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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 14, 2016
Flat pitches, big bats to test World T20 pacemen
(REUTERS)-THE combination of India’s flat pitches and cricket’s most trigger-happy batsmen is certain to produce some torrid moments for fast bowlers during the World Twenty20. Pacemen have rarely been the stars of the T20 show, a format which tends to have master-blasters like Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers hog the headlines as they smash cricket’s sacred balance between bat and ball out of the park. Feared fast men like South Africa’s Dale Steyn have complained T20 threatens to turn pace bowling into an anachronism, pointing to the riches lavished on those who can reverse sweep rather than conjure reverse swing. The statistics at the last World T20 in neighbouring Bangladesh make grim reading for quicks, with four of the five top wicket-takers spinners. Unheralded Netherlands seamer Ahsan Malik was the sur-
prise exception. With T20 permitting only one bouncer per over, compared to two
DALE STEYN allowed in one-dayers, fast bowlers have long complained they are operating with one hand tied behind their backs. The big bats of the modern game, which can send mis-hits flying over boundaries, add further reason for them to feel aggrieved, said former India
batsman Rahul Dravid. “I think the balance between bat and ball needs to be addressed,” Dravid said last year. “Scores around 160-170 make an exciting game in T20. Some rules can surely be changed.” Since none have been, much will depend on the whims of the groundskeepers at the seven venues from Dharamsala in the Himalayas to Bangalore in the tropical south. Not all of them should prove a fast bowling graveyard, according to former Australia paceman Ryan Harris, who also played five IPL tournaments from 2009-13. “Although they’re quite flat to bowl on, slow and low, most of the wickets are really good one-day and Twenty20 wickets,” Harris told Reuters. Mohali, in the northeastern state of Punjab, may even offer something for Australia’s seamers who play group matches there along with New
Zealand, Pakistan and the hosts. “Mohali actually had a bit of grass and actually re-
LASITH MALINGA minded me of an Australian wicket,” Harris said. “That was probably the best one in relation to conditions close to what I was used to.” DECISIVE IMPRINT Fast bowlers have not
Twenty three Berbicians benefit from two-day volleyball workshop TWENTY three Berbicians benefitted from a two-day workshop organised by the Berbice Volleyball Association and held at the Port Mourant Community Centre. The workshop was facilitated by former National captain and current national coach and BVA President ,Levi Nedd. According to a release, the workshop was held under the theme: “Live Up don’t Give up with Suicide”
During the sessions also, the participants were taught techniques, tactics, physical conditioning and did a good amount of psychology training. The participants were taken through a full regiment of practical drills which include techniques training. They were taught how to warmup without the use of a volleyball, how to prevent injuries, and further preparation.
They also learnt to warm-up and warm down with the ball, attack from different positions:left, centre, right, defence: including blocking moves, learning court positions, different attacks. planning different types of setting-simple, complex and tipping among other plays, along with the planning and execution of a training programme: weekly, daily and long term, and they were also given a brief history of the game.
Martial keeps United’s FA Cup hopes alive (REUTERS)-MANCHESTER United striker Anthony Martial kept their FA Cup hopes alive when he struck eight minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw with West Ham United in yesterday’s quarter-final tie at Old Traffordy. West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet looked to be sending the 11-times Cup winners tumbling out of the competition with a wondrous, curling free kick in the 68th minute.
But with time running out, United’s young French starlet Martial hooked Ander Herrera’s cross back into the net from the narrowest of angles. Just like holders Arsenal’s exit earlier on Sunday in a 2-1 home defeat by Watford that heaped more pressure on manager Arsene Wenger, a United exit would have raised more questions about the future of boss Louis van Gaal.
With United 2-0 down from the first leg of their Europa League lat 16 tie against Liverpool and 13 points adrift of Leicester City in the Premier League title race, Martial’s strike has offered blessed relief for Van Gaal. United will now have a replay at what will be the last Cup tie to be staged at West Ham’s Boleyn Ground in the Londoners’ final season there before they move to the Olympic Stadium.
won the World T20’s Man of the Series in its five editions but a few have made a decisive imprint. Sri Lanka’s explosive Lasith Malinga leads the all-time wicket-takers with 38 while other yorker specialists have made notable cameos. Pakistan quick Umar Gul was the first bowler to notch a five-wicket haul when he destroyed New Zealand with 5-6 in a devastating three-over spell in England in 2009. He summarised the art of T20 fast bowling simply. “You have to be able to bowl the yorker, bouncer and the slower ball,” he said. Quicks who can execute such variation consistently, while not losing their heads when being blasted to all corners of the ground, are most likely to prosper in India, Harris said. They will hope to do the bulk of their wicket-taking in the first few overs or face serious punishment later in an innings.
“Getting wickets with the new ball is important,” said Harris. “It can last a few overs or six overs. As a bowler you’ve got to accept that you’re going to get hit but to slow the run-rate you’ve got to take wickets. “You’ve got to make sure that early on, although you bowl different lines and lengths to certain players, you’ve got to give yourself a chance to get as many opportunites to get them out.” They also need to charge in with at least two deliveries in mind and then execute based on the slightest movement of the batsman at the crease, he added. “It seems unfair at times, the batsman can turn around and slog it left-handed where a bowler can’t come in and bowl left-handed. “But they’re things the bowlers are thinking about, trying to get that step ahead.”
Watford dump holders Arsenal out of FA Cup
LONDON (Reuters)-ARSENAL’S bid to win the FA Cup for a third successive year ended yesterday when they lost 2-1 at home to Watford in a pulsating quarter-final tie. The defeat ended the holders’ hopes of becoming the first club since Blackburn Rovers in 1886 to win the FA Cup three times in a row. The result appears to have condemned Arsenal to end the season without a trophy as they face elimination from the Champions League next week, unless they manage to overturn a two goal DANNY WELBECK deficit against Barcelona, and they trail Premier League leaders Leicester City by eight points with only nine games left. Arsene Wenger’s men were left to rue a host of missed chances as Watford opened up a 2-0 lead in the second half with goals from Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura. Danny Welbeck pulled a goal back for Arsenal in the 88th minute but it was too late to change the result. Watford go into the semi-finals alongside Premier League sides Everton and Crystal Palace.