SPORTS
18
Monday, January 4, 2010
Swann: I drank too much in S Africa 10 years ago LONDON: England off-spinner Graeme Swann’s sparkling form in South Africa contrasts with his tour there 10 years ago when he spent a lot of time drinking and was a million miles from the Test side, he was quoted as saying yesterday. Swann is up to third in the international bowling rankings after his nine-wicket haul in the second test led England to an innings victory, a result that gives the visitors a 1-0 lead going into yesterday’s third and penultimate match in Cape Town. However, it was very different when he toured South Africa as a young squad member in 1999-2000. “The difference between this current tour and that one is like polar opposites,” the 30-year-old Swann told the Mail on Sunday newspaper. “I would turn up at the next hotel and the first thing I’d find out was where the bar was located. “I was young and stupid and I didn’t realize that sometimes you need more than one alarm clock to wake you up.” Swann did not play a test match on the 1999-2000 tour and acknowledged he was not good enough in those days. TENACIOUS ATTITUDE “When you are 19 you think you know everything there is to know,” he said. “You’re convinced you’re right and that
CAPE TOWN: English Captain Andrew Strauss (left) and English bowler Graeme Swann (second left) celebrate the dismissal of South African batsman AB de Villiers (not in picture) yesterday during the first day of the third Test match between South Africa and England at Newlands cricket stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. —AFP
Swann’s double leaves South Africa in trouble Kallis holds firm for South Africa CAPE TOWN: England spinner Graeme Swann claimed two wickets with successive balls to put South Africa in trouble again on the first day of the third test yesterday. South Africa were 183 for five at tea with Jacques Kallis unbeaten on 55 and Mark Boucher on 37 as England, 1-0 up in the series, seized the initiative. The second session began in dramatic fashion as South African captain Graeme Smith was caught behind for 30 off the first ball he faced after lunch, James Anderson bowling a superb away-swinger to claim his second wicket. AB de Villiers opened his account with a risky single off his first
delivery but South Africa looked in control when he and Kallis added 76 for the fourth wicket in positive fashion. De Villiers then gifted his wicket on 36 when he came down the pitch to off-spinner Swann and chipped the ball into Andrew Strauss’s hands at short midwicket. JP Duminy edged a beautiful delivery that drifted in and turned away just enough to find the bat to be caught behind for a golden duck. The left-hander also fell first ball in his previous innings in Durban. The double-strike left South Africa in dire straits on 127 for five but Boucher survived the hat-trick ball and stroked six fours while the
obdurate Kallis calmly reached his 53rd test half-century. Anderson and Graham Onions claimed a wicket each to put England on top in the first session as South Africa reached 51 for two at lunch having been sent in to bat on a pitch that offered seam movement under overcast skies. SUPERB DELIVERY Anderson struck in the first over with a superb delivery that bounced and swung away, Ashwell Prince gloving the ball to wicketkeeper Matt Prior for a duck. Smith had a major let-off from the first delivery bowled by Onions, reaching for the ball outside off stump and edging it to sec-
Scoreboard CAPE TOWN, South Africa: Lunchtime score on the first day of the third Test between South Africa and England at Newlands on Sunday: South Africa, first innings To bat: A de Villiers, J. Duminy, M. Boucher, M. G. Smith not out 30 Morkel, P. Harris, D. Steyn, F. de Wet A. Prince c Prior b Anderson 0 Bowling: Anderson 6-1-11-1 (nb1), Onions 8-2-23H. Amla lbw b Onions 14 1, Broad 5-2-12-0 J. Kallis not out 1 England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Extras (lb5, nb1) 6 Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Total (2 wkts, 19 overs) 51 Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wkt), Stuart Broad, Graeme Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Prince), 2-46 (Amla) Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions. ond slip where Swann dropped a simple chance. Smith and Hashim Amla (14) added 45 for the second wicket before Amla was trapped lbw by Onions 11 minutes
before lunch. The batsman planted his front foot and tried to drive through mid-on but the ball swung in and hit him plumb in front of the stumps. The start of play was delayed
by half-an-hour due to showers. England named an unchanged team and South Africa brought in fast bowler Friedel de Wet for Makhaya Ntini. —Reuters
everyone else in the world is old and senile, out of touch and wrong. “At the end of it (then coach) Duncan (Fletcher) sat me down for my tour review and praised me for my ‘tenacious’ attitude in training but I didn’t need to be told... I was nowhere near good enough, a million miles from playing test cricket.” After the second-test win in Durban on Wednesday, England captain Andrew Strauss said Swann had been a key figure in the team’s resurgence this year. “Graeme has had a massive impact over the last 12 months,” said Strauss. “He has always been a very attacking spinner, he gives it a rip, bowls an attacking line and with the extra pressure of test cricket, that can be invaluable.” Swann said that, looking back, he was pleased he did not feature in the test side 10 years ago. “I’m very glad I didn’t play because I certainly wouldn’t have done justice to myself and I may have made such a hash of it that I never got another go,” said the spinner who is also a hard-hitting, lower-order batsman. “Even if I had done okay, in all probability I would have formed too high an opinion of myself and ended up disappearing from the game and stuck in a day job I hated.” —Reuters
Ntini axing could signal the end of Test career CAPE TOWN: Makhaya Ntini was dropped from the South African team yesterday in a move which could hasten the end of a notable Test career. Ntini, 32, did not travel to the ground after being told that he was not in the team for the third Test at Newlands, the ground where he started his 101-Test career against Sri Lanka 12 seasons ago. Although the team was not announced publicly until shortly before the toss, the players were informed of the selection on Saturday and Ntini was given the option of returning home, according to team spokesman Michael Owen-Smith. Ntini’s axing had been widely anticipated after he performed poorly in the first two Tests against England. In the 2008 calendar year he took only 13 wickets in six Tests at an average of 57.00. Experts believed that a loss of pace had reduced his effectiveness. Speculation about the future of a man described by both captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur as one of South Africa’s iconic cricketers was fuelled by a report in the London Sunday Telegraph which claimed Ntini was set to join English county Middlesex as a Kolpak player, which would preclude him from playing international cricket. The Sunday Telegraph claimed Ntini intended to announce his retirement from international cricket and that he had signed a pre-contract agreement with Middlesex. Owen-Smith said he was unaware of Ntini reaching an agreement with Middlesex. “He is contracted to Cricket South Africa which means he cannot sign any contracts without CSA’s agreement,” he said. Ntini has had a special status in South African sport as the first black African to play Test cricket for the country. Although three others have also won Test caps, Ntini remains the only black African to hold down a long-term place in the team. At his best, Ntini was able to bowl tirelessly at high pace. He has taken 390 Test wickets at an average of 28.82, second only to South African record holder Shaun Pollock, who took 421. Ntini has taken ten wickets in a match on four occasions, the most by any South African, and claimed the best match figures in South African Test history when he took 13 for 132 against the West Indies in Port of Spain in 2004/05. The decision to drop Ntini was not taken lightly in a country where political considerations are an unavoidable reality. “It’s a sensitive issue in South Africa,” Smith said in his captain’s pre-match press conference on Saturday when asked about the debate surrounding Ntini’s place. —AFP
India eye top ranking in the Dhaka tri-series DHAKA: India will be keen to extend their impressive run in a triangular series starting in Dhaka today and boost their hopes of becoming the top-ranked side in one-day cricket. They have won six of their last seven bilateral one-day series under Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a title-triumph here against a new-look Sri Lanka and a resurgent
Bangladesh would ensure them the number-one ranking. India, already the top-ranked side in Test cricket, are currently behind leaders Australia in one-day rankings. The tournament opens with a day-night clash between Sri Lanka and the hosts. Each team will play four league matches before the top two qualify for the final on January 13.
India vice-captain Virender Sehwag said ahead of the series his team were focused on maintaining consistency. “If we win the series, the rankings will look after themselves,” he said. “We have been playing very tough and good cricket for the last two years. So, hopefully we will do well in 2010. It’s important for the team to play well consis-
tently. We hope to do well and win the series here.” India will be without batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, who has been rested for the one-dayers, but they still have depth in batting to give a good account of themselves. India, who beat Sri Lanka in both Test and one-day series at home recently, have explosive bats-
DHAKA: Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh (on ground) is helped by a team support staff to perform stretching exercises during a practice session in Dhaka yesterday. —AP
men in Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni to dominate any attack. Sehwag said Sri Lanka were a tough side to beat despite missing veterans Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya. Opener Jayasuriya, the world’s secondhighest scorer with 13,428 one-day runs, was dropped, while spinner Muralitharan and batsman Jayawardene have yet to recover from injuries picked up during the India tour. “I think Sri Lanka still are a good side and Bangladesh can also beat any team. We are not taking them lightly,” said Sehwag. Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said his side could make it to the final despite missing skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and key seamer Nazmul Hossain due to injuries. Top all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead the team, while Shahadat Hossain replaces Nazmal. “Sri Lanka have brought a team below their best. They have left a few top players behind. We’ll be competitive against them and can push them hard. Hopefully, we’ll beat them,” he said. He added that Bangladesh were now a better batting side and would also be “competitive” against favorites India. The series will be a real test for Bangladesh, who will be keen to build on their one-day successes last year. Bangladesh clinched one-day series against below-strength West Indies and Zimbabwe in 2009 under Shakib, who led the side in the absence of Mortaza. The tri-series will be followed by two Tests between India and the hosts at Chittagong (January 17-21) and Dhaka (January 24-28). —AFP
DHAKA: Sri Lankan cricketers run to warm up during a practice session yesterday. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka are competing in the one-day international tri-series in Dhaka starting today. —AP
Sri Lanka coach has confidence in youth DHAKA: Sri Lanka’s young team are good enough to be competitive in the one-day Tri-Series in Bangladesh this month, their coach Trevor Bayliss said yesterday. Sri Lanka, who face hosts Bangladesh on Monday in the opening match of the tournament which also involves India, made sweeping changes following their defeat by India last month. Batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya and Chamara Kapugedera, fast bowler Lasith Malinga and spinner Ajantha Mendis were dropped and batsman Mahela Jayawardene, all-rounder Angelo Mathews and bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando are injured. “We had a number of injuries in India which
forced us seeing some of the young players that have been close to the team for long years. We are very happy with the way they were performing in the last few games,” Bayliss told a news conference. “It has brought some youthful enthusiasm to the team and we are looking forward to see how they develop over the coming month and years,” he said. “They may be lacking a little bit of experience. But the more games they play the more they will be experienced. If we play good cricket we have a good chance of winning.” he said. Sri Lanka will be without leading spinners Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. “Obviously, we have
come from India and the young Suraj Randiv is probably the best spinner we had on the tour,” Bayliss said. “He bowled exceptionally well against India in his first two or three games. So we are very happy the way he is coming to international cricket. “Obviously Malinga Bandara, he has been around for a number of years playing second fiddle to Murali and Mendis. He gets another opportunity.” “The spin bowling all-rounder (Muthumudalige) Pushpakumara made his debut in India,” Bayliss added. “So we are quite happy with the depth we have in our bowling. They are very young and inexperienced but they are talented.” —Reuters