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Pitch hitch

In my previous article I had posed a few questions which the cricket administrators in the subcontinent should address immediately. There is no doubting the popularity of the game in the subcontinent. Sellout crowds, demigod status for players and the omnipresence of cricket in the lanes and bylanes of the subcontinent stand testimony to its unparalleled popularity. Why then do we not have the kind of players that Australia is producing in such large numbers?

The answer lies in the domestic cricket set-up and outmoded coaching techniques. It must have been embarrassing for viewers back in India and Pakistan to see their top order cave in time and again. However, you cannot really blame the batsmen. The pitches on which domestic cricket is played are so lifeless that even talented batsmen end up being flat-track bullies.

I must admit that whenever they telecast domestic cricket, I switch off the television because the game is so ridiculously in favour of the batsmen. When these batsmen get selected to play for their countries after scoring double centuries, they are completely out of depth in the bouncy pitches. I believe Srikkanth, who is in charge of preparing pitches in India, has promised bouncy pitches for the India-South Africa Test series. Though he may receive flak if India lose, I still think it is a step in the right direction.

We simply have to prepare such tracks in the subcontinent even if it means losing a few domestic series. In the long run cricketers from this part of the country will benefit because they will be ready for the pitches overseas.

The second issue is that of physical fitness. It really upsets me when I see youngsters like Youhana not making that extra effort. What is really scary is that Mohammad Azharuddin, Robin Singh and Ijaz Ahmed are the three best fielders in the subcontinent and they are all above 30. This means that the youngsters are not working on their fielding. Fielding and running between the wickets need hours of intense and gruelling practice and fitness levels that do not exist in our part of the world. Players may claim that they have played too much cricket. But Australia has over the last few months played a lot more cricket than India or Pakistan, yet they seem fresh and aggressive on the field.

As far as talent goes I have no complaints. Pakistan has ample talent and Razzaq who is only 20 walked away with the man of the series award even though he did not play in two of the games.

However, what worries me is that talent in Pakistan emerges not because of the system, but despite the lack of it. We have no academies, our domestic cricket is poorly organised, our pitches are flat and yet we have the quickest bowler in the world. However, we may not be so lucky in the future, and it is time that the administration put back into the game some of the revenue they gain from it. Cricket academies and international coaching standards are necessary if we have to produce world class players. Both India and Pakistan have lots to learn from Australia.

When the postmortems end, I hope solutions are not sought by overhauling the team or changing the captain. As far as India is concerned Sachin is the best captain available to them. There is worry that his batting is affected when he leads the side. Of course his batting will be pressurised if the rest of the top order are performing so badly, that is only to be expected. I speak from experience - there is nothing more difficult than captaining a side that is losing. A true test of a captain is how he copes with losing. If he can come out of it without losing his positive frame of mind, he is a good captain, and I'm sure a positive player like Sachin will take this rough patch in his stride.

(Gameplan)

Wasim Akram