These are times of suspicion in international cricket, and another little thread in the dark passage of play is the attempt to ask Sunil Gavaskar to either shut up or get out of the ICC's cricket committee. Something that this blog welcomes whole-heartedly, having recommended such a separation after growing tired of the Little Master's chuntering off the pitch while being embedded in the establishment.
A Flem-matic end
Joining the rest of the mid-30s pack (a list that includes Shaun Pollock, whom I forgot last time!) is Stephen Fleming who faced his last Test match ball today. He got out in typical fashion, having similarly wafted outside the stumps a couple of times earlier in his innings. It's a regretful individual career, but a critically acclaimed and lengthy captaincy regime. Fleming didn't exactly endear himself to all with some of the nonsense he spouted from time to time, but then we must consider that this was a man, whose every word and action was towards some tactical or strategic end, intended to give his slim but fighting units every advantage he could squeeze. I can't help feeling that a more successful career as coach, in the all-encompassing Woolmer mould, beckons somewhere down the road.
3 comments:
On Gavaskarr, though we all hate him enough or hate his stupid utterings enough to rejoice this, I cant help feeling that Speed himself gets away with juicy quotes on India and a lot of Aussies and English former cricketers take pot shots on BCCI, which is afterall part of ICC. Somehow, this seems more to be a case of "brown man shut your mouth" rahter than "stupid man, greedy man, opportunist pig, shut your mouth".
anon: agree somewhat, but still not completely convinced about the brown man bit. If that were so, then they oughta be more heavyhanded on the likes of Peter Chingoka and the ZCU, which doesn't happen. It may well be a case of nouveau rich vs the old landowners. At any rate, the ICC is populated largely with several old fogeys who wouldn't recognize professionalism if it streaked onto a pitch and was tackled by Symonds.
After the struggle to hit the career average of 40, I think the last thing you should mention in the post is mid-30s!!!
He is next to Warne in my list of great captains in the last 15 years - Taylor obviously tops the list.
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