A view from the Gully (1 June 1999)

1 June 1999

A view from the Gully

Tawfiq Aziz Khan

India successfully came back from the precipice on Sunday at Edgbaston.

Azhar's brinkmanship almost backfired as rains threatened a washout that would push his side high and dry. Mercifully the rain gods busied themselves somewhere else doing overtime on a weekend.

India's entry into the second stage or the Super Six has soothed the nerves of the players and their supporters for the time being but their position ahead of the Zimbabweans in the group because of a better run-rate, do not bring any relief for them. They find themselves sandwiched between the teams to whom they lost in the group matches. Hence they are not carrying any points with them that can give them some cushion; India will have to win all three matches at this stage of the tournament to reach the semifinals.

Edgbaston is the third ground in Birmingham used by Warwickshire County Cricket Club. The other grounds were at Aston Lower Grounds, Trinity Road, close to Aston Villa Football Club, where just one match was staged in 1884 and the Mitchell and Butlers Ground at Portland Road and City Road, where matches were staged from 1931 until the last match in 1961 with Cambridge University, according to Wisden. The first county match was played on Edgbaston ground against Kent in 1894. The initial match, however, was between an England XI and the Australians in 1886. In 1902, the ground was recognised as suitable for Test matches when England met Australia in the first Test of the series.

The 1983 World Champions are perhaps the most publicised team in this World Cup and consequently under tremendous pressure to win the title. Luckily for them they all came alive in the right time and kept their chances alive too. Dravid, Ganguly, Mohanti, Srinath and Kumble responded bravely at the crucial time and India defended their modest total with heads high. For once they were on their own without much help from Sachin Tendulkar.

Napoleon once called the British "a nation of shopkeeper." But it is not known if someone has called the Australians "a nation of accountants"; at least that's what they were trying to prove at Old Trafford against the erratic West Indians on Sunday. At the end of the match Steve Waugh truthfully acknowledged their tactic for depriving the New Zealanders, their neighbours, of a place in the Super Six. They had done their homework well.

This was a crunch match for both teams and judging from their recent performances and results in the Caribbean, it was anybody's game. But on papers the Australians were a better side.

The 'mean' McGrath made life miserable for the West Indians on a hard and firm track at Old Trafford. His bowling was matchless. And pompous Shane Warne took a leaf out of McGrath's book.

In his History of Lancashire, John Kay, the county's foremost authority, boldly nominated the best players from 1864 when it all began from the seed planted by Manchester Cricket Club, according to Wisden. His choice included, among others, such illustrious names like A G MacLaren, Cyril Washbrook, FM Engineer, Sidney Barnes and JB Statham a fine fast-medium bowler of the 50's.

Old Trafford has been the home of Lancashire cricket since 1857 when the new ground was opened. Lancashire play most of their matches at Old Trafford and of course the ground also stages Test matches and ODIs. There are a number of instances when matches were stopped or postponed because of heavy rains here.

Sunday was an exception. The match started with an overcast sky but it did not rain. McGrath ran through with clinical precision; only Ridley Jacobs remained defiant and unconquered. The total was a measly 110, a pathetic sight indeed. Curtly Ambrose, normally luckless, suddenly found favour with the goddesses and gave a shiver to the top order. But his efforts were far too short of the need. Australia's go slow tactics was an eyesore for the discerning watchers. But finally they knocked off the required runs.

At Southampton, the champions came of age and won their second match as they handed the Kenyans a clean slate - fifth defeat in as many matches. But the African lions did put up a fine show, as they normally do against any opponent. The Lankans have to do a lot of soul searching and come up with correct answers to all the questions which will be one too many.

Both teams took early flights home.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)