess, place his hope on Damien Duff returning to fitness and form.

But whatever tinkering Mourinho does to his squad, he still has to bring them close together, and take them into a real team. And he has a huge mountain to climb, in the shape of Arsene Wegner's Arsenal, which has a superior squad, and a wonderful sense of team spirit, built on success, that is in its prime.

Arsenal have 3 players who are as good as any going around in Henry, Viera and Pires (Reyes might well join them this year) and have that indefinable sense of team spirit that defines the truly champion teams. It will take a mighty effort to surmount them.

Cricket Wrap.

by Scott Wickstein

New Zealand are making slow progress through the Yorkshire Dales towards a relatively strong position in the Second Test, playing old style cricket; but on stumps on day 2 they are 351 for 6, (it is not as bad as it sounds, the first day only had 19 overs).

The feature of the innings was the long partnership between Stephen Fleming and Michael Papps, who put on 169 for the second wicket. Both men fell just before making a century- Papps for a 5 and a half hour 86, and Fleming for 97- failing to convert yet again!

There was a bit of a middle order wobble until Oram, Cairns and McCullum stabilised the innings.

This has been a good effort by New Zealand- they have seen off the menace that was England's attack quite well, and Englishmen with a jingoistic sense of 'bring on the Aussies' might like to pause here and consider what the Australian batting lineup might do if they can't dismiss them in 122 overs.

New Zealand will look for quick runs tomorrow so they have time to get at the English batsmen; with Chris Cairns at the crease, they have the ideal agent to get those quick runs. McCullum is a useful understudy to Cairns in this role also.

I would say New Zealand have a slight edge here, although they will have to bowl well to take a real grip on this game.

*

Play has started between West Indies and Bangladesh, in the Second Test, and West Indies probably have a slight edge, with Bangladesh being 264 for 9 at stumps on day 1.

That was a good recovery after being 152 for 7- once again Bangladesh's lower order is showing a Kiwi-like resilience. No 100's this time, not even a 50, but everyone has pitched in. This is the sign of an outclassed side that is nevertheless playing well as a team.

Once again, West Indies fast bowling has proved ineffective, and Lara's tantrum about an offspinner has been proven well-founded, with Omari Banks taking 4 for 80. He has warned he will quit as captain if he can not beat Bangladesh here, and probably rightly so.

The West Indies remain loaded with talent, gone to waste. They, together with Pakistan, are the great 'might-have-beens' of world cricket.