Sport | Cricket
Aussies falter in year of tumult
Australia's great team showed signs of decline and Twenty20 cricket rattled the classic five-day version during a tumultuous year for the sport.
- Reuters
- Published: 22:40 December 20, 2008
New Delhi: Australia's great team showed signs of decline and Twenty20 cricket rattled the classic five-day version during a tumultuous year for the sport.
Security on the Asian sub–continent sent tremors through the game with militant attacks in Mumbai in November adding to the gloom of economic downturn in India, cricket's commercial hub.
Financial and security concerns were evident when a Twenty20 Champions League in India featuring eight teams from five nations and $6 million (Dh22 million) in prize money was put off until October next year.
England resumed an aborted tour of India, earning widespread praise, after getting reassurances about security.
Franchises of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 League, launched with a fanfare in April, are already said to be tightening their belts ahead of the next edition.
Top–ranked Australia began the year by equalling their own world record for consecutive Test wins.
However, that 16th win in the Sydney second Test against India in January caused an uproar when spinner Harbhajan Singh was found guilty of racially abusing Andrew Symonds.
The Indian board threatened to call off the tour until the charge was downgraded on appeal to using abusive language and Harbhajan was let off with a fine. Australia won the series 2–1.
The bowler was later given a domestic ban after slapping India team mate Shantakumaran Sreesanth in an IPL game.
Indian skipper Anil Kumble accused Australian players of poor spirit after the test was marred by controversial umpiring and the Australian media attacked the team for lacking grace in victory.
Australia lost the next game at Perth, their first defeat for almost a decade at their favourite ground.
A 2–0 loss in India followed in November, exposing big gaps left by the retirements of bowling stalwarts Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
Australia face second–ranked South Africa in a home test series this month but the chasing pack, including England, fancy their chances of upstaging them as the number one team.
Pakistan did not get to play a test at all as teams shunned the country over safety fears after a spate of suicide bombings.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed the Champions Trophy in Pakistan until next October while strained bilateral ties following the Mumbai attacks mean India look unlikely to go ahead with their tour from January.
The situation caused worry ahead of the 2011 World Cup to be staged in the sub–continent.
India exploited the Twenty20 craze by launching the IPL, prompting fears among boards that its multi–million franchise model could divide player loyalties between doing national duty and chasing money.
While the IPL matches in the summer were well attended the ICC was concerned about a slump in crowds for tests.
England players kept away from the IPL but were lured into a lucrative Twenty20 game staged by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford.
The Antigua event proved unrewarding for England who lost a $20–million, winner–takes–all game against a West Indies selection while the British media denounced the match as a vulgar circus which had sold the soul of cricket.
India's Sachin Tendulkar bettered Brian Lara's world–record Test aggregate of 11,953, having already secured the most one–day runs and hundreds and test centuries.
Compatriot Virender Sehwag hit 319 against South Africa in Chennai in March, emulating Lara and Don Bradman as the only players to score two Test triple hundreds.
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