In a day of shifting fortunes which saw the great Sachin
Tendulkar riding his luck to complete his 29th test hundred,
equaling Don Bradman?s record of 29 test hundreds, India recovered
from early hiccups to close the day at the relatively strong
position of 262 for 4, with Sachin Tendulkar in ominous touch on
113 and VVS Laxman not out on 21.
Were it not for the Sri Lankan umpire, EAR de Silva?s failure to
spot Tendulkar's thin edge to the wicketkeeper off Adam Sanford,
who in the same testing over to Tendulker also induced him to sky
one just over the head of midoff, India might not have been as
comfortably placed at the end of the day.
The media coverage of cricket in the Caribbean ticks me off and
it?s time I start a cussout.
The West Indies has thrown up some of the worlds best
stroke-players and if you are lucky enough to go to a regional game
or a home Test series, some of the funniest and wisest cricket
watchers you can find. Rum not only looses the tongue it also
unshackles the mind.
Thu, Apr 18, '02
The West Indies selectors have made one change, replacing the
injured leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo with fast bowler Marlon
Black for the second Test against India starting Friday in
Trinidad.
With the Queens Park pitch expected to be well-grassed and offering
some support to the seamers, the Carl Hooper apparently decided the
four-prong approach would be his best bet.
Thu, Apr 18, '02
A gimpy hamstring could rule West Indies leg-spinner Mahendra
Nagamootoo of the second Test match which begins in Trinidad and
Tobago on Friday.
Team doctor Terry Ali has described Nagamootoo's chances of playing
as "50-50", creating a dilemma for Carl Hooper and the selectors
when the name the final XI on Thursday night. Trinidadian
leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine has been put on standby.
Well Holding had the last laugh, didn?t he? Look, I don?t know
if, first day of the first Test match, you saw the sign on TV:
"Nice weather ? ent Mikey? (I may be Trinidadianising the
Guyanese here but the sarcastic sentiment is the same, the sun
blazing down on Bourda).
Holding, forthrightly, explained the context, reminding viewers how
given that statistics showed that 20 per cent of Test matches in
Guyana had been rained out, he had recommended the abandoning of
Bourda instead offering as a sop an increased number of One-Day
matches.