Waqar Younis was unprepared for crackdown.
What he said:
“This crackdown is going to affect the preparations of teams for the World Cup especially those teams whose bowlers are being reported.”
Former Pakistani pace bowler Waqar Younis believes that the timing of the clampdown on suspect bowling actions is inopportune and adversely affects the World Cup chances of the teams whose bowlers have been reported, specifically his country’s.
He said:
“I am not sure about the timing of these new laws being enforced by the ICC. The new protocols and technology to test bowling actions could have been done after the World Cup.”
Three Pakistani off-spinners—Saeed Ajmal, Muhamad Hafeez and Adnan Rasool—have been placed under the scanner in the past month.
He added:
“When bowlers are reported at any level for suspect actions it obviously affects their confidence. I know Hafeez is concerned after being reported. So it does affect your preparations for the World Cup.
I don’t know because cricket has changed in the last decade or so, laws have changed and so have bowling actions. Spinners now use more variation and different deliveries because they are being tested constantly in all formats with the growing popularity of T20 cricket.
One can understand when the ICC rule for bowling action is being stretched so far but I still have my reservations about the timing of the new protocol for bowling actions.”
On the doosra:
“The doosra delivery is an unorthodox delivery but staple for spinners and it adds value to the game. I think the ICC needs to look at this aspect. Whoever bowls the doosra will always bend his elbow more than the allowed 15 degrees because it is natural. Secondly the medical aspect while testing bowling actions should also be taken into consideration.”
What Younis really meant:
“The Pakistanis are losing their match-winning spinners because of the crackdown. What are we to do if the ball we invented—the doosra—is outlawed? Play marbles?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Let’s hope this whole affair reverse swings.”
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Younis Khan’s 30-minute tirade.
What he said:
“Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf went while crying. When Inzamam was leaving, I was the one who went and clapped for him.”
Pakistani veteran bat Younis Khan is furious at being left out of the squad for the ODI series against Australia. The Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB) indicated that he will not be considered for next year’s World Cup either.
He said:
“Don’t select me, not even in Tests. I sacrifice my future.I am saying a simple thing, if they are saying that youngsters are future of ODIs, then where is the future of Pakistan in Test cricket? Don’t select me in Test matches and make [the youngsters] the future of Pakistan in Test cricket too. But what will happen if they can’t make a team for ODIs and Test matches after five months, will they again do recalling?
I won’t die and I won’t be 70-year-old in four-five months, if they don’t let me play with dignity then so be it. They have hurt me, they have hurt me when they said that players like me have no future. Then who has a future? So a player like me should shoot himself? When they are 35, 36, players like me wake up at seven ‘o’ clock, show commitment, I can do only this. Instead shoot ourselves, don’t play cricket at all, don’t play domestic cricket at all? I will wait for 4-5 months. They are saying that I don’t have a future, I will wait, I am not retiring, I will wait, may this team go ahead, if they make the team [strong] I won’t come back.”
Younis added:
“I came back after almost 17-18 months, but they said he is not in our future plans. Who has a future then? I give my 120% as a player, I am perhaps the only cricketer [who does so]. I am not saying drop a youngster and let me play. I am just saying that justice should be done with players like me, give us what we deserve. My nephew died and I came back. When they do such things with senior players, what will youngsters think. Change doesn’t come like this, you can’t wave a magic wand.
Don’t let everyone be treated in a similar manner, those who have raised the flag of this country, don’t disrespect them otherwise no youngster will play for Pakistan.”
The former skipper advised Pakistani youngsters thus:
“Is this my mistake that when youngsters struggle they come to me instead of going to coaches and I do help them? I try to help Pakistan, and still I am surprised that I have played for 14-15 years for Pakistan.
I never told anyone to back me in media or phoned anyone [about selection]. If I deserve Test matches and ODI I should be given chance. Is this my fault that I don’t go to selectors? I don’t call them? I don’t meet them before going for the match? England media was very harsh on us in 2009, when they used to allege us that we were doing ball tampering, then I stood firm and I defended Pakistan. I was the captain when Pakistan won the World T20. If this is my mistake, then my suggestion to youngster is don’t play for Pakistan. Don’t think about playing for Pakistan.”
What he really meant:
“Very few (Pakistani) cricketers are allowed to go out in style like Sachin Tendulkar. They are pushed out whether they like it or not. It’s just not cricket that they are (I am) unceremoniously dropped.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Can you lend me your kerchief, please? Mine’s soaked and salty.”
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Ashwell Prince – New Years Day Training at the Sydney Cricket Ground 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ashwell Prince is done with his share.
What he said:
“You can’t survive for 66 Tests just on the basis of a quota.”
Ashwell Prince protests that coloreds in the South African side do not get full credit for their on-field achievements. His Cricinfo profile describes him as a beneficiary of the post-apartheid preferential treatment for blacks in South African sport.
He added:
“It saddens me that I have to point that out today, but you have to defend yourself.”
Prince said:
“As soon as apartheid fell away and we could compete with white kids, we proved that colour had nothing to do with it. Right from the start, we could go from Galvendale, which is where I grew up in Port Elizabeth, go to their ground and beat them. It was all about opportunity and being able to show what you could do.”
On the quota system:
“We were aware that there were quota systems in provincial cricket. But as far as the national team was concerned, there was never ever a quota system. Unfortunately, outside of South African cricket, people didn’t see it like that, so whenever someone of colour was selected for the national team there were these questions. It came as no surprise to me that opposition players would target me in that way.”
What he really meant:
“On the field, race hardly matters. It’s runs, wickets and catches that count. In my case, certainly, statistics don’t lie.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Have I used up my quota of words or what?”
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Kapil Dev Nikhanj
What he said:
“I used to hate England because they ruled my country but I am happy they gave us the game of cricket, which they can’t play very well, and the English language, which I can’t speak very well.”
Kapil Dev Nikhanj cannot resist taking a dig at the English in his acceptance speech. The former Indian skipper was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Indo-European Business Forum (IEBF) at a ceremony in the House of Lords in London.
The presentation was for his contribution to cricket and his work in upliftment of poor and destitute communities through the Khushii society.
What he really meant:
“I’m happy we’re free of the British and that we now Lord it over them at the ICC even though we still can’t speak the Queen’s English equally well. I, of course, suffer from short-term memory loss and have forgotten that Team India surrendered the last three Test series.”
What he definitely didn’t but could have:
“It’s time the English relinquished sovereignty over the language as well. There are more English speakers in India than in the whole of UK.”
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Ian Chappell
What he said:
“Not only is it important to keep the contest between bat and ball fair, it also pays to remember kids are great mimics.”
Ian Chappell writes that bowlers with dubious bowling actions should be called early and their actions rectified before they go on to become successes on the domestic and international playing fields. The attendant adverse publicity casts aspersions on the game and its proponents.
Chappell said:
“…because kids are mimics and will copy the heroes of the day, and a sure way to eradicate dodgy actions is stop offenders before they reach the first-class arena.”
The player-turned-commentator adds:
“…the one area of the chucking issue the ICC hasn’t addressed is the law as it applies to on-field immediacy. How come a batsman is protected when a bowler oversteps the front line by a millimetre but he isn’t when a trundler suddenly pelts one after bowling the bulk of his deliveries?
Batsmen need immediate protection in this case rather than getting a letter from the ICC six months later apologising because they have discovered the delivery that uprooted off stump was illegal.”
What Chappell really meant:
“Kids are impressionable and bound to imitate their heroes. If they (heroes) have feet of clay, kids have no firm ground to fall back on for their mimicked actions. Besides, the mentality becomes one of ‘ If they (apparently) can get away with it, why can’t I?'”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I could teach apes to bowl and they’d bowl every ball cleanly.”
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Rahul Dravid
What he said:
“I am a married man, do you think I would have any other answer?”
Rahul Dravid is not averse to wives and girlfriends joining cricketers on tour. The former India No. 3 pooh-poohed notions that the practice adversely impacts players’ performances.
Interacting with the audience after delivering the keynote Dilip Sardesai memorial lecture, he said:
“On a serious side, cricketers travel 11 months in a year, I think wives and girlfriends should be allowed to travel with players. You can’t start blaming wives or girlfriends for performances, that’s not done.
Since I’m married, I would say yes. Wives, girlfriends, or a partner of any gender should be allowed, because the Indian team travels for almost the entire year. You can’t start blaming them for the players’ poor performance. In fact, if you don’t allow them, that would be a bigger problem!”
What he really meant:
“Do you really think I wish to argue with my home minister (wife) about this? Spare me the torture.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I’m going to be the best man at Virat’s wedding.”
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What he said:
https://twitter.com/notdekock/status/509235573744480256
A fake Quinton De Kock Twitter account was in the news with leading dailies attributing the above tweet to the chubby-faced South African opening bat.
Saeed Ajmal has been banned with immediate effect from all international cricket after his bowling action was deemed illegitimate by the ICC.
Bio-mechanic analysis revealed the the Pakistani off-spinner flexed his elbow as much as 35 degrees against the permitted 15 degrees.
The bowler can apply for a reassessment anytime once his action has been rectified. However, he is permitted to take part in domestic cricket under the supervision of his country’s cricketing board, the PCB.
Maninder Singh, a former India left-arm spinner, squarely blamed the ICC for the current mess.
He said:
“”The problem started with Muralitharan. The menace should have been stopped then. If that had happened, all boards would have taken steps to prevent this.Now it (chucking) has become a norm, it is like ‘if he (Murali) can do it, anyone can’.”
On young bowlers choosing the wrong role models:
“This has ruined careers. Whether you call it 12 or 15 degrees, it is to be blamed.”
On why English and Australian bowlers are not called that often:
“People there are basically honest, and they will own up. We don’t, and in fact start backing them.”
Former India all-rounder Madan Lal said:
“”Even in my academy, so many boys bend their elbows. They see lot of cricket on TV and try to imitate them. It gets difficult to correct them once they are set in their ways.”
English: Saeed Ajmal in the field during a 50-over warm-up match against Somerset at the County Ground, Taunton, during Pakistan’s 2010 tour of England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Saeed Ajmal’s reactions:
“It is disappointing to learn the result of the biomechanic test in Brisbane but I have not given up. I don’t see the ban as a major problem as I know I can work out on the flaws and make a comeback.
Obviously, I have to follow their advice but from what I know is that once we get the full medical report, we have a right of appeal and to challenge these findings.
I want to play in the World Cup and see my country doing well and I will do whatever it takes to be ready for the tournament. I am a fighter and I know what I have to do to get back into international cricket before the World Cup.”
Bishan Singh Bedi tweeted:
Embed from Getty Images
Speaking to the Times of India, Bedi said:
“”It was inevitable. But it’s a decision taken too late, when all the damage has been done and Ajmal has taken so many wickets in international cricket.
What was the ICC doing till now? All those batsmen who lost their wickets to him, all those teams which lost a game because of an Ajmal spell, should they now come forward and say we have been wronged? If they can’t, then what is the point of rehabilitating these bowlers.”
Bedi added:
“Most people who claim to be mystery spinners enjoy an unfair advantage because they are being allowed to bowl illegal deliveries.What is the point of correcting their action in a laboratory and then letting them loose? Is the ICC a reformatory school? A chucker cannot reform. He is merely rendered ineffective.”
What the Fake Quinton De Kock really meant:
“Saeed Ajmal can’t bowl! Saeed Ajmal can’t bowl! With or without his 35 degrees of hyper extension…Ajmal can’t bowl…”
What he definitely didn’t (or did he?) :
“I’m famous, not Quinton De Kock.”
Graeme Swann
What he said:
“We’re happy to tootle along in a two-litre diesel in a Formula 1 race. “
Graeme Swann is still not convinced that Alistair Cook is the best thing to happen to English cricket especially when it comes to ODI cricket.
Cook had responded to his strident criticism thus:
“I don’t think it’s that helpful – especially from a so-called friend.”
Swann, however, continued in the same vein:
“Real mates are honest with each other. I’m no longer in the England dressing room and it is my job now as a pundit to give my honest thoughts.
I texted Cooky after the Test series victory over India saying I was proud of the way he conducted himself but that he should get away from the one-dayers as quickly as possible.
I think being one-day captain is a poisoned chalice for him. He just doesn’t need the job. The cricket England are playing in 50-over cricket is outdated and I fear it will be a painful winter for the team.
I don’t want him to be part of it. This is not a witch-hunt against ‘Cookie’ and I’m still a huge supporter of his captaincy in Test cricket. But, in one-day matches, I want England to play the exciting cricket they promised six months ago when Peter Moores took over as head coach.
We’re happy to tootle along in a two-litre diesel in a Formula One race.
If England do badly in the World Cup Cooky will be back to where he was earlier this summer when some people were waiting for him to mess up. He should be resting now, making sure he is fully recharged for the 17 Test matches England have next year.
I’m 100 per cent behind him as Test captain. I went to his wedding and he offers to send me a turkey each Christmas from his farm. I hope I’m not off his list now!”
What he really meant:
“ODI and T20 cricket is less about strategy,endurance, finesse and technique and more about tactics, fitness and speed. We can hardly have slow coaches chuggin’ along on high-speed rails.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Just appoint me Cook’s tooter and I’ll change my tune fast enough.”
IS Bindra
What he said:
“It’s such a frustrating scenario: One can’t become the chief minister, but one can still become the prime minister! “
IS Bindra, former president of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), is acerbic about the current farcical situation; Narayanswamy Srinivasan is unable to preside over the BCCI pending a Supreme Court judgment yet is chairman of the ICC.
The outspoken former BCCI chief recently stepped down as head of the PCA.
He said:
“I haven’t made it easier for Srini … In fact, I’m free to blog and tweet exactly what I want… My hands aren’t tied now…”
On his retirement:
“I’d reached a stage where I felt I couldn’t do anything for cricket in India…
Also, I didn’t want the PCA to suffer because of my strong views on Srini. Mohali should have got a Test against the West Indies, but didn’t. Yet, there are affiliates of the Board who keep getting international matches out of turn…
I’ve helped build the PCA and I’m passionate about it. I couldn’t have allowed it to be penalised because of my convictions. I’ve always respected the primacy of institutions…
Above all, there comes a time in everyone’s life when one has to gracefully retire and move on after having been at the helm of an institution. I couldn’t have been at the PCA forever.”
On Jagmohan Dalmiya:
“I’d expected Jaggu to join me in the fight to oust Srini, but he didn’t do so. It’s for him to explain why. I’m as disappointed with quite a few of the others in the Board who, too, have chosen to stay quiet.”
On Srinivasan’s chances of returning as Board president if the Supreme Court fails to bar him:
“If that’s so, then Srini will win. Who’ll oppose him? For one reason or the other, I don’t see any opposition. Not when the men with influence are silent. I’ve retired as an administrator, but my love for cricket remains undiminished. I’ll gun for whoever tries to harm the game in India. You can be assured.”
What he really meant:
“It’s like you can be President but you can’t be governor. Or you can volunteer but you can’t work.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Let’s play musical chairs with the Supreme Court, the Pied Piper.”
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