Week 4 14.10.08
Student
Sport 27
Money over matter? Davie Heaton discusses cricket’s impending $20m match Two of the hottest rivals in cricket are slugging out a fascinating test series in the sticky heat of Asia, but the eyes of the England team are not glued to the highlights. Batsmen will not be plotting how to regain the ashes against a post-Warne Australia bereft of a quality spinner next summer; bowlers will not be contemplating how to take 20 ageing Indian wickets on the sun-baked pitches of Ahmedabad or Mumbai this winter. And who can blame them? The $1m carrot that has been dangled in front of each of them was, briefly, under threat last week as a face-off of a very different kind was being settled off the field. Happily for them, real-estate giant Allen Stanford and Denis O’Brian, owner of telecommunications company Digicel, have since come to an agreement over the commercial rights to the “Twenty20 for $20m” match between England and the Stanford Superstar XI scheduled to take place this November. If you listen very carefully, you can hear England fans everywhere breathing a collective sigh of relief at the news that this totally meaningless exhibition match will go ahead; a match that has not been preceded by any kind of qualification tournament; a match in which the individual contributions of the players will not appear subsequently on their career records; and a match that is being played for no trophy of any cricketing value. I think not. Supporters care about their side’s fortunes when they are competing against traditional rivals or respected opposition. Imagine Stanford’s Twenty20 circus as the equivalent of a football world cup
final between England and Germany, only the qualification, group and knockout phases of the competition have been scrapped and the finalists drawn out of a hat. Oh, and replace the Germans with an Abramovich All-Star XI. By officially endorsing this match the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have effectively set the precedent that the national team is available for hire to anybody who can stump up the cash. Maybe next year we’ll find Kevin Pietersen and co padding up to entertain the wedding guests of the rich and famous. An exaggeration, perhaps, but if Stanford can sign them up to his reality TV show about 22 cricketers who are playing a game for $20m, then who knows what’s next? A Texan billionaire landing his gold-plated helicopter on the outfield of the home of cricket is a relatively new phenomenon in the sport, and the game is discovering that money makes people do silly things for variably justifiable reasons - at the inexcusably stupid end of the scale we have the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) selling the same set of rights to two different investors in Stanford and O’Brien. Moving up the scale, we have the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and their plans to challenge the supremacy of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which took place for the first time with enormous success earlier this year. This is an understandable idea, given the unhealthy power that India and its cricketing head Lalit Modi enjoy. The IPL’s popularity was based on the fact that, with only eight teams, every game was packed with a multitude of inter-
national superstars, who were attracted by the promise of earning shed loads of cash. But in their rival tournament, the ECB did not want to upset any of the existing counties by reducing the number of sides involved: There are not enough world class players around to fill 18 teams, and the financial butter would be spread too thinly to interest them anyway. In an attempt to please everyone, the ECB have produced a depressingly English half measure. And, at the end of the scale that we can identify with, are the players, who jump at the chance to earn much more money for much less work. Their job is to play cricket, and they are entitled to play for whoever they want. For now, at least, these Twenty20 side-shows can coexist with real cricket. But this will not be the case for long in an already overcrowded international schedule. The first evidence of this could be on show next summer, when Sri Lanka may well arrive on British soil minus their captain and several star players due to contractual commitments elsewhere. This is where the International Cricket Council (ICC) must step in. They have been hopelessly quiet on the issue until now, but even in these times of profit over principal they must see the bigger picture. A window must be created for Twenty20 during which no international cricket is scheduled, and any competition organised outside of this period should be given rebel status. It may ruffle a few rich feathers, but it would protect the game as we know it, while allowing the players to enjoy their Indian summer.
IN THE MONEY: Kevin Pietersen looks forward to a big payday
Victory for rugby ladies Sportline Ladies Rugby
University of Edinburgh University of Dundee
24 5
Holly Webster Edinburgh University Ladies have made a flying start to the season with a 24–5 victory over Dundee University in the SWRU Premier League. Edinburgh kicked off but quickly regained possession with an opening tackle from flanker Nikki McLeod. Pressure from Edinburgh pushed Dundee back into their own half but they fought back and after winning the ball winger Jen Watson made a successful break down the left wing putting Dundee in front, 5-0. Sustained pressure from Edinburgh after the restart pushed
Dundee back into their 22 and allowed full back Anna Fleming space on the left wing to attempt Edinburgh’s first try. Dundee’s defence withstood Fleming’s break however and the try was held up. Despite Edinburgh’s best attempts to break through Dundee’s defence they remained unsuccessful, leaving the score 5-0 at half-time. Dundee started the second half with the kick-off and once again Edinburgh quickly pushed their way up into Dundee’s 22. A 22 drop out from Dundee allowed Edinburgh to once again take possesion and saw winger Cat Ward flying down the wing to score Edinburgh’s first try of the season. The try was successfully converted by fly half Maddy Grant taking Edinburgh into the lead 7-5. A well positioned kick by Grant after the restart saw Ward taking
another try for Edinburgh in the far left corner. This difficult kick was again converted by Grant taking the score to 14-5. This point in the game saw Edinburgh grow in confidence and led to several wheeled 5m scrums in the Dundee half, giving Edinburgh the advantage. Edinburgh’s vice-captain Fiona Majorin made a good break across the centre of the pitch scoring in the left corner; the conversion was narrowly missed taking the score to 19-5. A scrum on Dundee’s 22m line resulted in a well worked move through Edinburgh’s backs. Fullback Fleming used the space well and offloaded to Ward who scored her third try of the day, and after a missed conversion took the score to 24-5. Dundee fought bitterly to the end and held back any further attacks by Edinburgh.
Fixtures Basketball:
Lacrosse: Men: University of Edinburgh 1st v Aberdeen University 1st
Women:
Women:
University of Edinburgh 1st v Newcastle University 1st
University of Edinburgh 1st v Queen Margaret University 1st
Rugby:
Football
Men:
Men:
University of Edinburgh 1st v Aberdeen University 1st
University of Edinburgh 1st v University of Glasgow 1st
Women:
Hockey
University of Edinburgh 1st v Leeds Met Carnegie 1st
Men: University of Edinburgh 1st v University of Glasgow 1st
Women:
Tennis:
Men:
University of Edinburgh 1st v Leeds Met Carnegie 1st
University of Edinburgh 1st v University of Glasgow 1st
For full results and reports go to: www.eusu.ed.ac.uk