Hussain blasts England's time-wasting tactics

sain blasts England's time-wasting tactics

Not impressed ... Australian captain Ricky Ponting reacts to England's physio Steve McCaig running on the field.
Photo: AFP

If I were Ponting, I would have been angry too, and would have told the physio to get off. In those situations England have got to be smarter

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Former England captain Nasser Hussain has attacked the team's time-wasting tactics during the first Ashes Test against Australia as "amateur and embarrassing to watch".

Hussain said he supported subtle attempts at time wasting in order to win, but the blatant tactics used by Andrew Strauss's team bordered on the ridiculous and were bad for the sport.

"It wasn't a street-wise move at all, it was village green stuff. It was amateur and embarrassing to watch," Hussain said, in his column in London's Daily Mail newspaper.

"And it was bad for the game - more like diving to win a penalty than delaying a throw in," he continued.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting slammed England for a lack of sportsmanship after the controversial conclusion in Cardiff to the dramatic drawn first Test.

Ashes-holders Australia were poised to go 1-0 up in the five-Test series before England's last-wicket duo of James Anderson and Monty Panesar held out for the final 40 minutes to salvage an unlikely draw.

But twice during the 10th wicket pair's 69-ball stand, England's 12th man ran onto the field to offer Anderson batting gloves while a physio was eventually ordered off by the umpires after making it to the middle on the second occasion.

Hussain, England captain between 1999 and 2003, said time wasting was an "everyday fact of life" and he supported "whatever it takes to win or save a high-stakes match".

But he said the England team needed to smarten up and not use tactics "that makes them or their sport look silly".

"Watching the 12th man run on with gloves, followed by a physio who wasn't needed because no one was injured, looked terrible and it didn't even waste much time," he said.

"It didn't spoil a classic Test match but it did lead to a slightly farcical finish, which was a shame.

"If I were Ponting, I would have been angry too, and would have told the physio to get off. In those situations England have got to be smarter."

The second Test starts at Lord's on Thursday.

Fletcher tips spirit on Punter's wounds

THE time-wasting row that engulfed the end of the Cardiff Test escalated into hypocrisy and farce on Tuesday when England's Ashes-winning coach, Duncan Fletcher, said Ricky Ponting was in no position to accuse the English of gamesmanship because he demonstrated only a "vague" understanding of the spirit of cricket himself.

The man whose imaginative use of substitute fielders pushed Ponting to boiling point four years ago remains intent on getting under the Australians' skin and he used his newspaper column to question the Australian captain's sportsmanship after Ponting expressed his displeasure with England's delaying tactics during the match-saving partnership between Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar at Sophia Gardens on Sunday.

"England will be delighted they left Cardiff with a draw - and no doubt amused that they head for Lord's with a lecture about the spirit of the game from Ricky Ponting, of all people, ringing in their ears," Fletcher wrote in The Guardian. "If any side in the world doesn't play within the spirit of the game, it's Ponting's Australians, yet here he is sitting in judgment of England because he's frustrated that his bowlers failed to do the job."

Fletcher's tirade struck a farcical note when he said that if he were still England coach, he would not have allowed 12th man Bilal Shafayat and physiotherapist Steve McCaig, an Australian, onto the field for a second time in as many overs as the agitated Australians ran out of time to take the final wicket. This from the man who sat on the balcony and taunted Ponting after he was run out by substitute fielder Gary Pratt at Trent Bridge in 2005.

Fletcher said Ponting had earlier behaved badly by imploringly holding the ball out towards umpire Aleem Dar after he turned down a catch off Paul Collingwood as England fought a tense battle to save the Test.

"Can the Australians really argue that England's tactics are worse than the way Ponting places pressure on the umpires and makes them look bad in front of a huge crowd and TV audience? And we haven't even mentioned Australia's sledging," he said. "The Australians are getting very prickly - just like four years ago - and that's a good sign for Andrew Strauss and his team."

England escaped sanction for time-wasting after umpires Dar and Billy Doctrove failed to make a report for a breach of the laws or the code of conduct, despite ordering the 12th man and physiotherapist from the field.

Ponting had openly stated his hope that the matter would be brought before match referee Jeff Crowe, but batsman Mike Hussey later emphasised the importance of not carrying the controversy into the Lord's Test, where the Australians will be desperate to establish a series lead after dominating in Cardiff for the best part of five days.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain said the English had crossed the line with their blatant stalling tactics, basically suggesting they should have been more subtle about it

Freddie's farewell a welcome distraction: Ponting

ANDREW FLINTOFF had no sooner set his battered body one final challenge - to inspire England to an Ashes victory in his swansong Test series - than Australian captain Ricky Ponting claimed the champion all-rounder's impending Test retirement could create a major distraction for the English team in a nation eager to farewell its hero.

Flintoff is a powerful force inside and outside the England dressing room, and it remains to be seen whether that force will be harnessed for or against the home side after the 31-year-old announced he would become a limited-overs specialist following the Ashes.

Flintoff promised to depart the stage he lit up with his heroic performances in the 2005 Ashes with a bang. "That's the plan," said Flintoff, who will continue to play one-day internationals for England and Twenty20 with his IPL team, Chennai.

"It's a weight off my shoulders, once you say it. It would be nice finish on a high. I have been involved in an Ashes-winning side before and that would be the perfect end to my career [against Australia] at The Oval."

However, Ponting said the timing of Flintoff's announcement could damage England's campaign. "Knowing the stature he has in the game in England, I can see it turning into that," Ponting said. "Whenever he plays a game … you can see that the fans here are very passionate about watching Andrew Flintoff play. If they know that it's his last chance to play here and at Edgbaston and Headingley, then I'm sure there'll be a bit of a circus around it. If that is the case, it will create some distractions, but that's not for us to worry about."

Flintoff is hopeful of playing in the Lord's Test after bowling some sharp overs on his injured knee at training on Wednesday. He had been pondering retirement from Tests after the Ashes for several weeks but the recurrence of his knee problem during the Cardiff Test forced the issue.

"It's not something I have just thought up overnight, it's been in my mind for a while, regarding this series. With the knee flaring up again, the timing felt right.

"There's been a lot of speculation over my future over the last few weeks, and I wanted to get it out there," said Flintoff, who has missed 25 of England's past 48 Tests. "After four ankle operations and having knee surgery, my body is telling me things, and I'm starting to listen now. I can't keep playing games and waiting to be fit, for my own sanity and my family having to live with me going through two years of rehab in the past four.

Waugh declares: 'Hughes is twice as tough as I was'

Steve Waugh launched his international cricket career aged 20. Chloe Saltau talks to him about the current gun 20-year-old, Phillip Hughes.

Steve Waugh has declared that Phillip Hughes is twice as tough as he was at the same age, as the young Australian continues his gruelling Ashes examination on cricket's most prestigious stage.

Waugh overcame a weakness against short-pitched bowling early in his career and Hughes faces a similar challenge, especially if England include Steve Harmison in their attack for the second Test, starting at Lord's tonight, Sydney time.

Hughes sought advice from the great batsman about the secrets to success in England at a cricket function following his stunning debut series in South Africa earlier this year.

Like Hughes, Waugh was thrown into international cricket at the age of 20 and came of age on the 1989 Ashes tour, plundering 393 runs before England managed to dismiss him.

Hughes's approach is less orthodox than Waugh's was but the former Australian captain is adamant his temperament and technique are strong enough to combat England's strategy of bowling short and at the body of the small, left-handed opener.

"The great thing about him is he is so mentally tough for a 20-year-old," Waugh said. "I certainly wasn't half as tough at that age. He is a very together kid, he loves cricket [and] he wants to make a name for himself at this level." Given Waugh evolved into one of Australia's toughest cricketers, his assessment of Hughes's mental fortitude is high praise.

Waugh proved himself against the short ball on the 1995 tour of the West Indies, using his evasive skills, getting up on his toes and putting away the hook shot.

Hughes's trademark is the powerful punch through point but Harmison made him look very uncomfortable with bouncers in the tour game against England Lions and Andrew Flintoff employed the same tactics in the first Test.

However, Waugh said: "He doesn't care how he looks, it's just how many runs he's going to get and he's going to get a lot of runs. If people think he's got some sort of weakness mentally or technically and they take their foot off the pedal, they will pay the same price South Africa did.

"I know he is really still when he hits the ball, he's got a great eye and he has played that way for 10 or 12 years. He knows his game better than anyone."

Waugh also predicted that Ricky Ponting would break Allan Border's longstanding Australian runs record during the second Test. Ponting needs 65 runs to eclipse Border's mark of 11,174 career runs following his commanding 150 in the first Test in Cardiff.

England on a slippery slope at Lord's

Captain's watch … Australian skipper Ricky Ponting gazes out upon Lord's Cricket Ground from the dressing room balcony this weeAdvertisementPeter Roebuck

July 16, 2009

Wonderful record at Lord's bodes well for their prospects in the forthcoming Test match. England have won plenty of Test matches at their headquarters but have not beaten these opponents on this ground since Hedley Verity exploited a wet wicket - and he was killed in World War II.

Whereas Cardiff offered warmth and intimacy, Lord's has a dignity that resides in every brick, every painting, every face. It holds the story of the game. Thankfully, Lord's also provides a firmer pitch than Sophia Gardens, and a tighter contest between bat and ball can be anticipated. Over the years, Lord's has provided many masterpieces and very little mischief.

Now it is a new generation's turn to sample Lord's unique atmosphere. Something about Lord's inspires the baggy greeners, a collection more respectful of tradition than they sometimes pretend. Lord's is the stuff of dreams, and a far cry from farms beyond Bourke or banana plantations up north. Nor does it disappoint.

The pavilion was built on the grand scale by 19th century visionaries, the dressing rooms are vast and the walk out to the middle involves weaving a way down several staircases, between numerous perambulating members, through the Long Room with its hush and paintings and finally down the steps and onto the most famous field in the game. Already Peter Siddle has got lost in the building, causing his captain to send out a search party.

Besides its history, the eerie feeling of following in Don Bradman's footsteps, Lord's other challenge is its slope. No other pitch of any standing obliges players to allow for an incline. In most sports, flat surfaces are taken as read. Yeovil craftily erected its football ground on a hill but they play in the minor divisions. Even so, top teams dread visits to the town. Golf greens undulate thereby testing putting skills. Although the Lord's slope seems small, cricket is a game of inches. Some players adjust superbly. Glenn McGrath's nip-backers were almost unplayable. Others stray to leg from the Pavilion End or wide of the stumps from the Nursery. Batsmen can use the slope to advantage or let it prey on their minds. The Australians need to take it into account.

On the other hand, they ought to forget about the time-wasting nonsense from Cardiff. Obviously, sending out a physio - an Aussie as it turned out - was a ruse intended to alert the last-wicket pair that time not overs had become the main consideration. Otherwise the hosts did not play up. Far and away the longest delay was caused by injuries to Graeme Swann as he copped bumpers on the body. It's high time umpires told batsmen to face up promptly or retire hurt. Apart from that, Ricky Ponting had little reason to grizzle. Anyhow, it's done and dusted.

Although the first Test is also done and dusted, Australia can take heart from their domination of the match. And there is room for improvement. Siddle was subdued until the last afternoon. Mitchell Johnson was off colour as well. His action requires technical precision. Of course, he knows that his arm was low in Cardiff but remedying faults demands a full understanding of the operation. Mechanics can fix cars in five minutes because they know how they work. Simplicity is quite a complicated business.

Australia's other supposed worry lies with Phillip Hughes. Numerous observers felt he was fragile in Wales. Many locals identified him as a weak point, and he did not seem to have a coherent answer to short balls directed at his body. But he has made runs all his life, and has constantly made critics eat their words. He is, too, a fast learner. England ought not to discount him. In any case, he was hardly the main thorn in their side. They need to figure out ways to remove Simon Katich, Marcus North and Brad Haddin.

Before the series the teams appeared to be well matched. A gulf appeared between them in the first Test. Lord's will tell us whether it was temporary or permanent.

Scott discovers the secret to himself

July 16, 2009

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As the British Open tees off today, Adam Scott feels his best golf is ahead of him … despite a form slump that had him miss six cuts in a row. Doug Ferguson reports from Turnberry, Scotland.

Slump no more … Adam Scott practises at Turnberry. He says he will only get better thanks to a new approach to his game.
Photo: Getty Images

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Adam Scott embraces his Australian golf heritage and the comparisons to major champions whom he would like to join someday, the sooner the better. This one, however, made him wince. The topic was Ian Baker-Finch. "I'm not sure I like where you're headed with this," Scott said.

Baker-Finch captured the claret jug at Royal Birkdale in 1991 and was among the top players in golf until one of the most documented slumps in history. He went 31 consecutive tournaments without making the cut, the last straw his round of 92 at Royal Troon in the 1997 British Open.

Scott managed a smile, perhaps because he believes the worst is behind - and it didn't last that long.

"It's only been three months," he said.

Maybe so, but it has felt like an entire season.

Scott is not the only player who has gone through a rough patch this year.

Padraig Harrington, the two-time defending champion at the British Open, had missed five straight cuts until winning the Irish PGA last week, a tournament that amounted to little more than a club championship. Ernie Els has gone nearly 18 months without winning.

Both, however, are major champions.

Scott will turn 29 today when the British Open begins at Turnberry.

In a career marked by steady progress to as high as No.3 in the world last year, it was astonishing to see him vanish from leaderboards from February until June.

He missed six cuts in a row, including The Players Championship, where he hit one tee shot onto the adjacent golf course. The questions piled up faster than the big numbers.

How bad was his injury from surfing in Australia, the sixth time he had dislocated his kneecap? What was he doing surfing? Was he more motivated making the cover of fashion magazines or golf magazines? Who was he dating now?

Those close to him grew concerned when he only made news for the company he was keeping - actress Kate Hudson for a week in Hawaii, tennis star Ana Ivanovic for the last few months - than the shots he was hitting.

After scores of 77-81 at the Memorial tournament last month, Scott finally snapped. And so did one of his clubs.

"I think it was three months of frustration," Scott said of the 7-iron he broke. "Just my luck, I needed it six more times that day. And the Memorial is the only tournament without a repair van, so I played with 13 clubs the next day. But I felt better about it."

Scott has won a tournament every year since his first full season in Europe in 2001. He was the youngest to win The Players Championship. He was the kid who swung just like Tiger Woods, before Woods changed his swing.

Then, he couldn't make a cut.

"For nine years, I thought I could win anywhere and I would just fall into a major one of these years," Scott said. "It was hard to comprehend why this was happening. It's never taken me so long to figure this out."

How far had he fallen? Just over a year ago, Scott was featured with Woods and Phil Mickelson in that "1-2-3" grouping taken off the world ranking. He nearly fell out of the top 50 until he put three good rounds together at the Scottish Open last week and tied for fourth, moving up to No.43.

"My play was disgusting," Scott said.

He thought he was working on the right drills to get his swing back to where it was. He stood on the range and hit the ball where he was looking. Then he stuck a tee in the ground and put a scorecard in his pocket and everything changed.

"I didn't have a clue," Scott said. "Everyone was telling me it looked good, trust it. But I fell apart on the course."

Englishman Lee Westwood once climbed as high as No.4 in the world until his game went south, falling out of the top 100 during two years of misery. He sought help from four swing coaches until finally, thankfully, getting back on his feet.

Baker-Finch went through nearly a dozen coaches, which he said ruined him.

"The key is not to panic," Westwood said. "You've just got to go back to the basics. Generally, you'll find it was an obvious thing."

That's just what Scott did. After his 81 at the Memorial, he retreated to Queenwood Golf Club outside London. He didn't invite Butch Harmon, his long-time coach. He didn't ask help from his caddie, Tony Navarro.

A club employee worked the video and Scott went to the practice range, sessions that lasted up to four hours, six straight days.

Before long, he watched the flight of one ball, which was just as he imagined it should go. Then came his first big test, Bethpage Black for the US Open. He opened with a 69, easily made the cut and even saw his name on the leaderboard early in the final round until a string of late bogeys that only cost him money.

He played in the final group at the weekend at Loch Lomond, and the smile grew wider, even as the tabloids quizzed him about Ivanovic.

He is not over the hump. He still doesn't have a major. Still, he believes he is closer than ever, not because of steady progress but a surprising detour.

"I'll be a better player than I ever was before," Scott said. "I'm sure of that."

AP

'Stale' John Terry wants to join Manchester City, says Mark Hughes

• City manager confident of signing 'Mr Chelsea'
• Terry thought to favour a change of scenery

John Terry, the Chelsea captain, may be seeking a new challenge according to the Manchester City manager, Mark Hughes. Photograph: Adam Davy/Empics Sport

Mark Hughes broke his silence on the John Terry affair today to speak of his confidence that the England captain wanted to join Manchester City and publicly question whether the man who has portrayed himself as Mr Chelsea needed "a change of scenery" for the good of his own career.

Hughes described Terry as an "outstanding player and an outstanding person" and made it clear that City had targeted him because they had received information that he was agitating to leave Stamford Bridge. The City manager accepted there were some players in the world, such as Steven Gerrard and Lionel Messi, who could never be persuaded to leave their clubs but argued that Terry did not fall into that category and painted a picture of the 28-year-old beginning to feel stale at the place where he has spent his entire career.

"We would like to think we could offer John a different challenge," Hughes said. "He's been at Chelsea a long time and I know from my own experience as a player that when you have been with a club for a long time you get to a point when you think you need a new challenge and that a change of scenery would re-ignite certain things within you.

"It is not a question of finance, or money, it is about a different challenge, and John being at a different stage in his life and his career, and maybe that is why there hasn't been a response [to commit himself to Chelsea] because John is seriously thinking in those terms. I went through that process myself as a player and I can understand if that is the way he is thinking."

Those remarks will inevitably go down badly at Stamford Bridge at a time when Chelsea are aggressively trying to repel City's advances and have not wavered from their public stance that Terry is not available at any price. Hughes, however, felt sufficiently emboldened to question whether Terry recognised City were "on the cusp of something" and he was speaking from a position of strength after several months of detailed inquiries behind the scenes to ascertain the defender's exact position.

The last message Hughes received was on Monday morning when he was reliably informed that Terry wanted, if possible, to leave Chelsea in as dignified a way as possible but that, were it necessary, he was also willing to force through a move. City's information, as revealed by the Guardian in February, is that he has become disillusioned about Chelsea's perceived lack of ambition in the transfer market and the frequency with which the club have changed managers. Information has also reached City that he has difficulties with several other members of the dressing room and, as Hughes indicated, that he feels like his career needs a new challenge. The huge sums of money on offer cannot be overlooked, with City willing to make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League on around £250,000 a week.

City have spent £54m on Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry this summer and Hughes's spending will go through the £200m mark if, as expected, the club complete the £25m signing of Emmanuel Adebayor today. The fee has been agreed but Adebayor has asked for permission to sleep on it. The Togo international is worried how the move would be perceived in Africa but Hughes is confident of getting his man. "It's well documented that we moved away from Samuel Eto'o and decided we wanted Adebayor, and it's quite close."

City's next move will be to inform Chelsea they are willing to pay in excess of £30m for Terry. On two separate occasions Hughes pointedly described Terry as being a Chelsea player "at this moment in time" and the manager added: "We know there are other areas of the team we need to address now. We've made an offer to Chelsea and I've made my feelings known in terms of my respect for John Terry. I think he's an outstanding player and an outstanding person. I've thought that since I first met him when he was a young boy at Chelsea and I was a player there, and if the opportunity has presented itself to bring a player of that calibre to the club we will try our hardest to do it. We've already had conversations with Chelsea to that regard and we would like the opportunity to speak to John Terry now."