It is interesting to note how much of the major news stories in the cricketing world is steadily beginning to revolve around Twenty20. Possibly, there is nothing much to read into it, and it is just a phase, with the burst of news stories being on account of the Twenty20 World Championship and the launch of the Indian Cricket League. Or possibly, it is a sign of times to come. For the time being at least, the answer to that is something that can only be speculated. At any rate, here is round up of last week’s key news stories from the cricketing world.

 
With their Paks to the wall

Any misconceptions in Geoff Lawson’s head that the general turmoil Bob Woolmer and several other Pakistan coaches have had to endure in the past were just extended aberrations would have been cleared with his very first steps on Pakistani soil and into Pakistani cricket.

The country’s cricketing scenario has presented the coach with the choicest of controversies and muck ups to give him a very clear idea of what exactly he is up against.

The least of the troubles is the looming threat of a player strike after Captain Shoaib Malik got into a disagreement with Pakistan’s Director of Cricket Operations Zakir Khan over the imposing of a fine on, who else, Shoaib Akhtar over an incident at a training camp.

Following that comes news that key players Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf haven’t taken too kindly to being left out of Pakistan’s squad for the Twenty20 World Championship. As a mark of protest, both the players have put off signing the new central contracts offered to them by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Razzaq has gone as far as to announce his retirement from International cricket – at the age of 27.

While there is (generally) no such thing as a good time for a player- administration row, this is clearly the worst possible time of them all, with the ICL lurking, waiting to feed on such opportunities. Not surprisingly, the Indian based Essel group’s newly setup Indian Cricket League has stepped in, making an official announcement that four Pakistani players, including Yousuf and Razzaq, have been signed up to play in the ICL.

The PCB had earlier declared that those playing for the ICL would not be considered for selection when it comes to playing for Pakistan. While it doesn’t seem too concerned about the remaining three players, special efforts will be made to try and convince Yousuf to reconsider his decision.

If the worst does happen, and Yousuf ends up not playing for Pakistan on account of the ICL, it would be one of the most tragic stories in Pakistani Cricket in particular, and world cricket in general. But with other key Pakistani players such as Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar also poised to join the ICL, a compromise is going to be the most likely outcome.

 
The ICL steps up

Apart from Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq, the names from Pakistan who have signed up also included Inzamam-Ul-Haq, who has nothing to lose except a few pounds, and Imran Farhat, who still has a career playing for Pakistan at stake.

The list of international players also includes the South Africans Lance Klusenar and Nicky Boje. Again, players from whose shoulders the tag of ‘big ticket’ seems to slip off and ‘has beens’ seems to stick.

While there may not be too many authorities and employers who would really care too much about where these bunch of players play or don’t play, what is interesting is the list of 44 Indian players who have braved the BCCI’s warnings and thrown away a shot (admittedly, a long, dodgy shot) at winning the Indian cap.

Outwardly, though this may seem to raise questions of whether these players really value the Indian Test cap at all, a closer look reveals that several of these names are those who didn’t have a realistic chance of getting to play for the National side anyway. Names like Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Jai Prakash Yadav, Deep Dasgupta, Thiru Kumaran, Reetinder Singh Sodhi – cricketers who have had a shot at playing for India and haven’t really shown the talent or the spunk to realistically challenge for a spot in a squad where there are many names already jostling for a spot – pepper the list.

Following weeks of speculation and rumours, the unveiling of the official list of players on their bandwagon is the first significant step taken by the ICL since the official confirmation than Brian Lara had been signed. This announcement is the ICL’s signal to the Indian and Pakistani boards that they have played their turn, and it is now the Boards’ turn to advance their pieces on the chess board. While the intent of the ICL seems strong enough, you can’t help but wonder if this collection of players who are mostly on the wrong side of their cricketing peaks – save a few, such as Yousuf – will draw in enough crowds to mount a serious challenge.

The history of cricket in India and Pakistan is the story of how a game has gained popularity with a combination of superstars and super talent on one side and shoddy, shady, largely unprofessional administration on the other. It will now be interesting to see how well the reverse of this combination works.

 
Kiwi concerns

Stephen Fleming’s life is one that seems to currently be filled with questions, doubts and decisions to be taken. Having retired from ODI’s and seen the captaincy go to Daniel Vettori, there are now speculations that Vettori may also be handed the Test captaincy. The speculation arose primarily on account of coach John Bracewell’s statements that while he was convinced about Fleming as a Test Batsman, he had enough reasons to believe Vettori would fit the bill of Test captain better.

This comes close on the heels of the news that Fleming is considering retiring from Tests to play in the ICL. However, it’s not Fleming who is the New Zealand Players Association’s primary concern. The Kiwi Player Association is worried that with the sort of money that the ICL is laying out, it will be difficult to hold back young, promising New Zealand talent from taking to the ICL and relegating national selection to a second choice status. The Kiwis are worried that while England, Australia and South Africa may have the financial muscle to reign their players back, it will be New Zealand cricket which will suffer the most.
 

Tait out…Hilfenhaus in

 Australian selectors decided to replace Shaun Tait with Ben Hilfenhaus in their squad for the Twenty20 World Cup after Tait’s elbow injury took longer than expected to heal. A potentially gruelling seven match ODI series against India starting late September could also have been a factor. While this doesn’t come as great news to Australian cricket, Hilfenhaus's Twenty20 statistics show there is enough reason to believe that this may not be so bad after all.

 
Scorecard

On a high after the England Series victory, India settled into an ego-massaging, muscle flexing exercise as they took on mediocre Scotland on Thursday. It comes as some source of relief to know that the game didn’t end up being a gory massacre that it could well have been. Some fight from Scottish batsmen Ryan Watson and Craig Wright meant that the Scottish team managed a more than respectable 203 in 46 overs. However, a good resilient start from India’s opening pair ensured that there were no World Cup type upsets on the menu as India managed a comfortable win, with Gautam Gambhir’s 85 not out likely to give the team management something to think about as the ODI series against England kicks off.

Meanwhile, the other fledglings of international cricket did a little bit of muscle flexing of their own. Rotterdam enjoyed a high scoring match as Netherlands piled up a massive 315 with vital contribution from Tom De Grooth (97) and Alexei Kervezee (62) in the opening slot and Mudassar Bukhari (61) down the order. Bermuda, however, couldn’t quite match the Dutchmen’s histrionics as they stumbled to 143 all out as Pieter Seelar and Ryan ten Doeschate grabbed three wickets each.

Netherlands continued to dominate Bermuda in the second game of the series as well, bowling the Bermudians out for 115 and knocking the target off in 19.3 overs, with Kervezee carrying his good form forward with an unbeaten 59 ball 49.There would be enough reason to celebrate if Netherlands (and the other associate nations) maintain these standards against their big brothers.

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