TALKINGSportsEDWARD THANGARAJAH

England's win a big relief for cricket lovers

The glorious uncertainties of cricket were once again beautifully demonstrated in the first of the tri-nation finals played on Friday in Melbourne. A sensational collapse after Australia were 170 for two and a fabulous recovery by England after they had lost three wickets for 15 runs, were outstanding performances for a one-day encounter.

And to top it all underdogs England, who had scraped through into the final with an exciting win over New Zealand, turned the tables on powerful Australia.

What a day of sensations it was. Everyone who follows cricket must have enjoyed the match. I received a call from an English supporter from Surrey, when England had lost three wickets and the scoreboard was reading only 36 at that stage.

But the caller was optimistic that England would recover. He didn't call me up later. Perhaps, he was celebrating England's win.

There were many pessimistic reports written about England's chances in the three-match final. Even the always optimistic English coach, Duncan Fletcher wasn't happy when skipper Michael Vaughan was ruled out of the final series because of a hamstring injury.

To me, it was a blessing in disguise for England because it kept out a player who wasn't doing well with the bat, and was dismissed for no score in his last appearance against New Zealand.

I wondered on what grounds Vaughan would have earned his selection if he had been fit.

If it was only as skipper it would seem ludicrous because it was only a one-dayer.

Of course there have been instances in the past when India's outstanding batsman, Sachin Tendulkar was relieved of the burden of captaincy, because it affected his batting and that helped the prodigy of Indian cricket to flourish with the bat.

With the pressure of captaincy removed from Tendulkar's shoulders, he batted magnificently well.

England's Ian Botham, the first man to complete a Test double of more than 5,000 runs and 300 wickets, shone once he was relieved of the burden of captaining England.

Perhaps coach Fletcher thought captaining the side well would have been too much for Andrew Flintoff to shoulder. But as I said earlier, this is only a one-dayer. Where every side will benefit by playing eleven fully fit players than have someone play only because of his captaincy.

England's victory has done a lot for the game of cricket. At least followers of the sport, and there are many in Thailand, will take a keen interest in the other two matches.

I was talking to the Sri Lankan ambassador Mr.J.D.A Wijewardena last Sunday and he told me that he follows cricket very closely. There are many others who follow this 'king of sports'.

It should also build up keen interest for the upcoming World Cup series. Many countries are aiming to beat Australia and have issued strong challenges.

With cricket-loving West Indies preparing for the World Cup to be played March-April, I am sure England's exciting win will open the doors for more nations to bid strongly for honours.

I was shocked to hear of the brawl the Chinese Under-23 Olympic soccer team was involved with during a friendly with Queen's Park Rangers. Of course, it could not have been a friendly when the game ended in a mass brawl involving some 30 players and members of the coaching staff.

For a country which has always spoken about friendship first and competition second, especially when lifting the mythical 'bamboo curtain' to open the doors to the world, the behaviour of their soccer players in that match, came as a shock.

Moreover, with the Beijing Olympic Games only 18 months away, China doesn't deserve such negative publicity. The Chinese Football Association was right in condemning the behaviour of their team and should ask their players, who are on a tour of England and France to make amends by being on their best of behaviour on the rest of their tour.

Bangkok Post
Sunday February 11, 2007