Sports : life magnified

South Africa, the best one day team 1996-99 and second best test team for a large part of the last decade has gone down quite a lot. The most important in this regard was the home series loss to England. South Africa’s main problem right now is their bowlers. Can a strong attack capable of taking 20 wickets vs any team any where consitently be formed?

It is much tougher to get that combination for subcontinent but they are even struggling for matches other than the sub continent to make that bowling attack which has been a major problem thus far. Remarks Graeme Smith:

Our main concern has been our fast bowling which we are in the process of building. Twenty wickets these days is what wins Test matches for you. Obviously we needed to get things right within the team to move forward in the right direction. But at the end of the day without a bowling attack you going to struggle but with Makhaya [Ntini], Shaun [Pollock] and other youngsters we were building a good fast bowling attack. We have got young fast guys coming through with Andre Nel, Dale Steyn, Monde Zondeki and Jacques (Kallis) coming back. All these guys are capable of taking 20 wickets in a Test. That probably was, in my first two years in the captaincy, an issue - backup for Makhaya and Polly.

More excerpts from the interview here.

Tendulkar has opted out of the Super Series. Very disappointing. I was hoping he would be ready for the Super Series to mark his grand come back to international cricket.

It is concerning an issue of this was not made earlier. Whoever’s fault it is for not making it an issue - the ICC, the ECB or BCCI’s or all of them. Players are humans and they should feel secured while playing.

That said, Indian crowds are not hooligans which such incidents potray them to be. Among thousands of spectators these are just few people who give every one a bad name.

I am surprised and disappointed Flintoff has to mention such an incident now, if even in his book. I do not have a problem with players saying the truth or what they feel of incidents honestly in their books. But such opinions and books revealing stuff should be written after retirement.

An issue was not made then. With it being talked about now, the case is of one person’s word against another. Chauhan and people not accepting it to be true. Creates unnecessary controversy before an England tour of India looked forward by every one.