Showing posts with label Central Contracts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Central Contracts. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Aussie Stars Flood the IPL


Posted by Q at Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Pitched (9)
Shaun Marsh, son of the Aussie opener Goeff Marsh, has just been signed up by Priety Zinta's Mohali franchise for the IPL.

Its been quite a week for the young Aussie - after being named in the ODI squad for the Windies tour, earlier today he received his first contract from Cricket Australia.

Whats interesting is that Shaun Marsh joins Luke Pomersbach in the Mohali team - the 2 Western Australians were suspended earlier this season for a late night drinking binge by WA. One can expect some late nights then in and around Punjab once the IPL kicks off.

Marsh and Pomersbach will have to be wary though as Mohali is coached by Western Australia coach Tom Moody who has Trevor Penney as his assistant, also his assistant at WA.

Dominic Thornely, another successful Australian domestic cricketer, was also lapped up today by the Mumbai Indians, who had earlier signed on the Western Australian wicket keeper Luke Ronchi.

Glenn McGrath is one of the first international cricketers to arrive in India for the IPL and has already started training with the Delhi Daredevils. Delhi's coach, the Victorian Greg Shipperd, has also arrived in India and held the team's first training session yesterday.

Aussies have definitely taken the IPL by storm.
  • Shane Warne is the only non-Indian captain the IPL has.
  • 4 of the 8 IPL coaches are Australian - John Buchanan, Tom Moody, Greg Shipperd, and Shane Warne.
  • Australia is the only country from where the largest pool of domestic cricketers have signed on with the IPL - those mentioned above along with the Victorians David Hussey and Cameron White. There are a couple of others that I'm forgetting right now.
Despite such an Aussie dominance in the IPL, Uncle J Rod refuses to believe that it will be a success. Forget Aussie dominance Uncle J, they've got Victorians here as well.


The IPL kicks off in 9 days.

The teams are ready; they've all got their names, their captains, their coaches, their players, their multi colored uniforms; the players have started arriving, training sessions have started, the schedule is in place, and arragements for the opening ceremony are being finalised !!

It sure will be quite an extravaganza !!!

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Saturday, February 2, 2008

Why Shoaib Akhtar is Better off Without a Central Contract


Posted by Q at Saturday, February 02, 2008 Pitched (8)
Its been a week since the PCB announced this years list of centrally contracted cricketers; a list that did not include Shoaib Akhtar. Knowing Shoaib, I was surprised that there were no press conferences called, no outbursts against the PCB, and no claims to higher ups being after his career. In fact there was no comment at all from him till yesterday.

Yesterday, while the Pakistan 15-man squad for the 5th ODI was practicing at the Gaddafi Stadium, they had a surprise guest in Shoaib Akhtar. Shoaib, dressed in addidas gear, joined the Pakistan squad for some bowling practice and he hurled the ball down at top speed (150ks +) for a good half an hour. He looked in top shape and there were no fitness problems whatsoever.

After his bowling burst he was hogged by the media who questioned him on several things ranging from his fitness to how he feels about not being centrally contracted. His simple answer was that he doesn't play cricket for money and he doesn't need a central contract to play for Pakistan. He also said he has nothing against the PCB and refused the retainership they offered him. See Shoaib's full comments here and here.

During last week I spent quite some time thinking why the PCB did not offer Shoaib a central contract, especially when they had spent millions on him over the last few years with doctors, personal trainers, lawyers, and what not. I spent an even more time trying to figure out why Shoaib Akhtar did not make any comments regarding the situation. For a player, who loves the attention and the limelight, to stay quiet was odd.

After speaking to some reliable sources I learnt that it was Shoaib himself who requested the PCB not to offer him a contract. A central contract with the PCB restricts players from playing county cricket, puts restrictions on certain endorsements, disallows players from traveling abroad for cricket matches without board consent, stops players from giving interviews to certain media channels, papers, and magazines, in addition to a number of other restrictions.

Thus Shoaib Akhtar, who is pursuing a bollywood career, has a number of endorsement offers from Indian brands, and is trying to negotiate a county contract, is definitely better off without a PCB central contract. The central contract he had last year gave him a monthly salary of Rs 200,000 - giving that up for a few millions through endorsing brands and acting in movies, while still being able to play for Pakistan, isn't that bad a deal is it?

The fact that Malik and Lawson invited Shoaib to attend the practice session and the selectors allowed it, probably realising that the back up bowling seen during the current ODI series wasn't up to scratch, goes to show that Shoaib's cricket career is probably still not over.

All those who thought that it might be the end of him and a no central contract would rid Pakistan off him for good, think again. IMO, he will be spearheading Pakistan's attack against the Aussies. And I am right behind him.

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Saturday, January 26, 2008

Misbah Elevated, Shoaib Akhtar Relegated...


Posted by Q at Saturday, January 26, 2008 Pitched (8)
The test series of the decade is winding up in Adelaide and Shaun Pollock is playing his last ODI series in South Africa against a listless Windies. On top of that Adam Gilchrist, the greatest ever wicketkeeper batsman announced his retirement from all cricket at the end of the days play today. He's playing his last test at the moment and the CB ODI series will see him bow out of the game forever. The fact that he will retire as the keeper with the most dismissals in Tests and ODIs is only apt for a man of Gilchrists stature.

Now that I have briefly discussed the world news that has been doing the rounds I'll move to the news from the cricket world in Pakistan, which has taken a back stage owing to the excitement generated by the IPL and the Adelaide test.

PCB's governing board made two huge decisions yesterday, which will mark out the path that the Pakistan cricket team will follow during the rest of 2008.

Firstly they decided to appoint Misbah ul Haq as the Vice Captain of the team. This is a great decision IMO due to several reasons.
For one Misbah has cemented his place in the XI in all forms of the game. Secondly, on current form, he is definitely Pakistan's best batsman. He has a sound head on his shoulders and has ample captaincy experience which runs over 7 years with Faisalabad. He is not fighting for his place in the team and being a permanent member, the Vice Captaincy will only add to his confidence. He shares a very good relationship with skipper Malik and has been very much part of the senior think tank along with Yousuf, Younis, and Afridi.

The Vice Captaincy has been juggled around for the last year since Malik became captain. From Asif, to Butt, to Younis. Finally it is with someone who is not continuously fighting injury, trying to cement his place in the XI, or trying to decide whether he wants to be captain or not.
The other decision that the board took is a very controversial one IMO. Shoaib Akhtar's central contract was cancelled and he was relegated to a retainership decreasing his monthly earning from Rs 200,000 to Rs 75,000. I heard that Talat Ali gave a very negative report regarding Shoaib in his manager's report for the tour of India. On the other hand, Lawson apparently gave very positive reviews on him. The PCB has publicly stated that they have had enough of Shoaib.

But do they not realise that without him Pakistan's bowling looks toothless. The Zimbos have treated Pakistan's new ball attack comprising of Tanvir, Samiullah, and Rao like club bowlers. Samiullah who made his debut in the 1st ODI has already been dropped after 2 very poor peformances giving away 6 runs an over in his 20 overs without picking up a wicket. Rao has looked aimless and I still don't understand how he has managed to play ODI cricket for Pakistan for 2 years now. Sohail Tanvir is promising but he is a support bowler at best coming in at 1st change after the likes of Shoaib, Asif, and Gul.

With the latter 2 injured were the PCB wise to cancel Shoaib's central contract and treat him like a fringe player? What exactly do they hold against him? That he is pursuing a bolly career? That he is injured too often? Or that he doesn't show commitment to the team's cause? In the tests against India, Shoaib looked like the only Pakistani bowler who was playing.

Sadly, I think this decision by the board has numbered Shoaib's cricket career. Being the egoistic maniac that Shoaib is, he will not take this lightly. I haven't heard of a reaction yet but it will come soon and I wont be surprised if he doesn't play for Pakistan again.

On a brighter note, Sohail Khan, Pakistan's latest pace sensation is all set to make his debut against the Zimbos in the 3rd ODI tomorrow. He has replaced Samiullah in the squad and will be sharing the new ball in the morning with his namesake Sohail Tanvir. I hope he can transform his domestic success into the international arena and I hope he can spearhead Pakistan's pace attack for a long long time. Maybe then I won't miss Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif.

Khalid Latif was also drafted into the squad for the 3rd ODI but I'm not sure if he will be playing tomorrow. Nasir Jamshed has done very well scoring 61 and 74 in the 2 ODIs and Salman Butt seems to be a management favourite to be dropped despite 2 failures. Lets wait and watch if Pakistan gives another opener a try.

I expect the same team to play with Sohail Khan instead of Samiullah, although I hope that Rao is dropped as well and Yasir Arafat given a game.

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