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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, March 31, 2017
Victoria claim third straight Sheffield Shield title By `Brydon Coverdale VICTORIA have completed a hat-trick of Sheffield Shield titles for the first time in the state’s history, wrapping up a third consecutive triumph by playing out a draw with South Australia in Alice Springs. The Bushrangers were in control for virtually the whole match and on the final day set the Redbacks an unrealistic 524 for victory. Play was called off late in the afternoon with South Australia on 6 for 236. It was the second straight year that South Australia had reached the final and hoped to break a two-decade Sheffield Shield drought, only to be thwarted by Victoria in the decider both times. Last year, South Australia had enjoyed the significant advantage of hosting and thus required only a draw to secure the title, but Victoria had managed to
Victoria celebrate their third successive Sheffield Shield title. (Getty Images) pull off a victory in the final at Glenelg. Victoria’s three-peat was all the more remarkable for having come under three different coaches: Greg Shipperd steered them to the 2014-15 title, David Saker
had the reins in 2015-16, and Andrew McDonald was in charge this year. They also had to overcome the challenge of playing all three finals outside the state - in 2014-15 they had “hosted” Western Australia in the final
at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. It was just the third time in the past fifty years that a state had won a hat-trick of Shield titles: Queensland did so from 2000 to 2002 and Western Australia from 1987
to 1989. Prior to that, only New South Wales had ever managed as many as three consecutive titles: they had claimed a remarkable nine straight Shield titles from 1954 to 1962 and had also achieved six in succession from 1902 to 1907. The fifth and final day began with Victoria on 6 for 254, already with a more than sufficient lead of 454. But needing only to draw to win the title the Bushrangers batted on until they were dismissed for 323. That meant a fanciful target of 524 for the Redbacks, who clearly could not win. But a Victorian victory seemed possible when James Pattinson struck twice in the first three overs. However, South Australia captain Travis Head scored a defiant century to hold off the victory push, finishing unbeaten on 137 when he and Victoria’s stand-in leader, Cameron White, agreed to call off
play. Fawad Ahmed - one of only three men to play in all three of Victoria’s hattrick of final triumphs along with Rob Quiney and Daniel Christian - finished with 3 for 81. Victoria spinner Jon Holland was named player-of-the-match for his first-innings demolition of the Redbacks, in which he claimed 7 for 82. Holland also picked up one wicket in the second innings, which meant he joined Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, Stuart MacGill, Bill O’Reilly and Tony Lock as the only spinners to claim 50 wickets in a Shield season (not counting Colin Miller, who combined spin and pace). (ESPN Cricinfo) Most consecutive Shield titles 9 - NSW (1954-1962) 6 - NSW (1902-1907) 3 - WA (1987-1989) 3 - Qld (2000-2002) 3 - Vic (2015-2017)
ICC mulling bid for Olympic inclusion in 2024 By Alan Baldwin LONDON, England (Reuters) - The time is right for cricket to return to the Olympics and a decision on applying for inclusion in 2024 will have to be made within months, the head of the sport’s governing body said yesterday. The founder of the modern Olympics, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, was enthusiastic about cricket, a sport dominated by Britain and former British colonies such as Australia and India,
but it has only once featured in a Games - in Paris in 1900. “We need to make a decision by, I guess, July of this year so that we can submit an application by September,” Dave Richardson, chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), told reporters. “And of course it’s not what cricket wants; it’s whether the IOC wants us.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will choose between 2024 bid cities Paris and Los Angeles at a meeting in Lima in
September, with new sports also under consideration. Baseball and softball are set to return in Tokyo in 2020. Richardson said it did not matter which city won the bid. “Both (cities) would ... probably be opportunistic for us, especially the U.S. option, but also in Europe,” he said at the SportsPro Live conference at Wembley Stadium. “You’d have to spend a little bit more money on cricket pitches in France than in the U.S. but it’s not impossible.”
BENEFITS “I think the majority of the members, and certainly myself, think the time is right,” Richardson added. “I think we’ve come to the conclusion that the overall benefit to the game of helping to globalise it and grow will outweigh any negatives.” Richardson said any approach would be for cricket’s shortest Twenty20 format. The IOC had already made clear that there were limitations on athlete numbers, which would mean a
competition of six to eight national sides at elite level. There have been concerns that Olympic inclusion could damage the sport’s own events, while clearing the calendar at a busy time of the cricket year would be another headache. The problems that golf suffered, with many top players not attending, could also count against cricket. Golf returned to the Games last year in Rio for the first time since 1904. England and West In-
dies could not compete as such. Britain represents England and the other home nations at the Olympics, while Jamaica and other Caribbean nations compete individually. However, India would have a real medal chance. “The benefit is not so much about which teams go to the Olympics,” said Richardson. “It’s more than once your sport is an Olympic sport, it provides access to government funding in countries where they need the money.”
Smith’s conduct praised by Indian legend Gavaskar AUSTRALIA captain Steve Smith has earned high praise from India legend Sunil Gavaskar for his conduct in the hard-fought Test series against India. Smith was involved in several flashpoints throughout the series, but still scored 499 runs at more than 71 with three centuries from the four Tests Smith and India counterpart Virat Kohli had a running verbal battle during the second Test in Bengaluru, and was engulfed in controversy after looking towards the dressing room when contemplating calling for a review. A judiciously cropped photograph caused outrage in the India media which accused the Australia captain of celebrating Kohli’s dismissal by grabbing his shoulder to mock his injury in Ranchi, only for the uncropped version to clearly
show the hand on his shoulder was a teammate’s. And in Dharamsala a camera trained on the skipper in the dressing room caught his spontaneous reaction to a claimed catch being overruled by the third umpire. The captain took the opportunity at the series end to apologise for letting his emotions get the better of him at times throughout a heated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. “I’m proud of my performances in this series,” Smith said after Australia lost the series 2-1 on day four in Dharamsala. “I set myself very high standards and I wanted to lead from the front with my performances in this series. “I’ve been very intense and in my own little bubble and at times I’ve let my emotions and actions just falter a little bit and
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Aussie skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner arrive at the post-match presentation on the 4th day in Dharamsala. I apologise for that throughout this series. “That’s a big stride for me moving forward and something I can really learn from and grow as an individual and as a leader.” The sentiment was well received by the Indian legend whose name is on the trophy. “Steve Smith is a big man
to admit that he has made a mistake,” Sunil Gavaskar said on India news channel NDTV. “My respect for him has gone even higher for admitting that he was wrong.” Another former India cricketer in Aakash Chopra agreed, adding: “Not only a great batsman but Steve Smith is a very good human being.”
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