By IANS
Melbourne : Australia speedster Stuart Clark, who hastened India’s downfall in the first innings with a four-wicket haul in the ongoing first Test here, had ‘sorted out’ each and every rival batsmen on his laptop beforehand.
“Most of the guys have those PSPs, the portable PlayStations, but I take my laptop with me everywhere we go,” Clark was quoted as saying in The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We can get pretty much anything we want: each batsman’s scoring shots, strengths and weaknesses. We can even get things like the way they bat leading into dismissals, and how they are when they first come to the crease. It’s as much a part of preparing for a Test as training and practice,” he said.
“Using the difficult pitch conditions to full effect, the right-arm paceman suffocated the Indians with supreme use of line-and-length to claim 4-28 from 15 overs…” reported the paper.
Clark opted for a fuller-pitched delivery to bowl to Rahul Dravid. The delivery cut into the right-hander’s pads. For Sachin Tendulkar – the prized catch on the day – Clark bowled a shorter length and prompted India’s top-scorer to drag on to his stumps. To Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni, both of whom he removed for ducks in the same over, the right-arm paceman reverted to full and straight, resulting in a caught behind and leg before, respectively.
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I had no talent as a cricketer, says Australian PM
New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, while commenting on the first Test, disclosed that former England captain Colin Cowdrey was a bigger childhood hero for him than any of his countrymen.
“Rudd revealed that despite watching Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson at their quickest at the Gabba in Brisbane in 1974-75, it was an ageing Englishman who caught his eye,” wrote The Australian.
Rudd said he had come down on the train from Nambour on the Gold Coast after finishing High School. “I think I was 17. (Watching) Thomson and Lillee was just riveting as a kid. And of course, it was a great series, though I should say this … my hero from that series was Colin Cowdrey,” he said.
“I grew up on a farm in country Queensland, Eumundi. I used to roll the arm over in the backyard. I was no good at it; I just used to like it. Then at school I played for a couple of years for a country team called the Yandina C team and I was absolutely abysmal … I had absolutely no talent, ability, timing or co-ordination.”
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Gilchrist’s tribute to dead farmer
Wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist wore a black armband in the first Test to mourn the death of his friend, farmer Bill Rowe, who died on Boxing Day from injuries received in a Christmas Day beach attack in Geraldton, Australia. Rowe was from Yalgoo, a tiny historic town 500 km north of Perth.
“Gilchrist and his wife Mel are friends with Rowe’s brother Mike and his wife Mel. The Australian wicketkeeper decided to wear the armband after discussing it with Mike Rowe on Wednesday night,” reported The Age.
“I was shocked and saddened to hear the news,” Gilchrist told the paper.
Mel and Mel Rowe met in a Subiaco mother’s group several years ago and have struck up a close friendship.
Apart from the armband, Gilchrist raised $18,000 for each of his four dismissals in the Indian innings for the breast cancer fund-raiser McGrath Foundation.
The wicketkeeper is wearing pink gloves throughout the first Test to draw attention to the foundation, which was set up by former teammate Glenn McGrath and his wife Jane.
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Keith Stackpole’s wife confesses
Former Australian Test player Keith Stackpole’s wife Peg has confessed that she had no idea about the game until she married the right-handed batsman 45 years ago.
“When Stack and I first started going out, he was playing for Victoria and I had absolutely no idea what cricket was, then he got picked for Australia. It came as a bit of a shock the fact he was up and off,” Peg told The Age.
“His first tour was to South Africa and he had already signed up to play Lancashire league so that would have meant he would have been away for almost 12 months, so Pete – our little fellow – and I had to go over to Lancashire and live there for six months.”
Peg said that she gradually started understanding the intricacies of the game.
“It was great but I am not a traveller so it was a bit difficult how our lives started off, but we are still together after 45 years – so it was not too bad.”