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Wisden Asia CricketBrian Close (England, 1976)
So much for respecting your elders. With England about to front up to West Indies’ all-new four-pronged pace attack, there was only one man to call – the masochistic Yorkshireman, Close, who was still up for a bit of rough and tumble at 45. Nine years after his last Test appearance, and a staggering 27 after his first, Close took one hell of a beating as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Co got stuck in. It would’ve been sickening if Close didn’t seem to be relishing it so much: he took to chesting short balls down like a centre-back. One gruesome evening at Old Trafford in particular, the Windies quicks painted Close’s body all the colours of the rainbow. And black.Wayne Larkins (England, 1989-90)
No more than a decent, if occasionally devastating, county batsman to most, Larkins had not played for England for over eight years and 85 Tests when Graham Gooch hand-picked him on his first tour as captain, to play against West Indies in their prime. In a rich, pre-Atherton era of duff England openers, it was still a major surprise: Ned Flanders seemed to have as good a chance as Larkins. Gooch said it was because Larkins had always been impressive against his county, Essex; closer inspection showed that Larkins had hardly scored a run against them. No matter, it worked: Larkins hit the winning runs in England’s historic victory in the first Test – their first against the West Indies in 16 yearsColin Cowdrey (England, 1974-75)
At the age of 42, and after 109 Tests of outstanding service, Cowdrey had earned the right to put his feet up. But when English fingers starting snapping and crackling like Rice Krispies in Australia, Cowdrey was flown down in an emergency. Four days later he was facing Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson at their most rampant on the Perth trampoline. Cowdrey couldn’t turn a tide that was already swimming violently against England – they were battered 4-1 – but as always he got in line and hung around, courageous to the last.Younis Ahmed (Pakistan, 1986-87)
Nobody has missed more consecutive Tests between appearances: 104, over a whopping 17 years spent serving a ban for touring South Africa. At 39, Younis came back into the hottest kitchen of all – Pakistan against India, in India. He lasted only two Tests. During the second, at Ahmedabad, he complained of back trouble, but instead of resting made his way to a discotheque. Imran Khan, the captain, made sure that it was his last game.Cyril Washbrook (England, 1956)
It was just another day at the office. But then Cyril Washbrook’s fellow England selectors asked him to leave the room. When Washbrook, aged 41 and out of Test cricket for over five years, returned, they asked him to return to the side for the third Test against Australia at Headingley following England’s defeat at Lord’s. He did, and coming to the crease at 17 for 3, struck a splendid 98, with England going on to an innings-victory.Bob Simpson (Australia, 1977-78)
At the age of 41, 10 years after his last Test appearance and nine years after he had retired from first-class cricket, Simpson was invited to captain, coach and cajole a young, Packer-gutted Australian side against India and West Indies. He thwacked 176 in his second Test back, and played spin as imperiously as ever, though his team went down in the Caribbean. Being a father figure to a group of young Aussies was good practice for Simpson: 10 years later he coached them to World Cup glory on the subcontinent.Carl Hooper (West Indies, 2000-2001)
Unlikely on any number of counts. First, that he’d quit international cricket two years earlier on the eve of the World Cup, when he was roundly castigated for leaving his country in the lurch. Second, that this most laconic, laissez-faire of men, once seemingly the antithesis of a team player, should return as captain. Yet for a time it worked: it was under Hooper that West Indies first saw light at the end of the tunnel. And it was telling that such an eternal underachiever should average 46 as captain as against 34 when not. Fate had another card left to play, however: the 2003 World Cup campaign, in which Hooper did very little wrong apart from lose the odd toss and fail to control the weather, turned out to be his last.Simon O’Donnell (Australia, 1988-89)
Most comebacks are dependent on selectorial whim. For O’Donnell, it was more serious than that. As a hard-hitting batsman and hard-to-hit death bowler he was a key member of Australia’s 1987 World Cup-winning squad. But after the tournament O’Donnell, in his mid-20s and in peak physical condition – he had earlier been offered professional terms to play Australian Rules football – was diagnosed with a cancerous lump on his ribs. Yet within a year he was back under the Baggy Green, and soon carting 74 off 29 balls in an Austral-Asia Cup semi-final. The cliché of the brave innings never seemed quite the same again.Fred Titmus (England, 1974-75)
Many cricketers have got down on one knee to slog-sweep; quite a few have played on one leg. But one toe? Titmus did. Aged 42, and seven years after he lost four toes in a sickening boating accident in the Caribbean – his left foot got stuck in a propeller – Titmus was recalled for his third Ashes tour. And though his offspin wasn’t especially successful, he stood up to Lillee and Thomson and crashed England’s highest score, 61, on the same Perth flyer that greeted Cowdrey, in his first Test back.Srinivas Venkataraghavan (India, 1982-83)
Dumped after the series against Australia in 1979-80, having gone nearly a decade without a Test five-for, it was a major surprise when Venkat returned, at 37, for a trip to the West Indies, partnering bowlers (Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Maninder Singh) who hadn’t even been born when he made his Test debut. Venkat’s last five-for had been in the Caribbean, in 1970-71; this time around he offered control, as always, but struggled for penetration. The following winter he drifted off towards a successful umpiring career.Aasif Karim (Kenya, 2002-03)
Karim retired after captaining Kenya in their disappointing 1999 World Cup campaign, and as his insurance business took off he hardly touched a bat or ball for four years. But he was whistled up, Roger Milla-style, for the 2003 World Cup to give Kenya a bit of experience, and despite a portly, balding figure that was a picture of innocuousness, gave the otherwise omnipotent Australians the heebie-jeebies with a surreal spell of 3 for 7 off 8.2 overs in the Super Six match at Durban. They were the last wickets of his career; as Verbal Kint said of Keyser Soze, “Like that, he’s gone”. But Karim had had his 50 balls of fame, and when the romance of the World Cup is on the agenda, he will not be forgotten.The ExtrasBob Taylor (England, 1986)
Having retired from first-class cricket two years earlier Taylor was at Lord’s for the first Test against New Zealand, as host for the sponsors Cornhill. On the second day, however, he found himself keeping wicket at the age of 45 as a substitute for the injured Bruce French.Ian Bishop (West Indies, 1992-93 & 1995)
It got him in the end – ending a career of ridiculous promise at 30 – but Bishop overcame serious back trouble to come back twice, each time with a serious bang, first in the crunch series Down Under in 1992-93 and then in England in 1995.

The ECB is pleased to be able to report that in the Frizzell County Championship match at Riverside today, Durham Captain Jonathan Lewis acted within the Spirit of Cricket in exercising his discretion to allow Derbyshire CCC to change their side after it had been nominated to the umpires.Derbyshire batsman Chris Bassano was taken unwell after the nomination of the teams before he had even had the chance to take to the field of play and it was subsequently established that Chris would not be able to play any part in the match. Under Law 1.2 Derbyshire were only entitled to a fielding substitute, with a fully participating substitute only permitted with the consent of the Durham Captain.MCC’s preamble to the Laws of Cricket entitled ‘The Spirit of Cricket’ and Laws 1.4 and 42.1 state that ‘the captains are responsible at all times for ensuring that play is conducted within the Spirit of the Game as well as within the Laws’. In giving his consent for Steven Selwood to replace Chris Bassano in the Derbyshire line-up Jonathan Lewis provided a strong lead in upholding the spirit of the game.It is hoped that Chris Bassano will be fully recovered within a week.

The Sharjah Cup tri-series tournament in the United Arab Emirates, scheduled to commence from April 1, could be in serious danger of being called off after South Africa announced their withdrawal on Monday.South Africa, who were scheduled to play against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the biannual Sharjah event, have opted to pull out because of fears of player safety following the outbreak of war on Iraq.”We value our players and officials and we cannot continue with the tour when there is concern about their safety,” Gerald Majola, chief executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, told Reuters in a press statement.”We received an advisory from the Department of Foreign Affairs informing us not to travel to the Gulf region under the current circumstances prevailing there.”We are, however, engaged in discussions with the tournament organisers as to possible alternative venues and or dates for the tournament to be held,” Majola said.Pakistan, who like South Africa, named a revamped squad led by Rashid Latif, following their failure to progress beyond the preliminary round of the World Cup in southern Africa, may have second thoughts regarding taking part in the competition if Sri Lanka also opt to stay at home.It may be mention here that Pakistan and Sri Lanka played a two-match series way back in December 1990 when India and the West Indies withdrew from a scheduled quadrangular tournament in Sharjah after the war broke out in the Gulf region as a result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.Pakistan cricket suffered huge financial losses since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US with various countries expressing their reservation to tour this part of the world for security reasons.Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), who had otherwise spent precious public money on numerous ludicrous ventures like foreign coaches and consultants in a futile attempt to the nation’s cricket fortunes, may still want its team to participate in next month’s tournament.But in case, Sri Lanka follow the example of South Africa and subsequently decide to stay in the safety of their home, Pakistan will be left playing against the likes of Kenya and Bangladesh in what would certainly then be a devalued competition.Meanwhile Pakistan will not pull out of next month’s triangular tournament.”Pakistan has no plans to pull out of the tournament even though we have been informed by the organisers that South Africa has withdrawn its team because of the Iraq war,” said a PCB spokesman.

Fitzroy R.S. de Mel, a highly respected umpire of the Board of Control forCricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) met with an ill-fated train accident whicheventually took his life on Wednesday evening.Initial reports indicate that de Mel who was returning home from work wasinvolved in a heated argument with another person, who is alleged to havepushed him from the Lunawa Railway Station platform when the train hadstarted to move. He was accompanied by his wife at the time of his death.De Mel (66) was employed as the assignment officer at the BCCSL, havingjoined the establishment in 1992 after he decided to retire from activeumpiring in the mid-eighties.He donned the white coat for 30 years and during that time, officiated infirst-class and representative matches and unoffical Tests.De Mel was highly respected in his field and played an active role evenafterwards being vice president of the Association of Cricket Umpires andScorers Sri Lanka (ACUSSL). He was made a life member of the association in1994 for his services to cricket and was also a member of the ACU ofEngland.During his time as an umpire, De Mel was employed in the Survey Departmentwhom he represented at cricket and later, in the Mahaweli Authority. De Melwas also a notable actor in dramas, the most famous of which was in HenryJayasena’s ‘Hunuwataye Kathawa’.His funeral took place on Saturday afternoon at the Anglican Church inLunawa, Moratuwa.

Craig McMillan has been thrown a lifeline and included in the New Zealand 12 for today’s World Cup game against South Africa in what selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee describes as the biggest selection decision of the year.McMillan, who was dropped for the match against the West Indies, has been in poor form for most of the summer.”Craig is acutely aware of the significance of tomorrow’s match not only for the team but for his own future,” Hadlee said in a thinly-veiled reference as strong as anything made in his tenure as selection chairman.McMillan will bat down the order in what is another vital game for New Zealand which has reconfirmed its stance on not playing in Kenya.Coming into the side for the match at Johannesburg’s Wanderers’ Stadium is pace bowler Kyle Mills, who has kept Daryl Tuffey out of the side while McMillan’s selection is at the expense of Chris Harris.The team is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.Hadlee has likened the importance of the match to a World Cup final.”If we lose this game, the reality is we’re not likely to progress any further in the tournament.”The destiny of the players’ is in their own hands and they know it.”We need to make history tomorrow by beating South Africa for the first time on their own soil [in a One-Day International] and, at the same time, the team will give themselves a very good chance of progressing to the Super Six stage of the tournament.”A win for the TelstraClear Black Caps will also put tremendous pressure on South Africa making the Super Six.”Meanwhile, New Zealand have said ‘No’ to playing in Kenya on Friday and are seeking ways of having the match rescheduled for South Africa.An important factor in their confirmation of their stance announced before the World Cup started has been the assessment of New Zealand Cricket’s security expert Reg Dickason.Dickason has been in South Africa in recent days during meetings with NZC chief executive Martin Snedden, the South African Police force and members of the Kroll security group.Snedden has also been in lengthy discussions with International Cricket Council executives and South African and Kenyan cricket representatives.”Mr Dickason’s assessment, having reviewed all the material available, is that the risk to player safety is still too high,” Snedden said.”The New Zealand Cricket Board, in making its decision today, has acted on that advice.””NZC has not given up hope of the game being rescheduled and will continue to work with the ICC on this issue over the next few days.”If the final decision is that the game will not be rescheduled, then the points issue will be addressed at that stage,” he said.

Last evening’s zonal club match under lights at Newlands saw the Western Gladiators squeak home by one wicket against the Academy Panthers off the last ball of the match.The final over began with 6 runs needed to overtake the Panthers total of 219/6 (scored in 45 overs). Wickets fell off the first two balls and 4 runs were still required with the last pair at the crease when Ryan Bailey ran in for the final delivery, which UCT captain Ryan Ten Doeschate dispatched into the Railway Stand to grab a thrilling victory for his team. Ten Doeschate’s cameo innings of 36 not out off 32 deliveries saved the day for the Gladiators, who lost wickets at regular intervals after a 98-run 2nd wicket partnership between Graeme Smith (63 off 48 balls) and Andrew Puttick (52 off 81) had put them firmly on the road to victory.Earlier a fine innings of 95 not out by matriculant J-P Duminy (121 balls 5 sixes and 3 fours) had rescued the Panthers from a parlous 46/3. He received able assistance from Ryan Bailey (28), Dominic Ridley (27) and Faizel Simon (24). Opening the innings, Alistair Gray (who later took 3 for 38 off 9 overs with his legbreaks) scored 23.Panthers 219/6 lost to Gladiators (222/9) by one wicket.Gladiators 8 points Panthers 2 bonus points (thanks to the narrowness of the defeat).

Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar Monday said the West Indies would be no pushover but admitted that he would be disappointed if his team didn’t win the Test and one-day series.”I will not repeat my prediction of a clean sweep against Bangladesh. But I will be disappointed if we don’t win the Test and one-day series against the West Indies,” Mudassar said on the eve of his team’s departure.Mudassar said the West Indies was not being taken seriously by the game’s pundits which was a dangerous thing to do.”West Indies strength lies in their bowling. They may have been bashed in Sri Lanka or some other place, but conditions in Sharjah are absolutely different,” he said.The West Indies, currently the whipping boys of international cricket, will be without Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan because of injuries.”West Indies might be without Lara and Sarwan. But we will also be without Wasim Akram who is an outstanding bowler and who could have made better use of the old ball. I don’t have a bowler who can replace him,” he said.Wasim bowled 20 balls in Dhaka before turning with a hamstring injury. He was overlooked by the selectors for the Sharjah series but Mudassar said door was open for the left-hander to join the team for the second Test starting Feb 4.”I have seen marked improvement in his bowling in the last two days. He is making speedy recovery and I sincerely hope he joins the team before the second Test,” he said.Pakistan named a four-man pace attack led by Waqar Younis who is probably the only bowler who is in form. Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar are all injury-prone and staging comeback after a layoff.”I am a bit concerned but I am confident Sami and Shoaib will come through. Sami is a bowler who can do anything anytime though he was a bit rusty in the last one-day international.”Shoaib looks fit to me and is also bowling well. But I agree that there are question marks since the fast bowlers will have to do a lot more bowling than they have been doing recently.” Mudassar has, however, pinned his hopes on spin duo of Saqlain Mushtaq and Danish Kaneria.”Going by the trend, the series should be dominated by the spinners and I believe Danish has a major role to play,” he said.Danish, he continued, had come out of age and was bowling brilliantly. “Although he cannot be compared with someone like Shane Warne, but he gets more bounce than Warne because of his height. He is a keen cricketer who has improved his overall cricket.”Mudassar said it was premature to say on the combination of the team for the first Tests, be admitted that Shahid Afridi was a serious contender to open the innings with Taufiq Umer.Meanwhile, paceman Mohammad Zahid’s comeback to international cricket was abruptly halted when he couldn’t depart to Sharjah with the team.According to highly placed sources, the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) failed to arrange visa for the fast bowler who last played for Pakistan three years ago.Sources further said Zahid might also miss the first Test. “His visa has gone into security clearance. Probably the confusion is because of his namesake. But it is highly unlikely that he would be able to join the team before the first Test,” sources said.Squad: Taufiq Umer, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq (vicecaptain), Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif (wicketkeeper), Waqar Younis (captain), Shoaib Akhtar, Danish Kaneria, Saqlain Mushtaq, Faisal Iqbal, Naved Latif, Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Zahid.

The Crusaders, led by Swan Richards, left off where they had finished their 2001 tour to Europe – with a convincing win against Vienna CC in glorious conditions in Seebarn. In 2001, Simon Burriss and Liam Buchanan had proven to be the principle stars, Buchanan scoring 115 off 85 balls, and this time around it was the Essendon trio of Aaron Mato, Clinton McKay and Brent Hutchinson, who starred with the bat.The Crusaders squad once again boasted an impressive line-up, with a whole array of up and coming Australian talent, many of whom have played for Australia U19, and with Victoria’s Assistant Coach, Greg Shipperd, who himself was a seasoned Sheffield Shield cricketer, and Shaun Graf (Hampshire CCC, Western Australia and Victoria) also amongst the tour leaders.Hutchinson was returning to Vienna where he had spent some time during 2002, and to the ground on which he had scored 80 off 52 balls on his début for Vienna CC. McKay’s undefeated 83 and Mato’s innings of 45 helped to set a demanding target of 240 in 40 overs, with Gary Stevens having the impressive figures of 8-4-15-2, removing both of the openers, although he was unable to bat due to an injury in the field, the score being boosted by some very clean-hitting at the end of the innings.Vienna CC and Austrian National Team captain Andrew Simpson-Parker scored 89 in only 76 balls, but was 6th out with the score on 132, but by that stage too many wickets had fallen at the other end, and despite cameos from Michi Nedoma, Paul Hudson and Parivesh Padhe, Vienna CC finished some 64 runs short of the target in their allotted overs.On the neighbouring pitch, Five Continents CC, playing a league match against last year’s Open League runners-up, Pakistan CC, won by 5 runs, with their 224-9 proving to be just out of reach for Pakistan CC. During the interval of that game both teams were able to watch the masterful Crusaders batting display. As ever, it is an honour to welcome the Crusaders to Austria, on their European tour, with their team proving a great example to cricketers in Austria, both in terms of technique and the spirit in which the players play the game.

Andhra Pradesh registered a tense five-run win over Tamil Nadu in their Ranji one-day match at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.Winning the toss, Andhra Pradesh decided to bat first and a third-wicket partnership of 95 runs between AS Pathak and Y Venugopal Rao formed the backbone of a final total of 260 for six. Pathak made 50 off 81 balls, while Venugopal Rao made 68 off 96 balls.Captain MSK Prasad scored 58 off 60 balls, but the real boost in the scoring rate came from RVC Prasad’s blistering 42 off 26 balls, with four fours and two sixes.Tamil Nadu lost Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani early, but Sridharan Sharath’s responsible knock kept his side in the hunt till the very final over. His 82 off 120 balls was well supported by skipper Robin Singh’s 50 off 56 balls.SV Saravanan’s 37 off 34 balls further down the order included some quick running, but Andhra Pradesh bowlers held their nerve to restrict Tamil Nadu to 255/7.

Sri Lanka’s Test hopefuls may have flopped, but future prospectMichael Vandort impressed with a fine century, as a Sri Lanka Board XImiddle order recovered from the loss of early wickets to score 326against India at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium today.India, fielding seven of the Test specialists who have just arrived inColombo, made an excellent start, as veteran fast bowlers JavagalSrinath and Venkatesh Prasad reduced the Board XI to 45 for three inthe first hour.Avishka Gunawardene (0), expected to be in the Test squad and tipped to make the final eleven, was caught behind in Srinath’s first over; Kumar Sangakkara (4), not guaranteed of a place despite good series against South Africa and England, was also mopped up by Srinath and Chamara Silva (11) followed in the tenth over.Vandort, however, fought back with a 152-ball century, the fifth inhis third year of first class cricket, adding 58 with HashanTillakaratne (26) in the morning, 31 with Tillakaratne Dilshan (6)after lunch and 61 with Board XI captain Thilan Samaraweera (76) forthe sixth wicket.The tall 21-year-old left-hander may have only played once for StJoseph College First XI in five years, but he is now on fringes of thenational selection after a productive first class season for ColomboCricket Club and a consistent series against Sri Lanka A.With Tillakaratne Dilshan having gone off the boil in recent times andAravinda de Silva not endearing himself to the selectors, Vandort’sinnings today could even have secured himself a place in the Testsquad to be selected on Thursday.He played positively today and was particularly strong off the frontfoot, especially with the cover drive. Against the left arm spin ofRahul Sanghvi he used his long reach to good effect, repeatedly andcleanly driving straight down the ground.He hit 19 boundaries and 116 runs, before a sharp catch by SadagoppanRamesh in the gully ended his innings and left the Sri Lankan’s on 195for five.The middle order continued to impress, however, as Suresh Perera (27)and Samaraweera added 59 entertaining runs after tea. Dinusha Fernando(24) also chipped in at the end before Rahul Sanghvi picked up thelast two wickets of the innings.Though the Board XI finished with a reasonable score the Indian campwill be happy with the form of opening bowlers Javagal Srinath andVenkatesh Prasad. Srinath extracted steep bounce from the wicket andbeat the bat regularly in the morning. He bowled three spells in alland picked the wickets of three out of the four Sri Lanka batsmen withTest experience, two of whom should be playing next week.Prasad was less spiteful, but still probing and economical. Indeed, onthe evidence of today, he could provide useful support to strikebowlers Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan if India play three fastbowlers in Galle.India’s concerns will be left arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, who provedexpensive and only looked like taking a wicket when the tail-enderstried to flog him to the boundary. Another worry will be the fielding:four chances were missed, two catches by Ramesh, one by Badani in theslips and a stumping chance by Dighe when Vandort had made just 43.