Cricket Tit bits (5 June 1999)

5 June 1999

Cricket Tit bits

The Daily News

Sri Lanka off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan is in the news once again. The findings of Professor Bruce Elliott and Darryl Foster from the University of Western Australia will be revealed at the inaugural World Congress of Science, Medicine and Sports at Lilleshall on the eve of the World Cup semi-finals in mid-June.

Using video clips, these two men have created a three-dimensional image of Muralitharan to decide on the legality of his bowling action which has been constantly under scrutiny.

Sri Lanka are not alone when it comes to television audiences being deprived of a vital cricketing moment because of news.

Zimbabwe's exciting three-run victory over India at Leicester a fortnight ago was seen in the country by the biggest television audience yet for cricket. But ZBC's (the terrestrial television broadcasters) viewers were robbed of Henry Olonga's final fateful over because the programmers insisted on showing the news at its scheduled time.

England's cricketers were not informed of the death of Ann MacLaurin, wife of Lord MacLaurin, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) until the close of play of their rain-affected World Cup game against England at Edgbaston on Saturday. Mrs. MacLaurin collapsed when having dinner while holidaying in Spain with her husband. Her death cast a shadow over England's important World Cup fixture which they lost by 63 runs, a result which cost them a place in the Super Six.

A security lapse in the England dressing room at Edgbaston saw Andrew Flintoff lose one of his customary bats built for him with extra wood on the back by Slazenger. A fan approached a steward manning the door, pointed to Flintoff's bat lying just inside and said: "That's mine. I left it here to be autographed". The unknowing steward handed over the bat to the supporter who disappeared into the crowd milling around the dressing rooms immediately after rain stopped play. Birmingham police have been informed, but the bat has yet to surface.

Kenya and Bangladesh will not go home quietly after the end of the World Cup first round. Neither team qualified to play in the Super Sixes. At the next International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting on June 23 at Lord's, they will be anxious to see their positions consolidated. They want the terms of their representation at World Cup 2003 in South Africa improved. Kenya and Bangladesh who now have official one-day international status, argue that they should qualify automatically for World Cups in the same way as the nine Test nations, and not through the ICC trophy.

Bangladesh have applied for Test status, and lead Kenya in that race, not because they are consistently better on the field than the East Africans, but because they have a better venue for Test cricket and a culture in the game which can easily attract television and sponsors. Bangladesh boosted their chances for Test recognition by going onto beat favourites Pakistan and Scotland in their Group 'B' matches.

Sri Lanka batsman Roshan Mahanama featured in the June issue of 'The Cricketer' recalls his funniest moment in cricket: "As captain of my school (Nalanda College) in 1984 (the publication has it as 1994), I walked up to the pitch with the skipper of the College Old Boys' team for the toss in the traditional annual game. I won the toss and said: 'We'll bat'. The opposing skipper quipped: 'No way, we bat'. I had no choice - the opposing skipper was my father!"

The 'London Times' has picked two teams from the six countries which failed to qualify for the World Cup Super Six. Calling the eliminated teams the 'Sorry Six', the newspaper goes on to pick two sides, namely 'Those Who Deserve Better' and 'Those Who Don't'. Needless to say, none of the four Sri Lankans selected figure in the first team.

Those teams: Those Who Deserve Better : 1. Ravindu Shah (Kenya), 2. Ridley Jacobs (West Indies, wicket-keeper), 3. Minhazul Abedin (Bangladesh), 4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies), 5. Steve Tikolo (Kenya), 6. Alpesh Vadher (Kenya), 7. Gavin Hamilton (Scotland), 8. Curtley Ambrose (West Indies), 9. Darren Gough (England), 10. Alan Mullally (England), 11. Courtney Walsh (West Indies, captain).

Those Who Don't: 1. Alec Stewart (England, captain, wicket-keeper), 2. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), 3. Stuart Williams (West Indies), 4. Brian Lara (West Indies), 5. Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka), 6. Phil Simmons (West Indies), 7. Andrew Flintoff (England), 8. Adam Hollioake (England), 9. Erik Upashantha (Sri Lanka), 10. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), 11. Jimmy Kamande (Kenya).

Source :: The Daily News