The Hindu : Sports Digest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 20, 2002

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Sports Digest

CRICKET WELLINGTON: England captain Nasser Hussain says quick-fire centuries in Test cricket are a natural evolution of the game and means there will be fewer ``boring five-day draws.'' It took 20 years for Englishman Ian Botham's Test mark for the fastest double century to be broken by Australian Adam Gilchrist. But three weeks later - in England's 98-run win over New Zealand in the first Test last week - New Zealand's Nathan Astle scored a double century in just 153 balls, 69 balls faster than Gilchrist.``It's natural progression of any sport,'' Hussain said on Tuesday. LONDON: Nathan Astle's record- breaking innings of 222 for New Zealand in the first Test against England has given him his best ranking of 20th in the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers World Test batting ratings. Astle moved up 11 places after taking just 153 balls to smash the fastest ever Test double century at Christchurch on Saturday. India's Sachin Tendulkar remains in the top spot. Muttiah Muralitharan still leads the bowling rankings, 10 points clear of Australia's Glenn McGrath.

Top 10 batsmen: 1. Sachin Tendulkar 890 pts 58.57 avg; 2. Brian Lara 887 50.49; 3. Adam Gilchrist 881 60.00; 4. Matthew Hayden 836 49.06; 5. Mahela Jayawardene 827 49.25; 6. Kumar Sangakkara 818 53.00; 7. Jacques Kallis 783 47.27; 8. Andy Flower 776 52.30; 9. Inzamam-Ul-Haq 764 47.05; 9. Herschelle Gibbs 764 40.49.

Top 10 bowlers: 1. Muttiah Muralitharan 918 23.38; 2. Glenn McGrath 908 21.91; 3. Shaun Pollock 874 20.72; 4. Shane Warne 764 26.52; 5. Darren Gough 717 27.57; 6. Anil Kumble 716 27.55; 7. Harbhajan Singh 706 27.98; 8. Waqar Younis 702 22.94; 9. Chris Cairns 701 28.80; 10. Saqlain Mushtaq 692 28.86.

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WELLINGTON: New Zealand's Lou Vincent played in the first Test against England just five days after undergoing a `small' heart operation, he revealed on Tuesday. ``It was a tough week physically and mentally,'' said the 23-year-old batsman. ``I went under the knife on Friday and felt I would be all right by Wednesday to play. It was only a small operation, but it affected me more than I thought it would,'' said Vincent, who scored 12 and nought in last week's first Test in Christchurch. Vincent has had a minor condition which affects his heartbeat ever since he was 16. The operation, which Vincent described as a simple exercise, was performed under local anaesthestic.

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FOOTBALL GLASGOW (Scotland): Scoring two goals in a Scottish League Cup final may be an unusual route to the World Cup. But Claudio Caniggia hopes it impressed Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa. ''I've already been called up to the next squad for Argentina,'' said the 35-year-old forward, who scored in the 1990 World Cup semifinal win over Italy, but later lost his place after a positive doping test. ``I'm obviously on the list of players being considered and I would love to be part of the World Cup squad. ``But there is still one-and-a-half months to go and I will use that time to play as well as possible to try and convince the manager of Argentina to pick me,'' Caniggia said after Glasgow Rangers' 4-0 victory over division one Ayr at Hampden Park on Sunday.

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SWIMMING BRISBANE: Australian Ian Thorpe's narrow miss in an attempt to better his own 400 metres Freestyle world record at the national championships was blamed on a lack of air- conditioning on Tuesday. In temperatures of more than 35 degrees celsius on Monday, Thorpe swam three minutes 40.54 seconds, 0.37 seconds outside the world record of 3:40.17 he set in winning one of a record six gold medals at last year's World Championships in Fukuoka.

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