Monday 12 December 2011

Enough was Enough



In the week when Shane Warne will take to the cricket field again in the 2011 Big Bash, and where David Haye looks increasingly likely to step back into the ring to take on Vitali Klitschko, Sports Gazette has been having a look at sportsmen who should have said enough was enough the first time.

Kevin Keegan

Kevin Keegan and his relationship with Newcastle was the stuff of many a teenage love. They were madly in love in the mid 90’s and were so good together. Playing the most attractive football that the Premier League had seen to date and being the main challengers to Manchester United, they seemed a match made in heaven. Keegan left Newcastle in 1997 saying that he felt that he had taken the club as far as he could and that it was time for somebody else to take the club on (a definite case of its not you, it’s me). Fast forward 11 years and with Keegan having been out of football for three years and Mike Ashley desperate to curry favour with the St James’ Park faithful, they decided to give it another go. But things had changed, they were different people now in a new footballing environment and what had worked before just wasn’t the same. They carried on trying to rekindle their former love but results just weren’t there. Despite a positive start to the 2008/9 season the damage had already been done, and this time it wasn’t an amicable split. Both parties blamed each other, friends took sides and an irrevocable split ensued between the club, the fans and Keegan. This time it was over for good.

Michael Schumacher

If ever a man epitomised a national stereotype it was Michael Schumacher. The German driver who won seven world titles with Benetton and Ferrari was ruthlessly efficient, driven only by success and had a certain humourless air. This was a man who dominated F1 for almost a decade through both fair means and foul. He was vilified in the British press following his crash with Damon Hill which denied Hill the 1994 title; he was then disqualified from the 1997 World Championship for deliberately crashing into his main title rival Jacques Villeneuve in an attempt to eliminate him from the title race. Following a four year retirement Schumacher returned to F1 with Mercedes and in his two seasons back in F1 he has finished a creditable 9th and 8th despite being into his 40’s. However, this return has only served to lessen the reputation (but swell the pockets) of the once irrepressible German, had he not returned he would always have been a champion, now 
he is a middle of the pack driver, who was once an unrivalled champion.

Brian Close

Brian Close is the most unfortunate man to find himself on this list. A hard as nails all-rounder during the 1960’s and 1970’s Close had the misfortune to be recalled to face the most feared fast bowling attack ever assembled, nearly 9 years after his previous test match. The 1976 West Indies bowling attack featured the likes of Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel and Andy Roberts. Playing on lively, bouncy wickets, baked by the 1976 summer (one of the hottest on record) without helmets the task for the 45 year-old Close was one of the most unenviable in cricket history. Add into the equation that the build up to the series was dominated by comments by England captain Tony Greig who wanted to make the West Indian’s “grovel” during the tour. For the South African born Greig to say something so racially pointed was mind boggling, and it fired up the West Indian bowlers no end. The 3rd test at Old Trafford saw Close and opening partner John Edrich face the most terrifying spell of fast bowling ever seen (if you have never seen it on Youtube then I suggest you take a peek: England West Indies 1976). Balls flew past Close’s head at over 90 miles an hour as the opening pair desperately tried to survive in more senses than one. Close was hit time and time again but he did last until the close of play that day. Close never played test cricket again, but in terms of comebacks this ranks as one of the most brutal and courageous ever, however nine years after his last cap it was clear that Close was by now far out of his depth at international level.

Paul Gascoigne

Paul Gascoigne had the world at his feet in the 1990’s but by the turn of the Millennium all too often he had the bottle in his hand. As this list shows there is a moment in all sports stars lives that they realise that enough is enough. There is nothing worse than seeing the once mighty trying desperately to survive in their sports long after they should have called it a day. Paul Gascoigne is a prime example of a man who failed to call prompt time on his footballing career. After signing for Middlesbrough in 1998 it was clear that the man who had won 57 caps for England, and who had carried the hopes of the nation on his shoulders in Italia 90 and Euro 96, was a shadow of his former self. However, Gazza keep trying to find his form again, he joined Everton but was subsequently loaned out to Championship side Burnley. Failing to earn a contract in England, Gascoigne was subsequently rejected by DC United following a trial, before signing for Gansu Tianma in China. His time in China never got going due to checking into a drink rehabilitation centre. In 2004 he joined League 2 Boston as a player coach, although he only made 5 appearances before leaving the club. Gazza had gone from Premier League legend to League 2 outcast in under three years.  

Friday 25 November 2011

The Weight Goes On

Sachin Tendulkar fell in the 90’s for the second time in five test innings as his search for the record breaking 100th International hundred continued.

In front of a capacity crowd at his home stadium in Mumbai the story was written for the Little Master to complete his century having resumed overnight on 67, especially as the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium had seen over 900 runs scored in the first three days with only 14 wickets having fallen.

He seemed in little trouble early on as he unleashed some trademark straight drives before cutting Fidel Edwards for six to take him into the 90’s.

However, just as his fanatical following, who cheered every run as if it was the winning run in a World Cup Final, began to dream that they would be the ones who witnessed the greatest moment in Indian sporting history, it was all over.

Cramped by a short of a length ball from Ravi Rampaul, Tendulkar could only guide it to the West Indian captain Darren Sammy at second slip. The West Indian’s celebrated the prized wicket against a backdrop of absolute stunned silence.

Just as Tendulkar’s presence at the crease created an atmosphere at an otherwise poorly attended test match, his dismissal reduced this match to another meandering drawn test, played on the type of pitch that will kill test cricket.

These pitches, which are particularly prevalent in the sub-continent, destroy test cricket as a spectacle and turn each match into a glorified net for the batsmen. In an age where test cricket is under threat from its shorter formatted cousins it needs to produce matches which enthral and rivet rather than bore.

Tendulkar has now gone 17 innings without an international hundred, and has not scored a test match hundred since January. Despite being 38, time is still very much on his side in this quest for the hundredth hundred.

Yet the longer that this wait goes on, the more comparisons will be drawn with his other rival for the tag of the greatest batsman ever to play the game, Don Bradman, who was left with a test average of 99.94.

Every game longer that Tendulkar doesn’t reach three figures will only serve to ratchet up the pressure that is on Tendulkar’s diminutive frame. The whole of India wants him to succeed and, no matter how experienced Tendulkar is, that pressure will get to him. Every game that passes by is another game nearer to retirement the Little Master gets.

A milestone like 100 centuries needs to be reached in grandeur, bullying a century against one of the weaker test nations on a batsman paradise simply wouldn’t befit the achievement. Having missed out at Lords and on his home ground, Tendulkar has a third chance in 2011 to achieve his milestone at one of the great test arenas at the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.

After Australia, India have a home test series against Pakistan before a long test break until the end of 2012 before they face Sri Lanka.  By then Tendulkar would be almost 40.

It would be an injustice for one of the greats of the game to prolong his international career for the sake of chasing a record, Tendulkar, regardless of his century count, has to recognise when it is time to retire.

As Bradman proved in his pursuit of perfection, sometimes not quite making it is more endearing than struggling over the finishing line. 

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Amir's Redemption Could Be Cricket's Ruin

Usually at the end of a court case one side or the other can claim victory or closure in the matter. At the end of the Spot Fixing case at Southwark crown court there were no winners only losers. Cricket’s reputation has been greatly tarnished, the game has lost its brightest star for the future and Pakistan as a nation has once again had its name dragged through the mud. And the worst part for all involved is that we will all be back here again in the future.

Such is the minutiae of individual events in cricket it is impossible to convincingly say that spot betting is not still prevalent. It is undoubted that illegal bookmakers still have a powerful hold over players around the globe. In 2010 56 players reported that they were approached by ‘fixers’ looking for information about games. The illegal betting market in India, where cricket is a religion, is worth billions a year. Anyone who thinks that case is anything more than the tip of the iceberg is unfortunately deluded.

There is much about the state of Pakistan itself that can be seen in this case. Some commentators have said, somewhat harshly, that corruption is rife in Pakistani cricket because corruption is rife in Pakistan in general. Whilst there may be some truth to that, it does appear to be a slightly simplified and generalised viewpoint.
More crucially though for the case it shows the power that elder statesmen have over the young players. A lot has been made of the pressure put on young Mohammed Amir to bowl no-balls. The hierarchy of Pakistani society and the cricket team in particular places a great emphasis on looking up to and respecting the elders.
It is perhaps best to say that Mohammed Amir is the innocent party in a case that has no innocent parties. 

Being young and under the influence of peer pressure is one thing, but Amir simply cannot be naïve enough to not realise the repercussions of his actions. Especially seen as he appears over time to have become more of a driving force in the spot fixing allegations, he went from following orders at Lords to seemingly negotiating his own fix at the Oval. Once he was in it appears he too became caught up in the greed of the situation.
Amir had the potential to be a global superstar of the game. He was the great bowling hope of a game that has seen genuine fast bowling talents disappear. Financially, he could have earned millions. In twenty years’ time his name could have tripped off the tongue alongside Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as the greatest Pakistani pace bowlers ever. Yet he threw that all away for a few thousand pounds.

And it is for these reasons why Amir’s ban will not be enough to act as a deterrent in the battle against corruption in cricket. When Amir’s ban runs out he will be 23, an age at which most people are only breaking into test cricket. If cricket is genuinely interested in sending out a message that spot fixing in cricket does not pay, Amir’s success will always fly in the face of this message.

Amir’s case is a no win situation for cricket in reality. If he is allowed back into cricket at the end of his ban then the ICC will look toothless to truly eradicate the scourge of illegal betting in cricket. Yet kicking him out of cricket all-together will deprive the game of a potential superstar.

In the end though the game has to be bigger than one potential superstar. Amir’s presence on a test pitch again in the future will be a permanent reminder of cricket’s seedy surrounds. While the ICC continues to embark down a program of rehabilitation for match fixers, which has seen convictions quashed and sentences reduced, the game’s greatest devil will continue to sit on the shoulder of players whispering poisonous thoughts into their ears.

For its own sake cricket’s administrators must start to make examples of players to act as a future deterrent. The rules themselves are clear. Youthful naivety is one thing but breaking fundamental rules of the game is quite another.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Clubs hold all the aces in Team GB row

The sight of Gareth Bale advertising the Team GB football team gave the clearest indication yet that he is set to ignore the official stance of the Welsh FA and agree to be part of Stuart Pearce’s 18 man squad for the Olympic Games next summer. Understandably this has caused anger amongst Welsh fans and administrators alike who fear that their nation’s footballing sovereignty, like that of Scotland and Northern Ireland, will be diluted by this Team GB.

Much as the home nations would want to believe otherwise, the lure of playing in a major footballing championship, will overcome any nationalistic feelings that players may have. Especially as players such as Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, and members of the Northern Ireland and Scotland will be kicking their heels at home while their club colleagues compete at Euro 2012.

The increased flow of players around the British Isles has also helped to break down the barriers between the contingent states. Gareth Bale joined Southampton as an eight year-old; his entire footballing career has been spent in England surrounded by English players. Aaron Ramsey, whose footballing education was in Wales with Cardiff, was heavily influenced by English and Scottish players. Ramsey played under an English manager in Dave Jones. Of Cardiff’s current squad there are twice as many English players as Welsh, and more Scottish than Welsh players. In Swansea’s team last week in the Premier League there were six English starters, compared to three Welsh players. The divide between England and Wales at club football has well and truly broken down.

As a Welsh FA spokesman said ‘We are welsh and we are British’. Welsh and British sportsmen compete with each other in every other sport. Simon Jones played a pivotal role in England’s cricketing success under Duncan Fletcher. Welsh players proudly represent the British and Irish Lions. Athletes such as Colin Jackson and Dai Greene have competed under both the Union Jack and the Welsh Dragon. It is only football where, internationally at least, there is a chasm between the home nations.

However much as these ideas of nationalism and footballing sovereignty are important to this issue, there are a group of people who are far more influential in this debate: the player’s club managers.

Club managers are the key people in this Olympic battle. It is the reason why Aaron Ramsey, who is as keen as Bale to join a GB team, may find it more difficult to be a part of the London Olympics. Managers such as Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson will not want players missing the first two weeks of the season, with the possibility of picking up an injury, especially if players such as Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverly and Jack Wilshire go to the European Championship before the Olympics.

Under persuasion from Sir Alex, Ryan Giggs seemed to always pick up niggles every time an international friendly came around, and ended up retiring with only 64 caps. Nemanja Vidic has just announced his international retirement at the age of 30, and Paul Scholes also quit international football prematurely. Regardless of his national allegiances, Sir Alex will not want any of his players being involved in any more international football than is absolutely necessary.

There is no doubt that there will be players from the other home nations in the Great Britain team for the Olympics, as well there should. Granted, a guarantee from Fifa usually isn’t worth the paper it is printed on however, Fifa have no quarrel at all with the home nations and playing as Team GB will not change that. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Olympics were the first view the world got of Lionel Messi, Kaka and many other world stars. From a footballing point of view the home nations will benefit from sending players to this tournament. Any international tournament experience can do nothing but benefit young Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish stars.

Players want to play football, and any chance to win a medal in front of their ‘home’ fans will easily negate any nationalistic divisions. The men who control the fate of this team are not Football Association powerbrokers, but the managers and club chairmen who pay wages and whose pressure can easily persuade players that they do not wish to be part of a GB team. A good run as a united Great Britain team would help create Olympic fever in a way few other things could, especially if it comes in the aftermath of a poor showing at Euro 2012 by England.

Sunday 9 October 2011

A National Crisis

In the aftermath of England’s sobering defeat against France in the Rugby World Cup Quarter final there is one dark thought that lurks deep in the consciences of all England fans. It is not the realisation that, no matter how much he did as a player, Martin Johnson may not be the man to take England forward, or that this World Cup has called into question the whole ethos of the rugby player attitude off the field: it is something far far worse than that. Looking through the four remaining sides, who on earth do England fans support now? Minus the ‘Auld Enemy’ the four sides left competing for the William Webb Ellis Trophy could not leave the English fans with less appetite to get up in the early hours next weekend to cheer them on towards the Eden Park final.

Although on the face of it the French would not be anyone’s second favourite team they are fast becoming England’s brothers in controversy. Putting aside the Hundred Years War, Napoleon and French Coach Marc Lièvremont’s quotes during the 6 Nations in March that the thing which unites all the teams in the 6 Nations is hatred of the English maybe now is the time to extend a hand of friendship over the channel. Pilloried by the media for both on and off the field issues, their coach dividing opinion back at home and a qualifying campaign that up to now will be remembered with no fondness the French World Cup so far has looked like one long attempt to outdo anything that England could do. Struggling through their group with the odd flash of promise mirrored the way the English progressed and it would be the natural progression for the English fan to go from one media circus to another. If the English fan was to start following Les Bleus for the next two weeks in New Zealand then they will be guaranteed another two weeks of in fighting, false dawns and media castigation and they could well have a world cup winners trophy to show for it at the end.

Having finished 4th in this season’s 6 Nations you would have got long odds on Wales being the final home nation left in the tournament. Yet that brutal fitness camp in Poland and the alcohol ban, which has kept Welsh players off the back pages have turned Wales into genuine finalists in waiting. Although an instant comparison would be premature, this Welsh side is bringing hope to the Valley’s that Wales may be on the cusp of returning to the running, world beating days of JPR Williams and the rest of that Welsh side of the seventies. In the same way that the French copied England’s rollercoaster campaign the Welsh by comparison are being somewhat boring and stable. Minus the perma-tanned Gavin Henson and the golf buggy antics of Andy Powell this campaign should be regarded as being a bit tame for the England fans to get behind. If the French campaign would be like watching an episode of Eastenders, the Welsh campaign would be more like a quiet afternoon with the Archers.

Ten years ago, even the merest contemplation of sympathy or support for an Australian sports team would have been unthinkable. The victory in the 2003 World Cup was made all the sweeter by the fact that it was against the pomp and swagger of the Australians. English grit and determination against Australian Hubris. But now all that has changed, Australian cricket is in fast decline, the football team seems to be stalling and rugby is all that the sporting nation has to hang its hat on. The Australian people are looking back on the late 90’s and early 00’s much like a man on the brink of his middle age crisis, the memories of the great times are still there, but the future looks uncertain. For Australia the Webb Ellis trophy is the convertible Porsche and the trophy twenty year old girlfriend, it will paper over the cracks and give a sense of happiness but the root cause of the troubles will still remain. Given the destruction of the Aussie cricketers in the Ashes, Australia as a nation needs this world cup victory to restore its sporting image. Throughout the nineties the Australian’s were characteristically reserved and humble about their sporting victories, and never sought to rub English faces into the dirt whenever they were defeated. Now that the tables, well at least in cricket seem to be turning, it would be only fair for the British to show the Australians that same courtesy and cheer them on to victory. Or on the other hand great pleasure could be taken in their every defeat. I think everybody knows which will be more fun.

And so finally the hosts and champions elect for every world cup since 1987. No team in the world is under the kind of pressure that they are under; no player in any sport in the world is under the pressure that Dan Carter’s replacement is under. This victory would be all the more poignant especially given the devastation caused by the New Zealand earthquake earlier this year. Victory at Eden Park in two weeks would be a huge pick-me-up for the entire nation, a victory that would transcend sport. However, supporting New Zealand from now on would be too easy. Since when did English people cheer on the overwhelming favourite over the gallant loser? If Tim Henman had won Wimbledon his legacy would have been lessened. What is better in the heart of an Englishman, a Tiger Woods of a Tim Henman, a man who can win at ease or a man who will never win, but always gives the impression of being so close to winning? So much as New Zealand deserve English support, it would actually be entirely un-English to support them.

So, there you have it. For the next two weeks as a nation we should stand behind our Gallic neighbours and cheer them on to world cup glory. As the saying goes ‘plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose’. Switching allegiances from les rosbifs to les bleus would seem a massive change, but given how the two nations have performed so far both on and off the pitch, would it be any change really? After all who really wants to see the Australian’s win?