Musing The Week's Media
Trescothick - labelled a cheat.
Zimbabwe, IPL v ICL, Drugs, Match-fixing, Confectionary
A sample of the Australian press outrage at Marcus Trescothick's News of the World Murray Mint confessional:
The Australian: "The secret behind the devastating swing bowling that took England to its historic 2005 Ashes win has been revealed. They cheated."
Australian Associated Press: "Former England batsman Marcus Trescothick has admitted to illegally shining the ball during the 2005 Ashes series."
Brisbane Times: "A hint of mint made them kings of swing. England's amazing 2005 Ashes victory may have been orchestrated by peppermint sweets, with former batsman Marcus Trescothick revealing that he shone the ball by sucking on the breath fresheners, with breathtaking results."
Meanwhile back on planet Earth:
Michael Kasprowicz offers this piece of Ashes 2005 analysis: "I actually wish Marcus put a bit more mint on the ball so it deflected further off my glove. We're talking about sugar coating using mints. There are a lot more major issues in the game at the moment to worry about."
"It actually doesn't bother me at all right now," said Michael Clarke who for some reason more focused on captaining Australia on tour for the first time in Bangladesh.
And the final verdict from Patrick Kidd in The Times, a journalist who'd had the temerity to actually read the book before writing about it: "As Trescothick's autobiography makes quite clear, the mischief with the Murray Mints did not happen in 2005 but during the Ashes summer of 2001. England lost that series 4-1, proving that when it comes to cheating, we suck."
Standing Firm
PCB chariman Nasim Ashraf, The Dawn, August 20: "The Champions Trophy will be held in Pakistan and there are no chances of shifting the event from Pakistan to any other country. If the ICC shifts the Champions Trophy to any other venue, Pakistan will pull out from the event."
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, Geo News, August 22, 10am: "We are firmly behind Pakistan. I think it all depends on Pakistan and what they have to say on the security issue. If Pakistan says the country is safe to play in and the tournament can be held on schedule, they have our support."
Cricket365, August 22, 12pm: 'Cricket South Africa has announced that it will not send the South African national team to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy in September after its full Board held a lengthy meeting with the ICC task team in Johannesburg on Friday.'
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, August 23, 1am: "We have firmly backed Pakistan to host the tournament. However, we have no problem with the tournament being shifted to Sri Lanka either."
Retaining Dignity
"I don't think we need to beg countries to play against us, especially during Ramadan," Afridi told The News as the PCB sought desperately to organise a replacement tournament for the Champions Trophy.
"I mean, we have international cricket coming up later this year and then there is the series against India (early next year)."
Number of Tests played by Pakistan this year: 0
Number of ODIs played by Pakistan this year: 18
Number of ODIs played by Pakistan against opposition from outside of the sub-continent this year: 5
Given that those 5 ODIs were against Zimbabwe, is it safe to agree that there is no need for Pakistan to beg for games? Especially since their boycott threats ("If the ICC shifts the Champions Trophy to any other venue, Pakistan will pull out from the event.") hardly worked out for them.
No Sh*t Quote of the Week
"I think those speed guns are a load of crap. Somehow the white ball goes faster - I bowled 83-84mph in the Test match, and 93mph in the one-dayers. It's crazy. I hadn't bowled a ball for ten days." - Steve Harmison says what everyone except Shoaib Akhtar has long accepted.
No Sh*t Headline of the Week
'Prior salutes his coach' - London Lite report that England's new wicketkeeper was careful to thank the man who has made and saved his career.
Headline Of The Week
'Stu wins it in Broad daylight' - A rare keeper from The Sun.
Worst Headline of the Week
'Stop shopping at Tresco' - Cricinfo must try harder.
Non-Cricket Story Of The Week
'An Italian priest who said he wanted to hold the world's first beauty contest for nuns has decided to cancel the project, saying he was misunderstood. Antonio Rungi said he had never intended to put sisters on the catwalk, but had wanted to erase a stereotype of them as being old and dour. He had wanted to hold the contest online on his internet blog. Father Rungi said he changed his mind after the local religious authorities expressed their displeasure. "My superiors were not happy. The local bishop was not happy, but they did not understand me either," Father Rungi told Reuters news agency from the town of Mondragone, near Naples. "It was interpreted as more of a physical thing," he said. "Now, no one is saying that nuns can't be beautiful, but I was thinking about something more complete."' - The BBC Website.
One Final Note
If anyone is reading this in the Colombo area, could they please proceed directly to the cricket ground and 'do away with' the stadium DJ. Or at least lend the annoying fool another CD.
Thank you.
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