Ijaz Chaudhry

Sarfraz Nawaz

2012-02-11T14:44:00.001+05:00

In September 2010, while having a stroll in an Islamabad park, I was confronted by a few armed men. They threatened me with dire consequences if I didn't stop talking about gamblers in cricket. I got a First Information Report registered at the local police station. I have always been vocal about the menace of match-fixing. The betting really spread during the Sharjah boom. I was the first person to testify before the Justice Qayyum commission in Pakistan.

In my teens I went into the family business, construction. We were constructing the compound wall of Lahore's famous Government College when the 1965 war with India broke out. That stopped everything. Cricket became my biggest activity. That is how I started in the game.

Physical fitness is the most important quality for a fast bowler. Also, reading the batsman's strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to adjust the line and length.

In 1970 I played regularly for Northants in the County Championship and took about 60 wickets.

Melbourne is my favourite ground. I had my life's best performance - 9 for 86, at the time the best Test figures for a Pakistani - there in 1978-79. I also did well in the Test on the next Pakistan tour.

I got into the Government College because of my cricketing prowess. As always, the Government College team had a number of future Test cricketers: Wasim Raja, Talat Ali, Shafiq Ahmed, among others. My game really flourished. I have the honour of captaining both the Government College and Punjab University sides.

I have always been a fierce competitor. In 1975, Jeff Thomson hurled bouncers at me while bowling for the touring Australians against Northants. In those non-helmet days, it was regarded as unfair to send down bouncers at tailenders. I shouted at him: "There is a grave vacant at the local cemetery." When Australia batted, I had Thomson dismissed off a bouncer.

I made my first-class debut in 1967 and then there was no looking back. My second game was the Ayub Trophy final. Next season I was a member of the Lahore side which dethroned Karachi from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy after nine years.

The Northamptonshire captain Roger Prideaux was a member of the 1968-69 MCC team. I bowled to him at the practice nets in Lahore before the first Test. He said, "Sarfraz, you can swing the ball either way almost at will." He offered me a contract to play for Northamptonshire even before I had made my Test debut.

During the Melbourne Test of 1978-79, though we had set a tough target of 382, the Aussies were cruising at 305 with just three wickets down. I told my captain, Mushtaq [Mohammad], that we should try to waste time. So I went back to my normal longer run-up to slow things down before the start of the mandatory overs. [Allan] Border got an inside edge. The old ball was swinging and the new batsmen couldn't cope with that. I had took 7 for 1 and they were dismissed for 310. The Australian newspapers reported that I was the most talked-about person in the country the day after the Test.

After just five first-class games, in 1968-69, I was called for a three-day game against the touring MCC, and in the third match of the series, I made my Test debut against them.

I learnt to swing the ball through trial and error. During my early days, I mainly bowled incutters. Then, on a friend's suggestion, I started keeping the shine only on one side and was able to move the ball in either direction.

Initially I didn't teach anyone the art of swing bowling. During the 1974 Pakistan tour of England, I realised Imran Khan would be my regular partner in the Pakistan team. After the tour we had a few unofficial friendly matches in the West Indies, and there I shared my knowledge of swing bowling with Imran, who turned out to be a very good learner.

My most memorable batting was the innings of 90 against England in my last Test, at my hometown, Lahore.

The 1977 Sydney Test was really memorable for me. It was the first major international win of my Test career. The Imran-Sarfraz combination clicked for the first time. From there we were recognised, and this partnership helped Pakistan win many Tests over the next few years.

Playing in the county circuit, a paceman learns a lot. In a single day you sometimes get as many as three weathers and thus different conditions for bowling.

I have no regrets in my cricketing career. I achieved a lot, and thanks to cricket I have lived a full, vibrant and colourful life.

During my tenure for Northants (1969- 1982), they achieved unprecedented success. The best season was 1976, when they laid hands on some silverware [Gillette Cup] for the first time and also finished second in the County Championship. In 1980, when we won the Benson & Hedges Cup for the first time, I had the best figures for my team in the final - 3 for 23 in 11 overs.

The greatest frustration of my career was seeing New Zealand's last pair of Hastings and Collinge score a world-record last-wicket partnership against us during the Auckland Test of 1972-73.

I got along well with Imran during our playing days. Before he became captain, we mostly shared rooms during matches. We often discussed bowling techniques, etc. Even when he led the side, we used to spend a lot of time together after the day's play.

Gordon Greenidge is my favourite cricketer. He was a very intelligent player and was technically superb.

Abdul Rab, who coached at Friends Cricket Club, was my first mentor. Later Iqbal Butt, the director of sports at Punjab University, encouraged me a lot and took pains to provide us with the best facilities.

Being positive all the time is my greatest attribute. I never give up. I have always been ready to accept challenges in life and cricket.

Mushtaq Mohammad is the best captain I played under. He had wonderful communication skills and understood the game well. He moulded Pakistan into a fighting and winning combination, and it was under Mush that Northants had that wonderful season in 1976. Jim Watts was another good captain during my county days.

In the 1975 World Cup we lost against West Indies in the final over of the match. We let their last two wickets score 100 runs. It was mainly due to the poor captaincy of the stand-in skipper, Majid Khan. Instead of attacking the tailenders, defensive fields were adopted. Wasim Raja, who hadn't bowled a single over, was given the last over of the match. The Man-of-the-Match award was of little consolation for me.

I used to do a lot of running, climbing stairs. That helped me build good stamina, and I often bowled long spells. They nicknamed me "Horse".

Arguably, Imran's finest spell came during the last hour of the third day of the second Test of the 1982-83 series v India. The evening breeze of Karachi was helping swing the ball a lot. I suggested Imran swap ends with me because with his greater speed the results would be better. He reluctantly agreed. And then he ran through India's top and middle order with a spell of 5 for 1.

I don't claim to be a match-winner but people have pointed out that Pakistan often suffered in my absence. During the 1976-77 tour of Australia and the West Indies, I missed two Tests and Pakistan lost both. When Pakistan went down 0-1 to West Indies in the 1980-81 series, I didn't figure in the lost tie. In 1982, Pakistan lost to England 1-2. I played only one of the three Tests - the win at Lord's. It was Pakistan's first Test victory over England since 1954. I was controversially axed from the Pakistan squad for the 1979-80 tour of India. Some Indian newspapers wrote that had Sarfraz been in the side, Pakistan might have won the series.

I had offers to act in movies. The first came in England in 1974, but I declined since acting was not my forte. Then in the late '70s, my friend Younis Malik, the famous Pakistani film director, offered me and my actress wife Rani lead roles in his film. I again said no, and Rani had pledged to do no new movies after our wedding.

I was often involved in altercations with the cricket board and team officials because I couldn't tolerate any unfair play. I always spoke my mind.

I was elected as a Member of the Provincial Assembly in 1985 from my home constituency in Lahore. Those elections were non-party. Later, I joined the PPP (Pakistan People's Party) and contested the 1988 elections. I was declared successful, but on a recount, the result was reversed. I lost by about 400 votes.

In the 1979 World Cup semi-final, we had a good chance. Skipper Asif Iqbal, who was in great form, should have come at the fall of the second wicket at 176 instead of Haroon Rasheed, who always struggled in English conditions. In the first place, Wasim Raja, with an excellent record against the Windies, should have been in the side and not Haroon Rasheed.

Once during the West Indies tour of 1976-77, at a dinner, the menu showed "Mountain Chicken" as one of the items. I had been there before and knew what it was. The younger boys, like Javed Miandad and Haroon Rasheed, ordered it, thinking it was chicken. I ate something else. When we were finished, I asked the boys, "Do you know what you have just eaten is a frog?" They thought I was joking and asked the waiter, who confirmed it was a big frog of the Caribbean. That made all of them feel nauseous.

During the two governments of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, I served as the federal advisor on sports. I tried to resolve conflicts within various national sports federations through out-of-court settlements and was mostly successful. I also stopped the practice of sending joyriders with the touring national teams, as all the NOCs (No Objection Certificates) had to pass by me.

The cover-drive was my favourite stroke and my height helped me play it well.

The 1974 tour of England was the most memorable. Pakistan didn't lose a single match on the tour - only the second side to do so (the 1948 Australians were the others). And for the first time since the '50s, Pakistan looked like a formidable outfit.

I did not boast of any lethal weapon in my armoury. I tried to bowl according to the particular batsman's strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Sunil Gavaskar was very good at playing inswing but not that comfortable with outswing.

I wasn't really interested in captaining the national side. In the latter part of my career, I often played under boys much junior to me, though in my initial years I had skippered the strong teams of Punjab University and Government College, Lahore. In fact, I have the honour of captaining Punjab University when it reached the final of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy in 1970-71 - the only time any university side managed to do so.

Hanif Mohammad was the most difficult batsman to dismiss. He was very well organised, with an excellent defence and a wonderful temperament.

Twenty20 is the future of cricket. One can enjoy it with the whole family. Skill is displayed in a short period.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/552821.html

Javed Burki

2012-01-08T17:16:00.001+05:00

Sport was an essential part of my family. Apart from cricket, we also excelled in hockey and athletics. Two of my mother's cousins captained the Pakistan hockey team. I played all three sports.

My greatest regret is that I was not a full-time cricketer. My career figures don't reflect my actual talent. I had a foot in both civil services and cricket. After 1962, my civil services career weighed on my mind and cricket was not my main priority. I never came close to the Test performances of my early years.

My father was an army officer. When I was nine, we moved to Rawalpindi cantonment from India. At St Mary's School, my math teacher, AA Qureshi, a cricket fanatic, organised a team that included President Ayub Khan's son, Akhtar; the former army chief Asif Nawaz Janjua; and future Test cricketer Ijaz Butt. We dominated the school championships. Then it was the Pindi club, the best side in local cricket, captained by Salahuddin Khan, a relative who had played for Northern India in the Ranji Trophy. So Mr Qureshi and Salahuddin Khan were the early influences.

My best attribute is being rational. I'm able to make decisions based on my own convictions, without being influenced by anyone.

My cricket career really took off at the famous Government College, Lahore - the best college side in Pakistan. There was a great sports environment. The college team included many established and future Pakistan Test cricketers. I had the honour of captaining not just the college team but also the Punjab University side.

Twenty20 is an interesting new format. All sports need to evolve. You have somewhat different audiences for each format. It is the beauty and strength of the game of cricket to have so many formats. Not many sports offer that.

Pakistan's team of the '50s was the product of the well-organised Ranji Trophy, and gave very good results. The '60s side came through our own poor first-class structure. There were financial constraints as well. A team from the north, like Rawalpindi, could hardly manage a single match in Karachi. There was a renaissance in the '70s, when players polished in county cricket strengthened the national side. The country's cricket board got richer and more money was injected into the domestic game. Departmental teams offering permanent jobs to players came to the fore.

I made my first-class debut at the age of 18, against a visiting MCC side.

My three years at Oxford really honed my skills. I played in three Varsity matches (1958-60). Two famous Indian cricketers, MAK Pataudi and Abbas Ali Baig, were my team-mates at Oxford. In those days Oxford and Cambridge used to play around 15 first-class matches against county sides early every season.

I had a wonderful start in Test cricket: scored over 650 runs at an average of more than 50 in my first two Test series. But the thought of cricket as a profession never entered my mind. It wasn't a career in those days.

The cut was my favourite stroke. I was a strong cutter of the ball, not only behind point but even through the covers.

I was burning the midnight oil preparing for the civil services exam in Pakistan when I got called up for the 1960-61 tour of India. The selectors were considerate enough to allow me join the team just before the first Test, in Bombay, after my exam. When I arrived in Bombay, I found I couldn't stand the sun, having studied indoors for a long time. But I played the Test on the insistence of the tour management.

Lord's is my favourite ground - small, so gives spectators a close view of the action. I scored centuries there for Pakistan and Oxford University.

During my tenure as the chief selector, 1989-93, players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan and Zahid Fazal made their first representative appearances for Pakistan Under-19 and Pakistan B. Imran Khan, the Pakistan captain, used to ring me every second week from England to ask if I had found any outstanding talent. When he came to Pakistan in 1990, he was amazed at the new crop.

In 1958, in the Oxford v MCC match, I had a terrible injury when the ball hit my eye. Our captain, Jack Bailey, was adamant that I play in the prestigious Varsity match, right after the MCC one. Before I went out to bat against Cambridge, Bailey placed a bit of steak on my eye to keep it open, but my eye swelled shut after a couple of overs. Ted Dexter, the Cambridge captain, knew it and had his bowlers bowl at my body. In frustration, I tried to hit out and lost my wicket. My poor batting in both innings contributed to our defeat.

Though Pakistan lost the 1961-62 series against England, Imtiaz Ahmed had captained the team well. During the camp for the 1962 England tour, Imtiaz, Hanif [Mohammad] and I were asked by the cricket board to come for a meeting. I was astonished when the selectors informed me that I was captain for the series. I was reluctant to accept the role, but eventually I had to obey - almost all the selection committee members were senior civil servants and I was a junior civil servant.

My maiden Test hundred was my most memorable cricketing moment. It was in Lahore, where I had played most of my cricket, and many of college and club mates were in the crowd.

I hardly had a role in the grooming of my cousins, Majid Khan and Imran Khan.

Nothing went right on the 1962 tour of England. Most of the Pakistan stars of the '50s had either faded out or were at the end of their careers. The new boys weren't real replacements. It was Hanif's leanest series. His confidence was shattered and he refused to open, and afterwards he almost always batted in the middle order. The other star batsman, Saeed Ahmed, was suspect against the moving ball and never succeeded in England. The bowling was no different. Mahmood Hussain, the most experienced among the fast men, and young Mohammad Farooq, the fastest of the lot, both had fitness problems and broke down midway during the series and returned to Pakistan. The tour selection committee asked for Bashir Hyder, who was the best seam bowler in Pakistan at that time, but Fazal Mahmood was sent instead. It was unfair to him because by then he was a slow-medium legspinner, and he was thrashed.

Imran played under me for Lahore during the early part of his first-class career. He was a bit of a slinger. Almost every ball came in to the batsman. He once asked me to teach him the away-going delivery. I said, "I don't know a thing about fast bowling. If I try to teach you, you would end up worse."

General Zia-ul-Haq was Pakistan's president when the issue of the Packer series surfaced. He convened a meeting in Lahore to decide if Pakistani players who played for Packer should be selected for the 1978 tour of England. My view was that it was a professional's right to play for any team. Even during Pakistan's first tour of England, in 1954, ace fast bowler Khan Mohammad missed a couple of Tests due to his commitments in the Lancashire league. Packer was ready to release the Pakistani players for the England tour. Chaudhry M Hussain, the president of the cricket board, and AH Kardar opposed me. They called the Packer boys mercenaries. President Zia gave his verdict: "We don't want circus players." The team was thrashed during the England tour of 1978. General Zia was furious and wanted to change the team in the middle of the tour. He was told he couldn't do that, so he decided to dissolve the cricket board. For that he needed to set up an ad hoc committee to make a new constitution, and I was a member of the committee. We immediately recalled the Packer boys and Pakistan notched up memorable victories against India in the 1978-79 series.

I was asked to manage the Pakistan team for the 1979 World Cup, and as a member of the ad hoc committee, I couldn't refuse. Pakistan were among the favourites for the tournament but we lost to the hot favourites West Indies after a good fight in the semi-final.

I think Kardar, Pakistan's first Test captain, was behind me being appointed captain for the 1962 tour of England. He had hinted at it before. The captains who succeeded him had not been very successful. He was an Oxonian himself and he probably thought my Oxford background was a good qualification.

Hanif was Pakistan batting's mainstay through the '50s and '60s. It was often said that after he was out, you only had to add 100 runs to the total to get Pakistan's final score.

Fred Trueman is the best bowler I have faced. He had a lovely outswinger and a very good bouncer.

It was on the insistence of my cousin, General Zahid Ali Akbar, the president of the PCB, that I reluctantly became the chairman of the national selection committee in 1989. I have the honour of being the chief selector of the Pakistan team that provided the nation with its greatest cricketing moment - winning the World Cup in 1992.

Imran always wanted to have his own team but at times I overruled him. For instance, he was not in favour of Aamer Sohail, who was yet to make his Test debut, for the '92 World Cup, but Sohail went on to be a great success in the tournament.

In late 1994, I got to know through TV news that the PCB had been dissolved and the president had appointed me chairman of the ad hoc body.

Imtiaz Ahmed is my favourite cricketer. Like me, a man who followed his own heart. I have never seen a better batsman against short-pitched bowling.

The 1962 tour disaster was not an isolated incident. The '60s were easily the worst decade in the history of Pakistan cricket. Apart from two victories against lowly New Zealand, Pakistan failed to win a single Test.

My best batting performance was the century in the Lord's Test of 1962. I also enjoyed scoring a double-century against Sri Lanka in 1966 in Karachi; I was on top of the bowling throughout.

My principles often landed me in trouble in Pakistan.

The finest batsman I saw during my Oxford days was Abbas Ali Baig. He was outstanding in 1959. In the Oxford match against Yorkshire, he joined me with our team at 17 for 2. Trueman greeted him with two successive bouncers, which he dispatched to the boundary. The third delivery, an inswinging yorker, received the same treatment. Baig went on to score 130. That season he also scored lovely half-centuries against two other great fast bowlers of the time, Brian Statham and Keith Miller. Miller used to write a column in a newspaper, and he wrote about Baig that he hadn't seen such batting in a long time. Later that season, Baig was a member of the touring Indian squad. India's captain, Nari Contractor, was reluctant to include him in the Tests. I persuaded him and Baig made his debut with a bang - a magnificent century in the fourth Test.

My three-year tenure as Pakistan's chief selector provided me with one of my greatest satisfactions.

My kids are in Pakistan and the US, and I spend around three months every year in the USA. Playing golf in both countries is my favourite hobby.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/544758.html?CMP=NLC-DLY

Tauseef Ahmed

2011-08-23T18:18:00.001+05:00

'The ability to spin is more important than line and length'

The former Pakistan offspinner recalls his fairytale debut, competing with Qadir and Qasim, getting tips from Bedi, Miandad's last-ball six, and more

How I got picked for my first Test sounds a little like a Cinderella story. I was playing club cricket in Karachi when the Pakistan team for the first Test against the visiting Australians was announced. One Mr Javed Sadiq, who had recently moved to our locality, saw me bowl in the club games. He knew Mushtaq Mohammad, the manager of the Pakistan team, and asked him to have a look at me. Mushtaq and the captain, Javed Miandad, were so impressed that the day before the start of the Test they included me in the playing XI instead of Ilyas Khan.

The most essential quality for a spinner is the ability to spin. Line and length come second.

After my first series, I got a job with United Bank's sports department. I played for their cricket team for 16 years. Next I played for Customs for one season. Then, from 1998 to 2001, I was a match referee in first-class cricket in Pakistan.

I was told by some Indian players that I look like Lionel Richie, who I wasn't familiar with. But when they showed me his photo, I couldn't agree more.

I didn't even know the names of most of the Aussie players in my first Test.

I shifted to Sharjah in 2001, to coach in a private academy. I had a feeling that having staged so many ODIs, Sharjah would provide a good environment for coaching. But it was mainly a money-making exercise. We were asked to give extra attention to pupils who paid more.

In my debut Test series in 1980, I took 12 wickets in Pakistan's win, but I was not considered for the national team for the next two Test series.

After two good first-class seasons I was recalled for the home series against Sri Lanka in 1981-82. I took 11 wickets at 24 but was again ignored for the next five Test series. But I appeared in most of Pakistan's Tests from 1984 to 1990.

On a long flight to the West Indies in 1988, a young Ijaz Ahmed kept refusing meals every time the air-hostess came around with the menu. I asked him, "Ijaz, you don't feel hungry?" He replied, "The food is very expensive." We all laughed and told him the food was free.

Among current offspinners, I like Graeme Swann the most. He is from the classic mould: he flights, invites the batsman to drive, and uses the doosra sparingly.

I didn't have a proper cricket kit for my first Test. The patron of my club got the uniform stitched overnight, and I had to borrow a pair of shoes from a friend.

Normally offspinners prefer to bowl at left-handers, but the batsman I found the most difficult to bowl to was a left-hander - Allan Border. He had superb technique and a watertight defence.

I got a recall in 1993, the evening before the Karachi Test against Zimbabwe. But I was not in the frame of mind to play international cricket. I had played my previous Test in 1990, and I had resigned myself to the fact that my international career was over. No wonder I played so poorly in my final international.

My biggest regret was that I fell just seven short of 100 Test wickets.

Had the DRS been around in our time, I would definitely have had more wickets. Those days batsmen just extended their front leg forward to spinners with no fear of being given lbw.

I returned to Pakistan in 2008, after the PCB gave me a job as the regional head coach of the Hyderabad region. My job involves training of grassroots talent of Under-16s to senior teams participating in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Quite a few players from the Hyderabad region have made their mark. Currently three are in the National Cricket Academy. One of them, Sharjeel, has played for Pakistan A, and was also a member of the Pakistan team in the 2010 Asian Games.

In the first Test of the 1989-90 series in Australia, I had two unbeaten knocks of 9 and 14, for which I batted around two hours each. Most of our top batsmen had failed. I felt proud when our captain, Imran Khan, told the batsmen, "Learn from Tauseef how to stay at the wicket".

The doosra is an addition to the offspinner's armoury. But I think it is often delivered with a suspect action. Saqlain Mushtaq's doosra was clean; it was delivered with the same action.

I played almost all my Test cricket under Imran and Miandad. Both were attacking captains who rarely played for a draw.

Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim and I fought for one or two spin slots in the Pakistan side, but there was never any jealousy between us.

I think we were unlucky in our 1987 World Cup semi-final against Australia. Ramiz Raja, our top run-getter in the tournament, got run out very early, and Imran was wrongly given out caught-behind.

I was at the other end when Miandad hit that famous six off the last ball of the Austral-Asia Cup final in Sharjah in 1986. Even today I am often asked about it. Coming in at No. 11 with five needed, I had to face the second-last ball of the match. Before coming in to bat I had decided to run a single no matter where the ball goes. I did that, though I barely survived being run out.

My best attribute was that I was a great trier. Even if I didn't get a wicket the whole day, I would keep bowling.

My favourite batsman was Majid Khan. He played with unbelievable ease, executing his shots with time to spare. His hook shot was especially a sight to cherish.

As an offspinner, Lance Gibbs was an iconic figure to me. He had such a simple yet graceful action, and his fingers weaved magic.

My most memorable bowling performance came in the Bangalore Test of 1986-87, when my 9 for 139 helped Pakistan win the series. Maninder Singh took seven wickets on the first day, so everyone expected me and Qasim, the two Pakistan spinners, to also perform well. We met Bishan Bedi at a function that evening, and he told us, "If you try to spin the ball a lot, it will turn so much that it will miss the bat and the stumps. Just concentrate on line and length." We followed his advice and were successful. After the match there was a lot of hue and cry in the Indian media, condemning Bedi for revealing the "secret" to the opponents. Bedi said, "It was just a five-minute meeting with the two Pakistani spinners. I have been telling the same to the Indian spinners over the last so many years."

My most memorable batting performance was when I partnered Imran for 90 minutes to draw the 1986 Karachi Test and the series against West Indies. I faced Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh in full fury during the innings.

My offbreak was the most lethal weapon in my armoury. It would often "bite" the surface and shoot off it, giving me a lot of catches at short leg and silly point.

Twenty20 is good entertainment, but it is harming techniques. For spinners the main priority is to avoid being hit, so they bowl a flat trajectory. They are afraid to invite batsman to drive.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/525835.html

Sky is the limit for Amir Khan

2011-08-05T15:00:00.005+05:00

Amir Khan, the British Pakistani boxer recently defended his world light welter weight title in style against the American Zab Judah. Amir dominated the entire five rounds. Judah, a former undisputed world welter weight champion, who was holding the IBF world light welter weight title, had no answer to his opponent’s speed, agility and power.

The story of Amir Khan, presently the most popular British Asian sports person and the highest profiled boxer in Britain, is really inspiring rather it has a fictional flavor.

Born of parents of Pakistani origin, hailing from Rawalpindi, in Bolton, England, Amir was a precocious talent. He started competitive boxing from the age of 11 and won three school and same number of ABA (Amateur Boxing Association of England) titles. In 2003, international achievements started as Amir won the gold at the Junior Olympics and very next year he was the world junior light weight champion.

The 2004 Olympics instantly made him a national hero; also attracting worldwide attention. Amir was the only British boxer to get the Olympic qualification that year. He defied all the odds and reached the final where he lost to the Cuban Mario Kindelan who was almost twice his age. Still, at 17, he became the youngest ever British to win an Olympic medal.

The ABA wanted Amir to remain an amateur as they eyed Olympic gold for him in the 2008 Olympics. But the professional promoters couldn’t let go such a talent. The biggest British boxing promoter Frank Warren signed him for a lucrative contract and Amir entered the professional ring.

Professional career

First professional fight was in July 2005 at his home ring Bolton Arena which he easily won. The first non-British opponent came in the 5^th bout, Belarussian Vitali Martiynov who he defeated in the very first round. Victories continued and the quality of the opponents improved. Having won all his first 12 bouts, either within the distance or by unanimous decision, in the first two years of his pro career, Amir had his first shot at some meaningful title in July 2007: for the Commonwealth light weight crown against the reigning champion Willie Limond of Scotland. Though knocked down early in the fight, Amir easily won the title bout in the eighth round. He successfully defended his Commonwealth title four times. Meanwhile, Amir had also won the lightly regarded WBO intercontinental title by defeating Danish Martin Kristjansen. That was his last bout with the trainer Oliver Harrison who had trained him for all his 17 pro bouts till then. He had an interim coach in Dean Powell for his next bout against Irishman Gomez who he defeated in the fifth round to retain the Commonwealth title. However, in his first defence of WBO intercontinental title in September, 2009, Khan suffered the biggest setback of the career. Against Colombian Breidis Prescott, in Manchester, Amir lost-- knocked out in the first round. It was his first loss in 19 pro fights. This had quite a few repercussions. It was his Sky Box Office debut. Already, fans were annoyed that his bouts were no longer on the terrestrial TV. More importantly, it was his maiden bout with the new trainer Jorge Rubio. The detractors came out, “Amir’s weak chin fully exposed”, “he has been mostly contesting weak opponents”.

His promoter , Frank Warren immediately sacked Jorge Rubio replacing him with Freddie Roach, widely regarded as world’s finest boxing coach having trained 27 world champions. Amir moved to USA to train with Roach.

The comeback trail was smooth as Amir easily won against Oisin Fagan in the second round to win the not so prestigious vacant WBA international light weight title. He successfully defended the title against Mexican Marco Barrera. The former seven time world champion was considered his highest profile opponent till then. Referee stopped the contest in the fifth round with Barrera unfit to continue.

The win made everyone believe Amir was now ready for a shot at the world title. That came in July 2009. Moving up to the light welter weight division to fight Andreas Kotelnek. Amir won by a unanimous decision to become the WBA World light welterweight champion at the age of 22. He became the first boxer of South Asian origin to win a world title.

Amir had his first defence of the world title against the unbeaten American Salita. The clash between the practicing Muslim Amir and the orthodox Jew Salita was hyped by media as a “battle of faiths”. Both the boxers dispelled this impression. Salita went down in just 76 seconds.

This was also Amir’s last fight with Frank Warren as his promoter. He penned down a contract with the Golden Boy Promotions of USA and his bouts were also back on the ITV.

Amir’s growing popularity had crossed the Atlantic and promoters had his next fight scheduled at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden against the home town boy Pauli Malignaggi. Amir won his first overseas pro bout in the 11^th round to keep the belt.

Next, he faced mandatory challenger Marcos Maidana in Nevada, USA in December 2010. It turned out to be a classic bout. Maidana recovered after hitting the canvas in the first round. He made Amir wobble in the 10^th round but the champion survived to win a unanimous decision after 12 rounds. The bout was declared the ‘Fight of the Year’ by the boxing writers association of America.

Now the British public wanted to see a fight between their own world champion and the best challenger in the country, the Northern Irishman McClowsky. At M.E.N. arena, Manchester, the southpaw with an unconventional style did cause some problems in a fight marred with a head –butt. The contest was stopped in the sixth round with Amir ahead on all the three cards.

The recent win over Super Judah was Amir’s fifth defence of the WBC title and he also won the IBF title from the loser.

What Next?

The 24 year old is the world champion and has defended the title five times. The latest victory means Amir now holds both the WBA and IBF versions of the world light welter weight title. Next target would be to win the other two belts IBF and WBO to unify the weight division and he should be able to achieve that in near future. Amir is rated above Timothy Bradley who holds the other two major titles in the division.

After that? In boxing, the champion of the highest weight category used to steal almost all the limelight. Mostly, the world heavy weight champion had been regarded as the best boxer of a particular era. Sugar Ray Robinson, the world welter weight champion 1946-51 and the world middle weight champion for most of the 50s, made the boxing connoisseurs and officials think otherwise. His achievements, domination and style prompted the sports writers to coin the term “pound for pound” whereby fighters were compared regardless of weight.

Presently, all the reputed magazines give pound for pound rankings of the professional boxers. Amir is presently rated no 9 and no 10 by Boxrec and Sports Illustrated respectively. The number one pound for pound boxer is the Filipino Manny Pacquiao also trained by Freddie Roach. In fact, Amir has sparred with him. The connoisseurs firmly believe Amir has the capability to win the greatest accolade his sport has to offer: No 1 Pound for Pound.

Sky is the limit for the boy from Bolton.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2011-weekly/nos-31-07-2011/spo.htm#5

Abdul Qadir

2011-05-25T22:17:00.002+05:00

I played all kind of games on the street, from hockey to marbles, but not cricket. One day while playing marbles, a friend asked me to join his cricket team, which was one man short. They used to send their worst player to open the innings. The first ball I faced hit the stumps, but I was told it was a try ball so I could to stay. I was bowled the next ball as well.

I rate the basic legbreak as my most trusted weapon. It was my stock ball and I had very good control over it. It was my saviour even on my worst days.

I saw people of all ages seemed to be interested in cricket. Even older people asked each other, "What is the score?" That got me interested in cricket.

They say my temperament on the field was more that of a fast bowler.

I joined Dharampura Gymkhana, scored a century in a local tournament and became a regular in the team for the Lahore club competitions. I was often the tournament's best allrounder. But those days my father didn't approve of my playing so I used to wear my cricket kit under my salwar kameez.

Imran Khan said my record would have been much better had the DRS been around back then. Those days the umpires almost always favoured batsmen who put their front leg forward to spinners.

The real breakthrough came when I got admission through cricket into Lahore's famous Government College, the alma mater of several international cricketers. I managed the double of a century and five wickets against Islamia College, our traditional rivals. Habib Bank approached me, and in 1975-76 I took 6 for 67 on first-class debut. Within two years, I was in the Test team.

My 13 runs off Courtney Walsh's last over to win a crucial World Cup tie in 1987 is rated by many as equal to Miandad's last-ball six against India in Sharjah.

People said I had three types of googlies. I wanted to have as much variety as I could and kept practising new deliveries. I tried different angles of the arm and practised one delivery with a different number of fingers.

I told [Anil] Kumble: "You are not a big spinner of the ball. But you are fast in the air, which is your biggest strength. Simply try to twist the fingers and use the wrist more. That will add variety into your bowling."

West Indies were easily the best side in my time. My standout performance against them was in Faisalabad in 1986-87 - 6 for 16 when they were dismissed for 53.

I was selected for my first Test, against England, on the basis of my 67 wickets in the previous domestic season. I bowled well but was unlucky to get 1 for 82. Critics said I was selected too early. But in the second Test I took 6 for 44 in the first innings.

In my first three seasons of first-class cricket, I scored more than 1000 runs at an average of nearly 30, and scored a century. But over time, I paid more attention to bowling. I am only the fourth Pakistani to achieve the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests.

I declined very lucrative offers to play for English counties, Australian state teams and in South Africa, where I was offered a blank cheque, because I wanted my country to benefit the most from my art. I didn't want to expose it in the domestic circuits of other countries.

During the 1982 tour of England, Imran suggested I grow a goatee. "It will add to your aura," he said. He was right, because when I did, people remarked that I looked like a magician.

It was only in 1998-99, three years after my first-class career was over, that I played one season for Carlton in Victorian Premier Cricket. I was only the second overseas player to win the Ryder Medal for the best player in Melbourne's club competition.

Imran said that Allan Border, Viv Richards, Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Waugh, all World-Cup winning captains, all thought I was better than Shane Warne.

When I ruptured my tendon during a charity match in London, Nassem Hassan Shah, the PCB chairman, declined to help because I wasn't playing for Pakistan. It cost me about 1.5 million rupees. Towards the end of my international career, I had a head injury during net practice. Again the board refused to help.

My international career coincided with the era of fast bowlers The great spinners like Bedi, Chandra, Underwood, etc. had faded out. But I managed to hold my own among the great pacemen of my time. Many regard me as the first great one-day spinner.

Imran Khan is Pakistan's greatest cricketer. He had great confidence in my abilities and I owe a lot to him. Without him we would not have the fast-bowling culture in Pakistan. Imran guided the fast bowlers and taught them the importance of exercise and running, and the result is a never-ending supply of quality fast bowlers.

I captained Pakistan in ODIs and was once offered the Test captaincy. But since Javed Miandad was a more senior member of the team at that time, I refused the offer.

My most memorable tour was to England in 1982. It was a wet summer but I enjoyed success in almost every match and took nearly 50 wickets in the first-class games before the first Test. It was a major breakthrough for my international career.

All my four sons played first-class cricket. I have great hopes from Usman, my youngest. He played the Under-19 World Cup in 2010, where Pakistan were runners-up. People say his action is not too different from his father's.

Left-hand batsmen bothered me. On our 1983-84 tour, Australia planned well and stuffed their side with lefties, and I was largely ineffective.

I have been running the Abdul Qadir International Cricket Academy and Club since 2005. We have 40-50 boys from all strata of life. The academy team has been to Dubai a couple of times and to Malaysia once. A number of them have graduated to first-class cricket.

In 1987, Razaaullah, a senior member of PCB, rang me and said, "I know a Sahiwal boy by the name of Mushtaq Ahmed who is an exciting legspinning talent and his bowling action is a mirror image of yours." The touring England side was scheduled to play a three-day game at Sahiwal against the Chief Minister's XI. I asked the chairman of the selection committee to include Mushtaq in the team. Mushtaq took six wickets in first innings and was on the national selectors' radar from then on.

Many Indian batsmen played me well, especially Gavaskar, Viswanath, Amarnath and Vengsarkar. Among others, Gatting, Haynes, Aravinda and Ranatunga were the best.

I resigned as chief selector in 2009 after six months on the job. Before accepting the post, I had been assured by the PCB chief that there wouldn't be any interference in the working of the selection committee. But Intikhab Alam, Pakistan's coach, and Yawar Saeed, the manager, continuously intervened and it became intolerable.

Danish Kaneria is purely my product. The PCB boss, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, had invited aspiring spinners from all over Pakistan to a camp in Lahore. I picked Kaneria and worked on him for one month. Imran Tahir was also my pupil before he left for South Africa.

I was always ready to help anyone. Sharne Warne visited my home in Lahore to get tips. Steve Waugh brought along Stuart MacGill, and Andy Flower asked me to teach Paul Strang.

I wasn't picked for the first game of the 1983 World Cup. I was told by the management that legspinners tend to be expensive in ODIs. I told them whenever they felt I proved costly in a game, they could drop me for the next match. In the next game, against New Zealand, I took 4 for 21 and top-scored with 41 Thereafter I was more or less an automatic choice in Pakistan's one-day side.

Saqlain Mushtaq benefited from a tip I gave him. He used to bowl the doosra with a higher trajectory. I told him to deliver it with the same trajectory as his other balls to avoid it being picked up by batsmen.

I enjoyed lofting spinners for sixes.

My best batting performance was scoring my Test highest of 61 against England in 1987-88. It included four sixes off John Emburey.

I played my last full season of first-class cricket in 1994-95 and took 52 wickets at little over 20. The PCB asked me to play for Pakistan but I declined as I had already decided that my time was over.

An essential quality for a spinner is the ability to land the ball wherever he wants.

One of the best tributes I ever received was from the greatest spinner of all time, Shane Warne. He wrote, "To the best. Thanks for everything. I look forward to catching up with you. Sincerely, Warne."

Twenty20 is good entertainment. It is also benefitting cricketers and boards, and has brought back crowds to stadiums. I appreciate IPL, but it should be rotated and held in a different country every year.

Once in England, a few old ladies came out of a lift I was waiting for, and one of them screamed, "Is it you, Abdul? My daughter, who otherwise has no interest in cricket, always enjoys watching you bowl. She says, 'Mama, when Abdul is bowling it seems a young lady is dancing on the floor'."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/516377.html

England Hockey's Resurgence

2011-04-04T06:58:00.007+05:00

England have taken everyone by surprise in this World Cup. England who since 1988 had failed to reach the semi-finals of either the World Cup or the Olympics, as Great Britain in the latter case, have emerged as one of the clear favourites for the title of the World Champions. The only team not to lose a single point at the end of the fourth round of league matches was also the first one to be assured of the semis spot.

Their over all strength is awesome. Losing the services of vital players like Simon Mantell and Matt Daly on the eve of the World Cup and Richard Mantell during the third game has made little difference.

Team has the best penalty corner conversion rate without having a frightening name like Taekema, Abbas, etc.

The man given the biggest credit for this turn around is the coach Jason Lee. Among other things, he has given the team the all important self belief, “we can beat any team in the world”.

The Olympic qualifier for 2008 Olympics at Chile could be termed as a turning point. where as Great Britain they qualified by defeating India in the final (thus making the eight time Olympic champions miss out on the Olympics for the first time ever).

At Beijing itself, Jason Lee’s boys performed beyond expectations and the team GB finished fifth. Though the team lost stars like John Brady and Marsden immediately after the Olympics, there has been no looking back. The side has gone from strength to strength. In 2009, England surprised every one by winning the European nations championships for the first time ever. That was a real confidence booster.

The transformation entails not only the results but also the style. Whereas at Beijing, it was dogged defence and determination, at Delhi, attack and flair are the hall marks of the team. 1988 Olympics, GB/England’s finest hour, had taken eight years of planning and preparation. This time around it took Jason Lee four years to make the side a real world beater.

Lee has also been lucky as quite a few good things happened during this period, all contributing towards this cycle of success.

With eyes on the Olympic 2012, in their own backyard, hockey is the biggest recipient of the government funding among the team sports enabling the side to have training camps and tours. Lee has a very talented lot of players at his disposal.

The highly competitive and well covered EuroHockey League (for clubs) where the top three English clubs appear every year provides great exposure to the players.

Likewise, the Dutch league, easily the best domestic hockey set up in the world with stars from all over the globe plying their trade there, has certainly made the England captain Barry Middleton, and the young star Ashley Jackson better players.

Jason Lee’s style emphasises fast play and recent rule changes have complemented his approach. England defender Ben Hayes rightly stated, “Self pass suits England team’s style of play.” Interestingly, the 2009 European Nations Championships won by England was the first international competition to have the self pass rule.

Lee’s approach has multi dimensional facets. He stresses role of individual players, variety in patterns, and adaptation to changing situations. The players’ mind set, body language, discipline and team work have made this outfit something special, always aiming to achieve greater glories.
But it has been a team effort as well.

Jason Lee gives great credit to consistency in organisation, funding and structure. “For last six years, the team has been getting great support from all the quarters. I also consider myself very lucky in having such a rich pool of talent at my disposal.”

There are also long term plans.

The pyramidal ‘single system’ aims to spread hockey evenly among all the sections of the society across the length and the breadth of the country. At the top are the six National performance centres headed by the 1988 Olympic gold medallist David Faulkner, then are the Regional performance centres and the system goes right down to club and school. Nick Catlin who is performing wonderfully in Delhi has been at the National performance centre.

As apposed to 1988, presently professionals are managing the GB/England hockey. Apart from David Faulkner, Richard Leman, the President of the Great Britain hockey, is also a 1988 Olympic gold medallist.

All this means that unlike post 1988, England can rightly hope to remain in the top echelons of the international hockey like Germany, Holland and Australia for times to come.

Published on www.stick2hockey.com (India's leading hockey website) on 9/3/2010 during the 2010 World Cup

http://www.stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleOID=5761

Geoff Hunt

2011-03-12T07:11:00.003+05:00

There was only a nominal participation by Australia in this year’s British Junior Open. Huge distances and little sponsorship meant that a solitary player from one of the most successful squash nations could make it to Sheffield.

However, the squash lovers were thrilled to see one of the greatest male players of the game. Geoff Hunt, winner of eight British Open titles (a tally second only to Jahangir Khan’s record 10) as well as the first four World Open titles, was here.

The legendary Australian was accompanying the Qatari team as their coach. The gulf nation was one of the only two teams making their maiden appearance in the most prestigious junior squash event of the world.

Still looking as trim and lean as in his playing days, the 62 year old Geoffrey Hunt, MBE talked mainly about his present assignment.

“Ever since exiting the squash circuit in early 80s, I have been mainly engaged with coaching. I served as the head squash coach at the Australian Institute of Sport from 1985-2003”.

In fact, he played a major role in help developing a new generation of Australian squash stars including illustrious names such as Martin brothers, Chris Dittmar, Rodney Eyles and David Palmer among others.

“In Qatar, I am working with ‘Aspire’ the Academy for Sports Excellence as the head squash coach. Squash is one of the core sports at this academy. I have to develop squash programme in conjunction with the squash federation. Aspire is an excellent academy and along with the sports coaching, the boys also get quality education in a full-fledged school. It is pertinent to mention that much of the syllabus is in line with the Qatar ministry of education plus they also have some sports oriented subjects.”

Hunt took over the squash programme at Aspire only one year after its start.

“I joined the academy in May 2005. Prior to that, the technical director of the Qatar Sqaush Federation (QSF), Alaaeldeen Allouba was running the programme.

A few Pakistani and Egyptian coaches working with the QSF had worked with some of these boys before me. Currently, there are eight boys with me. Only one is U 19, rest are in the younger age groups.”

An achiever throughout his life, Hunt’s aims are high.

“We target medals at various levels. Starting from the Gulf championships and going up to the Arab games and then hopefully at the Asian level.

And we already have had some real success. Ahmad Al Tamimi won the U 17 title at the Gulf championships. His brother Abdullah went a step ahead, lifting the U 17 crown at the Arab championships-- first ever title for a Qatari at this level. Now we aim the Asian titles.”

Does all this mean his contract is target oriented?

“Yes, in a way. I have not been given a fixed term contract. It is subject to yearly renewal. I have already spent more than three years which indicates they are happy with my performance, and the results achieved by the lads.”

He also appears satisfied with the assistance provided by the academy.

“The academy has excellent facilities. I have a good support staff which includes physical trainers and psychologists. Last year, former world number 5, Dan Jensen of Australia joined me as the assistant coach.

In addition, international exposure is essential. My boys have been participating in the various European age group competitions. QSF also invite teams from other countries and last year we had German juniors. After the BJO, we will be going to the Asian juniors.”

The hard task master is quite satisfied with his pupils’ showing at the 2009 British Junior Open.

“All the academy boys were very keen to come here. Four were selected. It was Qatar’s first ever appearance in this competition. Then the boys were somewhat out of practice as they had finished their exams only a week before. One of the boys was handicapped by a shin injury. Considering all this, I think they performed reasonably well. Three of them made into the second round and Abdullah Tamimi also won a match in the plate competition. Both the Tamimi brothers came across quality opponents.

The boys also had practice matches against players from different countries. So all in all it was a good experience for them”.

The name of Geoffrey Hunt is synonymous with success both as player and as a coach.

As a player he first broke the domination of Jonah Barrington and then held off the challenge of so many hungry and talented Pakistanis, to win a total of 12 British and World Open tiles.

Then as a coach he tutored at least half a dozen Aussies who made it into the top-ten.

In his present assignment, Hunt has already started getting commendable results.

ASPIRE stands for ‘aspiration, inspiration, excellence’.

The aspiration is there. Let us see how the maestro inspires the racket wielders of this tiny but extremely resourceful gulf nation to achieve excellence.

My interview with Geoff Hunt published in Squash Player (the official magazine of world squash federation) in its Issue 4 of 2009

German Hockey Star Martin Haner’s Dream Season in England

2011-03-12T07:01:00.007+05:00

21 year old German Martin Haner is one of the brightest emerging stars on the hockey horizon of the reigning World and Olympic champions.

Having made his senior international debut at the age of just 17, he is close to carve out a regular spot in the national team.

He might achieve great distinctions in future but Haner would never forget 2008-09.

This season he had the honour to captain the German under 21 during their victorious campaign in the junior World Cup.

But that was only one part of the young Berliner’s remarkable success story of the season.

Martin spent the 2008-09 season in England primarily to brush up his English but he will definitely cherish this year for the dream season of his English premier league club East Grinstead towards which he contributed in no small way.

EG first lifted the national indoor title and Haner had a hat trick in the final. Then the club had its greatest moment when they won the Men’s Premier Division Title for the first time in their history. Needing a victory in their last game of the season against Surbiton, EG came from behind to clinch the tie 5-3 with Haner netting the final goal.

Moreover, the penalty corner expert’s tally of 16 goals was second only to England Hockey League’s top scorer Gareth Andrew of Cannock.

The strongly built Berlin lad talks about his career and his experience of the English hockey. He comes out with some interesting comparisons between the German and the English hockey in almost all the spheres.

‘Unlike England, Hockey is not played much in schools in Germany and most of the schools even don’t have the facilities for the game. Yet, I started at school and that too at the age of just three. The chief of my Kindergarten was a hockey coach and he handed us, the kids, hockey sticks. There was hockey atmosphere at home as well. Though my father was a handball player but he was involved in the management of the first XI of the Berlin HC of the Bundesliga. Then my elder brother has played for the Blue and White Club in the second division of the German hockey league. As a toddler, I started with the Berlin Sport Club and played for them from 1998-2005 and we won the U14 German championships in 2001.

Since 2005, I have been appearing for the Berlin HC in the Bundesliga. We have been doing well in the indoors and have made into the semis of the German national indoors every year since 2005 and were runner up once.

Right from the early days, I have been playing mostly in the defence. I consider myself very fortunate that I made rapid strides and represented the national under 16 side in 2003-4 and then the under 18 in 2005. The same year I earned my first full international cap against Ireland at the age of only 17. As a junior my proudest moment was obviously lifting the junior World Cup. Before that I also achieved individual distinction in the 8-nation junior tournament in Malaysia in January 2008 where I was named ‘Player of the Tournament’.

Then in the last year’s Hamburg’s Masters where Germany won the tournament, I was declared the most promising player. This was something special for me to get recognition at the senior level as well. I earnestly desire to appear in a World Cup or the Olympics and hope to do so soon”.

“You know that I spent the 2008-09 season in England primarily to improve my English. During this period, I also wanted to play for a top notch club in the English hockey league, preferably close to London. I approached a couple of clubs and East Grinstead’s response was very encouraging. All my needs were catered for in a fine manner. The club provided me with a shared room with a team mate, a car and also arranged a paid coaching job. I used to coach players at a private college three days a week.”

Haner paid all this back to the club in a befitting manner. Didn’t he?

“Apart from achieving great success both individually and for the team, I also enjoyed playing the role of a sweeper. For the German national and youth squads, I have been employed as either central defender/marker or sweeper. I always prefer the latter role as it enables me to have more involvement in the match play. It provides me the freedom to move up to attack whenever I feel appropriate. Then I also organise defence sometimes even shouting at the team mates.”

Now, he is also ‘fully qualified’ to give comparisons between the German hockey and English hockey.

“As I told you there is very little hockey at schools as compared to England and almost no competitions at that level. The main difference in my opinion is at the club level. The top clubs in the Bundesliga especially in Hamburg and some in West Germany like Cologne are quite resourceful thanks to private sponsors. This enables them to provide accommodation to players close to the club and they are also given cars. All this leads to more practise sessions every week.”

And according to Haner, this makes the difference.

“Almost all the top Bundesliga outfits train at least thrice weekly. This helps develop good strategic and tactical understanding among the members of the squad. That is reflected during the match days. One often sees many strategic variations during the course of the Bundesliga fixtures in response to changing game situations. You don’t observe that in the English hockey league.

As far as the skill levels are concerned, I don’t think English players are behind the Germans. At the same time it must be mentioned that as in England the players also have jobs to support them as you can’t live on hockey. ”

According to Haner, another factor that enriches the Budesliga is the presence of 1-2 Indian players in every team. This sounds surprising as over the last three decades, the fortunes of the Indian national side are on a continuous downward slide. Moreover, almost all the Indian players in the Bundesliga are presently not in contention for the national team.

“I still believe that the oriental players are natural ball players and possess special artistic skills, and one learns a lot by playing with or against them.

Then we also have end of the season play-offs between the top teams of the league. The play-off encounters provide special competitive atmosphere as almost every game is a do or die affair.”

Germany are not only the current Olympic champions but have also lifted the last two World Cups making them easily the most successful national hockey side of the new millennium. Does it mean better coverage in the media?

“Over the last half century, hockey has achieved more success for Germany at the Olympics than any other team sport. Yes, the sport does come into limelight both in the print and electronic media whenever the national team wins at the Olympics or the World Cup. But that doesn’t last long. The coverage of the national scene is very little, not much different as in the British media. Like here, the climax of the indoor season draws good attention. The semi-finals and the final are played over Saturday and Sunday in front of big crowds.

In case of outdoors, the end of the season play-offs also draw spectators in thousands though they don’t get TV coverage.

Then as hockey is a big sport in Hamburg, the local derbies between any two of the three Hamburg clubs, UHC Hamburg, Harvestehude and Alster are often attended by supporters numbering almost three thousand.

Haner’s last commitment with East Grinstead was the Euro Hockey league.

“To play in the EHL was awesome. As a player you always try to play as best as you can and against the best teams. The EHL gives the chance to do this in a great environment in front of the travelling fans.

I think East Grinstead did well to reach the quarter finals where we narrowly lost to the Dutch giants, Bloemendaal.

In my opinion the EHL could have a positive effect for hockey, but I still think that hockey will never be as popular as a sport like football. Simply because hockey is too difficult to understand for non-hockey players and the EHL won’t change this. But I think that the EHL is good for hockey’s popularity, because people can watch hockey online as well and there is a good TV coverage also. As a hockey player you feel more professional, as compared to the national league, with all the cameras around the pitch.”

Martin Haner’s love affair with the English hockey league is probably over after just one season. He will now be staying in Germany to start studying medicine, rejoin his Berlin H.C. in the Bundesliga and renew his international hockey ambitions.

It is improbable that he will have such a memorable and successful domestic season that he had with the East Grinstead in 2008-09.

Posted on www.hockey.de (the official website of DHB, German Hockey Federation) in 2009

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Business

2011-03-02T09:07:00.003+05:00

Magellan, Australia’s leading designer of high technology power electronics and renewable energy equipment, has chosen Birmingham to launch its first UK operation.

The company is planning to open a centre in the city as a base for manufacturing and marketing in UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Starting in 1992, Magellan is now a multi-million dollar business with expertise in the manufacturing and supplying of advanced, high reliability AC and DC power systems for sensitive radar installations, switchgear, emergency lighting, hospital theatre lighting, oil and gas equipment and mining equipment.

The company has also supplied several thousand high quality power conversion units to major projects in Australia and overseas.

Managing director Masoud Abshar said: “We have been researching the markets in the UK and Europe. Despite the generally gloomy economic climate, we are confident that there is potentially a very large market for us.”

Abshar said he was excited at the prospect of returning to Birmingham where he lived for several years before moving to Australia, 20 years ago.

Abshar added: “I’ve long harboured an ambition to put something back into the community that put me on the road to success. I owe Birmingham so much – it is where I studied after leaving Iran as a teenager, it is where I gained my degree and where I met my wife. I still have many relatives in the city. I know it will be an excellent location for the new business.”

Starting with a workforce of ten skilled persons, the company intends to triple this number within three years. Abshar hinted that the company intends to recruit local qualified people who would be provided with the necessary training.

Politics

2011-03-02T08:59:00.001+05:00

Pakistan: The Present Democratic Setup Has Brought No Relief

When elections were held in Pakistan in 2008, there was optimism that with the true democracy restored, things would get better.

The PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) emerged as the leading party with 97 out of the total 270 seats of the National Assembly. The sympathy vote resulting from Benazir Bhutto’s assassination also contributed towards it. But Peoples Party was also the only party with solid representation in all the provinces

PPP made the government in the centre with the help of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML (N) i.e. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), which had emerged as the second biggest party, plus regional parties, MQM and ANP, and the religious party JUI.

The chair persons of the two major parties, late Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif had already signed a Charter of democracy in 2006 pledging restoration of democracy and the constitution in letter and spirit. The COD’s 36 points had been framed under four headings: Constitutional Amendments, Code of Conduct, Free and Fair Elections and Civil-Military Relations.

The new democratic set up assumed power in the country in 2008 with Zardari, the widower of late Benazir Bhutto, as the president and his party’s Yousaf Raza Gillani as the prime minister.

But the country’s problems have increased many folds over the last two years.

Economy is in shambles with inflation rate at all time high. Even the basic food necessities are getting out of common man’s reach. The prices of petrol/diesel are raised frequently. Poverty and unemployment are spiraling upwards. People are committing suicides sometimes collectively with their families.

The minister of electricity had promised that load shedding would finish by the end of 2009 but instead it has increased. The power outages not only make the common man’s life miserable but have also affected the commercial sector very badly.

The law and order has deteriorated alarmingly. Karachi, country’s commercial hub, which has not seen peace for more than two decades, has a new menace in the shape of target killing. The power game between the two main ethnic parties, MQM and ANP, representative of Muhajirs and Pathans respectively has also contributed to the worsening of the situation.

During the former president Musharraf, s regime, the elderly Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed through a military action in 2006. This infuriated Balochis, and the settlers from other provinces especially Punjabis have been targeted. A number of Punjabis from all sections of society have been killed in the province. Apart from ethnicity, sectarianism has also divided the society.

The general law and order situation all over the country has never been worse.

The wave of terror attacks blamed on religious extremists mainly Taliban groups have made the population feel insecure, and the country has become a pariah state. Pakistan is ranked among the most dangerous countries in the world. After the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, in March 2009, almost no sports team from abroad is willing to visit Pakistan. More importantly, it has affected investment, from both inside and outside of the country, again harming the economy.

American drone attacks against the suspected terrorist dens in the tribal areas adjoining the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have also made the people bitter, especially the local populace.

Corruption, favouritism and cronyism are rampant in all forms and in all the tiers of the administration including the highest offices. Recently the prime minister appointed a completely unqualified and inexperienced person as the chairman OGDCL (Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd) but had to revoke the order after Supreme Court’s suo motu notice against his appointment.

If man made problems were not enough, vast areas of the country in all the provinces were inundated this year with the heaviest floods in Pakistan’s history. Around 10% of the total population was affected. The loss has been colossus in terms of human life, property, crops, etc.

Gen (retd) Musharraf promulgated the NRO (National Reconciliation Order) after striking a deal with PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in order to grant amnesty to all those against whom ‘politically-motivated cases’ were registered between Jan 1, 1986, and Oct 12, 1999. It was an executive order which removed all the civil cases against political parties; an act for which he recently apologized to the Pakistani nation.

Although there were only 34 politicians out of a total of 8041 beneficiaries but the list included some prominent names such as president Zardari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, and Senator Jehangir Badar, all of PPP; almost all the hierarchy of MQM including their chief Altaf Hussain, parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar, the federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Babar Ghouri, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, among others.

On the 16th of December, 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled the NRO illegal. But the government defied the orders and so far no major political personality has been charged. Though very recently, after more than nine months of the Supreme Court’s verdict, the federal government is giving indications for selective implementation i.e. removing the NRO beneficiaries from the government.

Apart from judiciary, the media, especially the electronic media, has played an important role in keeping tabs on the wrong doings of the government.

On the political front itself, the scenario is very disturbing.

Differences between the two major coalition partners in the government emerged early. The PML (N) withdrew from the federal cabinet though in the Punjab, the biggest province, both sit in the cabinet. According to the charter of democracy, the president’s powers as per the article 58(B) of the constitution had to be curtailed. It took a long time, and ultimately the 18th amendment was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on 8 April, 2010, removing the power of the President of Pakistan to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally, turning Pakistan from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic.

Up to 160 elected officials have been accused of faking their degrees in order to meet a requirement for contesting the last elections. This has further tarnished the image of legislators.

Some factions of Pakistan Muslim League like PML (Q), PML (F) and PML (Z) have merged though the biggest Muslim League i.e. PML (N) is very much reluctant. Then the former president Pervez Musharraf has recently launched his own faction of Muslim League and has shown intentions to return to Pakistan.

Does all this indicate an imminent change in Pakistan’s political scenario?

No; all these faces are old and tested. Some people pin their hopes on Imran Khan, the cricketing legend and presently the president of PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf). He might be an honest person but in the country’s deep rooted social and political milieu it seems almost impossible for his party to attain something meaningful in future elections.

The freedom of judiciary and media has brought some hope. But the country needs complete independence and authority of at least some other important institutions as well, especially the Election Tribunal, NAB (National Accountability Bureau) and CBR (Central Board of Revenue).

The overall picture in world’s sixth biggest country is extremely gloomy with apparently no light at the end of the tunnel.

Travelogue

2011-03-02T08:55:00.001+05:00

Visit Kalam in Swat which is comparable to the scenic spots in Switzerland or the South of France

Swat is a large beautiful mountainous area in the Malakand division of NWFP which has a number of spots or places worth visiting.

One of them is Kalam. It takes about nine to ten hours from Rawalpindi by car to reach this picturesque place. Public transport, mostly wagons from Pirvidahi Bus Stand, Rawalpindi, take a couple of hours less. From Rawalpindi, one reaches Nowshera via the Peshawar road and turns right for Kalam. The road is excellent and quite wide throughout.

The landscape alters gradually. From the brown barren hills of the Potohar area, the hills gradually become green. The number of trees also increases in direct proportion. The temperature, on the other hand, decreases. In Kalam, the weather is ideal from May to August.

However, it should be mentioned that if some people do not want to subject themselves to a long car journey (though quite comfortable) or want to save time, there is the option of air travel.

There are daily flights from Islamabad to Saidu Sharif (subject to the weather of course). And from Saidu Sharif, public transport is easily available.

On reaching Kalam, one comes across a plethora of hotels. These hotels cater for all income groups but even the rates of the most ‘expensive’ ones are also reasonable. Unlike many other such places in Pakistan, these hotels are well-kept.

One of the most striking features of the area is the River Swat running through the whole valley in a majestic style. There is also the eye-catching sight where River Shu and River Utroor join the river Swat itself.

Most of the hotels are on the river front and a few of them are even built on the river. Here sometimes one gets the feeling as if the hotel is floating on the river.

All around are hills covered with lush green plantations. This greenery has a wide variety which prevents the scene from becoming monotonous. At some places there are rows of pine trees, while at other points the greenery comprises of smaller plants. The air is very clean and the whole ambience is mesmerizing. This feeling is not peculiar to Kalam only.

There are quite a few other places to explore, nearby. The closest is Ushu, hardly 30 minutes drive from the central Kalam. Here, there is a rather narrow stretch of the River Swat − a spot worth spending a few hours. Many small restaurants are located on either bank of river.

Further up from this place is Mahoodand Lake. The route to Mahoodand Lake is very rough and hilly, and one can only travel there by jeep which can be easily hired from Kalam and even from Mutiltan near Ushu. From the latter, jeeps can be rented for less. From Kalam, the rent of a jeep varies from Rs. 800 to 1,200, depending upon the number of visitors and the resultant demand at that particular time of the season.

It takes about three hours to reach Mahoodand from Kalam. En route, there are a couple of mesmerizing spots. One of them is a waterfall cascading down in almost a straight line. Kiosks have been established in these tiny locations offering cold drinks, biscuits etc.

On arriving at Mahoodand, an extremely clean and large lake welcomes you. The sprawling green lakeside area adds to the beauty of the site. A couple of small restaurants there even offer tents for those interested in camping. Some people bring their own tents. Boating facilities are also available in the lake.

Yet another place, commonly frequented is Utroor, also a couple of hours drive from Kalam. On the way is a restaurant-cum-park-cum-zoo. Utroor on its own does not have much to offer but there is an extremely captivating lake not far from it. The lake is only accessible on foot and the trek is difficult and steep.

So much for the sight seeing. There are culinary attractions as well. Trout is a delicacy of Kalam that should not be missed and available in most hotels, big and small. Some hotels even have their own fish farms, from where the fish is picked up and readily cooked.

What if one wants to do some shopping especially ladies and bring home some mementoes or gifts for near and dear ones. Kalam caters for this as well.

It has quite a sizeable bazaar. Apart from the items of daily utility, the shops also sell Swat caps and beautiful dresses with famous Swati embroidery.

However, what is the most pleasant (and surprising) about the bazaar is the attitude of the shopkeepers. Unlike several other tourist destinations in the country, the Swatis are not bent on fleecing the visitors. Almost all the prices are reasonable.

Another place which can be and should be seen during this trip is Malaam Jabba, which is very much a resort in its own right. It can be visited en route to Kalaam or on returning from Kalaam. After a two and a half hour drive from Kalam, a left turn near Khazakhela leads to Malaam Jabba, located at a height of more than 7000 feet. It has a wonderful PTDC (Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation) hotel and a chairlift.

People throng this place mostly during winters because it has been developed into a very good ski resort.

So do visit Kalam which is comparable to the scenic spots of Switzerland or the South of France. And we are fortunate enough to have it in our own motherland.

Public Health

2011-03-02T08:51:00.000+05:00

Obesity:

It is a disorder in which excess body fat has accumulated to an extent that health may be adversely affected.

Obesity is most commonly defined by the clinicians in terms of body mass index (BMI), calculated as follows

Weight in kilograms = BMI

Height in metres²

A desirable BMI is considered to be in region 20-25. Anything above this is defined as overweight and a BMI over 30 is defined as obese.

Facts and Figures:

About 2/3^rd of population of England is overweight or obese. Obesity has grown by almost 400% in the last 25 years and on present trend will soon surpass smoking as the biggest cause of premature loss of life.

Health Problems Associated with Obesity:

Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, dyslipidemia, gall bladder diseases and breathlessness. It is a moderate factor for coronary diseases, hypertension, gout, osteoarthritis and to a lesser degree responsible for cancer (of breast, endometrium and colon), reproductive hormone abnormalities, and low back pain etc.

Obesity is also related to psychological and social problems. Rates of anxiety and depression are 3-4 times higher among obese people.

Even job market is anti-obese. Studies show that the obese people are less likely to be hired than the thin people even with the identical qualifications.

Link between Obesity and Mortality:

Obesity significantly increases the risk of mortality at any given age. Evidence suggests that for young adults, in general, risk of mortality for someone with BMI 30 is about 50% higher than that someone with healthy BMI (between 20- 25). The effect of overweight on mortality persists into the ninth decade of life. 8.7% of deaths in the UK result from excess weight, the highest percentage in EU.

A report has concluded that 23.6% of British children under four are over weight compared to 14.7% ten years earlier.

Causes:

The prime underlying cause is simple, imbalance in energy intake and energy output. Here the main contributors are the modern sedentary life as well as the highly palatable and prepared foods.

Fifth of boys and girls undertake less than 30 minutes physical activity a day mainly because of T.V. viewing and automation.

In mid 1980s, 2/3^rd of children aged between five and ten walked to school and more than 6% of 11-16 years old cycled to school. By late 1990s, this had fallen to just over half of children (5- 10 years) walking to school and less than 2% of pupils (11-16 years) cycling.

British children eat fewer than half the recommended portions of fruits and vegetables a day and majority has intakes of saturated fat, sugar and salt which exceed the maximum adult recommendation.

Why Target Schools?

As the prediction for adult obesity from childhood measures is poor, a population approach should have more effect at the public health than targeting children who are already obese.

Within the UK, estimates of obesity range from 6% in preschool to 17% by age 15.

Current School Based Health Promotion Strategies to Reduce Obesity

To encourage healthy food quite a few steps are being taken.

National Fruit Scheme and Five a day health promotion programme have been introduced in schools.

The children should have sound knowledge about what is meant by healthy food. Hence food technology which also teaches about nutritional and ingredients content is offered in every primary school and in 90% of secondary schools in England.

Vending machines in schools, offering high caloric drinks and fat and starch rich food, have been blamed for unhealthy eating habits. Lately vending machines are being trialled in some schools to sell healthy food.

School meals these days have guidance regarding nutrient recommendations.

Measures to inculcate sports and exercise culture in schools have been introduced ranging from investment by the top most authority to schemes by concerned departments.

National Healthy Schools Standard encourages schools to provide pupils with a minimum of two hours of physical activity. The standard also encourages school travel and healthy eating.

In 2002, Prime Minister announced investment of 4.59 million pounds to deliver a national strategy of physical education, school sports and club links.

Both the department for culture, media and sport as well as the department for education and skills has a target that 75% of school children should undertake two hours of high quality physical education and school sport each week by 2006.

To achieve this, government is developing school sport partnerships which comprise a specialist sports college, eight secondary schools and 45 primary or special schools in an area.

Some 581 million pounds are being invested in England by the New Opportunities Fund with an aim of improving and increasing sports facilities at school.

Overweight and obesity are now so commonplace amongst children that even parents are failing to notice when their own children become overweight and obese! In a survey of 300 British families, 33% of mothers and 57% fathers described their children as ‘normal’ when in fact they were obese. Therefore it has been suggested by the House of Commons report on obesity that all school children are weighed and measured once a year and their BMI results sent to their parents together with, if appropriate, advice on how to modify diet and exercise pattern.

To encourage walking/cycling to schools and make it safer, the department for education and employment and department of environment, transport and regions jointly produced a guideline ‘A safer journey to school’.

This guidance advises local authorities, schools and parents to walk and cycle and also includes measures to calm road traffic, enhance foot paths and cycle lanes.

Foundations Underlying These Strategies

Studies:

Quite a few studies both British as well as from outside support these strategies.

Let us have a look at a few of them.

Evaluation of implementation and effect of the primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors of obesity.

Ten schools in Leeds were selected and children (8-10 years old) were targeted. The programme team included a dietician, community paediatrician, a health promotion specialist, a psychologist, an obesity physician and a nutritional epidemiologist.

The programme designed to take place over one academic year targeted the whole school community including parents, teachers and other staff. The team provided training for teachers and some resources.

Questionnaires were administered to all school staff and parents. The questionnaire asked for views about importance of education on nutrition and physical activity, and whether school should share responsibility with parents. Parents were also asked about changes they would like to see in schools and information they would like to receive.

An overwhelming majority answered questions in affirmative agreeing that schools play a major role in promoting health of children and schools should have a food policy and should also encourage physical activity.

Responses from these questionnaires were used by schools to develop school action plans. The progress was very satisfactory. 89% of points in school action plans were implemented. There were positive changes in class room health education, physical education programme and school food service. Participant children recalled activities in which they had been involved. They also scored higher than those who had not yet received programme in terms of knowledge of healthy eating, physical activity and links between diet and health including obesity.

Discussion:

This study clearly shows that school is an important site for influencing children in their life style. And it also emphasizes involvement of parents in this “Behaviour Change Model”.

However, an RCT of primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors for obesity also involving same schools in Leeds at the same time didn’t ‘apparently’ yield very encouraging results.

634 children aged 7-11years were selected. Intervention included teacher training, modification of school meals,and the development of school action plans targeting the curriculum,physical education, tuck shops, and playgroundactivities.
Results: Vegetable consumption by 24 hour recall washigher in children in the intervention group than the controlgroup. Surprisingly, fruit consumption was less in the intervention group. There was no differencein body mass index, other psychological measures, or dieting behaviourbetween the groups. There were higher levels of selfreported behaviour change and knowledge amongchildren who had received theintervention.

Conclusion:

Although it was successful in producing changesat school level, the programme had little effect on children'sbehaviour other than a modest increase in consumption ofvegetables. Still, it can’t be termed as a failure as it did bring about a change in ethos of schools and attitudes of children. Agreed, not much change was seen in BMI of children. Perhaps one year is too short a period for effecting reduction in BMI especially in the growing age of children.

Let us also review a pilot school programme aimed at prevention of obesity in children carried out in Oxford.

Children aged 5-7 years were randomly allocated to four groups, three interventions and one control.

Intervention:

‘Be Smart’ lasted for four school terms (in 14 months).

It was based on Social Learning Theory and incorporated following elements: Providing opportunity to taste healthy foods and undertake non-competitive physical activity, providing incentives to reinforce messages e.g. verbal praise and small prizes, developing practical skills and thus self-confidence in desired behaviour and working with parents to overcome barriers to desired health behaviour.

The Groups:

Nutrition group: Had concepts clarified about healthy food and then fruits and vegetable promoted.

Physical activity group: Physical activity programme was designed followed by reduction in TV viewing.

Combined nutrition and physical activity group: Received half of nutrition and half of physical activity programme each term.

Control Group:

Results: Nutrition knowledge as well as physical activity in school increased. But no effect on physical activity observed outside school. There was significant increase in consumption of vegetables and fruits. Anthropometric measures did not show much change, apparently due to small duration of study.

Conclusion:

The study demonstrated potential of school as suitable setting for promotion of healthy life in children, through a behavioural change. This study provides all the three Es i.e. empowerment, environment and encouragement. Further improvements can be made e.g. with parents’ involvement and continuing messaging with incorporation of healthy life message in curriculum.

A somewhat similar school study in Singapore with some additional elements proved highly successful in reducing prevalence of obesity both among primary and secondary students. These additional elements included integration of nutrition education into formal school curriculum and provision of water coolers to encourage students to drink plain water. Special attention was paid to overweight students through specific physical education programmes.

The school’s contribution regarding physical activity and healthy food should extend to holidays also. Camps may be conducted during holidays by a school or a number of schools. This exercise has proven to be successful in a study done in Massachusetts, USA.

No health promotion strategy can be termed as comprehensive unless it incorporated essential values.

The current school based strategy provides empowerment to school children as school meals have guidance regarding nutrient requirements which should make children aware of distinction between healthy and unhealthy foods. Likewise food technology is offered as a subject at primary as well as secondary level.

Suggestion has also been made that all school children should be weighed and measured once a year and their BMI results sent to their parents together with, if appropriate, advice on how to modify diet and exercise.

Provision of fruit scheme and five-a-day health promotion scheme should help to reduce inequities by providing equal access to healthy food and physical activity to students from all social groups.

Similarly, Prime Minister’s massive investment plan to deliver a national strategy for physical education, school sport and club links should help children from schools in deprived areas to avail grounds, gymnasiums etc of clubs.

Obese children sometimes feel themselves to be marginalized as they find it difficult to participate in competitive sport. Hence suggestions have been made to include wide range of physical activities so that obese children can also take part in disciplines where they feel comfortable.

Strengths and Limitations of Present Strategy

Consumption of five portions daily of fresh fruit or vegetable definitely appears beneficial though it is difficult to see precisely how this will help tackle obesity, unless it is assumed that consuming more fruits and vegetables will displace calories from other sources.

Food technology subject which teaches about the nutritional content of food is offered in every primary school and in 90% of secondary schools however only about 16% of GCSE students opt for food technology.

School meals have guidance regarding nutrient recommendations.

But there is an appalling difference in placement of nutrient guidelines within Scotland’s standards and England’s guidance. In case of Scotland, nutrient requirements are present in the first section and they also emphasise that their achievement is essential.

While the nutrient requirements in England’s guidelines are not only placed at the end but message is also only advisory.

National Healthy Schools Standard encourages schools to arrange a minimum of two hours of physical activity within and outside the national curriculum.

But there is no method of compelling schools to meet this standard. In addition, obese children frequently opt out of it.

While many schools lack resources to provide this structured activity.

More contribution of parents in this whole exercise: Chairman of Health development agency said that the parents can make a huge impact on rising levels of childhood obesity by changing whole family’s approach to diet and physical activity by avoiding couch potato life styles.

The Role of Broader Environment

Obesity in school going children is an important issue and is affected by local, national and even international decisions and policies.

House of Commons, 2003 report on obesity demands joined up action by no fewer than six government departments.

Department of health: Main responsibility as obesity is a public health issue.

Department of culture, media and sport: For promoting sports and physical activity.

Department for education and skills: To ensure that children get adequate physical education at schools and have access to food at schools.

Department for transport: For making ‘healthy’ transport policies to encourage cycling and walking.

Department of environment, food and rural affairs: For farming and produce of healthy food.

Department of trade and industry: For food manufacturing and retail industry.

Apart from these six, Office of deputy prime minister: Responsible for promoting urban spaces in which people can pursue healthy travel and recreational activities.

Increased incidence of childhood obesity has a lot to do with societal changes seen in last few decades in terms of increasing popularity of high energy dense foods, soft drinks, convenience foods etc. Britain is now consuming highest no of ready meals in Europe.

There is a need for proper public health campaign similar to one aimed at stopping people from smoking. Since the demise of Health Education Authority, no single body has held strategic responsibility for public health education campaigns.

Public health campaign should be directed to highlight nutritional and life style patterns leading to weight gain and also links between obesity and diseases.

People and parents need to know how to identify healthy foods and how to prepare them to check increasing reliance on ready-prepared meals which require minimal cooking skills.

One can’t expect a child to exercise self-control against a stream of socially endorsed stimuli designed to encourage consumption of excess food calories. In food industry’s advertisement campaign, 95% of their products are ones that increase weight.

British children eat fewer than half the recommended portions of fruits and vegetables a day and a vast majority has intakes of saturated fat, sugar and salt which exceed the maximum adult recommendation.

This calls for action on advertising ban of some sort at least during children’s TV slots like some other countries.

Because of absence of legislation, food labelling is often completely absent from foods and if present, they are difficult to interpret.

Then there is wrong and misleading labelling.

Food industry should be committed to improve overall balance of diet including fat and sugar in food and there is an NHS plan in this regard.

Food pricing is a major factor in the choice of food especially for low income families. This calls for increasing price of unhealthy food and lowering price of healthy food. WHO’s draft strategy on diet and physical activity suggested that the member states consider taxes to send health enhancing price signals to consumers.

BMJ claimed that a fat tax could present 1,000 premature deaths from heart diseases only every year in the UK.

It is a complex issue as the industry and trade laws are involved.

Linking the European agricultural policies CAP to work in concert with the public health policy has failed so far but efforts should be made to subsidize healthy food farming.

The super markets must commit to phase out price promotions favouring unhealthy food.

In Scotland, standards on nutrient recommendation bar the provision of fizzy drinks as part of school meal in primary schools. Crisps, as part of a combination meal deal or packed lunch may only be offered twice per week. Contrarily, in England’s guidance on nutrient recommendations, there is nothing of above.

Two hours of physical activity in schools is below the EU average which is three hours (also recommended by the European Heart Network).

Ofsted inspection criteria of school’s performance should be extended to include school’s achievement in encouraging and sustaining physical activity.

As parents’ example is always a good influence on children so parents should adopt physical culture as a part of their routine life. For that, grounds, gymnasia etc should be provided in living areas.

Walking routes and cycling tracks should be improved to be easily and safely connected to schools. More traffic-calming and traffic- restraining measured should be introduced. Every transport minister since 1996 has promised a national walking strategy but failed.

Conclusion

Obesity is a growing menace in UK. Schools provide a fine target for prevention as well as early treatment. Strategy is based on healthy food and increased physical activity. For this, national food fruit scheme and five a day health promotion programme as well as two hours of physical activity schedule has been introduced in the school.

Further measures suggested include the public health campaign and restriction of advertisement of unhealthy food in media.

In schools, vending machines selling unhealthy should be banned (as it has been done in some countries like Singapore) and food technology presently an optional subject must be made compulsory. While carrying out physical activity in schools should be part of the criterion to judge a school’s performance.

Walking/cycling friendly policy is needed. Parents’ involvement is essential.

My article published in the magazine of ScHARR (school of health and related research), University of Sheffield.

Asif Iqbal

2011-02-26T18:35:00.002+05:00

I migrated from India to Pakistan in 1961. It was a family decision. My older brother had already shifted to Pakistan. I had been making a name for myself in Indian cricket, but I was confident that I would be able to further my cricketing ambitions in Pakistan as well. I encountered no difficulty in settling down in Karachi.

My uncle was the former Indian offspinner Ghulam Ahmed. He was not the only cricketer in the family. Many of my other uncles also played first-class cricket.

My big hundred in the Oval Test of 1967 was crucial for my career. When Pakistan were eight wickets down for 70-odd on the fourth day, there was talk of a 40-over match to entertain the crowd. That motivated me.

Javed Miandad is my favourite cricketer. He is the most gifted batsman I have seen, He had amazing self-belief and could take on anyone.

I was wrong to put West Indies in to bat in the 1979 World Cup semi-final on an excellent batting track. That decision probably cost us a spot in the final.

From 1964 to 1967 I was primarily a bowler who could also bat a bit. I opened the attack and batted mostly at No. 8. The roles were reversed after the 1967 tour of England.

My innings of 120 in the 1976-77 Sydney Test was my finest batting performance, as it played a major role in Pakistan's first Test win in Australia.

Joel Garner was the most difficult bowler I faced. It was extremely difficult to pick his length because of his great height.

Before the 1967 England tour I developed a back problem. I knew I could no longer play just as a bowler, so I was determined to do well with the bat. In the first Test, at Lord's, my 76 helped Pakistan avoid the follow-on and draw the Test.

My greatest disappointment was not being able to deliver as Pakistan captain.

When I was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968, I didn't know such a thing existed.

Playing for Kent from 1968 to 1982 was a great experience. I played with a number of stars, including Colin Cowdrey, Alan Knott, Derek Underwood, Mike Denness and Bernard Julien among others.

Pakistan suffered so many narrow losses in the early 70s because we were not used to winning: Leeds 1971, Melbourne and Sydney in 1972-73, and the World Cup 1975 tie against West Indies. The players got excited and failed to concentrate on the job at hand.

Mushtaq Mohammad was the best Pakistan captain I played under. He was not only a shrewd tactician but also moulded a talented bunch of players into a single unit. He inculcated a winning mentality in them.

During my county career, in the winter months I worked for Thomas Cook. I arranged supporters' tours for sports events.

My stand of 190 with Intikhab Alam at The Oval was a world record for the ninth wicket. That brought me instant fame and cemented my place in the Pakistan team. It also got me a mention in Wisden. I was promoted to the middle order and received offers from quite a few English counties.

Pakistan's performance improved with every England tour I made with them. This was because a number of Pakistanis had joined the county circuit in the late 60s and early 70s. The experience honed their skills and made them professional. So in the 1975 World Cup, Pakistan were one of the favourites.

I was twice overlooked for the captaincy when Intikhab Alam was removed - in 1972-73 and in 1976-77 - despite being his deputy both times. At the time it didn't bother me since my only passion was playing. But in hindsight I was hurt because I always thought I was being groomed for the big job. Still, I had the honour of captaining my country in the first two World Cups.

I led Kent to the joint county championship in my first season as captain, in 1977. But the next season I was removed from captaincy because of my contract with Kerry Packer. I captained them again in '81 and '82 but didn't have any success because by then I had retired from Tests and wasn't as enthusiastic. The wound of being unfairly removed after 1977 had not fully healed too.

My best bowling performance was 5 for 48 in Wellington in 1964-65. I took 18 wickets in three Tests in that series.

My only Test series as captain was against India in 1979-80. We were beaten by a better side. The umpiring was not up to the standard in a couple of Tests but overall India played better and deserved to win.

I was the coordinator for the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) in Sharjah. I knew what it was like to play for no money, and later for substantial amounts. I felt those who had played before my time deserved better lives. I requested Abdul Rahman Bukhatir to start a series that would monetarily benefit retired cricketers. During the initial years only subcontinental cricketers were nominated, but later cricketers from other countries also benefited from the CBFS.

Present-day cricketers and administrators should be grateful to Kerry Packer for not only making cricket a better paid game but also for the innovations he introduced. Even playing in county cricket didn't give you as much. Playing in the Packer Series made us better cricketers, as we played with and against great cricketers. I feel proud to have led the Rest of the World to victory in the Super Tests and one-dayers against Australia and West Indies.

I was the 100-metre sprint champion at school and college, which helped me become one of the fastest runners between the wickets.

Before I joined the English county circuit, I was an amateur. Experience on the circuit made me professional: my behaviour, thinking, eating and sleeping habits all changed. And because of that I played more useful innings for Pakistan in the latter part of my career.

The 1978-79 India-Pakistan Test series was significant for Pakistan cricket. India-Pakistan cricketing ties had been revived after 18 years. It was a period that saw two wars between the two countries. For the first time, matches were televised live all over Pakistan. And there were those two nailbiting wins for us in the last two Tests. All this made cricket the national passion.

I was often called a man for a crisis. Pressure situations brought the best out of me. When you are playing in a team sport, your role is to help the team win - or not lose. Most of my big scores came when trying to save or win matches for Pakistan.

CBFS ended due to a number of reasons. India and Pakistan started playing each other more in other parts of the world. And the increasingly crowded cricket calendar made it harder to have three or four teams, including India and Pakistan, playing in Sharjah. The interests of the administrators, especially Bukhatir, moved to new ventures like private television Yes, there were also allegations of match-fixing during Sharjah games, and the ECB set up an investigation team, but they didn't find any evidence.

I served as an ICC match referee for many years and also as an ICC ambassador to promote cricket in associate countries. In those days the appointment was from tour to tour. Nowadays it is a full time job.

My long career with Kent made me fall in love with the county, and I decided to settle down here. I am an honorary life member of Kent, as well as of the MCC.

Being an optimist is my best attribute.

Eden Gardens and the SCG are my favourite grounds. They have awesome atmosphere and huge crowds.

Twenty20 cricket is still evolving. Though it does not have much to do with cricket in pure technical terms, it is the demand of the industry. And cricket is an industry. It has already become the most popular format with the new generation and has even lured the ladies to grounds. It has all the makings of being the future. But I, personally, don't want to see that day.

These days I work as a sports coordinator with ARY Digital, a popular Pakistani TV channel, in their London office.

The IPL is supplementing this new phenomenon of Twenty20: money before cricket. There is more talk of rupees and dollars than runs and wickets.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/489016.html

Imtiaz Ahmed

2011-02-26T18:27:00.001+05:00

I was a compulsive striker of the ball. I joined my first club, Ravi Gymkhana in Lahore, when I wasn't yet 12. The other kids and I were not given any chances in the nets; our job was to retrieve the ball. We would come to the nets before the scheduled time, and since time was precious, some strange rules were set. The off stump was moved a few inches further from the middle stump so that the batsman had to play at the ball more often. Also, if a batsman missed a bouncer at a reasonable height, he would forfeit his turn. So one had to hook all the rising deliveries. And these habits stayed with me.

Batting on matting wickets was a great learning. It got you used to variable bounce and movement. On our first tour of England, in 1954, we mostly encountered sticky wickets, but we were able to adjust well thanks to the matting experience.

While keeping wicket, I always preferred to gather the ball by running rather than diving. You're prone to lose sight of the ball when you dive, and I only dived when I had to.

In our days there was almost no coaching, and you learnt your trade yourself. The only formal coaching I got was in 1950, at Alf Gover's school in London, where I was sent with a few other Pakistani cricketers. England's former great wicketkeeper Herbert Strudwick gave me some very useful tips and corrected a couple of flaws in my glovework.

My compulsive hitting let me down on many occasions. In my very last Test innings I got out on 98 flashing at a wide ball outside the off stump to be caught in the slips. In a side game against the MCC in Bahawalpur in 1961, I was on 99. The field was spread but instead of trying for a single, I went for a lofted one and was caught in the deep.

On the 1954 tour, initially the attitude of the English press and public towards us was sympathetic. We were regarded as the babes of cricket, on a learning visit. Some even thought we were one of the states of India. It all changed to admiration after our victory in the Oval Test.

Hanif Mohammad had a great temperament. He never lost his composure and didn't care what was going around him. Even if I had scored 25 out of 25, Hanif carried on in his own unhurried style.

My most memorable innings came against West Indies in the Bridgetown Test of the 1957-58 tour. We had followed on. It was our maiden Test against West Indies and already there were shouts that it was a mismatch. So the pressure couldn't have been more. Hanif and I resolved to put up a determined fight. Our opening stand had gone past 150 when I was wrongly given out lbw on 91. But we had provided a platform. The other batsmen gave Hanif (who made 337) great support and we managed to draw the Test with great credit.

There is a lot of talk about the pioneer of reverse-swing, but the first bowler I saw reverse-swing the ball was Khan Mohammad.

The appointment of Javed Burki as captain for the 1962 England tour was the major reason for Pakistan cricket's first real failure. His behaviour during the tour was very snobbish. He had made his Test debut only two years before, and lots of players were senior to him, including myself and Hanif. Burki's father was a serving General and a right-hand man of the then president of Pakistan, Field Marshal Ayub Khan. That was the sole reason for his appointment.

I batted for Pakistan from No. 1 to No. 8, as asked by the captain or manager, and never complained. Mostly I was asked to open the innings when the opposition had a fearsome pace attack.

Pakistan cricket's success in its early years owes a lot to the annual clash of Lahore's Islamia College and Government College in the Punjab University Championships. Those two institutions provided three-fourths of the Pakistan side, and those memorable games were also a great preparation for international cricket. It used to be a general holiday for all three days for the students of the two colleges and the boys would throng the ground. Since the players were personally known to many among the crowd, there was a lot of booing and name-calling. Government College was regarded as more of an elitist institution as compared to Islamia College, so the general public was also divided in their support. All this made it a real pressure atmosphere - sometimes even tougher than what we encountered later, in Test matches.

A safe wicketkeeper is always more useful to the side than a showman.

Keeping to Fazal Mahmood and Khan Mohammad from my college days proved handy. I had developed a good understanding with them. I could read from their grip what the next delivery would be. Had it not been for this understanding, I would not have taken a world-record seven catches off Fazal in the Oval Test of 1954.

Records and landmarks never bothered me. When I scored 209 against New Zealand in 1955, I got to know of all the records only through the next day's newspaper: the maiden Test double-century by a Pakistani, the first ever by a wicketkeeper in Test cricket, and my partnership with Waqar Hasan was a Pakistan record for any wicket. Someone informed me later that it was also the highest Test score by a No. 8 batsman.

There was no money in the game. I always played for pleasure and making new friends.

Back then we mostly travelled by sea and it was great fun. En route to West Indies in 1957, one evening we had a fancy-dress show on board. Opener Alimuddin, who was dark-complexioned and had heavy hips, decided to be a West Indian lady. With a wig and some stuffing in the right places, a buxom black beauty emerged. He then started to wink at a smart middle-aged gentleman, who turned out to be the Governor-General designate of the West Indies Federation, who was headed to Port-of-Spain to take charge. Later in the tour we had a sumptuous dinner at his palatial official residence.

I didn't enjoy captaining Pakistan against the MCC in 1961-62. There was constant interference from the president of the cricket board. He used to send chits, via the 12th man and the boundary fielders, with instructions.

Fazal relied mainly on legcutters and outswingers, and most of his victims were caught behind or in the slips. On the other hand, Khan Mohammad's main weapons were incutters. He clean-bowled a lot of batsmen.

I was camp commandant of Pakistan cricket teams for around 10 years including six years in succession. I also went on a deputation of three years with the Saudi Arabian Air Force.

My favourite wicketkeeper in the early days was Godfrey Evans. Apart from his keeping skills I also admired him for his jovial and carefree nature. In recent times Adam Gilchrist has been a phenomenon. In fact, he has redefined the role of wicketkeeper-batsman.

My triple-century in 1951 for the Indian Prime Minister's XI against the visiting Commonwealth side catapulted me to stardom in the subcontinent. I was appearing as a guest player. I'm told it was the first ever triple-century by a player of Indian or Pakistani origin against an international side.

I regret that there was no limited-overs cricket in my time. My batting style suited the form and I would have really enjoyed it.

I quit wicketkeeping at all levels after being hit in the eye by a ball in a club match in Sialkot in 1951. I played as a batsman in the 1951-52 unofficial series against the MCC and Hanif Mohammad kept wicket. That arrangement stayed for the first three Tests of our inaugural official Test series, against India in 1952-53, but Hanif did not have a good time behind the stumps and the captain, AH Kardar, requested me to keep again. So I resumed and continued till retirement.

My most memorable catch was dismissing Len Hutton off Fazal at The Oval in 1954. The edge flew in an arc above the slips. I sprinted past the slip fielders and lunged at full stretch to grab the ball inches above the ground.

I served in the Pakistan Air Force for 27 years, mainly in administrative roles. I remained in charge of the PAF School of Physical Fitness in Peshawar for a number of years. Here I trained young pilots, physical instructors and sportsmen. The legendary squash player Jansher Khan was sent to the school when he was 10, and I was personally involved in the physical training and nutrition aspects, during those formative years of his career.

Coaching cricket has been my passion and I have been involved in it at all levels. My three-year stint, 2005-08, with the Pakistan women's team was the most satisfying. I was able to mould them into a side well respected in the international arena. We defeated the national sides of Sri Lanka and West Indies for the first time. I still work as an advisor at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/433520.html

Wazir Mohammad

2011-02-26T18:20:00.002+05:00

There was a sporting atmosphere at home. My mother was a sportswoman and excelled at badminton and carrom. My father was a reasonable club cricketer.

In Junagadh, as children, in the hottest weather, the only activity allowed outside home was cricket. In fact, even inside the house we were not admonished for breaking windows while playing cricket with a tennis ball.

Kardar was a shrewd tactician. He was a man of few words. He could read people's minds. He understood cricket very well: a batsman's weakness, reading the pitch, etc.

My first cricketing lesson was hitting a ball hung from a rope. We used to live opposite the Mohabat Madrassah school in Junagadh. As kids our involvement was restricted to retrieving balls from the boundary. The members of the school team had a ball hanging from a tree on the sidelines for batting practice. Unless you play with a straight bat and strike the ball off its middle, the hanging ball will not swing back to you. That was my earliest lesson. Even here at my home in Shirley, you can see the ball tied to the tree.

My brother Raees and I played for the Mohabat Madrassah school team. There was a great rivalry between our school and the Bahadur Khan High School. The two schools often met in the semi-finals or the final of the schools tournament and that day would be a holiday for both. The ties were played under a real pressure atmosphere. All this helped develop match temperament at an early age.

The fastest bowler I faced was Roy Gilchrist. Not only his pace but his attitude also frightened you. When hit by the batsman, he said, "Oh maan, I'll kill you."

Among the spinners, Subhash Gupte was a class act despite playing in such a poor fielding side.

I made my Test debut in the third match of the 1952-53 tour of India. I had made a match-saving 104 not out in the tour game versus West Zone in Ahmedabad. I got runs against Nyalchand, whom Sir Frank Worrell called the king of matting, and Jasu Patel, who took a record nine wickets against Australia a few years later.

My Test record might not be very impressive but it gives me a great sense of pride that I made vital contributions in most of Pakistan's first Test victories: I made 42 in the second innings of the Oval Test of 1954. It was Pakistan's highest in the match. We became the first country to win a Test in England on their maiden visit. In our first Test win versus Australia in 1956-57, my century partnership with Kardar was the highest of the match. In 1957-58, I scored the only century of the match in our maiden win in the West Indies.

The migration to Pakistan from India in 1947 was an adventure. My father, an uncle and I came before the rest of the family by sea. The small ship was overloaded and very unstable. All the time we feared the vessel might capsize.

I joined the Pak Mughal Cricket Club in Karachi. They had nets at the Jahangir Park. Ten to 12 clubs had their nets there every day. All Test cricketers of Karachi during that period were products of Jahangir Park.

During my 42 at The Oval, early in the innings a yorker from Brian Statham hit my toe. It hurt a bit but I made a real drama out of it and deliberately started writhing in pain. A physiotherapist came on to the ground to see me. When I stood up again, I heard the England wicketkeeper, Godfrey Evans, tell his captain, Hutton, "It will be difficult for him to move the leg, so better bowl yorkers to him." Statham and Co. did so. That made life easier for me. The uncovered wicket had been badly affected by rain and even good-length balls were popping up awkwardly. The yorkers were easier to play. I continued pretending my foot was in great pain. It all helped me settle down and score.

My second brother, Raees, was the most stylish batsman among us five brothers, but unfortunately never played a Test, though he was once the 12th man.

I always fielded in the outfield. In a county match during the 1954 tour, the captain wanted to strengthen the slip cordon and I was moved there. I fractured my finger while attempting a catch. It was put in plaster for four weeks. I never fielded in slips again, and even today the finger has not fully straightened.

Kardar always had me and my brother Hanif room together, perhaps because we were the only two Pakistan cricketers in those days who thought and discussed cricket.

I worked as a banker. Cricket didn't pay much in our days. Most of my banking career was with the National Bank of Pakistan.

I was known as Hanif's brother, rather than as Wazir Mohammad. Even during my playing days, I was often introduced as Hanif's elder brother. But I never felt embarrassed; rather I was proud of him. I shared century partnerships with him during his world-record innings: 337 v West Indies (1957-58) and 499 for Karachi v Bahawalpur (1958-59).

The biggest disappointment of my career came in the second Test in Trinidad in 1957-58. Just before the match, during practice, all of a sudden, a severe allergic attack, probably from the grass or flowers, made me breathless and speechless. I spent most of the Test in the hospital. In each of Pakistan's innings, I was brought from hospital, and I made a pair. I did well on the same pitch later in the series. Had I not fallen ill, I could perhaps have contributed to help Pakistan win that Test, which we ended up losing.

My youngest brother, Sadiq, became a left-hand batsman on my advice. He was a right-hander during his early years and not a very good player. There were very few left-handers in the Pakistan team those days, plus the bowlers in the country didn't have much experience of bowling to lefties. So Sadiq had more chances to succeed as a left-hand batsman.

I was well-versed with the laws of the game. In the Kingston Test of 1957-58, when Garry Sobers made the record score of 365, the crowd stormed the ground. A patch of the pitch was damaged to the extent that a crater developed. The West Indian declaration arrived at the same time, meaning we had an awkward 90 minutes to bat that day. I told Kardar to tell the umpires that as per the laws of the game the wicket was not suitable for batting since the wear and tear was not due to natural reasons The umpires initially showed reluctance to accept our viewpoint, but eventually, after consulting the rule book, they agreed.

Barbados is my favourite cricket ground.The wicket is ideal for batting. The ball came at a good height and there was even bounce. The ground was small and runs could be scored.

In 1963 I was requested to lead the young Pakistan Eaglets team to England. The year before, Pakistan had had their worst Test series in England, where they lost 0-4. I had retired from international cricket but agreed in the interest of Pakistan cricket. It was a very successful tour and a number of youngsters from that squad went on to have long careers for Pakistan: Mushtaq Mohammad, Intikhab Alam, Asif Iqbal, Sadiq Mohammad, Majid Khan, and Pervez Sajjad. Apart from the first two, it was the first international tour for the rest.

I always admired technically correct batsmen. Three have been my favourites: Sunil Gavaskar, Geoff Boycott and Hanif Mohammad. They had everything - temperament, technique and determination. One could learn by watching them the whole day.

I play badminton thrice a week to keep myself fit and also do a lot of gardening.

I don't worry unnecessarily. Leave some things to God. Nature decides most things.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/478494.html

Bishan Bedi

2011-02-26T10:12:00.002+05:00

Each member of India's legendary spin quartet had great respect for the others. There was no jealousy. In fact, we always helped each other and learnt a lot from each other. Pras, Chandra and Venkat were all highly educated as well. We still remain in touch with each other.

I was embroiled in many controversies because I couldn't stand foul play.

It is essential for a spin bowler to have a big heart. The margin of error is less as compared to the fast bowler. He should be prepared to take some stick and never lose his temper.

Being a finger spinner, my biggest assets were my fingers. I used to wash my own clothes, which helped in keeping my fingers and wrists strong and supple. Dumbbells do increase strength, but they are not good for suppleness and flexibility.

I have always regarded chucking as a big menace to the game. The ICC's 15-degree rule is highly controversial. It has provided an umbrella to a number of chuckers. If an umpire deems a bowler to be chucking, he is reported rather than being no-balled. This is ridiculous. In the case of the South African [Johan] Botha, whose doosra had been found to be suspect, the ICC biomechanist came out with the strange explanation that a lot of bowlers from the subcontinent could bowl the doosra legally, but not the Caucasian bowlers.

I have never targeted a particular individual. It is not only [Muttiah] Muralitharan, I have openly spoken about Shoaib Akhtar's action and even against my own country man, Harbhajan Singh.

The last Test of the 1975-76 tour of the West Indies was the series decider. India had won the previous Test chasing a world-record target and West Indies felt humiliated. They had been trounced by Australia 1-5 a couple of months back and were hellbent on winning this series. We had reached 200 for 1 in the first innings when the frustrated West Indian captain, Clive Lloyd, instructed his fast bowlers to resort to bouncers and beamers. We had two of our top batsmen hospitalised. I asked the umpire, [Douglas] Sang Hue why he was not applying Law 46, which related to intimidation. He replied, "Mr Bedi, you will leave this country in a few days. I have my family here."

I raised my voice against Indian cricket authorities many a time, mainly for not suitably remunerating the players. Thanks to sellout crowds on all the days of Tests in the huge Indian stadiums, the cricket board used to make great money even in those days of very little sponsorship. But the players' share was a pittance. My efforts bore fruit and we got better contracts.

It was a great honour to be selected for the World XI in 1971-72. I really enjoyed playing with such great players from different nations.

In 1990 I coached the Indian team for a short term, which was the norm those days. I think a coach needs a long tenure to implement his plans; I didn't enjoy the role much.

It was after 18 years and two wars that we were facing Pakistan, in 1978-79. We wanted to maintain goodwill throughout, but it was one-sided. A few crucial umpiring decisions went against us during the Test matches but we didn't complain.

In the deciding ODI, at Sahiwal, things went to an extreme. Chasing 206, we were well placed at 183 for 2 when the Pakistani fast bowlers, led by my Northants colleague Sarfraz Nawaz, started sending down bouncers that were clearly out of the batsmen's reach, but the umpires took no action and our protests were ignored. Mushy [Mushtaq Mohammad], who was the captain, didn't stop his bowlers. I had no option but to call the batsmen back and concede the game.

Two Gyans were a great influence during my early career. My father, Gyan Singh Bedi, let me do whatever I wanted to do and never interfered. He was my best friend. My first coach Gyan Prakash really worked hard on me.

India's great run in the early seventies owed mainly to the spinners, but also to the wonderful close-in fielding. Eknath Solkar, the forward short-leg maestro, was, of course, the best, but others like Abid Ali, Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath also took fine catches. And [Farokh] Engineer behind the stumps was always a source of strength.

I was not a natural athlete so I used to exercise a lot, including yoga, skipping, climbing stairs etc.

Wadekar was a good strategist but the foundations were laid by [MAK] Pataudi. Tiger was perhaps the first captain who brought real cohesiveness to the Indian side. He inculcated true nationalism among the players, and they thought themselves Indians first. Before, the team was crippled by regionalism. He was a fine captain as well but didn't taste much success as the team at his disposal wasn't that good. Wadekar was lucky in many respects. By the time he took up the reins, the spin quartet was at its peak, the close-in fielding had never been better, and batting genius Gavaskar had emerged, and some other batsmen like Dilip Sardesai were in the best form of their lives.

I was obsessed with bowling. I used to bowl for hours during practice.

I had a productive period with Northamptonshire during which the club achieved its greatest glories. They won their first-ever title [Gillette Cup] and had their best-ever finish, second, in the County Championship. But personally the biggest gain was the lifelong friendship with Mushtaq Mohammad. In fact, his mother regarded me as her sixth son. When he penned his autobiography in 2006, I was given the honour of writing the foreword.

I never cared for figures, and felt satisfied only when the team did well irrespective of my own contribution.

I enjoyed hitting Peter Petherick for three sixes in one over in the Kanpur Test of 1976-77 on the way to my only Test half-century.

The Northamptonshire team in 1977 was the best on the county circuit, with players like Mushtaq, Sarfraz, David Steele, Peter Willey, George Sharp etc. But the administration, especially the secretary, Ken Turner, whom we called Fuhrer, destroyed the fabric of the team. A number of players including myself and Mushy were forced to quit. Northants never touched those heights again.

Twenty 20 and IPL are destroying the basic character of the game: too small a time for a player to display his skills. Can you imagine three-hole golf or a 15-minute soccer match?

My home state Punjab has always been rich in cricketing talent, but poor administration has meant that most of the prominent players plied their trade for other states, mostly Delhi. However, I have the honour to be the manager of the Punjab team, which won the Ranji Trophy for the only time, in 1992-93. Incidentally I was also the captain of Delhi when they first won the title in 1978-79.

Cricket has always been the most important part of my life. Presently I run the Bishan Bedi Cricket Coaching Trust. The boys are trained at grassroots level during school vacations, but we don't field a team in any competition. We sometimes take them abroad to England or Australia, for I believe England provides the best finishing school: it offers such a variety in terms of conditions, weather and wickets.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/418804.html

Trevor Bailey

2011-02-26T10:01:00.002+05:00

As a child I used to play cricket and soccer on the family lawn. In garden cricket you were automatically out if you hit over the fence. Perhaps this early compulsion played a role in my later habit of keeping the ball on the ground. I was a bad loser from an early age. That also played its part in my becoming a defensive batsman: I hated to lose my wicket.

Lord's has always been my favourite ground - captivating atmosphere.

I was lucky that when I joined the Alleyn Court High School at the age of seven, Denys Wilcox had just become the joint headmaster. He was not only passionate about cricket and soccer but also technically correct. He taught me regularly at nets, and by the age of 13 I could play all the strokes except the hook.

Fred Trueman was the greatest bowler of my era. For a fast bowler, he played so long, more than any other during that period. Not only physically very fit, he was also a very sensible bowler - a complete paceman.

I was inducted into the Royal Marines during the Second World War at 18. I became a Second Lieutenant. Fortunately I didn't see any action as the Nazis surrendered before we arrived in Germany. I always detested bloodshed. The only "action" I saw was while conducting a few court martials as a defence lawyer, including one concerning a clock stolen by our soldiers from the Germans.

When Cambridge were playing Somerset, DB Dutta, an Indian, was our slow left-arm bowler. He was of the same height and build as me, and with the dark complexion and black wavy hair. Some Somerset spectators took us to be the same person and wondered: "He first opened the attack as a fast right-arm and then came on first change as slow left-arm."

My fingers have always been too small and delicate. I broke them quite a few times while fielding. The worst was in the 1953-54 Barbados Test. While trying to stop a thunderous drive by Clyde Walcott [who made 220] off my own bowling, my right hand's ring finger was chipped. I continued bowling but the finger is out of shape even today.

I played in three side games in 1948 against the touring Invincible Australians and was thrashed by their batsmen in all the games. But that was great for my bowling as I realised I was not good enough. I made many adjustments: I cut one whirl from my action, making it more smooth, angled my approach closer to the stumps to attain more accuracy, and increased my repertoire by varying the pace, angle and place of delivery. The very next year I was opening the bowling for my country.

Essex has always been a part of my life. I have spent almost all my life within a radius of a quarter mile. I was born here, I lived here, went to a school here. My wife's home before marriage was here, and we now live in a retirement home here.

Though I came to be known as an ultra-defensive batsman, I was among the pioneers of one-day cricket. In the mid-60s I regularly appeared for the International Cavaliers, a team of players from different countries, who played a different county every Sunday.

During my early Essex days I also scored a century before lunch. Still the tag of "Barnacle"!

I did more modelling than any other cricketer of my time. I was not only one of the Brylcreem boys, I also appeared in a number of other ads for breakfast cereal, Shredded Wheat, etc. In the Lucozade energy drink ad, I appeared along with my wife and the eldest son, Kim. I also had a sponsored Ford car.

I led Essex from 1961 to 1966 but I was denied the captaincy of the country. I didn't think much about it at that time as I was doing enough for England: opening the bowling, and batting in the top order. But in retrospect it hurt.

I had my own movie camera, a rarity those days. I carried it on tours and made films of the matches myself or asked others to do that for me. I handed all this to Sky a few years back.

My most cherished cricketing feat was the innings against Australia in 1953 at Lord's because it proved decisive in the final outcome of the series.

My most valuable contribution to Essex as secretary was to arrange an interest-free loan from Warwickshire in 1965, which enabled us to buy the Chelmsford ground for the county. It has been the Essex headquarters since.

After doing my bachelors from Cambridge, I taught English and history at my former school. But I left after only three years to become Essex County Cricket Club secretary. That job remained my main source of income for the next 13 years. Afterwards, it was journalism, writing, broadcasting on radio and television, public relations, the toy business, helping to run the Ilford indoor cricket school and so on.

My earliest cricketing heroes were Harold Larwood (I wanted to bowl like him) and Don Bradman (I wanted to bat like him). Later I admired Keith Miller and Garry Sobers.

In Brisbane, in 1954-55, I stepped in with England on 25 for 4, chasing Australia's 601. I stonewalled for 38 in 160 minutes. That evening I came to know that an Australian businessman had placed a $100 bet on the first Englishman to clear the fence. The next morning I duly hit Ian Johnson for only the second six of my Test career, and immediately returned to my shell. I spent the money throwing a party at the hotel, which somewhat lessened the pain of a heavy defeat.

The 1950 touring West Indian team included perhaps the worst batsman I ever saw: Lance Pierre, whose tour average was less than 1. In the match against Essex, when he came to bat at No. 11, our bowler Ray Smith was just one short of 100 wickets for the season. I wanted him to take that last wicket but had to complete my over first. I intentionally bowled very wide outside his off stump, yet he stretched fully and managed to tickle the ball to the keeper, almost rupturing himself in the process.

I really detested the distinction made between professionals and amateurs during the early years of my cricketing career. There were separate dressing rooms, different hotels during the away matches, and sometimes even different entrances to the ground.

The hospitality provided to us during my only tour of South Africa in 1956-57 was easily the best I have received anywhere in the world. In the West Indies, whites supported the touring MCC, while in South Africa blacks and coloured people supported us. No rocket science involved to know the reason.

We went to the last Test of the 1953-54 series against the West Indies 1-2 down. The Sabina Park pitch appeared to be a batting heaven. The groundsman told our captain, Len Hutton, "If you bat first, 700 should be the target." We lost the toss. I had my best Test figures of 7 for 34, which enabled us to level the series. It was just one of those days when everything went right: the ball moved beyond expectations, every shot played in the air went to a fielder, who made no mistake.

When frustrated, I occasionally resorted to Malinga-like round-arm slingers. I once delivered one of those to Denis Compton in a county game when he was on his way to a century before lunch. To the astonishment of both of us, he was bowled round his legs. That was my first and last wicket with that particular delivery.

As Essex secretary, three times I signed a boy in his mid-teens fully certain that not only would he play for Essex but also gain Test selection: Barry Knight, Keith Fletcher and Keith Boyce.

The West Indies tour of 1953-54, when I was vice-captain to Len Hutton, was the hardest, most unpleasant and full of controversies, for a number of reasons. Starting from the composition of the team: a player-manager, a captain who had never led a side abroad, and an inexperienced vice-captain. England's pace battery tended to target the bodies of the opposing batsmen. That made us unpopular not only with the other team but also their supporters. As it had happened in the past, the touring MCC side showed arrogance and complained about arrangements, especially the accommodation.

In the mid-1960s I began my journalism career with the Financial Times and remained their cricket and football correspondent for over 25 years.

I rate my 41 out of 110 in the first innings of the 1956-57 Port Elizabeth Test as my best. The wicket had no pace, so the shooters not only kept low but shot straight along the ground. It was the highest for England in a match where the highest innings total was 164.

I only read newspaper reports of matches I did well in. Otherwise I knew better than the writers when I had fared poorly.

The 1958-59 Ashes was my last tour to Australia and also my most disappointing. On paper, we were the favourites but we were given a mauling by the Aussies. Dissensions and cliques had killed our team spirit. In my opinion, a few Australian bowlers chucked, but we could not complain as our Tony Lock and Peter Loader also had suspect actions. I personally think Lock had an illegitimate delivery action.

The 1972 Olympics was my most demanding and most enjoyable assignment as a journalist. In two weeks, I wrote on as many as 10 sports, ranging from soccer to fencing. I also covered the horrendous massacre.

I played soccer as an amateur for two Essex clubs: Leytonstone and Walthamstow. I played as centre half, inside right and also on the wing. Those were great days for amateur soccer. We never had a crowd of less than 5000 for our home ties. My greatest soccer glory came with Walthamstow in 1952-53, when we reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, where we held the mighty Manchester United 1-1 at Old Trafford, a fantastic achievement for an amateur side. The replay took place at Highbury as our home ground had a capacity of just 12,000. In front of 55,000 people we lost 5-2.

In 1951-52, I achieved the dream of every amateur footballer: winning the final of the FA Amateur Cup (with Walthamstow), at Wembley in front of a crowd of 100,000.

Brian Johnston was not only my first co-commentator on the TMS team but also my favourite, especially for his great sense of humour. However, John Arlott was the master in describing the action in a lucid manner that only he could achieve. Norman Yardley's excellent technical knowledge made him a wonderful summariser of all the on-field occurrences.

During Dennis Lillee's first appearance in England in 1972, I made a passing mention that though he appeared to be a complete fast bowler his extra-long run up was worrisome. Kids trying to imitate him might become long-distance runners instead of fast bowlers. Within a few days I received a postcard from a "worried grandma", reading: "You were right. My three-year-old grandson has started running from 17 yards before releasing the ball from just three yards in front of me."

I received a really interesting cable from a close Australian friend during the Oval Test of 1981. It informed me that Australian television would be using Test Match Special's ball-by-ball commentary along with television pictures. Perhaps the TV channel had noticed that so many people watched television with the volume turned off and listened to our broadcasts instead.

On a few occasions schedules of major events in cricket and football clashed for me as a broadcaster. I always managed to attend both but it involved hectic travelling. The most memorable incident of covering both sports happened in 1974, when Germany was staging the football World Cup while England hosted India for a Test series. I moved between the two countries several times and was always rushing to airports.

I wrote 11 books. Writing the biography of my favourite cricketer, Garry Sobers, was a real pleasure. I visited Barbados to research it and Sobers and his wife really looked after me there.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/493308.html

Mushtaq Mohammad

2011-02-26T09:51:00.003+05:00

My greatest attribute was self belief. When I made my Test debut at the age of 15, Wes Hall was just another bowler for me, like the ones I had faced in school games.

There were too many Mohammad brothers to fit in the Pakistan team. In Pakistan's initial years of Test cricket, our No. 2 brother, Raees, could not win a Test cap - he was the 12th man once - as Wazir and Hanif were regulars. I made my first tour, India in 1960-61. Wazir also deserved to be in, but with two of us in already, Hanif and I, he was not selected. Finally three of us - Hanif, Sadiq and I - managed to play together in a Test in 1969-70. Immediately after the match, Hanif was told by the head of Pakistan's cricket board that it was time for his retirement as Sadiq was ready to replace him. Still, we have the unique distinction of four brothers playing Test cricket.

Kerry Packer was a breath of fresh air. Cricket was losing crowds and Test matches didn't bring much money. New ideas were needed, which Packer brought in in the form of night cricket, coloured clothing, excellent TV coverage, and players were paid very well. He was ready to let players be available for the Test cricket, but the ICC confronted him and took him to court.

Sir Garfield Sobers is the greatest cricketer I have seen. It was a pleasure to watch him on the field. Whether he was batting, bowling or fielding, it was class and authority.

Twenty20 cricket is harming cricket technically. Batting does not require any technique and bowlers suffer even more, as their only priority is to avoid being hit out of the ground. Fielding is the only aspect that can benefit.

I am regarded by many as the inventor of the reverse-sweep. It just happened the first time. In 1964, I was batting for an invitation side called Rothmans Cavaliers against Middlesex at Uxbridge. England offspinner Fred Titmus was bowling a tight middle-and-leg line with a 3-6 field, and I simply couldn't get him away. I saw a large vacant area behind cover point, and played the shot that came to be known as the reverse-sweep. Fred complained to the umpire, who pointed out that I hadn't changed my grip and there was nothing illegal in the shot. I then employed this shot a lot more.

My county turned against me as I had signed for Packer, and I was given the option: Northants or Packer.

Lord's has been my favourite ground since childhood; our father used to say, if a cricketer hasn't played at Lord's, all his other achievements mean nothing.

My most memorable batting performance came in the fourth Test against West Indies in 1976-77. In the six previous Tests on that tour [in Australia and the West Indies], I hadn't scored a single fifty. I was the captain of the side and had volunteered to step down, but the other senior players persuaded me to stay. In that Test I scored a century and a half-century. In addition, I also took eight wickets in the match, and more importantly we won the Test to level the series.

I left Northamptonshire after the 1977 season, having led them to their most successful season in 1976, when they not only equalled their best-ever position, second, in the County Championship, but also won the Gillette Cup.

My most memorable victory came when I led Pakistan against Australia in the Sydney Test of 1976-77. This was Pakistan's first-ever Test win in Australia. Most of us had been playing international cricket for many years, and had been excelling on the county circuit, but we needed to translate all that into meaningful international success.

I remained part of the Test Match Special commentary team through the eighties and till mid-nineties, and recently did commentary on the Karachi Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

IPL is show business and anyone can enter it as an investor. I can't say whether it will have some useful influence on cricket in the long run, but at the moment it is harming cricket as its money muscle is dictating terms even to the ICC. Players are skipping national calls, and tours of national teams are not only scheduled around it but are even called off. I am all for players getting great money, but the national duty should be the foremost priority.

I was under-bowled in Tests, especially when Intikhab Alam [himself a legspinner] was the captain. My average and strike-rate are much better than his. I took a lot of wickets with Northants, though we also had BS Bedi for six years, one of the greatest spinners in history.

My biggest disappointment on the cricket field was Pakistan's defeat against Australia in the third Test of the 1972-73 series. With Australia at one stage of their second innings effectively at 75 for 8, we smelt our first-ever victory in Australia. Their last two wickets added 84, but even then we needed only 159, and from 83 for 3 were bowled out for 106.

I guided Pakistan to the final of the 1999 World Cup, which is my greatest achievement as a coach. I was working with Bangladesh as the bowling coach when I was requested by the PCB to take over the Pakistan team only four weeks before the tournament, as Javed Miandad had fallen out of favour with the players. I also had other stints as the coach of the Pakistan team, and I have also coached the national sides of UAE and the USA.

My exit from the international scene was painful. I had stepped down for the 1979 World Cup as I considered myself not fit enough for the faster limited-overs version, but could have continued in Test cricket, especially as the team had been doing well under me. But to my amazement the senior players forced me out, saying that if I was not fit for the one-day internationals, I couldn't be fit for the longer five-day Tests. In recent times we have seen the example of Shane Warne who played Tests for two years after giving up ODIs.

Though living a retired life I can't remain away from my greatest love. I still coach at the local Attock Club, which is just a stone's throw away from my home.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/400251.html

Khan Mohammad

2011-02-26T09:43:00.003+05:00

Determination was my greatest attribute. Once I had the ball in my hand, I never thought about the reputation of the batsman I was bowling to.

I could have had a career in county cricket. In 1951 I played in a match for Somerset against the touring South Africans and got five wickets. I was offered a contract, but I had to qualify for the county by residence, which would have taken three years. It would have benefited me a lot in financial terms, but my newly independent country was endeavouring to get recognition on the cricketing map and I preferred country over county.

Pakistan earned Test status after they beat MCC in the unofficial Test in 1951. I took eight wickets in the match, including five in the second innings.

My growth as a cricketer owes a lot to the cricketing structure of Lahore at all levels. At the Central Model School, there used to be a 30-minute period for cricket every week. Then at Islamia College, our match against Government College was more or less a trial game for Pakistan. In those days, 70% of players for Pakistan came from these two institutions. The atmosphere used to be electric, with huge crowds.

There was no such thing as the hardest batsman to bowl at.

As a newly born nation, back then it was our resolve to get recognition as early as possible. The cricketers were keen to do their bit. This was the main factor in Pakistan's early successes - getting Test status and winning against every country in our first Test series against each of them.

My most memorable cricketing moment came in Pakistan's first ever Test against England, in 1954. Our Test status was on trial. We made just 87 in the first innings. Almost everyone said that we were out of the game and England would run over us. Sir Len Hutton opened the England innings. I sent his middle stump cartwheeling 15 yards back on the very first ball he faced from me. That was the defining moment. It lifted our spirits and made us believe the English were also mortal. Fazal Mahmood and I bowled unchanged and reduced England to 117 for 9. All my five victims were bowled.

My favourite batsman is Peter May. He was technically very correct and played in a graceful, almost effortless manner.

The club scene in Pakistan was competitive and my club, Universal, had many Test cricketers in its fold, including Fazal Mahmood and Mahmood Hussain. The best allrounder in Lahore club cricket in those days was Lala Amarnath.

When Pakistan played its first-ever Test match, I not only had the honour of delivering the first ball for my country but also of taking the first wicket.

We were paid only one pound daily during the 1954 Pakistan tour to England, but I owe my fame and respect entirely to my Test career.

In my last Test series I bowled to Sir Garry Sobers when he surpassed Sir Len Hutton's record, scoring 365. He was a great batsman, but he was also helped by our fielders and the umpire in that game. When he was in the 330s, a very clear nick went to our wicketkeeper, but the umpire refused to lift the finger. When approached at the end of the play, he replied, "Had I declared him out at that stage, people would have burnt my house."

I still vividly remember dismissing Pankaj Roy - my first Test wicket. It was an outswinger pitched outside leg stump. Roy tried to glance it and was bowled round his legs.

In Pakistan cricket's early years, AH Kardar, our first captain, called all the shots. He was more or less a dictator. Even the president and the secretary of the board were under his influence. Not only the team selection but also the choice of the manager was his.

In the 1950s we played Test matches on both turf and matting pitches. It was a challenge to adapt, somewhat like tennis, where you play on grass, clay, hard court, etc. On matting, my most effective weapon was the offcutter, while on turf I took wickets mainly with outswingers, followed by incutters.

For the choice of my favourite fast bowler, three names stand out: Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee and Imran Khan. All of them came close to being the complete fast bowler.

I was at a Scot's home once. Sir Len Hutton's framed photo adorned his living room. When he came to know that I had bowled the great man for a duck in a Test match, he took the photograph out of the frame, had it autographed by me and put it back in the frame.

Cricket is the most intellectual of all the outdoor sports. It demands observation, calculation and judgment. It brings out qualities like courage, concentration, self-restraint and brotherly team work.

In most Test matches where Fazal Mahmood and I played together, I took more wickets than him. But I must say that his contribution to Pakistan cricket in those early days was more than any other bowler. He was a real match-winner.

I settled down in England in 1960. I successfully ran a travel agency in London all these years and only sold it last year due to my poor health. I was in the shipping business for some time. All my children were good in academics and none of them showed an interest in sport, or even business.

After my playing days, I took MCC coaching courses, which made me eligible to coach in any part of the world. I spent more than 20 years at the MCC indoor school, and I was involved in the coaching of players like John Snow, Ian Botham and Mike Gatting. I spotted Gatting at a very early age as an outstanding batting talent.

I conducted a few coaching camps in Pakistan. I worked on Wasim Akram when he was yet to play first class cricket. I corrected a couple of flaws: his action was not sideways but straight. He didn't look over his shoulder in the delivery stride. Wasim was an exceptional talent. From the coaching camp he went straight into his first-class debut - a three-day match for the President's XI against the visiting New Zealand team. He took nine wickets in the match and the rest is history.

Lord's is my favourite cricket ground. Not only for its history and tradition but also because I enjoyed bowling there. Lord's always favours swing bowling.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/413806.html

Roy Keane

2011-02-26T09:26:00.002+05:00

Roy Keane had an enviable 17-year playing career before switching to the managerial role.Starting from the league of Ireland, he moved up to Nottingham Forest and then to Manchester United. He ended his playing career with a brief stint with Celtic in Scotland. He was a dominating central midfielder with an aggressive streak, and in his 12 years spell with Manchester United the club had its most successful period ever. He left the club in 2005 having led them for eight years including the unprecedented treble of the Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League.
During his international career of over 14 years for the Republic of Ireland he mostly wore the captain’s arm band. In the 1994 World Cup, Ireland made it into the second round.

Manager of Sunderland

Keane took over the Championship side Sunderland in August 2006 and guided the relegation threatened club to win the league hence gaining promotion to the Premiership, and they survived in the top tier in 2007-8. This season, by the time December arrived, Sunderland were lying 18th and Keane stood down as the manager.
Controversies in Keane's Career

Keane enjoys the dubious distinction of jointly holding the record for the most red cards (13) received in English football.
His confrontations involved not only club and the national team managements but also FIFA and even the fans!
Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, described Keane as a "greedy child" due to the high wages demanded by him in 1992. Then Blackburn agreed a £4 million fee for Keane.
On the day before the signing, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson persuaded Keane to cancel the agreement, and he signed for Manchester United for £3.75 million, a British transfer record at the time.
In the 1997-98 season he missed the most of the season because of an injury sustained while tackling Leeds United player Alf-Inge Håland. The Norwegian accused Keane of having tried to hurt him and of feigning injury to escape punishment. Four years later, in the 2001 Manchester Derby, Keane made a blatant knee-high foul on Haland. He initially received a three game suspension and a £5,000 fine from the FA. But in his 2002 autobiography, Keane revealed it was a premeditated assault to get revenge. The FA had no choice but to charge Keane and banned him for a further five matches and fined £150,000.
Keane’s departure from Manchester United in November 2005 marked the climax of increasing tensions between Keane and the management since the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal, when he argued with Ferguson over the quality of the set-up.
Likewise when called up for his first game at international level, an Under-21s match in 1991, Keane described the training set-up as "a bit of a joke." He would continue to have numerous confrontations with the Irish management climaxing with going home from the 2002 World Cup in the famous Saipan Incident after an argument with national coach Mick McCarthy.
In December 2000, he criticised sections of United supporters after the Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev at Old Trafford complaining that at home fans are more interested in drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches rather than proceedings on the pitch. The term 'prawn sandwich brigade' is now part of the English football vocabulary.
In September 2008 Keane became embroiled in a row with FIFA Vice President Jack Warner over the withdrawal of Dwight Yorke from the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Warner accused Keane of being disrespectful towards small countries. Keane responded by calling Warner "a clown".
‘The Keane Saga’ is not over and more twists are yet to come.

Sania Mirza

2011-02-26T09:17:00.002+05:00

When Sania Mirza won the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles title with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, it was the first ever Grand Slam title won by an Indian woman. It was a comeback as she had been dogged by injury for sometime which had seen her rankings plummeting.

Early Career

A Muslim, she was born in Mumbai but raised in the Southern city of Hyderabad, Sania's first coach was her father. She first made headlines when debuting for India Fed Cup team in April 2003 she won all her three matches.
A few months later, she won the Girls doubles title at the Wimbledon with Russian Alisa Kleybanova, the first ever Grand Slam title for an Indian Girl.

Further Achievements

Sania is the first Indian woman ever to be seeded in a Grand Slam tournament. She has won matches at all the Grand Slam events. When she played the fourth round of the 2005 US Open, it was the farthest an Indian woman has ever reached in a Grand Slam. In September 2006, she notched up victories against three top-10 players, Martina Hingis, Svetlena Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova,
Sania is the only Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, Hyderabad Open Finals, in February 2005. She has played in three other finals as well.
Her career highest ranking is 27 in singles and 18 in doubles.
In the 2006 Asian games, Sania won as many as three medals: Silver in singles, gold in mixed doubles and silver in the women's team event.
Having been runner up in the mixed doubles of the Australian Open last year with the fellow Indian Muhesh Bhupathi, in 2009, at the same event she landed her first ever grandslam title with him. Again it was the first ever Grand Slam title for an Indian woman. This was more remarkable since a few months ago she had pulled out of the U.S. Open due to a wrist injury. Her friend Yuvraj Singh, one of India's most popular cricketer, had helped her in recovery.

Threats from Islamic Groups and Other Controversies

Sania has drawn criticism from some Islamic groups who object to her playing outfit declaring it indecent and un-Islamic. Some of these groups including Jamiat-e-ulema-e-HInd even threatened to disturb her matches and once in Calcutta, she was provided special security.
During the 2008 Hopman Cup, she was pictured during a press conference resting with her feet close to the Indian national flag. A citizen even filed a case in an Indian court that she should be tried under the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act. Sania dismissed it as an accidental occurrence.
A month earlier, police in his hometown Hyderabad had registered a case against her for trespassing in a mosque for filming an advertisement.
All this compelled her to stop playing in India for sometime and she even thought about quitting the sport at one time. But she has always shown great character and resolve and has emerged stronger after being through such crisis periods.

Youngest Recepient of Padamshree; Other Awards

-In 2004, Arjuna Award (Government of India's award for excellence in sports) in 2004,
-In 2006, Padamshree Award (one of the highest civilian wards in India. At 19, she was the youngest recepient.
-In 2008, she was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Letters by the MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai.
She is easily India’s most well known and glamorous female sportsperson. In fact, Sania’s success coupled with her charm has led to the popularity of tennis in India among the general public and increased interest of the corporate sector never seen before. More and more young boys and especially girls are taking to tennis and more and more WTA and ATP events are being staged in the country.

Gautam Gambhir

2011-02-26T09:12:00.002+05:00

The small-statured Gautam Gambhir's prodigious talent was never in doubt ever since he earned selection in the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore's first intake in 2000. The left handed opener had already made his first class debut for Delhi the same season. In his first four Ranji Trophy seasons, Gambhir hit six centuries and had an average of 66.78. The little man's forceful shots especially on the offside have always been the scourge of the fielding side.

Gambhir's International Debut

In 2002, he made a double century against the touring Zimbabwe which really enhanced his chances for international selection. And indeed, the very next season he made his ODI debut followed by test selection the following year (2004). However it was not until 2007 that he was really able to establish himself in the Indian lineup.

Overcoming Technical Flaws

The reasons of his inability to perform consistently at the highest level were mainly his loose shots at deliveries outside the off stump and also a weakness when playing to leg side where he exhibited the tendency of falling over to the offside. Gambhir didn't get much taste of the international cricket in 2005 and 2006.

He apparently worked on his shortcomings during this time.

International Comeback

After India's disastrous show in the 2007 World Cup, he was once again in favour.

2007 Twenty 20 World Cup saw Gautum at his brilliant best. He was not only India's leading run getter in the tournament but also hit a splendid 75 in the final against the traditional rivals Pakistan. From then onwards there was no looking back.

The next stage was ODIs. In the triangular 2007-8 CB series in Australia he was the top run-scorer with 440 runs. He also reentered the test arena when his replacement Wasim Jaffar failed too often for the selectors liking. Gambhir was very much among the runs in Sri Lanka while his display against the world's no 1 ranked side Australia silenced all the critics. His two consecutive hundreds included a double century at his home ground Feroze Shah Kotla. Year's last test against England saw him barely missing the distinction of scoring centrury in each innings with scores of 179 and 97.

Summary of Gambhir's Achievements in All Forms of The Game

- Second highest run aggregate at the Twenty 20 World Cup

- World's top run scorer in ODIs this year

- A test average of almost 70 this year

- Led Delhi to Ranji Trophy success after 16 years with a century in the final

Hence it was no surprise when Gautam Gambhir was named in the World XI for the year 2008 by Peter Roebuck, the noted Australia based British cricket columnist and commentator.

Andre Iniesta

2011-02-26T09:06:00.006+05:00

Iniesta was spotted at the age of 12 by Barcelona’s scouts. He initially started playing in a holding role in the midfield for their youth teams and Barca B but gradually switched into an attacking position.

Barcelona Career

He debuted for Barcelona in 2002-03 and by 2004-5, Iniesta had a permanent place in the Barca line up.

His supporting role, especially the accurate passing was evident right from the early days. Initially his finishing ability didn’t satisfy many. However by 2006-7, he had improved a lot and was a regular goal getter, netting nine goals for Barca that season.

His all-round play and consistency was certified by the distinguished Spanish football magazine Don Balón . They rated Iniesta fifth and fourth in 2006-7 and 2007-8 respectively in the Primera Division as per their annual rating system.

Iniesta suffered a leg injury in mid November 2008 and returned on January 5, 2009 as a substitute during the second half against Mallorca. The Camp Nou crowd gave him a warm welcome and Iniesta duly obliged them by scoring the crucial goal enabling Barcelona complete a comeback victory.

International Career

His international career graph is even more awesome.

Iniesta first wore the national colours in Spain’s victorious march during the UEFA European Under-16 Championship in 2001. The very next year, he was part of the Spanish squad which claimed the UEFA European Under-19 Championship. And in 2003, he played a stellar role in Spain’s march to the final of the FIFA World Youth Championship where he also achieved the distinction of being named in the FIFA all-star team. He has also captained the Spain Under-21.

Surprisingly his first senior call was for the biggest stage, the World Cup 2006. He debuted in a friendly prior to the competition.

Euro 2008

Iniesta has won the double of Spanish La Liga and UEFA Champions League with Barcelona but The Euro 2008 was his magnum opus. First he played a vital role to help Spain to qualify not only through his patent inch perfect passes but also scoring three vital goals. In the Euro 2008 itself, Iniesta was the only Spanish player to start every game. Spain won the competition to end the long title drought thus shedding the tag of the 'perennial underachievers'. Iniesta was named Man of the Match in the semi final against Russia and was also included in the 23-man UEFA team of the tournament.

Sobriquets (El Anti-Galactico & nino de coro)

An excellent reader of the game, he is a real midfield marshal but Iniesta is also versatile. Barcelona have used him in a wider role on the right side. He is very professional and not the one for ostentatious displays. These attributes have earned him the title of El Anti-Galáctico by the press. The Barca fans call him niño de coro (the choir boy) because of his humility and youthful looks.

Iniesta has already achieved a lot but is still only 24 and the best of him is yet to come.

Sadiq Mohammad

2011-02-22T15:31:00.001+05:00

Being the youngest of Pakistan's most distinguished cricketing family put great pressure on me. Everyone expected me to emulate my brothers. It was pressure day in and day out. But it was an inspiration as well, to be famous like them.

Sadiq Mohammad

One of the earliest coaching camps I attended was when I was only 13, at the National Stadium in Karachi. Such famous cricketers as Nazar Mohammad, Alimuddin and Maqsood Ahmad, all Test cricketers, put us through our paces.

I made my first-class debut in 1960 but had to wait almost 10 years for my first Test cap. In those days Karachi was a star-studded team, with a number of Test cricketers playing for them, so it was difficult to get a place. Players were almost always blooded in home Tests, and there used to be very few Tests in Pakistan in those days. In 1967 I moved to England and didn't appear in Pakistan's domestic cricket for a couple of years.

I have almost 250 first-class wickets. I was considered an allrounder early in my career. I could have been utilised in Tests but there were quite a few legspinners in the Pakistan team: Intikhab [Alam], Mushtaq, Wasim Raja, etc.

I had two seasons for the Northants 2nd XI and also played a number of televised one-day matches for the International Cavaliers against county sides. In 1968, Gloucestershire offered me a contract. Around the same time I had done well in a trial match for Middlesex. The charm of calling Lord's my home ground made me delay getting back to Gloucester and they signed a West Indian. And then Middlesex didn't want me either. So I had to wait further. Gloucestershire offered me a contract again in 1971 and I started appearing for them that year.

The best bowler I faced was Andy Roberts. His finest quality was the ability to make you play every ball.

My debut Test, in Karachi, our hometown, was significant because all three Mohammad brothers were appearing in the match. It was only the second instance of three brothers in the same match in Test cricket. Hanif and I were to open the innings. Our mother asked Hanif to guide me. He directed and encouraged me throughout. I managed to score 69, which turned out to be the highest in the match for either side. But the joy was short-lived. As soon as the Test ended, the president of the cricket board came to Hanif's room and told him his time to quit had arrived. "Sadiq is going to be a suitable replacement." I felt really bad that indirectly I was responsible for my brother's exit.

As a kid I used to be a right-hand batsman. Since my older brothers were right-handers and Pakistan cricket had very few left-handers in those days, my brothers decided to convert me into a left-hand batsman. In the beginning I found it difficult. They even used to tie my right hand when I batted, so that I became accustomed to using the left hand. To encourage me, they also gave me more turns to bat.

I scored four consecutive hundreds for Gloucestershire in 1976.

Before Majid Khan became my opening partner in 1974, I had had about seven or eight different partners in my first 16 Test matches. I developed a good understanding with him and we opened for Pakistan for a long period. I used to be mostly defensive at the start of the innings, while Majid belted the bowling.

The IPL is the same as all other Twenty20 cricket. Players are paid heavily for a slogging competition, where the art and grace of the game is absent.

In 1974-75 I was playing grade cricket in Tasmania when West Indies came to Pakistan for two Tests. The club said they would release me but that I would not be paid for the period of my absence. I telephoned Mr [Abdul Hafeez] Kardar, the president of the Pakistan cricket board, and asked him if the board would compensate me for that loss, and to provide me with a return ticket. He was reluctant and I missed the first Test. A lot was said against me: "Sadiq is a mercenary" and so on, which was definitely not the case. My replacement, Agha Zahid, failed miserably and the board asked me to come for the second Test. This time I only asked them to provide me with a return ticket. They hesitated initially but eventually agreed.

In the second innings of that second Test against West Indies, I was hit on the back of my head while fielding and almost fainted. I had to be carried off the field and I didn't come to bat for Pakistan later that day. A wicket fell early on the last day and we were effectively 3 for 5. I came to bat on strong painkillers but managed to have long, time-consuming stands with the tailenders and we saved the Test. I was left stranded at 98 not out. Overnight the mercenary had become a national hero.

I was the favourite of my mother, as well as of my eldest brother, Wazir.

I was always well versed with the laws of the game, so umpiring attracted me. After officiating in domestic cricket for a few seasons I was called upon to umpire a Pakistan-Sri Lanka ODI in 2000. The non-cricketing umpires didn't like it. They conspired and made false reports about my umpiring in domestic matches. My marks were reduced and so I got fewer domestic matches. I complained, with evidence, and eventually in 2002 I was named for a Test and an ODI against New Zealand. But the tour was called off after an explosion outside the team's hotel in Karachi.

My team-mates at Gloucestershire included world-class players like Mike Procter and Zaheer Abbas. The county experience taught me a lot. Those days you played against some of world's finest cricketers day in and day out, in different conditions.

In the second Test against New Zealand in 1976, Mushtaq and I scored centuries in the same innings. The Mohammads had waited almost a quarter of a century for such a feat. We became only the second pair of brothers after the Chappells to have achieved this.

Viv Richards was my favourite cricketer. He was confidence personified and never let the bowlers dominate. A close second was Zaheer Abbas. He was elegant and graceful, a real treat to watch. Zaheer was a special friend during the Gloucestershire years.

In the third Test against West Indies in 1977, we began the second innings trailing by more than 250 runs. I missed a hook shot off Roberts and got hit in the face, which swelled up like a balloon. The next day was a rest day and the swelling subsided somewhat, but my eyes were still half shut. The third wicket fell shortly after they had taken the new ball. Asif Iqbal was ready to go in but I stopped him. "The opener should face the new ball," I said. Roberts welcomed me with bouncers but I managed to stay in and got 48 runs. More importantly I spent quite some time in the middle, which helped us save the Test.

Self-belief was my best attribute: I am as good as anybody else.

Coaching has always been my love. I have coached various domestic teams, like Karachi, Hyderabad and Multan. In my three years with Hyderabad, an unfashionable side, we were able to defeat quite a few higher-ranked teams. A high point was in 2009-10, when I coached Karachi to win the Quaid-e Azam trophy.

I had a different sort of coaching experience in Malaysia for two years in 1997-98, when I was called upon to train their national team. Only a few players of Indian origin could really play the sport. Most of the other players were not very keen. The team was being trained only because being the host, Malaysia had to participate in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where cricket was included for the first time. Interestingly they were more interested in fielding than batting and bowling. They considered running after the ball or catching it interesting, rather than learning the more technical trades of batting and bowling.

In terms of my personal performance, the 1972-73 season was the most satisfying. In nine Tests in three countries, I scored almost 900 runs at an average of more than 55. That season brought me international recognition.

When I was not selected for the third Test against England in 1977-78, it was the first time a Pakistan side played a Test without a Mohammad brother. The whole family felt very bad. But the selectors were right in dropping me as I was struggling with my form. I had scored only 50 runs in four innings

"I will not get out off his bowling" was my thought whenever I faced my brother Mushtaq, especially on the highly competitive county circuit. I don't think he got me out many times.

I joined Pakistan's United Bank Limited in 1977 and played regularly for them on the domestic circuit till 1985. Then I served in their sports department for a few years before being transferred to corporate banking, where I was mainly involved in public relations, to bring in deposits. In 1997 I was given a golden handshake. Since then it has been the family business.

I had the privilege of participating in the first two World Cups. In the 1970s one-day cricket was in an embryonic stage. Apart from England, who had three domestic competitions, it was still just taking root in other countries. Pakistan were among the favourites in 1975 as well as 1979 but were unlucky both times. In 1975 we were well in control throughout the match against the West Indies, the eventual champions, but their last pair put on more than 60 runs to see them through.

Melbourne has been my favourite cricket ground. I scored centuries in both my Test appearances there. The atmosphere at the MCG has always been electric.

Apart from Shoaib [son of Hanif], no other sons of the Mohammad brothers managed to make it to the international level. Raees Mohammad's son Asif was quite good and stylish. He scored a lot of runs in Pakistan's first-class circuit and also appeared in youth Tests for Pakistan Under-23 and Under-19 sides, but like his father he was unfortunate not to get a Test call. My son Imraan Mohammad played first-class cricket for Cambridge University. He played for Gloucestershire and also two seasons in Pakistan, mostly for Customs. I think if he had shown some patience he would have made it for England or Pakistan. Let us hope Hanif's grandson, Shehzar Mohammad, who made his first-class debut last season, makes it to the highest level.

Twenty20 cricket is a fun game meant for entertainment. Crowds enjoy it. Only a few batsmen in this format play correct and apply the basics. Most adopt a wild approach. Bowlers have got chances to get batsmen out but they have to bowl a good line and length consistently in their four overs. They go for like 35-40 runs in four overs. Unfair to both batsmen and bowlers. No time for either to settle down.

In the 1977 Melbourne Test, the first innings, the great Dennis Lillee was into a menacing spell. Majid and I were being beaten every second ball. I went to Majid and said, "I'm going to upset him". Lillee had a long run-up. He was about to send down the first delivery of a new over when I moved away, saying I had something in my eye. I did it again next ball and asked the umpire to look at it. At the same time I undid my shoelaces. When he ran in the third time, I moved away again, pointing to my shoes. Majid had difficulty controlling his laughter. The crowd joined in and a balloon arrived on the ground. Lillee ran in for the fourth time. I moved away and asked for the balloon to be taken away as it was disturbing me. Lillee's fury knew no bounds and his next four balls were all wayward bouncers. I had succeeded. We put on a century opening partnership. Even the Aussie skipper, Greg Chappell, made a sly remark, indirectly appreciating our "tactical move".

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/502404.html

Duminy's Dream Debut in Test Cricket

2011-02-07T22:15:00.002+05:00

J P Duminy

Very few players have such a sensational entry into test cricket as the South African J.P.Duminy had in the recent test series against Australia. He was playing against the side ranked number one in the world, in their own backyard. South Africa had never won a test series in Australia - and they first toured the country almost one hundred years ago in 1910-11.

Jean-Paul Duminy's Test Debut

The Cape Coloured had his Test chance owing to an injury to the vice captain Ashwell Prince. In the first test, South Africa were chasing a record target of 414 in the fourth innings. Duminy showed remarkable temperament for a debutant and shared a match winning unbroken century stand with AB de Villiers. He was not overshadowed by his senior partner and finished with hitting the match winning boundary completing his half century in the process- a fairytale ending.

Classic Innings in the Second Test and the record ninth wicket partnership

The second test saw an even more astonishing stuff from the newcomer. In response to Australia’s first innings total of 394, the South Africans were tottering at 251 for 8. A big first innings deficit was feared and an Australian comeback in the series couldn’t have been ruled out. The no 10 batsman joining Duminy was D.Steyn who had never scored a test half century. The pair put on 180 runs in what proved to be a series winning stand with Steyn scoring 76. They broke the ninth wicket patrenership record for the historic MCG which had stood since 1925 and even the world record (195) was not far away. Duminy was last out after playing one of the most memorable rear guard innings in test history. He stayed for 448 minutes for his 166. It was a very mature performance from a person playing only his second test and was rarely troubled.

Early Days and ODI Debut

JP as he is sometimes called first came into prominence during the South African under-19 tour of England in 2003. He averaged over 72 for the Western Province in the 2003-04 domestic season and his ODI debut came in the South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2004. Unlike his test debut five years later, his entrance into ODI was not an instant success. Though he appeared in five matches but didn’t do much and mostly batted down the order. It took him three years to command a regular spot in the team.

A stylish left-hander whose cover drives are full of grace while his square cuts are packed with power. He is also a good puller of short balls. Now he has developed the capability to finish off a game with an effective final assault .

An excellent fielder who can be placed anywhere in the arena and has a strong arm. Add to it his ability to bowl accurate off spin and all this makes him a very handy player for the limited overs cricket.

However it was diminutive Duminy's calm, calculated and highly productive batting in his first two tests that has drawn attention of all and sundry.

Already expectations are soaring. Is he going to be the next great batsman after the Laras, Tendulkars and Pontings of this world?

Bill Frindall was the Doyen of Cricket Scorers

2011-02-07T22:07:00.002+05:00

Bill Frindall

Bill Frindall scored in 377 test matches for BBC in a period over 30 years and came to be known as an authority on cricket scoring. He also authored and edited cricket record books.

TMS, Bearded Wonder and Frindall System

Frindall studied architecture at the Kingston school of Art and served in RAF for 6 years. He also played the game not only in his youth but even afterwards he was seen delivering fast stuff especially in charity games. His love affair with cricket scoring had started when he was still at school. He started scoring for BBC's Test Match Special in 1966 after the death of Arthur Wrigley the year before. Like his predecessor, Frindall also continued scoring for TMS till his death. He was nicknamed the "Bearded Wonder" by his former colleague Brian Johnston.

He changed the linear scoring system introduced by Australian scorer Bill Ferguson into a version which is known as the Frindall system.

Frindall was fanatical about his work and was a man of strong convictions. He always staunchly defended his beliefs about cricket statistics. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians wanted to revise the status of many 19th century and pre-war matches, which would have altered the records and statistics. Frindall was one of those who vehemently objected to this "rewriting of history". Hence some ACS statistics differ from those of Wisden, which is considered as the standard.
Similarly when the International Cricket Council awarded Test and ODI (One day International) status to the matches played for the Tsunami benefit as well as the ICC Super Series between Australia and a Rest of the World team, Frindall, along with many other statisticians and historians didn't agree. As a result, 'Playfair' (edited by Frindall) plus other publications to which he supplied statistics do not accord the official Test or ODI status to these matches.

Bearders - My Life in Cricket & Other Publications

His autobiography Bearders - My Life in Cricket appeared in 2006. He wrote many books on cricket records and statistics. These included Guiness Book of Cricket Facts & Facts, four editions of Wisden Book of Cricket Records and Wisden Book of Test Cricket. In addition, he edited Playfair Cricket Annual since 1986 and the Cricket Records section of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack.

MBE, Doctor of Technology and Beard of the Year

Bill Frindall received MBE for his services to cricket in 2004. The Staffordshire University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Technology for his contribution to statistics. His beard was declared Beard of the Year by the Beard Liberation Front.

Gold Standard of Cricket Statisticians
Bill Frindall's death shocked the cricket world and he received many tributes.
International Cricket Council President David Morgan said, “Bill was the gold standard of cricket statisticians, someone universally recognised within the game as a master of his art, and a prolific author.”

The BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew remarked, "He brought scoring alive. He had this incredible scoring system that made every ball an event. If you referred back to something that had happened earlier in the day, he would know exactly which delivery you would be talking about."

Peter Moores Comes to Lancashire

2011-02-07T21:54:00.002+05:00

Peter Moores

Peter Moores had a reasonable record in county cricket as a player. However it was in the field of coaching that he really distinguished himself.

Playing Career (Mainly with Sussex)

Moores had a long and reasonably successful first class career (1982-98). The wicket keeper/batsman made his first class debut for Worcestershire. Not getting many playing opportunities, he moved to Sussex in 1985 where he earned his cap four years later. He served Sussex well and made over 500 dismissals. With the bat he scored over 7,000 runs averaging almost 25. Moore also had a one season stint in the South African domestic cricket in 1988-89 for Orange Free State.

Coaching Sussex Moores assumed Sussex's captaincy in 1997 after some turbulence at the club. The next season his role changed again as he became player-coach. His natural flair for coaching was evident from the very beginning and midway through the season he retired as a player to concentrate solely on coaching.

It was in the role of a coach that Moores achieved great successes. In 2001, he guided Sussex to win the second division. And within two seasons Moores' coached Sussex claimed the biggest prize of them all, the County Championship itself, in 2003, remarkably for the first time ever in the club's history of 164 years.

Coaching at the National Level ECB had already taken cognizance of Moores's exceptional skills. He was the coach of England A on their tour of 2000-01. Then in 2005 he became the director of the ECB's academy replacing the legendary Australian Rodney Marsh, also a wicket keeper. The next step was the biggest one as Moores succeeded Duncan Fletcher as the coach of the England team in April 2007.At the international stage Moores didn't live up to the expectations. England lost their first ever home test series in six years, in 2007, against India and they again lost to South Africa last summer. Away from home, England did win test series against New Zealand and West Indies who are ranked below them. However, against higher ranked Sri Lanka and India they came off second best.

On the one day front, home series victories against India and South Africa as well as away success in Sri Lanka were impressive. That was also badly tarnished when England had their worst ever (5-0) drubbing in India a few months back.

Moore's Conflict with Pietersen and Sacking After the disappointing tour of India, the sword of Damocles was hanging over his head. The inevitable was hastened by his much publicised dispute with the England captain, Kevin Pietersen. The two had different opinions over many issues including team's training methods and also about the selection of the former captain Michael Vaughan for England's Jan-April 2009 tour of West Indies. Pietersen had reportedly even asked the ECB to call an emergency meeting to discuss Moores role as the coach of the team.

So it was no surprise when on the 7th of January, ECB sacked Moores from the position of England's coach. It was immediately followed by somewhat unexpected resignation of Pietersen himself as the captain of England.

Lancashire Is Moore's Boyhood Love Having been shown the door by the ECB, Moores was immediately invited to take the position of head coach at county side Lancashire. And he was more than happy to welcome the opportunity as Lancashire is the team he grew up supporting.
The Red Rose county supporters certainly expect that Moores brings similar successes that he brought for Sussex.

Noko Matlou: African Woman Player of the Year

2011-02-07T21:36:00.002+05:00

Noko Matlou

On the 10th of February, at the annual award ceremony of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Noko Matlou became the first South African player to be named the CAF Female Player of the Year.

Matlou, the Joint Top Scorer at the African Women's Cup 2008

Matlou was only the third South African ever to be nominated after the current team mate Portia Modise and the former captain Desiree Ellis. The other two shortlisted candidates were Equatorial New Guinea's Genovava Anonma and Cameroon's Ngo Ndoumbouk.
In the 2008 African Women's Championship, Banyana Banyana were runner up. They lost to the hosts Equatorial Guinea 1-2 in the final with Matlou scoring their goal. Earlier she had netted the hat-trick in South Africa's 3-0 drubbing of Cameroon in the semi final which earned them their first ever African Cup final. She was also the joint top scorer of the tournament with six goals thus sharing the Golden Boot Award. For the Player of the Tournament award, Matlou was runner up to Anonma of the winning team.

Matlou Also Devastating at the COSAFA Women's Championship

Earlier in May, 2008, Matlou's extraordinary scoring skills had helped Besetsana, the under 20 national squad winning the COSAFA Women's Championship. Interestingly , the 23 year old Matlou was the only over 20 player in the team as the South African soccer authorities preferred to give exposure to the junior squad in the tournament.
And the gamble of the South African Football Association paid off with Matlou stealing the show. She scored a hat trick in the final as South Africa beat the hosts Angola 3-0 in the final. She was,moreover, easily the tournament's overall top goal getter with 12 in only five games. Thrice, she was declared the Player of the Match. By winning the regional tournament for the third successive time, South Africa earned the right to hold the trophy for the keeps.

SAFA's Role
Matlou's individual achievements and their contribution towards South Africa's successes owe a lot to the South African Football Association (SAFA). The association's comprehensive plan to develop female soccer saw women's team training camps set up in Germany and Holland. In addition, they were provided quality competition against the strong European nations apart from the African national teams.

Noko Matlou: A Male?

Yes, Matlou's short hair and boyish looks once kicked up a controversy. On the eve of an Olympic qualifier against Ghana in Pretoria, the visitors questioned her gender. The referee came to the South African dressing room and then went to the Ghanian team to assure them that the hosts are not fielding any male player.

Taylor: The Latest Caribbean Pace Sensation

2011-02-07T21:24:00.005+05:00

Jamaican Jerome Taylor Revives Memories of the West Indian Greats
Though not a world beater side for quite a long time, still the Windies have been producing world class batsmen throughout. Same can't be said about their bowlers but Jerome Taylor's has given performances reminiscent of those speed kings of the past.

International Debut After Just One Match for Jamaica
Jerome Taylor made his international debut after just one match for Jamaica in 2003 in an ODI against Sri Lanka and the same season he also made his test debut against the same opposition. He was also declared the most promising fast bowler of the Carib beer Cup, the West Indies domestic first class tournament. However, he remained out of international cricket in 2004 and 2005. A back injury sidelined him for some time but he had an outstanding domestic 2004-5 season when he grabbed 26 wickets at 16.61 in the Carib Beer Cup.

International Comeback and the Leicestershire Stint
2006 saw his return to the international arena. By the end of the test series against India that year, Taylor had established himself in the West Indies team. In the last test of that series, on his home turf of Kingston, Taylor produced a truly world class performance. Making the ball lift off good length, he grabbed nine wickets in the match.

That year saw him becoming a permanent fixture in the West Indian ODI squad as well. Taylor was the top West Indian wicket taker in the DLF Cup in Malaysia. Then he had an outstanding Champions Trophy. In the biennial tournament, ranked second only after the World Cup, his haul of 13 wickets was more than any other bowler. He was instrumental in the West Indian march to the final where they lost to Australia. In the group match against the same opposition, Jerome Taylor had already attained an immortal status in the annals of the West Indian cricket history. In Australia's only defeat of the tournament, he achieved the first ever ODI hat trick for the West Indies.

Later that year, he was the best bowler for his team in the three test series against Pakistan.

In 2007, Taylor had a taste of the English county cricket when he joined Leicestershire for the end of the season as a replacement overseas player.

Consistent in 2008
Taylor's performance was fairly consistent in 2008. He was the best Caribbean bowler in the test series against Sri Lanka and also in the two tests which he played against the world's No1 ranked side, Australia. With a first class batting average of less than 14, he can't be classed as an all rounder. But in the test against New Zealand in December, 2008, Taylor surprised every one including himself when he scored 106. Interestingly, he hadn't scored even a first class fifty prior to that.

5-11 Against England in 2009 and Sixth In the ICC Player Rankings

His very first test in 2009, against England at his home ground saw Taylor's finest perfromance till to date. In front of his home crowd at Sabina Park, the 24-year-old Jamaican had match-winning figures of 29-8-85-8, including a lethal spell of 5-11 in the second innings which saw England dismissed for 51.This effort catapulted him up 11 places to sixth spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. This was not only his best ever rating but also the highest ever for a West Indies Test bowler since the retirement of Courtney Walsh in 2001.

Jerome Taylor enjoys the best average among the current West Indian bowlers both in tests as well as ODIs.

He might not achieve the heights achieved by the legendary West Indian pacemen of the past but he already has had some extraordinary feats.

Regional Hockey League

2011-02-02T15:19:00.002+05:00

(My report of Khalsa Hockey Club’s first game of 2008-9 as published in Leamington Courier on 26/9/08)

Hayer’s hat-trick gets promoted Khalsa off to fine Midlands Premier start

Khalsa: 4 Northampton Saints: 2

Promoted Khalsa got their Midlands Premier Division campaign off to a flying start at St Nicholas’ Park on Saturday against the side that came up with them.

The hosts, Midlands One Champions last term and Warwick District Sports Awards team of the year winners, were three goals up at the break and only conceded in the closing stages. Mickey Hayer, last season’s top scorer, opened the account with a hat-trick.

Hayer scored his side’s first goal, converting a penalty stroke after set-piece specialist Aaron Nagra saw his penalty corner hit a defender’s body.

The unmarked Hayer doubled the lead on 15 minutes after good work by skipper Jay Nagra and Guri Ghuttara, beating the goalkeeper with a diving lunge.

Northampton had their chances, but a combination of solid defending and weak finishing kept them out. Neither did they have much joy in midfield, where the dominant Jay Nagra skilfully set up Hayer for Khalsa’s third goal before the break.

If Northampton had any ideas getting back into the game they were dispelled within four minutes as Ghuttara collected a fine Davinder pass and beat the keeper. He might have had another almost at once, but his excellent reverse diving strike was stopped.

Saints never gave up, prompting Khalsa to slow the game down. They re-jigged things, giving youngster Savhan Lall his first taste of Midlands Premier hockey.

The hosts started to wind down in the closing stages and were twice caught out by Ben Scott goals, the second from the penalty stroke right at the end.

Late slips aside, this was an encouraging performance from a side whose ultimate ambition remains National League hockey.

Pakistan artistry helps fuel football success

2011-02-02T14:56:00.001+05:00

I read about the interest of Jurgen Klinsmann, the coach of German National Soccer Team, in hiring services of German national hockey coach and my following feature grew out of it. I had read a passing mention about it somewhere. For details, I contacted Abdul Waheed Khan in Pakistan.

While speculation earlier this year linked German hockey coach Bernhard Peters to a post in football, the connection between the sports dates back almost 20 years when Argentina’s football manager Cesar Luis Menotti became intrigued by Pakistan’s sublime technical skills.

Sheffield based writer Ijaz Chaudhry takes up the story.

The year was 1978 and the place Argentina. That year, Argentina was host to two World Cup: Hockey in March/April and soccer in June.

Throughout the Hockey World Cup, a wonderful Pakistan team managed by Abdul Waheed Khan displayed a breathtaking attacking game which captivated crowds and connoisseurs alike.

During their victorious campaign, the green shirts created several records:

   1. The first team to capture the World Cup without losing (or even drawing) a single match
   2. Pakistan’s goal difference of 31 goals (35 for and four against) remains a World Cup record
   3. Their total of 35 goals was also a new high for a single edition of the World Cup (only to be bettered by Pakistan itself in the next World Cup).

Records aside, it was the style and manner in which they pulverised all defences that endeared them to all.

According to their manager, Waheed Khan, Pakistan’s attacking strategy was based upon the concept of double attack - if a move from the right side failed then they made all the possible efforts to immediately initiate a move from the left side on the assumption that most of the opponents’ defence had become concentrated on the right side, and vice versa.

Midway through the Hockey World Cup, on a rest day, Waheed Khan was informed that the manager of the Argentine soccer team, Menotti, had arrived on his personal plane to see him. The Argentine chain-smoking coach always favoured a stylish, attacking game based on skill and technique.

Menotti wanted to discuss in detail with Waheed, the tactics to penetrate packed defences. He watched a training session of Pakistan team with Waheed. He (Waheed) explained to Menotti his strategy of ‘double attack’ as well as the ‘use of wingers’ whenever it becomes difficult to override the opposition through the middle.

“I explained to him how it all worked in practice. He noted a few points and then left the ground. “The rest is history.” said Waheed.

Argentina went on to win the Soccer World Cup for the first time.

And Menotti sent Waheed a telegram acknowledging that the Pakistan hockey team’s ploys had come in very handy to him.

April 2006 Issue of Online Magazine of FIH (International Hockey Federation)

A bowling performance

2011-02-02T09:54:00.001+05:00

Pakistan won its first ever Test in Australia in Sydney in 1976-77. With this victory, Pakistan managed to draw the three Test series 1-1. The main architect of Pakistan’s victory was their fast bowler, Imran Khan, who took 12 wickets in the match.

But there is something more to Imran’s heroic bowling performance in that game.

Until then, the general impression was that Pakistan could not produce a genuine fast bowler. Pakistani new ball bowlers were fast-medium or medium fast. Fazal Mahmood did produce match winning performances in 1950s but apart from his 12 wickets against England in 1954 the rest were achieved on matting wickets. Then he was never a genuine fast bowler, medium-fast and occasionally fast-medium. His 12 wickets against England were taken in a very low scoring game in which the highest team total in the four innings was 164. All the main bowlers of England also had their moments at least in one innings.

On the other hand, Imran in 1976 outshone all the other bowlers including Australia’s legendary Dennis Lillee who had taken ten wickets in the previous test where Aussies pulverized Pakistan.

This Test victory helped Pakistan drew the series thus becoming the first country other than England and South Africa to draw a Test series in Australia.

Australia was the supreme Test nation at that time. They had demolished a formidable West Indian side 5-1 the previous season. And the Windies’ side included in Andy Roberts and Michael Holding two of the greatest fast bowlers in the history of the game.

Apart from Fazal Mahmood, some other fast mediums like Khan Mohammad and Sarfraz Nawaz, a contemporary of Imran Khan, had served Pakistan well but neither of them was a genuine fast bowler nor had won a Test match single handedly in the way Imran did.

Imran’s performance at Sydney in 1976-77 dispelled the impression that people from sub-continent can not be genuine fast bowlers. Up until then Pakistan had mostly flopped on foreign tours. Their only Test series victory away form home was 1-0 win in New Zealand in 1972-3. At home, they prepared slow wickets resulting in an astonishing number of drawn matches.

Imran’s Sydney show had a multi-dimensional effect on Pakistan cricket which has lasted years. More and more youngsters started taking to fast bowling seriously. The cautious approach of the administration also changed. They started preparing fast pitches at home.

Two seasons later, Imran was the third fastest in a competition in Australia which tested a number of well-known fast bowlers of the time for speed. This augmented the impetus.

Within a few years came the emergence of Wasim Akram, arguably the most talented fast bowler in the history of the game. Then Pakistan started producing genuine and world class fast bowlers most regularly: Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and now Mohammad Asif.

While a few others such as Mohammad Zahid, and Mohammad Akram shone for brief periods. Imran’s performance was the spark that lit the generations of Pakistan quicks. Pakistan started winning abroad and victories at home also started coming via pace men.

It all changed after that Sydney Test of 1977 which made millions of people all over Pakistan wake up early in small hours of cold January mornings to listen to the radio commentary.

http://www.cricketworld.com/media_ce...cle/?aid=15378

Ingemar Johansson - Ingo - The Hammer of Thor

2011-01-30T22:12:00.003+05:00

Johansson shocked the world when he knocked out Floyd Patterson for the heavy weight crown in 1959. He lost his next two bouts against him but those were his only two losses. A colourful character, who acted in movies, was a successful businessman and his best friend after retirement was his old adversary, Patterson.

Early Career and 1952 Olympics

His father was a construction worker in Gothenberg. He joined a boxing club at the age of 13, had his amateur debut at 16 and as the Swedish amateur heavy weight champion, the 19 year old "Ingo" as he came to be known in Sweden, entered the 1952 Olympics. He made into the final but was disqualified after the second of the three rounds for lack of effort. Johansson's stance was that he was tiring down his opponent as advised by his coach. It was in 1982, that the International Olympic Committee presented him with his silver medal.

Professional Career and World Heavy Weight Champion

A disappointed Johansson turned professional. In 1956, he won the European Heavyweight crown by a 13 round KO over the reigning champion, Franco Cavicchi of Italy.

Johansson got a shot at world title against the champion Floyd Patterson in 1959 at the New York's Yankee stadium. His training base was the Catskill resort in Grossinger. He surprised many by not following a strict training regimen expected before the most important fight of his life. Johansson was often spotted at night clubs with beautiful damsels.

So it was no surprise when he entered the ring as a 5-1 underdog. In the third round, Johansson's powerful right hand punch knocked Patterson down. The champion stood up only to be sent down again six times before referee stopped the contest.

The two had a rematch in June 1960. This time Patterson knocked him out in the 5th round to become the first person ever to regain the world heavy weight title. They had another rematch the next year. Not in the best shape, the Swede fought well but went down in the sixth round.

Johansson remained active on the professional circuit until 1963. He reclaimed the European title in 1962. There was chance for a title fight against the new world champion Sonny Liston. However, Johansson was going downhill. He managed to win his last professional bout, a non-title fight against the journeyman Brian London but wisely decided to quit.

Apart from his two defeats against Patterson, he won all the other 24 bouts.

Post Retirement

After hanging the boxing goves, Johansson became a successful businessman. He lived in Florida for many years before returning to Sweden late in life. He acted in several films in Sweden and also in a Hollywood movie "All the Young Men". He sang with Dinah Shore on television and made a hit record in Sweden.

His best friend was his former adversary in the ring, Floyd Patterson and they spent a lot of time together. During the 1990s, the pair attended many boxing conventions around the world where they also used to sign boxing memorabilia.

International Boxing Hall of Fame, 100 Greatest Punchers & Other Achievements

- In 2002, Johansson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of fame

- In 2003, the Ring Magazine named Johansson in the list of 100 greatest punchers of all time

-The Swedish Sport Academy named Johansson the country's third best sportsman of the last century after the tennis legend Bjorn Borg and skier Ingemar Stenmark

- He was the first European to win the world heavy weight title in 25 years and it was after another 25 years that world saw a non-American, South Africa's Gerrie Coetzee, winning the crown.

The Changing Face of Asian Hockey - Beware the New Breed

2011-01-30T21:29:00.002+05:00

The results of Asian games hockey have often been very vital vis-à-vis global hockey scenario. In fact, a new order at Asian level has almost always preceded a major change in the established order at the world level. This has been so from the very beginning.

The first Asian games were staged in 1951 followed by the next in 1954. However hockey became an integral part of Asiad from the third edition (1958).

Till before 1956, the international hockey scene had been completely dominated by India. India (rather British India!) made its first appearance in Olympics in 1928. They won all the three Olympics golds before the Hitler war (1928, 32 & 36) virtually without any resistance.

India gained independence in1947. At the same time Pakistan emerged as a separate country. Hockey followers looked with keen interest whether separation of Pakistan would affect India’s hockey fortunes or not. More so as part of India which became Pakistan had been a major source of quality players to India. Though some of them migrated to India but at the same time many crossed the border in the opposite direction as well. People, especially in Pakistan, even anticipated an India/Pakistan final in the next Olympics. But the results of both 48 and 52 Olympics dismissed any such apprehensions/expectations. What to talk of playing the final, Pakistan could not even climb the podium, finishing fourth on both the occasions. It seemed that the old world order would continue.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, there was a national outcry over the dismal results. Government ordered an inquiry. As per the findings of this inquiry, the whole structure of Pakistan hockey was changed ranging from grass root level competitions to selection and training of the national team. Come 1956 Olympics, Pakistan managed to reach the final against India. Though Pakistan lost by the narrowest of the margins still India won the Olympic gold for the sixth successive time.

It was at the Asian games of 1958 that India faltered for the first time ever. With five teams competing, the inaugural Asian games hockey tournament was played as a single league. India and Pakistan locked horns in the last game. The match ended 0-0. However Pakistan won the gold on the basis of better goal average. It was the first time ever that India failed to win an international tournament in its hockey history dating back to 1928.

Was it just an aberration or a new world order had really arrived? After all India had still not lost a single international match. Pakistan’s victory over India in the final of 1960 Olympic confirmed that their Asiad win was no fluke. Further confirmation came in the very next edition of Asian games when Pakistan once again prevailed upon India to win the gold.

India regained the Olympic gold in 1964, immediately followed by their winning of Asiad gold for the first time in 1966; yet another evidence of link between a team’s fortunes at the Asian level with those at the global stage.

Then onwards, Pakistan reigned supreme at Asian theatre winning four consecutive golds (1970-1982). In addition, Pakistan also lifted the initial two editions of Asia Cup in 1982 and 1985. At global level also, Pakistan was easily the most successful team from 1968-85. They won three of the first five World Cups, and two golds, one silver and one bronze from four appearances at Olympics (having boycotted the 1980 Olympics).

When Pakistan went to1986 Asian games, they were the holder of all the global and continental titles: the World Cup, Olympics, Asian games and the Asia Cup. Pakistan’s dwindling fortunes were very much evident in the early games. The green shirts lost to Malaysia for the first time ever. Resultantly, Pakistan met India in the semifinal. They managed to overcome India. In the final, they met the hosts South Korea. It was the first time ever that a team other than Pakistan or India had qualified for the Asiad final. So the scene was set for a duel between the two sides, one holding all the global and continental titles and the other which had never even qualified for either Olympics or World Cup. Almost every one anticipated a cakewalk win for Pakistan. But what actually surfaced was simply unbelievable. Koreans came from behind to beat Pakistan 2-1 and thus won the Asiad gold. This was one of the most shocking results in the history of hockey; David overcoming Goliath.

What followed over the next couple of weeks was even more incredulous. A very demoralised Pakistani side flew to London from Seoul for the sixth world cup. They had the most impeccable record in the World Cup history and moreover had won the last two editions without losing or drawing even a single match. How did they perform in London? They played for the wooden spoon! Yes, Pakistan met India (itself the winner of the 1975 World Cup) in the 11th/12th position game—which Pakistan won. And the nightmare of Asiad defeat against Korea definitely contributed to this abysmal performance.

Pakistan’s poor performance continued for some time as they failed to reach the semis of 1988 Olympics as well. They made a recovery by winning silver in the 1990 World Cup, bronze in the 1992 Olympics and eventually regained the World Cup itself in 1994. For good measure they regained the Asiad gold as well in 1990. Meanwhile the ‘Korea bug’ returned to hit Pakistan again at the Asian stage and in no small terms. South Korea beat Pakistan in the semifinals of Asian games of 1994 and 1998 as well as in the semi final of 1993 Asia Cup and final of 1999 Asia cup. In fact, Pakistan has failed to win either Asiad or Asia Cup in last seven attempts since 1990. And Pakistan’s fortunes at global level have also run a parallel course. Since 1994, they have not been able to mount victory stand at either Olympics or the World Cup.

Though India did shine at the continental stage occasionally, winning Asiad gold in 1998 and Asia cup in 2003, but South Korea has easily been the most successful side at Asian stage in last decade and a half. The East Asians have won as many as five titles (three Asiad gold and two Asia cups) from 1993 to date. And they have also achieved the best results for an Asian nation at the global stage since 1994: Olympics (silver in 2000) World Cup (4th place in 2006).

The recent Asian games of December 2006 saw Korea joined by yet another East Asian sporting superpower, at hockey front. The world’s most populous nation, China inflicted further humiliation to the erstwhile hockey superpowers, Pakistan and India. China’s first ever wins over both of them meant that for the first time any hockey final at Asian level was played without Pakistan or India. Though China went down to Koreans in the final but they have arrived at the scene of men’s world hockey. In fact, China’s emergence should be taken more seriously than that of Korea, two decades back. Korea with its male hockey population of a few hundred has achieved amazing results especially at Asian level. With its largest reserve of manpower and a declared ambition of surpassing America as planet’s supreme sporting power, China is expected to leave no stone unturned to carry the Asian success to global platform. Their female counterparts have already done so.

The shifting of power at the Asian hockey stage has another perspective. When Pakistan took over the mantle from India, it signified almost nothing in terms of style of play and strategy. After all, Pakistan was carved out of India itself. They exhibited the same style both collectively as well as individually.

On the contrary, the ascendancy of Korea and now possibly that of China signifies more in this aspect. It may be regarded as the victory of system over natural flair; the success of patterns over individual skills. The difference starts right from the selection of players. A Korean coach once told that the foremost prerequisite for considering a player for national squad was his ability to run 100 metres under 13 seconds. Likewise, China’s success at 2006 Asiad had much to do not only with their planned drills but also the deep analysis of opponent’s drills. Chinese converted all the four penalty corners that came their way in the two games against the two South Asian powers. At the same time they did not let them score a single goal off the same. India earned more than half a dozen penalty corners while in case of Pakistan, the count was as many as 10.

Hence the name of the modern day game is supreme physical fitness, drills and predetermined patterns as well as extensive employment of technology especially in terms of video analysis.

This article was published in March 2007 issue of PUSH, the only independent hockey magazine in UK.

Wee Wern Low - Squash

2011-01-28T21:42:00.001+05:00

Wee Wern Low

It was her last appearance and her third final. She had lost at Under 17 in 2007 and Under 15 in 2005. After winning the Girls U 19 final, Wee Wern Low remarked, “I’m feeling a bit of excitement at winning and a bit of relief that I’ve won, at last.”
It had been quite a year for the Malaysian girl.
In January 2008, she regained the Asian Junior title and became a full time professional; by the end of the year she had attained a world ranking of 42.
“Winning the 2008 Asian Junior title was very satisfying. However, my best moment in squash has come now; finally winning a BJO title. I also like the atmosphere here, though my favourite squash venue is Manchester.

I finished my school in November 2007 and now I am fully devoted to the sport and want to make a career out of it”.
She is lucky to have had excellent support right from childhood.
“My dad used to play tennis socially at a local club and I used to accompany him. He wanted me to take sport and I took a liking to squash at the age of eight.

Within a year, people started noticing my talent and I started competing in age group competitions.”
Wee is also grateful for the patronage extended by the Malaysian National Sports Council and the Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia, which take care of her travel expenses. Tecnifibre provides her with the rackets and bags while she gets shoes from Hi-Tec.
“All this enables me to fully concentrate on squash all the time: training, playing and travelling.”
Does she miss out on the normal teenage pleasure?
“I can’t deny that due to my squash commitments, I lead a life different from most young people. At the same time I enjoy visiting new places and the media attention I get.”
So, at least one squash player seems to be satisfied with the coverage of the game.
“In Malaysia our game gets good attention in the media. For this we all are grateful to Nicol David, as her magnificent achievements have made squash a high-profile sport in our country.”
Needless to say, any exciting female prospect in Malaysian squash is bound to be looked at as the next Nicol David. Therefore the expectations of Wee’s compatriots must be high.
“I don’t take it as a pressure; rather it provides extra motivation. More so since Nicol is a fellow Penangite and I train with her whenever she is in Penang. As you know she spends a lot of time in Amsterdam, and I also go there to practice with her.”
Wee’s successes have in turn inspired her little sister, Wee Nee Low, who is already hitting headlines. She is Malaysia’s U 17 champion and reached the quarter-finals at the BJO 2009.
With such a line-up of emerging talent, Malaysia looks set to continue its domination of women’s squash for the foreseeable future.
Published in the 2009 issue 2 of ‘Squash Player’ (the official magazine of World Squash Federation)

Shankar Laxman - Hockey

2011-01-28T21:20:00.001+05:00

Shankar Laxman

Arguably India’s best ever goal keeper, Shankar Laxman, died at the end of April. Playing in an era dominated by India and Pakistan, he boasted a proud record which included playing in four Olympic and Asian Games finals against his country’s traditional rivals without conceding a goal.

Shankar Laxman represented his country for more than a decade (1956-67), playing in three Olympics and three Asian Games, the only two title tournaments of that era.

Born in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh and a soldier by profession, Laxman’s rise was meteoric. His maiden national championship was in 1955 and his outstanding display under the bar instantly attracted the attention of the national selectors.

The next year he was at the Melbourne Olympic Games. The senior goalkeeper in that squad was Francis and while he guarded the Indian goal in most of the games, Laxman was preferred in the final.

The youngster helped India win the gold by keeping a clean sheet against a fine and hungry Pakistan side yearning for its first Olympic title. From that day, Laxman was India’s number one custodian.

The next test was the 1958 Asian Games where hockey was included for the first time. Played as a single league format, Pakistan won the gold on goal average although Laxman kept them scoreless in their encounter against India.

But India subsequently lost their Olympic crown in 1960. Pakistan retained the Asian Games title in 1962. While Laxman was labeled one of the scapegoats in the final, the absence of influential centre half Charanjit due to injury in 10th minute was the main factor in India’s defeat. With the prevailing rules, India had to play the rest of the match with 10 men.

All this lit the fire in Laxman. At the 1964 Olympics he had something to prove.

For the third successive time, it was an Indo-Pak final. Pakistan determined to show that their victory four years previous was no fluke and for India that it was only an aberration. It turned out to be a classic encounter. The first half ended goal-less.

Within five minutes of restart, India took the lead. This further intensified the battle. With time running out, the Pakistanis became desperate. They attacked with vengeance. Their forwards created numerous chances and earned many penalty corners. But that day, Laxman had the game of his life.

Without the protective gear of today, Laxman blunted all the attempts.

Pakistan had a penalty corner in the last minute which was taken by Muneer Dar, the most fearful striker of his day. Laxman stopped it on his chest which was followed by three attempts on the rebound. India regained the lost gold and Laxman was easily the man of the match.

He was destined for even more glory. The diminutive man created history as he became the first goalkeeper ever to lead India – at the 1966 Asian Games.

As anticipated, in the final India met Pakistan (who were incidentally led by his great foe Muneer Dar). It was a keenly contested game with attacking play from both the sides.

As always, Laxman guarded his citadel as if his life depended on it and produced many excellent saves. Once again India’s solitary goal enabled them to win the Asian gold for the first time.

Laxman appeared in six finals against Pakistan (three Olympics and three Asian Games). And in four of those matches, against the side which possessed the most dangerous forward line of that era coupled with penalty corner experts, he did not concede a single goal.

Most of his team mates as well as connoisseurs regarded Laxman’s contribution as the most important factor in India’s success in the final of 1964 Olympics as well as that of the 1966 Asian Games.

He was technically superb. As one Indian hockey official remarked “He had a real hockey brain. He would know where the ball was going before it was even hit.”

Legendary Dhyan Chand in his autobiography termed courage as the most important of all the attributes of a successful goalkeeper. In those days of unprotected goalies, Laxman was indeed courage personified.

So it was fitting that after his death, Laxman, the retired honorary captain, was cremated with full military honours.

June, 2006 issue of the official online magazine of F.I.H. (International Hockey Federation).

Azam Khan - Squash

2011-01-28T18:53:00.005+05:00

My interview with Azam Khan Published in two parts in ‘Squash Player’ (the official magazine of World Squash Federation), March/April 20008 Issue and May/June 2008 Issue

Azam Khan

Winning the British Open four times in succession is no mean feat, yet Azam Khan, who achieved just that between 1959 and 1962, has not been given due recognition by Sports Historians. There is a reason for this. His victories came at a time when the British Open was already Pakistan’s domain. His elder brother, Hashim Khan, had won the title as many as seven times before him, so only those with comparable achievements are mentioned in the same breath: Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan, Geoff Hunt and Jonah Barrington. Nevertheless, some people are of the view that Azam Khan was the greatest of them all – and there are reasons for this too.

Now 81 years of age and settled in England since 1956, Azam Khan owns and runs the New Grampians Squash Club in London. Osteoarthritis in one knee forced him to stop playing squash a few years ago but he still spends a couple of hours every morning at his club doing exercises, including cycling.

I asked him to tell me about his journey in squash from the beginning. How was he lured into the game?

“I was a tennis coach at the Officers’ Club of Pakistan Air Force. My elder (and only) brother, Hashim, who had won the last two British Opens, told me to switch to squash. I was 26 at the time and had never played the game.”

Yet within two years of Hashim’s bidding, Azam was ready to take on the best in the world.

“The Air Force raised the funds for a trip to Britain through exhibition matches in various bases. My first competition there was the British Professional Championship, where I defeated the British no.1 in the semis and lost to my brother in the final. Despite this, the Squash Rackets Association [now England Squash] was reluctant to allow me to enter the British Open of 1953.

“I was pushed into a ‘trial’ match against the British No.1, which I won easily. Even then I was not given a seeding and I had to face the No.2 seed in the first match. I dispatched him in three straight games and progressed to the semi-final, only to lose again to my elder brother.”

But Azam Khan had arrived on the world squash scene, and the very next year he reached the final of the British Open for the first time, losing to ... who else but Hashim. And the 1955 final was a replica of the previous year’s.

“At this point, British newspapers started running headlines such as ‘Family Affair’. So in next two Opens we were kept in the same half of the draw and came face to face in the semi-finals.”

According to Azam, Nusrullah Khan, who was holding office at the SRA, played an important part in this arrangement. “Thus Nusrullah helped his brother Roshan to progress to the final of both the 1956 and the 1957 Opens, where he faced Hashim. A ‘just draw’ was restored in 1958 and Hashim beat me again in the final.”

But the following year, the ‘crown prince’ took over. In 1959, Azam won the coveted title for the first time, beating his nephew Mohibullah in the final in straight games. He went on to win the title four times in succession.

“The most memorable of those four triumphs was that of 1960. I trounced Roshan Khan [a distant relative] 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 in the final. It’s still the shortest final in the history of the tournament, lasting just 19 minutes.”

This had other repercussions. The paying public felt short-changed, so the organisers decided to introduce a play-off for third position for losing semi-finalists before the final.

Azam was at the peak of his powers when he last appeared on the professional circuit in 1962. That year, he had won not only the British Open and British Professional titles but also the most important hardball tournament, the US Open, for the first time. Azam then had to retire from competitive squash due to an Achilles tendon injury. The injury healed in 18 months but he never returned to the circuit.

“Yes, the Achilles healed but another wound never healed. I completely lost interest when my 14-year-old son died in 1962. Thereafter my squash activities were confined to my club.”

There was a brief interlude – and it was in the land of his birth. “I was on a private visit to Pakistan in late 1963 when the Pakistan Squash Federation [PSF] invited me to play in the National Championships. On their insistence, I reluctantly agreed. I had remained crippled by the injury to my foot for about a year and a half and not only was completely out of practice but also found it painful to play. Moreover, I hadn’t played on cement courts for several years. I still managed to win the final, overcoming Roshan Khan, who was ranked in the world’s top three at the time. A few days later, I also won the Pakistan Open, again defeating Roshan in the final.”

“I settled in England in 1956. Since then, I’ve been to Pakistan off and on. My last visit was in 2000, when I was invited to a function organised by the PSF to honour Jahangir Khan.”

Why did he leave Pakistan?

“Although I was a coach in the Pakistan Air Force, I’d been employed as a porter, with a monthly salary of 60 rupees (equivalent to five British pence at the current exchange rate). In 1953, when I reached the semi-final of the British Open on my maiden appearance, I was promoted to ‘electrician’ and my salary rose to 100 rupees per month. But the following year, when I finished runner-up, far from being promoted I was demoted back to the level of porter. The reason given was that the post of electrician no longer existed.

“As I said, the Air Force only provided us with a return ticket; during my stay abroad, I had to take care of my own board and lodging. And unlike these days, there were very few tournaments which offered prize money. Principal among them were British Open, the British Professional, the Scottish Open and a few hardball tournaments in the USA and Canada. So it was difficult to survive.

“In 1956, I played an exhibition match against Hashim Khan at the New Grampians Club in Shepherds Bush. After the match, the owner of the club approached me and offered me the job of coach. The offer included a salary as well as accommodation. I had no option but to accept it.

“The owner wasn’t in good health and in 1957 he asked me to take over the club. I didn’t have the financial resources to buy the club, so he asked me to pay in instalments over a period of five years. That’s how I became to own the club.”

Hence Azam’s association with the club is more than half a century old. And during this period it has been associated with the emergence of several outstanding players.

“The very person who halted the Khan era in British Open history, in 1964, was a product of this club. Mike Oddy of Scotland ousted the defending champion Mohibullah Khan in the semi-final, thus achieving the distinction of being the first Briton since 1953 to reach the final – which he lost to Abou Taleb.”

The club is also linked with the development of arguably the greatest squash player Britain has ever produced – a story that sheds light on what Azam might have achieved had he continued with his squash career. Read it in Part 2 of this article, coming soon.

The Egyptian Abou Taleb had won the British Open three years running, from 1964 to 1966. He then threw down a challenge that if anyone beat him, he would pay him £500 – at least £5,000 in today’s money.

“At the instigation of a couple of club members, I accepted the challenge,” recalls Azam Khan, now 81 and proprietor of the New Grampians Squash Club in London. “The challenge even appeared in the newspapers. But Taleb chickened out, saying that he should be given £1,000 before the match because if he lost he wouldn’t be able to face people in Egypt and would have to settle in another country.

“The members of my club then said that they wanted to bring in some young player and hand him over to me. Thus entered Jonah Barrington. At that time, Barrington worked in a mill. He used to come early in the morning to have squash training from me and then left for the mill. Despite this ‘hurried’ training, I made him ready to challenge for the very next British Open, in 1967.

“The day before it started, Barrington played a match against me and could take only one point in three games. He was so depressed that he wanted to withdraw from the tournament. But I knew the prevailing standard and encouraged him to go ahead.”

The rest is history. Barrington not only won the 1967 Open but went on to win the title five more times. But after winning his first title, he again played against Azam – only to lose in the same manner as before.

“After 1963, the British Open title remained outside Pakistan for more than a decade. But I played a part in the next Pakistani victory. Air Marshal Nur Khan, who had become chairman of Pakistan International Airlines in 1973, made earnest efforts to revive Pakistan’s squash fortunes. When he came to England, he invited me to return to Pakistan to help. But I couldn’t leave London as I had to look after my club as well as my family.

“Nur Khan persisted and suggested that some Pakistani players be sent to England to be trained by me. I agreed and put forward the names of Qamar Zaman and Mohibullah Khan Jr. For six weeks, they prepared for 1975 British Open under my supervision. And Qamar Zaman ended the long drought by bringing back the title to Pakistan. The following year, Qamar Zaman was again asked by Nur Khan to avail of my coaching. But Qamar refused and, as you know, Pakistan had to wait for the emergence of Jahangir Khan in the early 80s to regain the coveted crown.”

Like the sons of the great Khans of his era, Hashim and Roshan, Azam’s son Wasil excelled in the sport that had brought fame to his father. Once hailed as one of the hottest young properties in English squash, Wasil won his county title at the tender age of 15 and later a British Junior Open title. He could not fulfil his early promise, but his daughter, Carla, has been active on the professional circuit since 1999. Interestingly, a few years ago, she changed her allegiance from her country of birth, England, to the country of her grandfather’s, Pakistan. Carla reached her highest world ranking of 21 in 2004, a year in which she defeated Nicol David, now world no.1.

When it comes to describing his style of play or the strong points of his game, Azam is evasive. “This is for others to do,” he says. Here is how Jonah Barrington describes Azam in his book ‘Murder in the Squash Court’:

“If Hashim was the most devastating savage of the great Khans, and Roshan the most beautiful stroke player, Azam would have been the little accountant, methodically arranging all the bits and pieces of the game, having everything under close analysis, nothing out of place … he was meticulous, organized, ruthlessly clinical and very deft … he was unbelievably efficient … he constantly sucked you into situations from which it was impossible to extricate yourself … he was totally silent on court, like a little bird. There was none of this stamping and pounding that one hears so frequently these days; he moved like a ghost, silently hither and thither. Yet wherever you hit the ball, he was there.

So why has Azam remained in the shadow of the other great Khans? This intriguing question alludes to the numerous rumors that the Khans had their own rules of ascendancy: that the younger ones were allowed to rule the roost not when they were better, but when the elders decided that their time to step up had arrived. It is certainly ‘suspicious’ that in the three British Open finals Azam lost, his opponent was his elder brother, Hashim.

Azam neither confirms nor denies the rumours, but says simply: “Respect for an elder brother is very much ingrained in our Pushtun culture. The words bhai sahib [respected brother] meant everything to me. He was my coach and mentor.”

A member of the most successful family the game has ever seen, Azam Khan was also directly involved in the grooming of world champions from his adopted land as well as the country of his birth. He was a great champion in his own right. But for two factors – first respect for his brother and later mourning for his son – Azam Khan might have been the greatest squash player of all time. Perhaps he was.

http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/features/azam_khan_part_one.htm

Sean Kerly - Olympic Gold Medalist

2011-01-28T15:54:00.008+05:00

SEAN KERLY: THE LIVING LEGEND OF BRITISH HOCKEY TALKS ABOUT BEIJING OLYMPICS

Sean Kerly

This is the Olympic year and both the GB hockey teams, men and women, have qualified for Beijing. In this country, for almost every sports follower in general and a hockey lover in particular, the mere mention of ‘GB hockey and Olympics’ always evokes memories of the Seoul Olympics of 1988—the finest hour of the GB hockey- when they won the gold. And name of one member of that golden side became synonymous with hockey, Sean Kerly. Someone rightly said, “Sean Kerly was the first hockey player to achieve household notoriety in this country”. In fact, until today, he is also the last.

Kerly achieved many individual distinctions: he not only scored a hat trick in GB’s 3-2 victory against the hot favourite Australians in the semi final but also netted once in the 3-1 win over the Germans in the final. In his international career lasting from 1981-92, he retired as the Great Britain’s all time leading goal-scorer with 64 goals while for England he scored 45 goals. Sean Kerly, who has been called the 'Gary Lineker' of hockey, was awarded the MBE in 1993. Apart from his ’88 heroics, he is also remembered for his exploits at the 1984 Olympics. At Los Angeles, where GB hockey ended the medal draught at the Olympics for this particular sport after 32 years, Sean scored the winning goal in 2-1 win in the bronze medal play-off against Australia. Other than the Olympic medals, Kerly also has a World Cup silver (1986) as well as a silver and a bronze from the European Nations Championships.

Kerly was a complete centre forward. He had speed, strength and a fierce shot. Possessed that striker instinct to be aware of his position vis-à-vis goal and defenders-- to be in the right position at the right time. But he was not merely a poacher, and was also blessed with sublime stick work and great acceleration.

An out and out Kent Man: Sean Robin Kerly was born January 29, 1960 in Whitstable, educated at Chatham House Grammar School, played for Canterbury as have all his three daughters, and presently lives in Herne Bay, running a graphic art and marketing agency. This talk is primarily focused on Olympics: ’88 and ’84 successes, and Britain’s prospects at the Beijing.

What were the main factors which contributed towards that great era, especially the 1988 success?

Team was experienced, we believed in each other and blended well. Then we were continually on the up: bronze in the ‘84 Olympics, silver (as England) in the World Cup ‘86 as well as at the European Nations Championships ‘87. So, you might say that we had just peaked at the time of the ‘88 Olympics. We were not the best set of individuals but were really good as a team. Individually, players from Germany, Holland and Pakistan were more skilful. The ‘84 bronze was really important. It was a fairy tale as we had not qualified and were the reserve country. Without the ‘84 success, the ‘88 gold might not have materialised.

England had finished last in the 1988 Champions Trophy in Lahore. Did it have any effect on the morale of the team before the OG?

No, though Champions trophy is an important hockey event but it is held every year and is not a title tournament. Teams often take it as a preparation for the Olympics and the World Cup especially if the Champions Trophy precedes either of the events, the same year. Then in 1988, many of our regular players including myself were absent from the Champions Trophy for one reason or the other.

How you describe the role of Roger Self (manager) and David Whitaker (coach) in those successes?

David mainly worked with us on the training ground with drills, organizing defence, attacking patterns, etc. But in my opinion, Roger was the key person. He was determined to build us mentally strong and supplied the ‘hockey intelligence’. He used to make and break us, again and again. It was not much fun but we realised afterwards, how important it was.

Did you quit your job to prepare for the games?

Yes, I left my job three months before the Olympics to concentrate fully on the training. After the games, I was mainly engaged in part time jobs and got full time employment after one year.

But it is also said that the gold medal success not only made you a celebrity but also rich financially. I read somewhere that Kerly was at the center of it in 1988 as hockey's most marketable man. These were the days when the center-forward could pick up a few grand for just walking on to a panto with a hockey stick in hand.

Ha! ha! Well, I did make a few bucks but definitely not good money. I did public speaking, TV work, etc. after the Olympic success but what I earned was not much different from my average monthly income from the previous job. After six months, it was back to normal.

After the 88 success, the team got a lot of Media as well as Public attention. Tell something about it?

As soon as we landed at Heathrow, we were taken into a small room for an interview for breakfast television. That was just the beginning. We went to Buckingham Palace as well as 10 Downing Street to see the Queen and Margaret Thatcher. At the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Show in 1988, the hockey team won the team award for the second time, having won it in 1984. Moreover, I was nominated for the individual award. There was a galaxy of sporting stars around us and we felt exalted in such a great company. It was surreal. For around three months, it was a fantastic fun for us. I wasn't out of a dinner suit. Almost all the other boys had gone back to work. I was without a job and did all kinds of celebrity things like Sporting Triangles on the TV . There were numerous other TV appearances and The Sun even ran a story on "20 things you never knew about Olympic hero Sean Kerly".

What were the reasons of the immediate decline after 1988? We never reached even the semi final of Olympics/World Cup.

As an organization, we didn’t plan properly for further success. The focus was only on 1988. Matters were also not helped by the GB squad breaking into the home countries immediately after the Olympics. Everyone takes his own path. Moreover, many players as well as the coach immediately retired from the international game. There was a complete new management and there was no interaction between new and old teams. It will not be wrong to compare it with the victorious English soccer team of the 1966 World Cup or, more recently, the rugby team which won the 2003 World Cup. However, I must stress that if comparable success is achieved today then we should be able to build on it, as nowadays we have a professional sports administration working full time.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current GB squad?

I have not seen them closely during the last four months. On the basis of what I saw at the Euros and in the Olympic qualifiers (on TV), they look quick especially on the counter attacks. The deep defence including the goal keeper is solid. The forwards are scoring goals. The poor conversion of penalty corners is a gray area. The boys appear to have started believing in themselves. More importantly, they have that lean and hungry look so essential for success.

How you rate Great Britain’s chances at Beijing?

As compared to the Athens’ this time the team is better settled. Apart from the Euro 2007, they have done well in major tournaments in recent times—good show at the World Cup qualifier and a commendable 5th position at the World Cup itself. More importantly, their show at the Olympic qualifier makes me optimistic. In fact, not qualifying early has been good for them as they've experienced the pressure of what it's going to be like. Unlike the sides ranked above them, almost all of whom are regarded as the favorites, the team GB will be under no such pressure. They should be aiming for the semi final spot, at least. For this it is important, that they earn the full points against the three weaker sides in their pool, Pakistan, South Africa and Canada. And hope for the best against Holland and Australia.

The records tell something different. Britain has won just five in 43 against Australia and five in 40 matches against Germany. So isn’t it a case of false optimism?

My answer is what my team mate Dodds said after the victory against Germany in the ’88 Olympics final. When asked if he realized this was Britain’s first defeat of Germany in 20 years. “They can keep them all,” he responded. “We have what we came for.”

Who are the key players?

The midfielder Barry Middleton should play an important role. Richard Mantell’s distribution at back is good though not very quick. Goal minder Alistair McGregor is also a source of strength.

Which countries you consider as the favorites for the Olympic title?

Holland, especially after their show at the Euros; Germany, they are still the no.1 ranked team. I regard them as a wounded tiger for they had to go through the Olympic qualifiers after the Euro disappointment. Australia is a very strong side and they are also the defending champions. Spain is fully capable of spoiling the party of any of the above three.

Hockey has been transformed into a glamor sport in Holland. There is soccer like atmosphere in the Dutch league with thousands of people in every game. Players enjoy great fan following and get good money. Why not in Britain?

There are quite a few factors. Holland has been a top team for last 10 years winning all the major titles. Had we been performing as well then hockey would have got the similar attention in GB as well. Look at cycling and rowing. They are getting good profile these days because of the success in the international arena. Barring soccer, hockey does not have any competition in Holland. On the other hand, apart from soccer, we also have other sports such as rugby, cricket and even horse racing, which are very much professional and enjoy keen following. Then the club structure in Holland is better established. Their clubs are specific hockey clubs with membership running into thousands. Hockey’s status in Holland can be compared with that of rugby in England.

You have also been commentating on hockey. Are you still involved with it?

Yes, I am. I did that for the BBC at European Nations Championships last August at Manchester and I will also be going to the Olympics in Beijing.

Will we see the fairy tale of 1988 or even that of 1984 repeated in 2008? Like Kerly, every hockey fan of the land yearns for that. If yes, then we may at last also see the next hockey celebrity after Kerly himself.

I interviewed Sean Kerly. It was published in Kentish Gazette of the Kent Messenger Group on 31 July 2008

Haroon Rahim - Tennis

2011-01-28T15:32:00.002+05:00

Haroon Rahim is the greatest tennis player Pakistan has ever produced. He not only appeared in the main draw of three of the four Grand Slam tournaments: Wimbledon, US Open and French Open but he also has the honour of winning matches in all three of them.

During this year's Wimbledon championships, interest in tennis among people of Pakistan was the highest in decades. This sudden and short lived attention to tennis in the country was due to the fact that Aisam-ul-Haq became the first Pakistani to play in the main rounds of Wimbledon, the most prestigious of all the tennis tournaments, since Haroon Rahim in 1976. Aisam reached the second round where he lost to the former Wimbledon champion Marat Safin.

As it had happened after such a long time, many sports followers got inquisitive about past performances of Pakistani tennis players. The query about the "greatest Pakistani tennis player of all times" also sprang up.

A number of Pakistani players before Aisam have figured in the main draw of Wimbledon. The list includes Mahmmod Alam, Saeed Hai, Munir Pirzada, Saeed Mir, Munawwar Iqbal and Haroon Rahim. Out of them only Saeed Hai and Haroon Rahim appeared in grand slam tournaments other than Wimbledon.

However, Haroon Rahim easily stands out. He not only appeared in the main draw of three of the four grand slam tournaments: Wimbledon, US Open and French Open but he also has the honour of winning matches in all three of them. Moreover he won matches not only in singles but also in doubles in the main round of each of these three.

He is also the only Pakistani to reach the quarter-final of any grand slam (1971 US Open, doubles). In addition, he has the unique distinction of being the only Pakistani to win ATP title either in singles or doubles -- Haroon won both. And he attained a world ranking of 44 and no other Pakistani has ever come even close to that.

Born in Lahore in 1949, Haroon got early encouragement right at home. His father, a civil servant, was a tennis fanatic and encouraged all his children to play tennis competitively. Apart from Haroon, not only his two other brothers, Zufiqar and Sarfraz but sister Shahnaz also won the national championships of Pakistan.

His was a precocious talent. Haroon became national champion at the age of just 15. He also represented Pakistan at the Davis Cup at the same age. Both are Pakistan records till today. Then onwards there was no looking back. Apart from representing Pakistan, he also started playing in the international professional circuit.

Soon he was awarded tennis scholarship by one of America's top universities, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). At UCLA, under the tutelage of famous coach Glenn Bassett, Haroon's talent really flourished. He led UCLA to win NCAA title in 1970 as well as in 1971. His team mate in 1971 was one Jimmy Connors who later became one of tennis’ all-time greats and also remained Haroon's doubles partner for some time on the pro-circuit. Apart from winning the team title, Haroon also won the NCAA doubles title in 1971 with Jeff Borowiak. In singles, he reached the semifinal of easily the world's most competitive collegiate championships.

Haroon turned professional, when still a teenager, in 1968 and remarkably made his debut in the grand slams' main round the very same year. He remained active on the professional circuit for around a decade. During this period, he appeared in grand slam events a number of times. Haroon's best results in Grand Slams

Singles:

French Open - Second Round

Wimbledon - Second Round

US Open - Third Round

Doubles:

French Open - Second Round

Wimbledon - Third Round

US Open - Quarter Final

Though Haroon could not land a grand slam title he did win five ATP titles (two singles and three doubles). It is pertinent to mention that ATP tournaments along with Grand Slam events form the first tier of the professional tennis circuit followed by ATP challenger (2nd tier) and Futures (last tier). Haroon won his both ATP titles in 1976 and against very distinguished opponents.

The first at Little Rock against former Wimbledon runner up, Alex Metreveli, and then the second at Cleveland, against the former record holder of the fastest serve, Australian, Colin Dibley. His three doubles titles were won at Oslo, Norway in 1974, North Conway in 1975 and Little Rock in 1978.

He twice finished as runner-up in ATP tournaments, in 1972 he lost to the US Open winner Manual Orantes in the final. In ATP doubles apart from winning three crowns, he lost in the final the same number of times. In one of these, his partner was his team mate at UCLA, legendary Jimmy Connors.

Haroon reached a career highest ranking of 44 in 1977. He was respected and feared by all the top pro-circuit players and defeated top players like Connors, Ashe, among others. Haroon married an American girl and lives in the US.

Youth always looks for role models in every sport. For any Pakistani youngster taking up tennis seriously, Haroon should be the inspiration. His accomplishments at all levels are quite awesome: National champion at 15, Davis Cup appearance also at 15, Winning scholarship to the best 'tennis university' of US of his time, Excelling at NCAA, Shining at grand slams, Winning ATP titles, Defeating most of the top players of his time at least once.

Achievements of Haroon should serve as a motivation to Pakistan's up and coming tennis players. It remains to be seen if any Pakistani player in future can come close to attaining these heights.

My article in THE NEWS (Pakistan’s leading English daily) published on 28.10.07.

India - England Hockey Series 2009

2011-01-28T15:02:00.001+05:00

England, wanting to assert its rise in the forthcoming EuroNations Cup, and India, a nostalgic superpower with its brand new coach, played out a thrilling 3-Test Series last week, all in Birmingham.

It was India’s new Spanish coach Brasa’s first international assignment. He had categorically stated that the timing of the tour is not ideal, “I have just started introducing new things and boys need months to get used to them but as it was scheduled a long time back so we have no choice.”

Brasa’s long term plan also emphasises that India should start the rebuilding process by playing with the teams ranked close to their own 12th place. All the four teams, Spain, Holland, England and Belgium are in the top 10 of the FIH rankings with the first two perennially figuring in the upper four.

Moreover, the European national teams are all in the final preparatory phase for the Euro Hockey Nations Championships later this month and hence are very close to their peak form for the season.

Considering all this, India’s performance against England was quite encouraging. After a scrappy display in the first test which they lost 1-3, the Indians matched the hosts in the next two games. In the first games the visitors were also hampered by the torrential rain. Most of the 10 penalty corners conceded were due to unforced errors in which the slippery conditions also played their part. Even in that tie India had more open chances than their opponents.

The second test was the proverbial game of two halves. After having been outplayed until the 30th minute of the first half and 0-2 down, there was an amazing metamorphosis. By the same stage of the second half, the Indians were leading by 4-2 (finally winning 4-3). More than the score line, it was the aesthetics which mesmerized everyone. The Asians displayed the vintage stuff: close control, dribbling and intricate moves. In the series decider, the Indians continued with the excellent form of the last game and led 2-0 after the first 25 minute. The hosts asserted themselves thereafter and ran away with a 3-2 win. In this match, India were also on the receiving end of a few debatable umpiring decisions.

India missed the services of their skipper Sandeep Singh for all the three matches as he was down with flu and they had a different captain for each of the games.

Adrian D’Souza was wonderful under the bar. He was superb encountering field attempts as well as penalty corners. His positioning, reflexes, anticipation, rushing, aerial ball clearance and diving are all out of the top drawer. Not to mention his temperament. Arguably, India’s match of the series.

In the absence of Sandeep, Sardara Singh, who normally plays in the midfield, was manning the deep defence. He showed wonderful tackling and anticipation as well as distribution and was also not afraid to move up. He has attacking instincts and likes to dribble a player or two before passing the ball. Playing him as a sweeper is risky as on a few occasions he lost the ball when effectively the last defender. Sardara is more suited to the role of a midfielder. Experienced Vikram Pillay was Sardara’s partner in the deep defence and gave a good account of him with cool and sound display.

In the midfield, Prabodh Tirkey was the most outstanding. One moment he was seen defending deep in his territory and immediately afterwards, Prabodh was sending an excellent pass to a team mate in the opponent’s circle. The handsome right half Gurbaj Singh is also a good up and down player on the right flank. On the left side, Ajitesh Roy appeared good in attack but needs improvement in defence. Dhananjay Mahadhik was seen more in the role of a holding mid-fielder. With Sandeep Singh not playing, the Indian army soldier was also his side’s premier flicker on the penalty corners and netted a couple of goals with strong pushes. Experienced Arjun Hallapa also converted a penalty corner in an emphatic manner.

Up front, among the forwards, Gurwinder Chandi impressed all with his sublime skills and his goal in the second test was a classic. Experienced Rajpal also showed flashes of brilliance though he occasionally fumbled in front of the goal. Exactly the same can be said about the other old campaigner Prabhjot Singh, who was rested for the second match. Bimal Lakra also sparkled occasionally. However, from the old brigade, Hallapa and Tushar Khandekar were a bit subdued. Youngsters Hari Prasad and Sunil possess good stick work and appear to be fine prospects.

There was excellent atmosphere during all the matches at the University of Birmingham’s picturesque hockey ground with Indian expats, mostly Sardars, forming bulk of the crowd and fervently cheering their side. Then the young boys and girls of the bhangra group ‘Chak de Punjab’ entertained during the interval of each game. The third test was played on Sunday and finished just after noon.

It was immediately followed by the match between the B.A.H.A. (British Asian Hockey Association) under 16 and England under 16, and another between their veteran sides. B.A.H.A. has been recently formed by some Asian ex-internationals and former players to stem the continuing decline of hockey among the Asians in Britain.

Brasa has repeatedly said that he is not concerned with the results, “We are here only for learning”. It seems the learning process has begun as one could see many things not usually associated with the Indian style of play: Players were seen surging forward and back pedaling, positional flexibility, better use of rolling substitutions, man to man marking, effective rushing to block penalty corners, useful employing of long balls, among others.

There were areas of concern as well. The perennial problem of missing in front of the goal is still there. Then the penalty corners count was very much against India in all the ties. Many of them were due to unforced errors. In today’s game, surprise is of vital importance in offence. India need to employ a greater variety of patterns. All in all there were gains for India and they should move on from here. First round to Jose Brasa.

http://www.stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleOID=3546

The Powerlifting Family

2011-01-28T10:34:00.000+05:00

The Cheema household of Whitnash boasts three men who have distinguished themselves in powerlifting - one of them has even won the world championship. The passion of Nirmal Singh Cheema and his sons Gabinder and Baljit for this purely amateur sport has made them perhaps the most distinguished powerlifting family in the country. Nirmal's passion has rubbed off on both his boys, who have gone on to continue their father's success.

"It all started with my elder brother bringing some weights at our home for exercise. Then I started weight training at the Boys Club in Leamington," he recalled. "The amounts of weights I hoisted in were recognised by people who knew, as good enough to make me a competitive lifter. "Still, I began my competitive career not in powerlifting but in strongman competitions which, at that time, included events like the battery hold, iron bar bending, tossing the cable, throwing the 56lb weight over a high bar, barrel loading and lorry pulling."

Nirmal's main strongman achievement came in 1981, when he unofficially broke the world record for battery holding. Meanwhile he had started appearing in powerlifting competitions and continued until 1996. His finest hour came when he won the open weight class bench press title in the 1987 British championships. Two shoulder operations eventually forced him out of action - otherwise he would still be competing in the masters category.

Eldest son Gabinder also had a shoulder problem, which steered him away from his early love of boxing. Advised to train with weights to solve it, he turned to his father's old sport instead. Gabinder said: "My appearances in the competitive arena until now have been few because of university, although I first managed to enter in 2004 and surprised everyone by lifting the West Midlands' under-23 bench press title and I finished second in the national championships.

In 2007, Gabinder entered the senior category and also started competing in full powerlifting (all three lifts) competitions. He recalled: "I won the West Midlands' 67.5 kg class and I was third in the nationals at Scotland. That year Scotland also staged the European and world championships - my first international outings - and I finished fourth in both the competitions." Gabinder recently qualified for April's British championships with a series of good performances at the West Midlands event (160kg squat, 130kg bench, 190kg dead).

But the youngest of the three Cheemas, Baljit, has done best of all. A precocious talent, he was a sensation from the very beginning. As a teenager he was second in the senior 60kg category at the 2003 West Midlands championships. Then, not yet 16, he landed the national under-18 title. Moving up to the 67.5kg class in 2005, Bally's rise continued and he lifted the West Midlands senior crown. And at 17 he won the bronze medal in the senior section at the British nationals. Until then he had competed under the auspices of the British Weight Lifters Association.

In 2006 he switched to the more widely-recognised British Drug Free Powerlifting Association, bringing instant results. In his very first BDFPA meet he won the West Midlands under-18 title and set a new under-18 world record that remained unofficial because the required number of qualified referees weren't present. He said: "Luck again deserted me at the nationals the same year. Though my lift was the highest I finished second on body weight. "Then I stepped into the international arena for the first time at the 2006 European championships in France and narrowly failed to win the title, getting the silver medal."

Lady luck smiled on Bally on the biggest stage of all and the youngster made the family proud by becoming under-18 world champion in Ireland. Come 2007, Baljit moved up the age bracket as well as the weight category (under-20 and 75kg respectively) for his most successful year yet - a clean sweep of all the Midlands, British, European and world titles. Having moved further up for 2008 (under-23 and 82.5kg), his domination looks likely to continue. Baljit won the West Midlands and national crowns last year.

Although still only 20 and expected to dominate the sport for years to come, he is looking at other avenues. A switch to Mixed Martial Arts could be on the cards. His supportive father explained: "The reason is simple - financial. There is no sponsorship available for powerlifting at any level. "My family has won laurels at every level. We have represented the country at world and European Championships but we have to bear all the expenses including travel and boarding. "We all have full-time jobs. And you know how difficult it is to take leave for the competitions."

Ijaz Chaudhry is a member of the Sports Journalists Association of Great Britain and has written for a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites including Squash Player, PUSH, Cricket World and World Hockey Online.

Powerlifting: My article published in the Leamington Courier on 13/02/09

Munich Air Disaster

2011-01-28T10:08:00.001+05:00

On 10 February 2008, in the English Premier League, at the Derby match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, both the teams were escorted onto the pitch by a lone bagpiper, and the two managers, Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson, each laid a wreath in the centre circle. This was followed by a minute silence . United played in 1950s-style strips without any advertising or players names and numbered 1-11 in old fashion. Similarly City’s kits were without shirt manufacturers and sponsors logos. Both the teams wore black armbands.

On 6 February 2008, when England national football team faced Switzerland at Wembley Stadium, England players wore black armbands. Both these were to mark the 50th anniversary of a tragedy which is the greatest, and the most recalled mishap, in the history of sports - THE MUNICH AIR DISASTER.

The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958. The British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, West Germany. The plane was on its way back from a European Cup tie in Belgrade. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, along with a number of supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44 passengers died in the disaster. Initially, the crash was blamed on pilot error but later captain Thain was exonerated and the cause was officially put down to the slush on the runway which prevented the plane reaching its required take-off speed. This was the first fatal accident for this type of BEA aeroplane, which had carried 2,340,000 passengers on 86,000 flights since it began service in 1952.

Manchester United were the best-known team in England. They were popularly known as the 'Busby Babes' because of their manager Matt Busby and the age of the players which was unusually young. Among the dead were eight United players, four of them, Byrne, Edward, Pegg and Taylor had all been capped by England, and Whelan was a Republic of Ireland international.

What was so special about Busby Babes? Busby babes was based on Matt Busby's visionary concept of youth scheme in which older players were replaced by youth team products, rather than follow the traditional approach of picking established players from other sides.

Back from the Hitler’s war in 1945, he initiated his scheme of recruiting boys straight from school. That his ideas were not only effective but also immediately picked up is borne out by the fact that they won the FA youth cup all the first five years after its inception in 1952.

Now the time had come to implement the actual master plan at the bigger stage. The Manchester United manager had displayed great courage and conviction in throwing away the old boys. It is worth mentioning they had not done badly: had won him the FA Cup in 1948 and the League in 1952. But the 1952 champions had grown old together and the decline was steep and dramatic. In the next season, they lost six of their first 11 matches. At this stage, Busby started promoting more and more of his youth team.

Within three years, the show was set for Busby Babes. They didn’t let their mentor down. The squad with average age of just 22, won back-to-back Championships, and in some style as well. In 1956, they remained unbeaten at home and won the league championships by 11 points; Champions again in 1957, by eight points and netted 103 goals. Prior to the disaster, they were placed 4th in the table. However with just one defeat in last 11 games making a hat trick of the titles could not have been ruled out.

On the European front also, they had been distinguishing themselves. In the inaugural season of The European Cup, 1955, Football League rules prevented appearance of any English club. Manchester United reached the semi-finals in 1956-7 losing to the eventual champions, Real Madrid. They were among the favourites for the 1957-58 edition and had just celebrated their qualification for the semi-finals after the match in Belgrade.

They had not only been providing joy and pride to the Manchester United supporters but had also become the hope of the entire nation. Yes, England now had a team challenging the best European clubs and at the same time supplying real quality players to the national side. According to some historians, it was arguably the greatest team in the history of the British football.

How colossal was the setback for Manchester United? Seven of Manchester United's players died immediately while the most talented of them all, Duncan Edwards succumbed to injuries after two weeks of heroic struggle at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich. For another two, Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower, severe injuries meant they would never play again. Matt Busby himself suffered multiple severe injuries and remained in hospital for two months after the crash, most of the time in Oxygen Tent. He even had his last rites read twice. A lucky survivor was Morgansm, the young winger. He was not found for five hours after the crash. Luckily, he was spotted by two German reporters who went to the burning plane. The real heroism was displayed by Harry Gregg, the United goalkeeper. He ignored the warning from the captain of the flight, “Run, you silly bugger, she’s going to blow”, and pulled out three persons from the wreckage. But he saved at least one more life as one of them, Mrs Vera Lukic delivered a baby girl a few months later.

There was speculation that the club would fold, but a United team mainly jumbled from reserve and youth team players completed the 1957-1958 season. The stand in manager was United's coach Jimmy Murphy. He had not travelled to Belgrade as he was away managing the Welsh national team at the time. In the first game after the tragedy, a hurriedly assembled side beat Sheffield Wednesday 3–0. The programme for that match showed simply a blank space where each United player's name should have been. With their title aspirations crashed, United only won one league game after the crash, and finished ninth in the league. However they were able to reach the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers.

England’s loss Manchester United managed to revive after a few seasons but England’s loss was perhaps greater. At least three players would have been invaluable for England’s national team. Taylor was the finest all-round centre forward in the country whose ratio of goals per game is more than any other United player in the 20th century. Byrne was widely regarded as the best full back in the land while Duncan Edwards was undoubtedly ‘the best footballer’ in England at that time. Colman and Jones were exciting prospects and left-winger Pegg who had already played for England would have served them for a long time.

Had they been available for the 1958 and, more particularly, the 1962 World Cups, England would have definitely shone better. Former England captain, Jimmy Armfield has even said “There is no doubt with Edwards, Byrne and Taylor we would have won the World Cup in 1958 and 1962.” What difference would Edwards have made: This is what survivor Sir Bobby Charlton said,” The only player that made me feel inferior”. Some compliment from someone who is not only the all time top scorer for both England as well as Manchester United but was also the first player to win 100 English caps.

The loss was not merely purely in sporting terms, especially for people of Manchester. They were all children of the war and had not forgotten the hard times and rationing. The people were just coming out of that and Manchester United which had already won two league titles symbolised the’ hope’. The team was definitely moving towards greater heights when it was cut off in its prime.

Busby masterminded the revival as well Busby was back very next season (1958-1959) and remarkably rose a second generation of Busby babes which included such legends as George Best and Denis Law. After a build up period of a few years, Man U were back with a vengeance. They restarted their success story by lifting the FA cup in 1963. This was followed by two league titles in three years in mid-sixties. And a decade after the great tragedy, Manchester United became the first English club to claim the biggest prize of them all, the European Cup in 1968. Two of the crash survivors, Bobbly Charlton and Billy Foulkes also starred in that victorious campaign: Charlton scored a brace in the final against Benfica while Foulkes had netted a vital goal in the semi-final against Real Madrid.

Charlton had already achieved the highest glory. He had played a stellar role in England’s finest hour, winning the World Cup in 1966. A year, he also won the coveted ‘European Footballer of the Year’ award. Both Busby and Charlton were later also knighted.

The great tragedy has been preserved in posterity The first of three memorials at Old Trafford were unveiled on 25 February 1960. Placed above the entrance to the Director's Box. A plaque featuring a supporter and a player with their heads bowed solemnly looking down onto a wreath, underneath of which was a football bearing the date 1958 and beneath is the pitch with the names of the dead inscribed. A bronze plaque in memory of eight journalists is placed into the Press Box. Two smaller plaques were installed in 1976 and 1996 respectively. There are also two memorials in Germany. In the village of Kirchtrudering as well as in the vicinity of the Munich Airport. On 6 February, 2008, after a memorial service at Old Trafford, the surviving members of the 1958 team unveiled the Munich Memorial Tunnel at South stand of the stadium. The tunnel traces the history of the Busby Babes through plaques on the wall and also features an eternal flame.

The event has also been immortalised in Music

-The Liverpool folk band The Spinners released a song about the disaster, titled "The Flowers of Manchester", in 1962.

-In 2004, The Manchester-born singer Morrissey released a song called "Munich Air Disaster, 1958", and also performed it live many times that year.

-The English band The Futureheads named their album News and Tributes in remembrance of the disaster (using a headline from the Daily Mirror). The title track is a homage to those who lost their lives including the verse,

"Cut down in their prime,

In silence, on that day,

February 58, they got what they need,

From Belgrade and back home to sleep"

-British pop/folk artist Iain Matthews recorded an a cappella song called "Busby's Babes" which echoed his own youthful reaction to the great tragedy. Barry Navidi is currently working on a script for a Hollywood film about the Munich air crash.

Unbelievable sequence of events What was happening (Man U achieving at that time and the way they were going for greater heights). What happened and how happened (air crash, some died, heroic actions to save people, some survived, Busby even given last rites, some survivors achieved glory and some could not even play again, initially Pilot blamed and then exonerated). What happened afterwards ( how second generation of Babes achieved even greater glory, Sir Matt Busby and Sit Bobby Charlton attaining a status in English soccer which is unrivalled until today).

Now exactly, after 50 years, Manchester United, already the most successful club in English Premier League, appears well poised to win the title in 2008. Moreover, they are also the favourites to land the European Champions League title, 40 years after they became the first English club to do so under the command of Sir Matt Busby.

Munich Air Disaster is a saga of struggle, success, tragedy, heroism, hope, resilience, resurgence and glory (individual and collective), which even the greatest of all the fiction writers could not have envisioned.

My article published in the April 2008 issue of ‘Football’, the only magazine on soccer in Pakistan

Ijaz Chaudhry

Sarfraz Nawaz

Javed Burki

Tauseef Ahmed

'The ability to spin is more important than line and length'

Sky is the limit for Amir Khan

Professional career

His promoter , Frank Warren immediately sacked Jorge Rubio replacing him with Freddie Roach, widely regarded as world’s finest boxing coach having trained 27 world champions. Amir moved to USA to train with Roach.

Amir had his first defence of the world title against the unbeaten American Salita. The clash between the practicing Muslim Amir and the orthodox Jew Salita was hyped by media as a “battle of faiths”. Both the boxers dispelled this impression. Salita went down in just 76 seconds.

This was also Amir’s last fight with Frank Warren as his promoter. He penned down a contract with the Golden Boy Promotions of USA and his bouts were also back on the ITV.

Amir’s growing popularity had crossed the Atlantic and promoters had his next fight scheduled at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden against the home town boy Pauli Malignaggi. Amir won his first overseas pro bout in the 11th round to keep the belt.

The recent win over Super Judah was Amir’s fifth defence of the WBC title and he also won the IBF title from the loser.

Abdul Qadir

England Hockey's Resurgence

Geoff Hunt

German Hockey Star Martin Haner’s Dream Season in England

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article26

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article24

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article22

Business

Politics

Travelogue

Public Health

Asif Iqbal

Imtiaz Ahmed

Wazir Mohammad

Bishan Bedi

Trevor Bailey

Mushtaq Mohammad

Khan Mohammad

Roy Keane

Manager of Sunderland

Sania Mirza

Early Career

Further Achievements

Threats from Islamic Groups and Other Controversies

Youngest Recepient of Padamshree; Other Awards

Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir's International Debut

Overcoming Technical Flaws

International Comeback

Summary of Gambhir's Achievements in All Forms of The Game

Andre Iniesta

Sadiq Mohammad

Duminy's Dream Debut in Test Cricket

Jean-Paul Duminy's Test Debut

Classic Innings in the Second Test and the record ninth wicket partnership

Early Days and ODI Debut

Bill Frindall was the Doyen of Cricket Scorers

TMS, Bearded Wonder and Frindall System

Bearders - My Life in Cricket & Other Publications

MBE, Doctor of Technology and Beard of the Year

Peter Moores Comes to Lancashire

Playing Career (Mainly with Sussex)

Noko Matlou: African Woman Player of the Year

Matlou, the Joint Top Scorer at the African Women's Cup 2008

Matlou Also Devastating at the COSAFA Women's Championship

Noko Matlou: A Male?

Taylor: The Latest Caribbean Pace Sensation

Regional Hockey League

Pakistan artistry helps fuel football success

A bowling performance

Ingemar Johansson - Ingo - The Hammer of Thor

The Changing Face of Asian Hockey - Beware the New Breed

Wee Wern Low - Squash

Shankar Laxman - Hockey

Azam Khan - Squash

Sean Kerly - Olympic Gold Medalist

Haroon Rahim - Tennis

India - England Hockey Series 2009

The Powerlifting Family

Munich Air Disaster

Amir’s growing popularity had crossed the Atlantic and promoters had his next fight scheduled at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden against the home town boy Pauli Malignaggi. Amir won his first overseas pro bout in the 11^th round to keep the belt.