Cricket In Heaven..Joke

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, now pretty old guys, 75 and 80 years
old, are sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons and talking about cricket,
like they do every day.Sachin turns to Sourav and says, "Do you think
there's cricket in heaven?" Ganguly thinks about it for a minute and
replies, "I dunno. But let's make a deal: if I die first, I'll come back and
tell you if there's cricket in heaven, and if you die first, you do the
same."They shake on it and sadly, a few months later, poor Sachin passes on.
One day soon afterward, Ganguly is sitting there feeding the pigeons by
himself when he hears a voice whisper, "Sourav... Sourav!" Ganguly responds,
"Sachin! Is that you?" "Yes it is, Sourav," whispers Sachin's ghost.
Ganguly, still amazed, asks, "So, is there cricket in heaven?" "Well," says
Sachin, "I've got good news and bad news." "Gimme the good news first," says
Ganguly. Sachin says, "Well... there is cricket in heaven." Ganguly says,
"That's great! What news could be bad enough to ruin that!?" Sachin sighs
and whispers, "You're going to be the opening batsmen on Friday."

History of indian Football

Football in India was spread during the days of the British Empire. Many football clubs in India were created during this time, and pre-date many of the organisations and clubs, such as FIFA, which are predominant in the game today.

Initially games were played between army teams, however clubs were soon set up around the country. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club was set up in what is now West Bengal and is considered the oldest football club in Asia. The club became famous in 1911 when it became the first Indian team to lift the IFA Shield, a tournament previously won only by British teams based in India. It defeated the Eastern Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 in the final of the tournament in a victory that is still regarded by many as the greatest by an Indian team before Independence.


The national football team was also quite successful until the 1970s, qualifying for Olympic tournaments and the FIFA World Cup. The team qualified for the 1950 World Cup finals in Brazil, but could not appear as they still played in their bare feet at that time.

The Indian team also won the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games gold medals in football. In 1956 the team finished fourth at the Melbourne Olympics.

Women's football in India

Women's football has not had the relative head start over the rest of the world that the men's game has had, and also has not had the chance to spread through the country like its male counterpart. The game was administerd by the Women's Football Federation of India (WFFI) until the early 1990s when they were absorbed into the AIFF. However there are complaints that women's football is treated as a poor relation to the men's game leading to (unfulfilled) plans to de-merge the WFFI.

The women's game, like the men's game, also has its early pioneers in the state of West Bengal. The large Kolkata teams, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, started women's club sides in the 2000/01 season, and they participate with other teams in the Calcutta Women's Football League. However it has been seen recently that players from Manipur have made far advances in the game. Players from these two states make up a large part of the India women's national football team.

The main women's national competition is played on a state vs state basis in the Senior Women National Championship . There are also similar national championships for junior teams: Junior Girls National Championship (for under 19s) and the Under-17 Girls National Championship.

Some female players have become internationally recognised: in February 2000 Sujata Kar and Alpana Sil became the first Indian footballers to sign a contract outside India itself. They signed with the German team TSV Crailsheim but had to return after a month due to problems with the clearance of their international transfer.

The state of women's football in India, again like its male counterpart, is poor. In the 2003 AFC Women's Championship the Indian team was embarrassed by their results, especially after a 12-0 defeat to the Chinese women's team . This is especially in the light of the poor support by the AIFF, especially of the national team. The team's trip to Germany was only made possible by Non Resident Indians in the country, and by the support of the German Football Association. Furthermore championship are said to be held in remote locations, and national media coverage is said to be lacking with reporting mostly restricted to state and local newspapers. won the curry cup

Famous Football players in India

I. M. Vijayan
Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (born April 25, 1969) is one of the leading Indian football players of modern times. Vijayan started out as a seller of soda bottles in the Trichur Municipal Stadium, earning 10 paise (0.02 Cents) a bottle. Eventually he was chosen to play for the Kerala Police club and rose to become one of the top names in domestic football. A highly aggressive player, he eventually became the highest earner in Indian club football as well as a regular in the India team. Amongst his achievements in the game Vijayan was crowned Indian Player of the Year in 1992, 1997 and 1999. He also represented the victorious Indian team in the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Cup and scored the fastest international goal in history during the tournament, hitting the net against Bhutan after only 12 seconds. He also finished top scorer in the Afro-Asian Games event held in India in 2003 with four goals. Vijayan's talents attracted interest from clubs in Malaysia and Thailand, although he spent his entire career in India until retirement. Since retiring Vijayan has set a football academy to train young players in his home town.

The unmatching story of Vijayan translated into celluloid in 1999. The film, Kalo Harin, was directed by Cherian Joseph. Other members of the team: A. N. Raveendra Das, N. P. Chandrasekharan (Script), N. P. Chandrasekharan (Lirics), K. Raghavan Master (Music) and P. J. Cherian (Cinimatography). This film finds the life of Vijayan as the struggle for existence and expression by a poor Dalit in mordern India. This film won the National Award and the John Abraham Award in 1999. It also attracted mass appeal in Kerala, the home state of Vijayan at that time. Even though a short non feature film, it was exhibited in local theaters through ticket selling. That was a new episode in the history of Malayalam Film Industry. And, the songs of this film, with their folk touch and Dalit vigour, also became hits then.

Baichung Bhutia
Baichung Bhutia (born December 15, 1976 in Tinkitam) is a football player from India. He is known by his fans as the torchbearer of Indian Football in the international arena. He currently plays in India for Mohun Bagan.

Early life
Baichung (literally "Younger Brother") was born on December 15, 1976 to Dorji Dorma and Sonam Topden in Tinkitam, a sleepy hamlet in South Sikkim district, in the state of Sikkim. As indicated by his surname, he belongs to the Bhutia community.

Football career
He started his eduction is St. Xaviers School, Pakyoung, East Sikkim and eventually won a SAI Scholarship to attend the Tashi Namgyal Academy in Gangtok. He went on to play for several school and local clubs in his home state of Sikkim. A stellar performance at the 1992 Subroto Cup brought him to the notice of the football establishment.

In 1993, at the age of sixteen, he left school to join the professional East Bengal Club in Calcutta. In 1995, he moved to JCT Mills, Phagwara, which went on to win the India National Football League that year. Bhutia was a top scorer in the league, and was chosen to play in the Nehru Cup. He was named "1996 Indian Player of the Year", and has won numerous other awards.

In 1997 he returned to East Bengal, and became team captain in the 1998-99 season. In 1999 he travelled overseas to play for Bury F.C. after unsuccessful trials with both Fulham F.C. and Aston Villa F.C. with the move improving his conditioning and strategy. In 2002 he returned to India and played for the Mohun Bagan AC for a year before returning again to the East Bengal Club, and helping them to win the Asean Cup Club Championship. He also signed up to play for Perak, the Malaysian championship club, from August to October of 2003. For the season 06-07 he has again signed for Mohun Bagan AC. He signed an endorsement deal with Adidas India Marketing Pvt. Ltd in November of 2003. Currently he is endorsing Nike India.

Chuni Goswami
Subimal Goswami (January 15, 1938 - , commonly known by his nickname Chuni Goswami (Bengali: চুনী গোস্বামী)is a Bengali footballer, and cricketer. He was born in Kishoreganj District, Bengal (now in Bangladesh). As a striker, he played 50 international soccer games representing India. His career begun in 1946, with Mohun Bagan club in Kolkata, where he played until 1968. He also served as the manager of Indian national football team and as the vice president of Mohun Bagan club.

After retiring from soccer, Chuni Goswami focused on playing Cricket. He led Bengal cricket team to the Ranji Trophy final twice. In his cricket career, he played 46 first class matches, scoring 1592 runs and obtained 47 wickets.

Mohammed Salim
Mohammed Abdul Salim (born 1904 in Calcutta, India) was an Indian footballer. Famously the first person from the Indian sub-continent to play for a British football team during a short but significant spell with Celtic F.C.

After showing amazing skills as an essential member of Calcutta's Mohammedan Sporting Club side in colonial India, a cousin urged Salim to try his hand at European football. In the summer of 1936 Salim arrived in Glasgow by ship. In August of 1936 Salim was signed for Celtic by manager Willie Maley after impressing and winning over doubters in a trial. Mohammed proved to be an extremely skilful and daring winger at Celtic and became popular with the Parkhead faithful during his time in Glasgow. Salim also became famous for playing the game in bandaged bare feet instead of the customary football boots. On his debut in 1937 Salim, in bare feet, proved exceptional helping Celtic win 5-1. In his second match against Galston, Celtic won 7-1 and his performance led the Scottish Daily Express to write: "Indian Juggler - New Style." Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC's player from India, hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead. He balanced the ball on his big toe, lets it run down the scale to his little toe, twirls it, and hops on one foot around the defender. Despite the attempts of the club to persuade him to stay Salim left Celtic, feeling deeply home sick, after only a few months. He returned to Calcutta where he continued his career with the Mohammedan Sporting Club. Celtic had discovered a true gem but the culture shock ultimately prevented the Scottish public from witnessing the full extent of this talent.

History Of Cricket

The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match being played in 1721.[6] In 1848, the Parsi community in Mumbai formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Europeans eventually invited the Parsis to play a match in 1877.[7] By 1912, the Parsis, Hindus, and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year.[7] In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the English cricket team. Some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were greatly appreciated by the British and their names went on to be used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy-two of the major domestic tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team went on their first official tour of England, but only played English county teams and not the English cricket team.[8] India was invited into The Imperial Cricket Council in 1926 and made its debut as a Test-cricket-playing-nation in 1932 led by CK Nayudu.[9] The match was given Test status despite being only 3 days in length. The team was not strong in its batting at this point and went on to lose by 158 runs.[10] The Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and '40s but did not achieve an international victory during this period. The team's first series as an independent country was in 1948 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles (a name given to the Australian cricket team of that time). Australia won the five-match series, 4-0.[11]

India recorded their first Test victory against England at Madras in 1952.[12] Later in the year, they won their first Test series, which was against Pakistan. They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956. However, they did not win again in the remainder of the decade and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. The next decade developed India's reputation as a team considered to be strong at home. Although they only won two series (both against New Zealand), they managed to draw home series against Pakistan, England and Australia.Kapil Dev receiving the Cricket World Cup in 1983


The key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet - Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. This period also saw the emergence of two of India's best ever batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches have had tendency to support spin and the spin quartet exploited this to create collapses in opposing batting lineups. These players were responsible for the back-to-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. Gavaskar scored 774 runs in the West Indian series while Dilip Sardesai's 112 played a big part in their one Test win.

The advent of One-Day International cricket in 1971 created a new dimension in the cricket world. However, India was not considerably strong in ODIs at this point and batsmen such as the captain Gavaskar were known for their defence-based approaches to batting. India began as a weak team in ODIs and did not manage to qualify for the second round in the first two editions of the Cricket World Cup. Gavaskar famously blocked his way to 36 not out off 174 balls against England in the first World Cup in 1975, India scored just 132 for 3 and lost by 202 runs.

In contrast, India fielded a strong team in Test matches and were particularly strong at home where their combination of stylish batsman and beguiling spinners where seen at their best. India set a then test record in the third Test against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1976 when they chased 403 to win thanks to 112 from Viswanath. This West Indian defeat is considered to be a watershed in the history of their cricket because it led to captain Clive Lloyd dispensing with spin altogether and relying entirely on a four man pace attack. In November 1976 the team established another record by scoring 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand at Kanpur without an individual scoring a century. There were six fifties, the highest being 70 by Mohinder Amarnath. The innings was the eighth instance in Test cricket where all eleven batsmen reached double figures.

During the 1980s, India developed a more attack minded batting line-up with stroke makers such as the wristy Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounder Ravi Shastri prominent during this time. India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the then favourites West Indies in the final, owing to a strong bowling performance. In spite of this the team performed poorly in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a victory. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in 1985, won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. Apart from this, India remained a very weak team outside the Indian subcontinent. India's Test series victory in 1986 against England remained the last Test series win by India outside the subcontinent for the next 19 years. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was held in India. The 1980s saw Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India's best all rounder to this date) at the pinnacle of their careers. Gavaskar made a Test record 34 centuries as he became the first man to reach the 10,000 run mark. Kapil Dev later became the highest wicket taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets. The period was also marked by an unstable leadership, with Gavaskar and Kapil exchanging the captaincy several times.A graph showing India's Test match results against all Test match teams from 1932 to September 2006 A graph showing India's Test match results against all Test match teams from 1932 to September 2006

The addition of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble to the national side in 1989 and 1990 further improved the team. The following year, Javagal Srinath, India's fastest bowler since Amar Singh made his debut. Despite this, during the 1990s, India did not win any of its 33 Tests outside the subcontinent while it won 17 out of its 30 Tests at home. After being eliminated by neighbours Sri Lanka on home soil at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, the team underwent a year of change as Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, later to be become captains of the team, made their debut in the same Test at Lord's. Tendulkar replaced Azharuddin as captain in late 1996, but after a personal and team form slump, Tendulkar relinquished the captaincy and Azharuddin was reinstalled at the beginning of 1998. With the captaincy burden removed, Tendulkar was the world's leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, as India enjoyed a home Test series win over Australia, the best ranked team in the world. After failing to reach the semifinals at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was again made captain, and had another poor run, losing 3-0 on a tour of Australia and then 2-0 at home to South Africa. Tendulkar resigned, vowing never to captain the team again, with Sourav Ganguly appointed the new captain. The team was further damaged in 2000 when former captain Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja were implicated in a match-fixing scandal and given life bans.

Since 2000, the Indian team underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright as India's first ever foreign coach. India maintained their unbeaten home record against Australia in Test series after defeating them in 2001. The series was famous for the Kolkata Test match, in which India became only the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a Test match after following on. Australian captain Steve Waugh labelled India as the "Final Frontier" as a result of his side's inability to win a Test series in India.[13] Victory in 2001 against the Australians marked the beginning of a dream run for India under their captain Sourav Ganguly, winning Test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. The England series is also known for India's highest ODI run-chase of 325 runs at Lord's which came in the Natwest ODI Series final against England. In the same year, India were joint winners of the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and then went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa where they reached the final only to be beaten by Australia. The 2003-2004 season also saw India play out a Test series in Australia where they drew 1-1 with world champions, and then win a Test and ODI series in Pakistan.

At the end of the 2004 season, India suffered from lack of form and fitness from its older players. A defeat in a following home Test series against Australia was followed by an ODI home series defeat against Pakistan followed by a Test series levelled 1-1. Greg Chappell took over from John Wright as the new coach of the Indian cricket team following the series, and his methods proved to be controversial during the beginning of his tenure. The tension resulted in a fallout between Chappell and Ganguly, resulting in Rahul Dravid being made captain. This triggered a revival in the team's fortunes, following the emergence of players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and the coming of age of players like Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh. A thumping home series victory over Sri Lanka in 2005 and a level series with South Africa put India at 2nd place in the ICC ODI rankings. This was followed by a convincing ODI series win in Pakistan in early 2006 following a loss in the Test series, which gave India the world record of 17 successive ODI victories while batting second.[14] Towards the middle of 2006 however, a 4-1 series loss in the West Indies gave rise to a slump in India's ODI form, while they achieved a 1-0 victory in the Test series that followed, giving them their first Test series victory in the Caribbean since 1971. India's ODI form, however, slumped further with a disappointing performance in the 2006 Champions Trophy and a drubbing in the ODI series in South Africa. This was followed yet again by an initial good performance in the Tests, giving India its first Test match win in South Africa, although they went on to lose the series 2-1. This Test series was marked by Ganguly's comeback to the Indian team.[15]

The beginning of 2007 had seen a revival in the Indian team's ODI fortunes before the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Series victories against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, marked by the comeback of Ganguly, and strong form by Tendulkar, and the emergence of young attacking players like Robin Uthappa saw many pundits to tip India as a real chance to do well at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka saw India fail to reach the final eight.

India's traditional strengths have always been its line-up of spin bowlers and batsmen.[16] Recently, it has a very strong batting lineup with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag all being selected to play for the ICC World XI in the 2005 "SuperTest" against Australia. In previous times, India was unique in that it was the only country to regularly field three spinners in one team, whereas one is the norm, and of the fifteen players to have taken more than 100 wickets, only four were pace bowlers from the last 20 years.[17] However in recent years, Indian pace bowling has improved, with the emerging talents of Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth and many more playing in the national team.
__________________

Indian Cricket Captains

Twenty-eight men have captained the Indian cricket team in at least 1 Test match, although only 6 have led the team in more than 25 matches, and 5 have captained the team in ODIs but not Tests. India's first captain was CK Nayudu, who led the team in four matches against England, one in England in 1932 and a series of 3 matches at home in 1933/4. Lala Amarnath, India's fourth captain, led the team in its first Test match after Indian independence. He also captained the side to its first Test victory and first series win, both in a 3-match series at home against Pakistan in 1952/3. The Nawab of Pataudi was captain for 36 matches from 1961/2 to 1969/70, returning for a final 4 matches against West Indies in 1974/5.

India played its first ODI in 1974, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. India won its first ODI under the captaincy of Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan in the 1975 Cricket World Cup, against East Africa.

Sunil Gavaskar took over as Test and ODI captain in the late 1979s and early 1980s, leading India in 47 Test matches and 38 ODIs, winning 9 Tests and 14 ODIs. He was succeeded by Kapil Dev in the 1980s, who continued for 34 Test matches, including 4 victories. Kapil Dev led India to victory in 40 of his 74 ODIs in charge, including the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

India has had only four regular Test captains since Mohammad Azharuddin took charge in 1989. Azharuddin led the team in 47 Test matches from 1989/90 to 1998/9, winning 14, and in 173 ODIs, winning 89. He was followed by Sachin Tendulkar, who captained India in 25 Test matches and 73 ODIs in the late 1990s; Tendulkar was relatively unsuccessful as a captain, winning only 4 Test matches and 23 ODIs. He was replaced as ODI captain by Ajay Jadeja and then Sourav Ganguly; Ganguly became the regular captain in both forms of cricket in 2000. Ganguly remained captain for the first 5 years of the 2000s and was much more successful, winning 21 of his 49 Test matches in charge and 73 of his 141 ODIs. The current captain, Rahul Dravid, took over as Test captain in 2005. In his fourth full series in charge, he led India to victory in the West Indies, the first instance of India winning in the Caribbean in over 30 years.

Fan following

Cricket is the de facto national sport of India and has a very wide following among the population of India.[29] As a result, stadiums are generally filled to capacity at matches on home soil. Due to large Indian diaspora in nations like Australia, South Africa, and England, a large Indian fan turnout is expected whenever India plays in each of these nations.

There have been a number of official fan groups that have been formed over the years, including the Swami Army or Bharat Army, the Indian equivalent of the Barmy Army, that were very active in their support when India toured Australia in 2003/2004. They are known to attribute a number of popular Indian songs to the cricket team.[30]

Fan rivalry and cross-border tension has created a strong rivalry between the Indian cricket team and the Pakistani cricket team. This has made matches between these two nations the subcontinental above the Ashes. In tours between these two nations, cricket visas are often employed to accommodate for the tens of thousands of fans wishing to cross the border to watch cricket. This intense fan dedication is one of the major causes of the Indian Cricket Board's (BCCI) financial success.[31]

However, there are downsides to having such a cricket-loving population. Many Indians hold cricket very close to their hearts and losses are not received well by the Indian population. In some cases, particularly after losses to Pakistan or after a long string of weak performances, there have been reports of player effigies being burnt in the streets and vandalism of player homes.[32] In many cases, players have come under intense attention from the media for negative reasons, this has been considered as one of the reasons for Sourav Ganguly being left out of the Indian team. At times, when a match is surrounded by controversy, it has resulted in a debacle. For example, when India slid to defeat against Australia at Brabourne Stadium in 1969, fans began throwing stones and bottles onto the field as well as setting fire to the stands.[33] A similar event occurred during the Cricket World Cup in 1996, where India were losing the semi-final to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. In this case, the fan behaviour was directed at the Indian team in disappointment at their lacklustre performance. An armed guard had to be placed at the home of captain Mohammad Azharuddin to ensure his safety.[33] Indian fans have also been passionate in their following of Sachin Tendulkar, who has been commonly thought of as one of the best batsmen in the world. Glorified for the bulk of his career, a riot occurred in early 1999 in a Test against Pakistan at Eden Gardens after a collision with Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar saw him run out, forcing police to eject spectators and the game to be played in an empty stadium. In more recent times, a string of low scores has resulted in continued impatience amongst fans. In front of his home crowd, against England, Tendulkar was booed by the crowd when he got out.[34]

Often, fans quickly come to the defense of players who have been accused of wrongdoings or dropped from the team. In 2005, when Sourav Ganguly was dropped due to lack of form, Ganguly's home state of West Bengal erupted in protests.[35] India later played a match against South Africa in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Indian team was booed by the crowd who supported South Africa instead of India in response to Ganguly's dropping. Similar regional divisions in India regarding selection have also caused protests against the team, with political activists from the regional Kalinga Kamgar Sena party in Orissa disrupting the arrival of the team in Cuttack for an ODI over the lack of an Orissan player in the team, with one player manhandling coach Greg Chappell.[36] Similar treatment was handed to India's Marathi captain Sunil Gavaskar in the 1980s by Bengali crowds, with consecutive Tests in Calcutta requiring police intervention due to crowd rioting.[34]

However, it should be noted that a successful string of results, victories against arch-rivals Pakistan or victory in major tournaments such as the World Cup are greeted with particular ecstasy from the Indian fans.[37]

Schumacher wins Prince of Asturias sports prize

MADRID (AFP) — Germany's seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher was on Wednesday awarded one of Spain's highest honours, the Prince of Asturias prize for sports, organizers said.

Schumacher, 38, was chosen because his record "had turned him into a sports legend and the racer who has won the most trophies in the history of the sport" as well as for his charity work, said the jury that awards the sports prize.

"His generosity with the poor has transcended the borders of his country, a fact which was taken into account by the jury," it added in a statement.

Schumacher gave 1.15 million euros (1.56 million US dollars) to UN cultural organization UNESCO in 2005 and 10 million US dollars one year later to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in southeast Asia, the jury noted.

After winning two championships with Benetton, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 where he won five consecutive drivers' titles with them. He retired last year but occasionally still works for his former Ferrari team.

Schumacher beat 17 other candidates for the prize, including Iraq's national football team, which won the Asian Cup for the first time in history earlier this year, and a joint candidacy by tennis aces Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Former winners of the award include seven-times Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong of the United States and Moroccan middle distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj who holds the world record for the 1,500-metre race.

It was awarded last year to Spain's national basketball team.

Spain's Crown Prince Felipe is the patron of the Asturias foundation which annually hands out eight awards -- each worth 50,000 euros (68,000 US dollars) -- in fields ranging from sports to science and literature.


Co

Scotland to target Pakistan in Twenty20 World Championship

John Blain, the Scotland fast bowler, has targeted Pakistan as a
potential weak link in the forthcoming Twenty20 World Championship
which kicks off in South Africa on September 11.

Scotland join Kenya as the two Associate nations in the inaugural
Twenty20 tournament after reaching the final of the World Cricket
League in Nairobi earlier this year. But although considered to be
underdogs, Scotland, Blain insists, aren't there to simply make up
the numbers.

"We're more confident in this competition," he told the BBC. "We
have a decent record in this length of game."

In addition to exposure to the format in the country's domestic
competition, three of their squad - Dougie Brown, Navdeep Poonia and
Dewald Nel - have first-class experience in county cricket. And
Blain is far from daunted at the prospect of tackling Pakistan.

"We've played against the Indians, and they're a great batting
side," he said. "But Pakistan, with all due respect, can be volatile-
and it depends which side of the bed they get out of. The Pakistan
match has to be a major target for us."

Youth Sports Can Hurt The Very Young

I WANT to respond to Jim Farrell's Aug. 20 article, "Younger Kids Tackle Football."

Youth sports have become serious business to the adults running these programs. It is accepted practice for most youth sports teams to start their recruitment of children as young as ages 5, 6 or 7. This is the critical time for kids to learn socialization skills by playing freely with their friends. Being organized by youth sports limits this opportunity for young children. In fact, most young children I have taught as an elementary school teacher over the last 15 years come in with very poor socialization skills. This is due to many of them being organized in youth sports.

One statement leaped off the page and pointed toward one of the major issues in youth sports. Steve Alessi, president of the Berlin football league, stated: "You have to get kids early."



Competition for children in youth sports began when soccer went to multiple seasons years ago. Now, almost all youth sports participate in multiple seasons. The effect is that parents and kids feel pressure to specialize in that one particular sport. This has led to overuse injuries in youth sports as well as burnout by the time kids get to junior high school. Who is really being served by forcing kids and their parents to feel the need to specialize, or even play, organized sports at these ridiculously young ages?

The Connecticut Youth Sports Initiative calls for delaying the creation of organized sport teams until the developmentally appropriate age of 9 or 10. We also call for delaying establishment of elite travel teams until puberty, the only true time when athletic potential can be judged in children.

Rick Collins, Simsbury

The writer is a teacher in the Simsbury public schools and founder of The Connecticut Youth Sports Initiative

The Buzz: U.S. sprinter Felix wins third track gold

llyson Felix became only the second woman to win three gold medals at a single world championships track and field meet, helping the United States to victory in the women’s 4x400-meter relay. The Americans won in 3 minutes, 18.55 seconds Sunday in Osaka, Japan, with Jamaica taking silver in 3:19.73.

•Former Baylor star Jeremy Wariner anchored the U.S. team to victory in the 4x400-meter relay. The Americans finished in 2:55.56, with Bahamas taking silver in 2:59.18.

•Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat of the U.S. completed the first 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter winning double in track and field world championship history, capturing the 5,000 in 13:45.87. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya was second in 13:46.00, and Moses Kipsiro of Uganda took bronze in 13:46.75, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of Matt Tegenkamp, a former Lee’s Summit High School star who ran 13:46.78.

Morgan wins on Champions Tour

Gil Morgan won his 25th career Champions Tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a 2-stroke victory over Hale Irwin in the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Calif.

Morgan finished with a 14-under 202 total.

Tom Watson shot a 69 and finished third at 10 under.

•Brett Wetterich will take a 1-shot lead over Arron Oberholser into the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second tournament in the PGA Tour’s playoff series. Phil Mickelson is 2 shots back after the third round at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. Tiger Woods trails by 3 shots.

•Sherri Steinhauer held off a late charge by Christina Kim for a 1-stroke victory at the LPGA State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill. Steinhauer finished at 17-under 271.

James scores 31 in U.S. win

LeBron James put a record finish on the Americans’ dominance in the desert.

James scored a team-record 31 points, and the United States beat Argentina 118-81, winning the FIBA Americas championship in Las Vegas.

Dwight Howard made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points, and Carmelo Anthony added 16 points for the Americans, who were never challenged while winning 10 games in 12 days and will head to Beijing next summer as one of the gold-medal favorites.

Rapids get even with Crew

Conor Casey scored in the 85th minute, giving the Colorado Rapids a 1-1 tie with the Columbus Crew and keeping the teams even in their bid for the eighth and final spot in the MLS playoffs.

Eddie Gaven scored in the 45th minute for the Crew in the match at Columbus, Ohio.

Prep football team finally loses

The streak is over at Charlotte Independence High School — 109 wins and seven years after it began.

Cincinnati Elder ended the nation’s longest football winning streak with a 41-34 overtime victory over the North Carolina high school Saturday night in Cincinnati in the Kirk Herbstreit Challenge.

Independence had not lost since falling 34-31 to Shelby Crest on Sept. 1, 2000, when this year’s team was in elementary school.

Quick hits

•Levi Leipheimer, who was third in the recent Tour de France, took the lead from his teammate in the final three finishing circuits and won the road-race title at the USA Cycling Professional Championships in Greenville, S.C.

•Colombia’s Ricardo “Mochuelo” Torres successfully defended his WBO junior welterweight title, stopping American Kendal Holt in the 11th round at Bogota. American referee Yino Rodriguez stopped the fight.

| Star News Services

Goals rain in Asia Cup as India submerges Sri Lanka

 

Kolkata, Sept. 1 (PTI): The Indian Football Association today announced a cash incentive of Rs 50,000 for each of the players from Bengal who were part of the recent Nehru Cup winning national squad.

Making the announcement at a felicitation programme, IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly told the players, "The amount may be insignificant for you, but please accept this as a token of our appreciation."

He said the function had to be hurriedly organised in view of the players' commitment for the Federation Cup. "We will organise a grand felicitation later," he promised.

Speaking on the occasion, All India Football Federation Vice-President Subroto Dutta said the Nehru Cup victory would inspire youngsters to take up the game.

"I'm sure this victory will also give impetus to country's football administrators to go further, work hard and succeed."

India skipper Bhaichung Bhutia thanked the IFA for organising the felicitation.

The players - Bhutia, Dipak Mandal, N S Manju, Sanjiv Maria, Debabrata Roy, Mehrajuddin Wadoo and Surkumar Singh - were handed mementos and bouquets.

Two other players, Subroto Paul and Syed Rahim Nabi, could not make it to the function.

Vijay Mallya makes bid for Spyker F1 Team

 London, Sept. 1 (PTI): Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya has joined hands with Spyker director of Formula One, Michiel Mol, to make an 80 million euro bid for the struggling F1 team.

Mallya's Watson Limited and Strongwind, owned by the Mol family, made the joint bid for the Silverstone-based team.

"This offer has been accepted by the Board of Spyker Cars N.V. and exclusivity has been granted to the consortium Orange India Holdings Sarl to proceed with due diligence...to achieve completion within 30 days," they said in a joint statement.

Dutch manufacturer of hand-built vehicles, Spyker Cars NV, owns the Spyker Formula One team, which it inherited from Midland for USD 106.6 million last year only to plunge in financial crisis.

Mallya, a Member of the Parliament, is also the chairman of both the Federation of Motorsports Clubs in India (FMSCI) and Motorsport Association of India (MAI).

Mallya's Kingfisher brand adorns Toyota cars and the flamboyant industrialist, also called the 'King of good times', recently said in an interview that part of bringing F1 to India would be to have an Indian company involved in Formula One.

Learn how to put boxing gloves

Your hands might get damaged or broken if you don’t properly take care of it for boxing. This process initiates by wrapping your hands with lengthy strips of cloth called ‘hand wraps’; this is followed by digging the hands into the boxing gloves. Here are few steps mentioned below which one should follow before putting on the boxing gloves.

First of all fasten the hand wrap hook in the region of your thumb, and then enfold the wrapper in the region of your wrist three or four times.

Enfold the wrapper in the region near knuckled four to five times (don’t include the thumb). Keep your fingers stretch away from each other to permit for suppleness when making a fist.

Continue this wrapping process the region at the base of your thumb, the thumb must be in such a position that it shouldn’t touch the rest of your hand, following this take the cloth wrapping the out portion of your hand, just next to your pinkie. Continue wrapping the cloth at the back of your hand.

Following the above steps the cloth wrapping process must continue across your palm and the inside of your hand, in-between the thumb and index finger. The cloth should be again taken to the pinkie side (i.e. back of your hand).

Don’t forget to make X pattern over the hand by crisscrossing amid the in and exterior parts of your hand, and then wrap the surplus in the region of your wrist.

The end of the cloth wrapper should be tied at your wrist. Many of the wrappers have fabric fastening straps that can be protected at the wrist for a comfortable and tight feel.

The completely wrapped hands must be placed in the gloves to completely feel relaxed and secure.

The wrappers which have the fabric fastener should be strapped on the gloves for complete fitness. If appropriate, lace can be tied on each glove.

Don’t wrap the cloth very tightly, it should make your fingers movement easy going and not stuck.

How To Choose The Best Martial Arts School For Your Child

The 3 Dangers of Choosing the Wrong Martial Arts Program for your child
1) Wasted Money - All too enough, parents run down to the closest school - or worse - look for the cheapest school, and enroll their child, only to find that weeks later their child doesn’t want to go any more. Now, they have wasted their money on a program that did not meet their needs or expectations.
2) Trying New Things – As a parent, you know how difficult it can be to introduce something new to your child. Once they have had a negative experience with anything, it is twice as difficult to get them to try it a second time. If a child does not like their martial arts program, they believe ALL programs are the same, so they will not want to try any other activities.
3) “Life Skills” Education - By not getting your child into a quality martial arts school, they are going to miss the opportunity at “Life Skills” training that is not given any place else - Goal Setting, Time Management, Leadership and Public Speaking. Imagine your child is at a job interview and it is down to two people – your child and one other candidate. Both have equal schooling and skills, but your child brings up they have skills in Leadership, Time Management, Public Speaking, Commitment and Goal Setting. Who do you think the boss will want to hire?

How to Avoid the 2 Biggest Martial Arts Rip-Offs!
1) Promises of What You Want to Hear – Not all martial arts schools are created equal! Do your research. There are a variety of teaching methods and styles. Call all of the schools in your area and more importantly, visit them! Schools have been known to make all kinds of promises over the phone. By visiting the school, you can truly SEE what their program teaches and if they are going to be able to benefit your child.
2) Don’t Sign a 24 Month or Longer Contract – Just about every school will offer an Introductory Membership. This can range from 1 free class to a discounted 1 month program. The bigger question is “What happens next?” A non-professional school will want you to sign a 2 year, or even longer contract, right away. The reason behind this is due to the fact that your child will not want to come back after a month or two of classes, but you end up paying the school for years. A school that offers month to month agreements is just as bad. The trouble with month to month agreements is two fold. First, the school can raise its rates ANY TIME it wants to. So you could sign up for a low rate, but within six months, that rate could be doubled. Second, if there are not enough students paying for the month the school will not be around for long. A professional school will generally offer a standard 12 month program for new members. This locks in your rate for 12 months so it cannot be changed.

4 Costly Misconceptions About Martial Arts
1) One school is just like another – This could not be any further from the truth. Each school is going to be set up and run in its own fashion. There is no standardization from one school to the next. Don’t settle on your child’s education. Make sure you find the school that best suits your needs.
2) Martial Arts teaches children to fight or be aggressive – Martial Arts doesn’t teach children to be aggressive – Television does! Children watch TV shows and watch cartoon characters or super heroes punch and kick the “bad guys” and destroy them. It isn’t any wonder that these same children then go to school and use similar techniques on another child that has been mean to them. Quality schools will teach children several Conflict Resolution techniques so that they don’t have to punch or kick another child.
3) Martial Arts takes a lot of time out of the week – Basic Martial Arts classes meet twice a week on average. Classes should range between 30 to 45 minutes. Anything longer, child psychologists agree isn’t beneficial. The class tends to become boring and drawn out. In a quality martial arts school, a student should be able to reach Black Belt in 2 to 3 years training two days a week.
4) The instructor has to be a “World Champion”- It is next to impossible to look at an ad or talk to a school where the Instructor is NOT a world champion of something. The key to remember is that the rank of the instructor, or the world titles they have won, doesn’t mean that they can teach your child. The analogy I like to use for this is Mike Tyson. He may be one of the greatest boxers in history – but I would never let him near my children – let alone teach them boxing.

The 3 Deadly Secrets About Martial Arts Schools
1) Most schools don’t have a teaching background – For all too long the standard for teaching has been the highest rank belt would teach the class. There are hundreds of instructors teaching a class simply because they were the highest belt rank available. Some have gone through a very short seminar on teaching and then are left to fend for themselves. Make sure your instructor is not only training, but continuing his or her teaching education as well.
2) Instructors that have not earned a rank – With no standardization in martial arts, there are schools that take advantage of that fact. A person with little, or no martial arts training, can open a school and call themselves a “Grandmaster” and be elevated to 8th Degree Black Belt. Can you imagine if your elementary school teacher didn’t have to get a degree and just one day decided to become a teacher. They walk down to the local elementary school and sign up to be a teacher. How effective would they be? I certainly would not bet my child’s future on them.
3) 5 schools close and 5 new schools open every month – Too many people have the belief that because they have earned a Black Belt, that they now can open a school and teach martial arts. My analogy for that is just because you graduate from high school, doesn’t make you a high school teacher!

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Martial Arts School
1) Shopping strictly on price alone – If a school is charging $40 per month there is reason. Professional schools will charge between $119 and $199 a month. If you are not interested in education, the $40 to $80 a month school or program will be all right. But, if you want a better education, you will want to find a higher quality school. Also, just because a school is the most expensive doesn’t mean it is the best. Shop by the value you are getting from the school, not just the cost of the program.
2) Choosing a school simply because it is the closest to your home – This is one of the worst reasons to select the school that is going to educate your child. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking just because the school is close, you won’t have any trouble making classes. If your child is not having fun, it doesn’t matter if the school is across the street, or a couple of miles away.
3) Choosing a school that doesn’t have a “family atmosphere” – It is easy to tell what type of clientele a school caters to simply by watching classes. If the school is full of adult males in their early twenties, the school is probably pretty militaristic and hardcore. This would not make for a good match for a young child. Look to see if multiple family members train. Are there programs and classes for everyone interested? A professional school will be able to offer a variety of programs under one roof for the entire family to enjoy.

Why You Want Your Child to Study Martial Arts
Martial Arts offers a variety of benefits to children of all ages - Increased Focus and Concentration, Better Grades, Goal Setting, Teamwork, and Self-Confidence just to name a few. No other activity teaches both mental and physical benefits to the extent of Martial Arts. Martial Arts is also the perfect compliment to any other sport or activity – better eye-hand coordination, stronger legs, better balance, and better cardiovascular ability.

4 Steps to Getting Your Child Started in Martial Arts
1) Make a commitment to act – Many people say they are going to start something, but they never take the first step which is finding the schools in your area.
2) List your objectives – Start a list of the most important objectives. Examples would be: helping your child become more self-confident, finding positive role models for your child, find an activity to help your child loose weight, or any of a hundred other reasons. Make sure the school is going to meet these objectives.
3) Ask questions – Have a list of questions prepared ahead of time. Don’t rely on your memory. You are going to be gathering a lot of information. I can’t tell you the number of times I have had a parent say to me in an interview “There was something else I was going to ask, but I forgot what it was.” Remember, you are the customer – make sure you are an educated customer by getting all of your questions answered.
4) When you find the right school, act – Similar to step #1, once you find the school that is right for your child, get them started. A professional school will have open enrollment which means new students can join at any time. Start on an Introductory Program which can be 2 to 4 weeks of classes.

One of the many things that make Denny Strecker’s Karate unique is our 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you sign up for any of our programs and don’t see any difference in your child within the first 30 days, we will refund 100% of your money. That is how sure I am that our program works. I often wonder why all schools don’t offer this, but to date, I don’t know of any others in the area that will stand behind their service as much as we do.

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my free report on “How To Choose the Best Martial Arts School For Your Child”. I hope that you found it informational and useful for your needs. If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at:

Denny Strecker
28732 Ryan Road
Warren, Mi. 48092
(586)573-3881
denny@WarrenKarate.com
www.KarateForChildren.com
www.WarrenKarate.com

Zaheer Abbas Column: History repeats itself

The world of cricket presently is facing a crisis in the shape of the
Indian Cricket League (ICL) which, as we are made to believe, threatens
the very fabric of conventional cricketing structure. How potent the
threat seems to be is something that we need to look into. After all, it
is not the first time international cricket is facing such a crisis
– approximately 30 years ago, Kerry Packer's World Series had a
similar affect on world cricket.

As I see it, the World Series did a lot of good to the game and much of
what we know as `modern cricket' owes its origin to the
innovations carried out by the Australian tycoon and his team while
taking on the administration of the game at the time. One-Day
Internationals (ODIs) were still at a nascent stage in the mid-70s. Yes,
the first World Cup had already been held, but ODIs were not an integral
part of international tours that remained focused on Tests and side
matches. It was Packer who turned the game on its head to the extent
that now ODIs are played even if that means cutting down the number of
Test matches.

When Packer introduced coloured clothing, the sport was sarcastically
called pyjama cricket. Now it's a done thing and there are people
who suggest that even Test cricket should be played with players wearing
coloured clothing. Personally, I do not agree with this, but it does
reflect on the success of the idea. Not much different is the case of
floodlights and night cricket. Packer went for it believing that night
cricket would attract those spectators who found it hard to come to
watch the game during office hours. The reasoning has now changed. We
would rather have day-night matches, but night-time cricket under
floodlights is here to stay. In fact, Test matches disrupted by bad
weather are now also a modern-day reality. That once again underlines
the success of an idea that was unconventional at the time when it was
first introduced.

Among other things, custom-made drop-in pitches also found their way
into cricket. It was done to sidestep the issue of the lack of proper
cricketing grounds for the World Series in view of the official ban that
was slapped on it by the ICC and the Australian authorities. Such
playing surfaces are still being used in Australia and New Zealand --
stadiums are used alternatively for cricket and rugby in the latter.

The biggest change from the Kerry Packer Circus, as it was infamously
labelled, was in terms of television coverage. Multiple cameras covering
every possible angle of happenings and high-profile commentators
describing them in a manner that was possible only through personal
exposure to the game at the highest level, gave audiences around the
world something that they had never experienced before. It set a
benchmark that is relevant even today.

Apart from these tangible transformations, what the World Series did in
intangible terms is equally important, if not more. It revived the game
that was sliding down the popularity charts. It brought in spectators
and attracted television audiences around the globe. Simply put, it
meant more money for the organisers. Modern-day cricket is a financial
bonanza for all concerned and owes it to the imaginative mind of one
man.

The intensity of modern-day cricket is something that was conceived by
Packer as well. He gathered only the best available talent from around
the world and made them face each other, which produced cricket of the
highest order. It also led to the invention of helmets and other
protective gear that were necessary to face the fast bowlers on
metal-based drop-in pitches.

It was the game of cricket that was the biggest winner in the deal.
However, when it was happening, the administrators did make everyone
believe that those playing in the World Series were actually
mercenaries. History surely, repeats itself.

© DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2007

The Benchpress

The benchpress will build powerful chest, shoulder and triceps muscles. For emphasis on the chest muscles, use a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, or even wider. To avoid shoulder injuries, keep your elbows pointing slightly downward towards your feet, rather than flared out to the sides. To avoid wrist/Carpel Tunnel problems, be sure to wrap your thumbs around the bar, rather than using a thumbless grip. It really does make a difference with the angle of your wrists, try it and see! Lower the weight slowly, (about 5 seconds down) then press powerfully back up to just short of lockout. Do not lockout the elbows, as this will remove the stress from the working muscles. For safety sake, always use a spotter when working near failure on the benchpress. To shift the emphasis from your chest to your triceps, use a grip inside shoulder width and keep your elbows close to your sides. I like to turn these into a decline exercise when using a Smith Machine, by putting my feet up on the bench and raising my butt off the bench. This places much more stress on the triceps. Just be sure you have a very stable bench and you are able to keep your body securely in the center of the bench. Otherwise, it is always better to keep both feet flat on the floor. When using very heavy weights, keep both feet on the floor for sure!

ICL spreads its wings, makes BCCI sweat

Mumbai: In a dramatic press conference in Mumbai on Monday, the ICL named 45 Indian players and seven foreign recruits who will play in the breakaway league.
"We need these set of people who are ready to make their own life, ready to decide what they want to do without being pushed by somebody, and threatened by somebody," former India captain Kapil Dev said, referring to the players who jumbed into the ICL bandwagon.
The leader of the ICL pack was typically combative. The red shirts belonged to some legends of the Indian game, led by the World Cup winning captain himself. Only former India off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna was a new face among the coaches and executive board members.
But the real excitement was reserved for the black shirts worn by the players recruited in the league. Led by Dinesh Mongia, a total of 45 Indian players have signed on the dotted line. These include Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Laxmi Rattan Shukla, Deep Dasgupta, J P Yadav and Thiru Kumaran.
"Our boys are free to play for India anytime whoever wants it," confirmed Kapil.

The rumour mills had been working overtime on the foreign recruits. And for once media speculation proved correct. Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, batsman Mohammad Yousuf, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who announced his international retirement earlier on Monday and opener Imran Farhat have also joined. Also on board are South African players Nicky Boje, Lance Klusener and Nantie Hayward. Clearly, the ambitious project believes they can compete with the BCCI in the market place.
"There has to be strength in the product, there has to be entertainment, there has to be good cricket to watch. I don't see why either viewers would not be attracted to us," said Himanshu Mody, Project Manager of the ICL.
So what happens next? The Indian players who have jumped ship won't be able to play for either their state teams or India now. Although, they haven't given up hope that the BCCI will soften its stance.
"It will be an honour for me to play for India again, and I'm not saying that I won't play for India. If they pick me, of course I'll play for India," India discard Dinesh Mongia says.
The announcements have been made and battlelines have been drawn. But despite the brave words, it still remains to be seen how well the sponsors and the Indian cricketing nation will react to this new entrant.

Bob Taylor on wicketkeeping

'Teams are investing too much in batsman-keepers'

Wicketkeeping has been a hot button during the England-India Test series, mostly for the poor quality of much that was on show from both sides. Bob Taylor, who kept with distinction to the likes of Ian Botham, Bob Willis, Chris Old and Phil Edmonds in 57 Tests for the England side of the late 1970s and early '80s, spoke to Cricinfo about where the likes of Matt Prior and MS Dhoni are going wrong, the unhealthy modern obsession with keepers who are primarily batsmen, sledging, and more.

Matt Prior is under a lot of fire for his work behind he stumps. What do you think is wrong with his keeping?
One of his problems is, he doesn't use his feet. When you stand back to seam bowlers you've got to move your feet and get your body behind the line of the ball. You can't afford to wait for the last second before moving. If they nick it and the nick's wide, you need to be moving, sort of half-anticipating it. Prior has to be a bit more agile on his toes and get his body behind the line of the ball.

Does it come to as a surprise? Because Prior has kept in English conditions for a while now - where, with the ball swinging around, it's paramount for keepers to cover a lot of ground?
It does come as a bit of a surprise. If it is an overseas wicketkeeper, like [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni who hasn't had a lot of experience keeping in England, then you can understand it because the ball definitely deviates off the seam and through the air more in England than it does abroad, due to the atmospheric conditions.

Prior is just going through a bad spell. He hasn't got many runs against India and that is definitely playing on his mind. This is the hardest part of keeping wickets: concentration.

Do you think it's possible for him to correct this at what is a relatively late stage in his career?
He can certainly improve. He obviously has got the ability to improve. With proper coaches at hand it is definitely possible to make the correct changes.

Is it necessary to have a wicketkeeping coach?
Yes, there is definitely a role for a wicketkeeping coach. But I don't know if there is individual coaching or advice available for international wicketkeepers. Wicketkeeping coaching is a specialist subject. I am a cricket coach and to this day I can't express clearly to a bowler how to hold the ball, about his action and so on - I haven't got a feel for it. Likewise a bowling or batting coach who has never kept wickets will have no feel. With wicketkeeping, the most important thing, apart from getting the body behind the line of the ball, is concentration - an area I specialise in.

We've seen in this series how wicketkeepers like Prior, and to an extent Dhoni, have often failed to collect the ball neatly. Are there any technical faults that are responsible?
When you keep to a quick bowler the two priorities are the speed of the bowler and the pace of the wicket. The general rule is, you take the ball about waist-high usually. Now if you are taking the ball at ankle height then you are standing too far back. That is the main problem with wicketkeepers today: they stand too far back. So if the batsman nicks it, he takes the pace off the ball, which means it will hardly carry to the wicketkeeper, and it certainly won't carry to the first slip. And there's nothing worse for a fast bowler who is striving to get a nick, and when eventually the batsman does nick it, it doesn't get carry to the wicketkeeper or a slip. That's a crime.

Do you see that as a trend, keepers not working on the basics?
I am sure they do work, certainly the international keepers. They must, they have to.

I always ask a wicketkeeper what he prefers to do, whether he likes to work with a couple of players or he likes to keep wickets in the nets. Personally I don't like keeping wickets in the nets because to me that is quantity rather than quality. You go into the nets, there are three or four bowlers and one batsman. You're crouched behind the stumps, you're in an confined space in the net, and the bowlers are running in one after the another. In this scenario the wicketkeeper is a jack in a box - he is up and down from his crouched position, up and down, up and down. Now, in a match, by the time the ball is passed round to the bowler and he is ready for his next delivery, the wicketkeeper has had time to gather his thoughts, relax. So keeping wickets in the nets gets you into bad habits.

I would rather have a wicketkeeper, a batsman with a very narrow bat (about the width of a cricket stump), and a thrower or a bowler 10 metres away throwing outside the off stump. The batsman can then either hit the ball or miss it deliberately and the wicketkeeper doesn't know whether he is going to play it or miss it. That's more realistic practice.
If you look at cricket history, the successful teams always have had an excellent fielding side, and good fielding sides are led by their wicketkeeper

How important is the positioning of slip fielders?
The first slip's position is governed by where the wicketkeeper stands, particularly with the fast bowlers. Generally speaking, the first slip is at least a metre or a metre and a half behind the wicketkeeper and wide by a simlar distance, and then the second slip is in line with the wicketkeeper. Again, with experience you talk with the slip fielders and you know exactly where to stand.

What is the key to collecting balls down the leg side?
If there is a right-arm fast bowler and you've got a right-hand batsman, I say to wicketkeepers: as soon as you see the line of the ball going down the leg side, start to move. Don't wait for it to go past the batsman, otherwise that's too late, particularly if the ball swings. In English conditions the ball dips and swerves late, so as soon as you read that the ball is going down leg, you have to be on your toes; your feet have got to be moving. That way if a batsman gets a nick down the leg side, one can convert half-chances.

Do you think specialist wicketkeeping is a dying art?
Yes, because the captains and the coaches have this temptation to choose a batsman-wicketkeeper. As long as he can bat it doesn't matter, he is a back-stop. For me that is wrong. You've got to have a true wicketkeeper. Duncan Fletcher thought it was easier to make Geraint Jones into a Test wicketkeeper than it was to make Chris Read, who Jones took over from, into a Test batsman. It didn't work.

Okay, the wicketkeepers can improve their batting but it is not the be-all-and-end-all. Teams are investing too much in batsman wicket-keepers.

Are wicketkeepers born or made?
You've got to have a certain amount of ability, haven't you? Yes, wicketkeepers are born not made, but you can improve if you have got any ability. You need the intelligence and the ability and then you can improve a lot if you work hard at your game.

Great batsmen rely on instinct and hand-eye coordination. What about great keepers?
It's the same, isn't it? You've got to be in the right place at the right time and that comes with experience and natural ability. Good wicketkeepers miss fewer chances? Good wicketkeepers are able to convert half-chances into chances, diving inches from the ground, catch a ball that wouldn't carry to slip, and things like that.

Like batsmen and bowlers, how difficult is it for keepers to adjust to different conditions and various pitches?
When people ask me who is the most difficult bowler I have kept to, I tell them without sounding blasé: "It isn't the bowler, it is the conditions." As an English cricketer travelling to the subcontinent, where the wickets were flat when I played and there were world-class batsmen who were hardly beaten by our bowlers, I became redundant. The only time I was fielding the ball generally was when the ball was being thrown back from the boundary. So for most of the day when the conditions are hot and sticky, the batsmen are striking the ball all around the ground, you've had nothing much to do. Then in the last over of the day suddenly the batsman nicks it or you miss a stumping and that batsman is there the following day and its odds-on he'll get a hundred. Now that's what wicketkeeping is all about: taking that difficult chance in the last over of the day after a hard day's fielding.
If the ball is turning and bouncing, you should have enough ability to be able to take that. When its doing something, the wicketkeeper is alive, he is expecting something to happen.

I've talked to Ian Healy about how it was to keep to Shane Warne and he agreed. I said, "Ian, with no disrespect, Shane was [consistently] beating the bat with his repertoire of deliveries, so you were ready for it, you were on your toes. It takes ability to be able do that, but its much easier if you know the ball is going to beat the bat." That's why you need the concentration.

Most wicketkeepers find it difficult to keep against spinners in modern cricket. Why?
That might be due to the influence of one-day cricket where a lot of wicketkeepers stand back because the captains are bowling quick bowlers all the time, so they don't get much chance to stand up to the stumps.

There has been a traditon of great bowler-keeper partnerships - Lillee-Marsh, Bari-Imran, Warne-Healy. So one important aspect of a being a good wicketkeeper is that he needs to have a good rapport with the bowler. Isn't it?
Yes. When people ask me who I think is the best wicketkeeper ever, I would say Ian Healy, because Healy and Shane Warne complemented one another: Ian Healy made Shane Warne into the best legspinner of all time and Shane Warne made Ian Healy into the best wicketkeeper. If Healy had missed some of those catches and stumpings, Warne wouldn't have 700-plus wickets. The rapport is something that grows; you build it up with experience and talking.

When a keeper drops a catch, how difficult is it for him to bounce back?
If you drop a catch, that's history. You can't bring it back, and you know the very next ball you could do the same again. So you just ought to forget it, drop it out of your mind and think about the next ball, because if he nicks the next one and you drop it, you're doubly at fault.

How does a wicketkeeper know when he is out of form?
When he is dropping the ball, when he is missing and dropping catches. Basically, whenever you are keeping well you don't think of what you are doing, you just do it automatic - this is a natural wicketkeeper. An unnatural, or a wicketkeeper of lesser ability, has more risk of missing chances, so it is going to be doubly harder for him.

Prior was picked by England for his batting. He started off well against West Indies earlier in the summer but it is beginning to sort him out now, isn't it? Why was Geraint Jones dropped? Because of poor batting form. Ironically his wicketkeeping improved somewhat but he wasn't getting runs, so obviously the press boys criticised him as they are doing Prior now.

Wicketkeepers as captains - what are your thoughts?
It's very difficult. There haven't been any successful wicketkeeper-captains. Alec Stewart tried to captain, open the batting and keep wicket. That's three jobs and it was impossible. A wicketkeeper is better off being the captain's right-hand man. He can advise the captain and inform him about what is happening around.

International wicketkeepers are seen as sledging a fair bit. Is it important to be vocal behind the stumps?
No. Categorically no. I would never advocate it. The thing that Matt Prior and few others are doing nowadays, this sledging business, of getting on to the batsman and trying to pressure him into playing a bad shot ... it's a load of rubbish because while you are doing that you are not concentrating on your job. Whenever I coach youngsters I tell them to forget about what goes on on television with these international players and just concentrate on what they are doing. The only way I would allow a wicketkeeper to shout around is to encourage his own bowlers and fielders, not at the opposition batsman. It is totally out of order in my book and its not part of the game.

Do you think you would have played in this modern age solely as a specialist wicketkeeper?
I doubt it. I don't think so. I kept wickets for England in nearly 60 Tests, and contributing largely to that was the fact that we had a certain Ian Botham. Botham would bat at No. 6 or 7, while I came in at 8 or 9. They could afford to play me because Botham was a genuine allrounder who used to get runs and wickets to help you win the match.
That's what wicketkeeping is all about - taking that difficult chance in the last over of the day after a hard day's fielding

Are there any specialist wicketkeepers left in international cricket?
I'm not sure there are. The last one was Ian Healy.

What do selectors need to look for when they're picking a keeper?
First and foremost, whenever I'm coaching kids I always say the second most important member of a cricket team, at whatever level, next to the captain is the wicketkeeper. You pick a wicketkeeper for his wicketkeeping ability. When you've got somebody like Adam Gilchrist who can bat and keep wickets then you are very lucky, but if the decision is marginal I'll always go for a wicketkeeper-batsman rather than a batsman-wicketkeeper. That's because an inferior wicketkeeper is always found out and there can be a costly miss, like Matt Prior's drop of Tendulkar in the first innings at The Oval last week.

The wicketkeeper inspires the rest of the team. If you look at cricket history, the successful teams always have had an excellent fielding side, and good fielding sides are led by their wicketkeeper. If you've got a sloppy wicketkeeper who is dropping the ball, missing the stumping, then heads go down and it becomes uninspiring.

Bob Taylor is currently sales and marketing manager at British Cricket Balls Ltd, the company that supplies Dukes cricket balls for Test and first-class matches in England

Nagraj Gollapudi is assistant editor of Cricinfo Magazine

Change in ODI rules

London, June 29: Cricket’s bias towards batsmen keeps growing with ICC on Friday giving its nod to a change in playing conditions which empowers a batsman to go for a free-hit without fearing a dismissal in the delivery following a front-foot no-ball.

The International Cricket Council okayed a number of changes to playing conditions at its annual meeting.

Accordingly, if a bowler bowls a front foot no-ball in a ODI, the following delivery will be deemed a free hit and the batsman cannot be dismissed by the bowler from that delivery. The changes would come into effect from October 1, ICC said in a statement. It has also decided that an additional fielder would be allowed outside the fielding circle during the second or third power play in a ODI.

In case an one day innings is reduced, the numbers of overs making up each of the three power plays shall be reduced proportionately.

There will also be a mandatory change of ball after 35 overs of each innings in a ODI. The replacement will be a clean used ball.

ICC also decided that the minimum boundary sizes in all international matches will be increased with the square boundary measuring at least 150 yards from one side of the ground to the other. (PTI)

Link:http://cricket.123india.com/news/062007/320070630.html