Thursday, Sep 05, 2002
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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
England skipper Nasser Hussain and Ashley Giles warming up by playing football. Right: India's V.V.S. Laxman waiting to bat at the nets. With him are Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar. — Photos: N. Sridharan
On another surface three decades ago Bhagwat Chandrasekhar bowled India to its first win in England. The Oval has behaved differently this season. A record aggregate close to 900 runs were scored two months ago by the batsmen of Surrey and Glamorgan. But in the NatWest Trophy Triseries match played subsequently, the Kookaburra did its bit to trouble the batsmen. The two captains feel that the pitch will assist the seamers. After the summer's first Test at Lord's England saved after a wonderful batting performance by the Sri Lankans, Hussain urged the authorities to prepare pitches that would suit the home bowlers. England went on to win the next two Tests at Edgbaston and Old Trafford with its seamers coming into their own. But the England seamers could not take advantage of the conditions that prevailed at Nottingham and Headingley. While Sourav Ganguly's team seems to have found a settled combination, England appears to be in a quandary with regard to picking its eleven for the crucial fourth and final Test that starts here on Thursday. England has been troubled by injuries to bowlers and batsmen which might have been responsible for it not able to force a win at Trent Bridge and prevent the defeat that followed at Headingley. The return of left-hander and opener Marcus Trescothick could not have come at a more appropriate time. Apart from Graham Thorpe, the Somerset batsman's form has been the least fluctuating in both forms of the game. The injury to the thumb he suffered before the first Test at Lord's was another big blow to England. There is a possibility of England playing seven specialist batsmen. Hussain indicated this at the press conference. The inclusion of Trescothick has not been confirmed, but it is more or less sure that he will figure in the official score sheet. It is just that England is giving more time to ascertain the fitness of the left-hander. Hussain recognises the value of Trescothick, but would be the last person to risk picking a batsman whom he needs badly for the Ashes campaign. The announcement of Treschothick's selection has been kept in abeyance, but the Indians know that he would be declared fit to play his first home Test against India. His record against India is too good for England to consider leaving him out when Trescothick himself might be enthusiastic to play. As it has transpired Robert Key has been far from spectacular in his first two Tests. He put down simply catches and that caused acute embarrassment for him at Headingley. Should England decide to pick seven batsmen, Key might come after Alec Stewart. England does not have definite bowling options. Ronnie Irani was released to play for Essex on Wednesday morning, which means that Derbyshire captain Dominic Cork stands a bright chance of being picked as one among the three seamers; the other two being Hoggard and Caddick. Hussain said that the pitch has a `good covering of grass', a view that was shared by Ganguly, too. The England team for the Ashes is likely to be announced immediately after the Test match. But Hussain said that his team's focus should be on the Oval Test and not on the Ashes. Hussain greeted Sachin Tendulkar, who will be playing his 100th Test. "He has set a great example on and off the field." The selection problems have not bothered Ganguly much. Ajay Ratra is the only change likely to happen because Parthiv Patel has not recovered from a dodgy knee. On the prospect of winning the series, Ganguly said: "We went into the Headingley Test 0-1 down, and now are 1-1. We have been in this position before. We will try and give our best shot. This team has shown several times that it can win a Test match abroad." It has been a long summer for both the teams, with England showing its supremacy in three consecutive Test matches, before India surprised it with a high-voltage performance at Headingley. Ganguly said that consistency was the key to success and that his team could not afford to relax. It's not often that Test matches are played in September. A couple of years ago, England suffered defeat at the hands of New Zealand. "But we have happy memories of winning matches here thereafter. The past is irrelevant," said Hussain. The two teams have fought an excellent series so far. The Indians are lucky to be in a position to win a series after 16 years. The last time India played a four Test series here was in 1982. The teams: India (from) Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Ajay Ratra, Ajit Agarkar Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan, Wasim Jaffer, Shiv Sundar Das. England (from): Nasser Hussain (captain), Micheal Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, John Crawley, Alec Stewart, Robert Key, Dominic Cork, Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard, Ashley Giles, Alex Tudor and Steve Harmison. Umpires: Messrs Dave Orchard and Ashoka de Silva; Neil Mallendar; Match Referee: Clive Lloyd.
Tendulkar youngest to appear in 100th Test Sachin Tendulkar will join an elite band of 25 players to have made 100 or more Test appearances, when India faces England in the deciding fourth match of the npower series at the AMP Oval on Thursday. Tendulkar, who made his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi in November 1989 as a 16-year-old, will the youngest at 29 years, 134 days to appear in 100 Tests. The previous record was held by Kapil Dev who was 30 years 313 days when he appeared in his 100th Test in 1989, which incidentally was Tendulkar's first Test match. Youngest to appear in 100 Test matches: (Yrs-Days, For, Season): S. Tendulkar (29-134, Ind, 2002); Kapil Dev (30-313, Ind, 1989-90); D. Gower (31-111, Eng, 1988); M. Atherton (32-133, Eng, 2000); Javed Miandad (32-172, Pak, 1989-90); S. Warne (32-176, Aus, 2001-02). Most Test appearances for India (Matches 100th in): Kapil Dev (131, 1989-90); S. Gavaskar (125, 1984-85); D. Vengsarkar (116, 1988-89); S. Tendulkar (100, 2002). — Mohandas Menon
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