Good Bye Polly

The world of cricket saluted a new fast bowler in Dale Steyn as Pollock bade farewell to the international arena , where he dazzled for long .
The leading all-rounder just probed away on and around off stump, relentlessly all these dozen of seasons with unerring accuracy. Gifted with the genes from one of the finest left-handed batsman Graeme(Uncle) and spearhead of the 60s bowling attack Peter(father), Shaun had carried both abilities. Regarded as the bowler who would come extremely close to the stumps and high arm action, he had mastered the ability to bring back and leave batsman and that unyielding line made life difficult for batsman across the world .The world first saw the glimpse of the orange haired Pollock in the summer of 95. .
The summer of 96, South Africa, discovered a potent new-ball partnership with Allan Donald and this pairing was the catalyst of much of South Africa's success during the latter half of the 1990s. The emergence of Pollock inspired Donald to greater heights as the latter found himself with a partner who both complemented and challenged him. Arguably, the straightest bowler in world cricket, Pollock is able to move the ball both ways at a lively pace pinned down a number of batsmen year after year. At the start of his first-class career, though, he was both slippery and aggressive. As time progressed, maturity and ability to produce performance under pressure came to the fore. The finest hour came in Adelaide against Australia in 1998 when he probed on hour after hour in scorching heat to take 7 for 87 in 41 overs on a perfect batting strip. This was an exhibition of stamina and courage which he never lacked.
Pollock's career has been one of great distinction. In 108 Tests he took 421 wickets -- the most by any South African -- at an outstanding average of 23.11. It was only in the past two years that the average went up from about 21. He made 3781 runs at an average of 32,31 to enter into the cricketing annals as one of the world's best all-rounders.
He captained the country in 26 Tests, forced into the job after Hansie Cronje's fall from grace in 2000. The biggest challenge of his career - to lift a shocked and crestfallen South African side. He had a solid start to his captaincy, where he led SA to victory over Australia. Then he lost some credibility after a 3-0 drubbing in Australia in 2001-02. And, soon became predictable with his captaincy .He was criticized for lack of out of the box thinking. Eventually, he was sacked as captain after the 2003 World Cup, taking the blame for the debacle against Sri Lanka when SA read the Duckworth Lewis sheet incorrectly.

Critiques might argue that he has underperformed with the bat, but most test teams would be delighted to have him in their side even if he never scored a run. But on numerous occasions , he saved the day for South Africa with his batting.
Plagued by lack of pace over the past two years, he took it all with a grace and dignity singularly lacking in players today. Inherited from the great Pollock family, he embraced all the old values of fair play and grace under fire. Needless to say that he was great role model for younger players , with his clean image , and flawless behaviors on and off the field.
Pollock missed the first Test against Australia at home in early 2006 with a back injury and was relegated from opener to first-change by the third. Amidst all this, slowly he became the first South African to take 400 Test wickets. Pollock continued his fine form against the touring Pakistanis next, despite being surprisingly rested for the final Test . Though his nagging brilliance around off stump remained his pace and ability to take wickets at the top of the order has dipped. He made a strong statement by winning the man of the series award twice in a row. Frugal with the ball and useful with bat he offered prized balance and breathing space for his captain.
Pollock wanted to go on his own terms; courtesy the South African selectors were reluctant to clearly decide about his future role. But, he chose the right time before he had to experience the ignominy of being axed.
The future looks bright; as the likes of Morne Morkel and Steyn, who has been earmarked as the successor to Pollock, have shown promise to carry South African Cricket into a new era. However, they have huge shoes to fill in the likes of Pollock and his predecessor, Allan Donald.

Umpires win matches




The Sydney test would be known for the umpiring decisions than cricket on display. It not only helped Australia to take an unassailable lead but also sparked the debate whether technology should be more used to minimize the human errors, so that there is deadlock to the extent that it jeopardizes the tour. Finally it was alleviated when ICC blinked and removed Bucknor from officiating in Perth.
There is still a scope for improvement of umpiring and the way out is to have a pool of umpires which have not crossed the sell by date .Umpires are not only facilitators but have a role of diffusing a volatile situations at various junctures in the match.
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All good things must come to an end. Bucknor has had a long career and before his performance dumps him out of ICC Elite Panel, he must go as a dignified man. Mark Benson, elevated to the ICC Elite Panel in April 2006 should have handled the situation better given that umpires are not only arbiters but have a critical role to play in diffusing tricky situations. Hence it becomes imperative to groom more umpires and have rigorous checks for them before they officiate at the highest level. Also, the role of a captain is significant to ensure that the game is played in the right spirits .Wining is important but at a price that Ricky Ponting has paid.
The Australians are known to play hard and aggressive cricket but sometimes in the process , the spirit is often forgotten .The captain is often termed” as good as his team” and Ricky Ponting must know that a lot of yongsters look upto the present international cricketers as role models .Whether or not the player must exhibit a high moral rectitude and walk if they know they are out or wait for the arbiter to decide as that is his job would continue to be point of contention. More often than not , the true self comes out whether to be what one is or think about the team and still hold ground if it is all about winning . If ICC promotes Cricket, should it also not play a crucial role in protecting that spirit?

A little bit of animated faces , a grin from the bowler , a few words exchanged makes an interesting scene for the viewers. But when it crosses limits , that’s when its not cricket .The Australian crowds can be nasty not to mention the media .In modern cricket, where the stump microphones can catch almost everything and lip readers can interpret what is being said players are under the scanner as never before .That is where the role of umpires and match referees come into the scene ,who can calm the player down. It would be interesting to see if Brad Hogg also meets with the same sentence as Harbhajan did .
Organizations have different cultures, so does various cricketing countries .Some words may be offensive in one part of the world while the same might not be in other parts .Its very hard to demarcate or categorize words which are offensive or otherwise

Meanwhile, the ball is in ICC’s court. To promote cricket and yet maintain the sanctity of the game are challenges it faces currently.
While banning on field chattering may be taking an extreme step but ensuring restraint among players for the usage of words might just alleviate the situation.