Euro 2008 - Overall Dream team

GK: Iker Casillas (spain): It may take more than cryptography on the creative side, or brute power on the physical side to break the Casillas code. The 'Real' goal-keeper may have been put to sweat in just one match, but that was more than ample demo of this keeper's value. After successfully frustrating the imposing Luca Toni (who has had negative fortunes this euro), he blocked penalty kicks from Daniele De Rossi and Di Natale, to propel Spain to the Semi-Finals where he was rarely tested. Casillas ended up having an easy outing in the finals, doing his simple routine of punching away Schweinsteigers free-kicks and other set-pieces. And he's the EURO2008 winning captain. What more is needed?

LB:Phillip Lahm (Germany): Lahm has been terriffic along the flanks and always involved in every attack, cutting in every now and then, backing up for creating attacks out of clearances and preventing counter-attacks. Lahm scored a very beautiffully orchestrated decisive goal in the quarter-finals vs Turkey. His final outing turned out to be a mis-adventure after Fernando Torres got the better of him and Metzelder to score the only goal. He gave way to Jansen in the second half.

CB: Pepe (Portugal): One of the untiring defenders, another from Real, who runs the entire length of the field and breaks forward in attack in a jiffy as he showed when scoring Portugal's first goal of Euro08. He is equally dangerous in set pieces, and could have had a goal or 2 more from corner kicks.

CB: Christian Panucci (Italy): Without him Italy could've been out in group stages. Besides his equaliser to Adrian Mutu's goal for Romania, he joined fellow Azzuri defenders in effectively blocking Buffon's territory from the French.

RB: Sergio Ramos: (Spain): Ramos has been another one of those exciting wingers who have gone forward to actively work with either Silva or Iniesta, tricking and stepping the defense putting in dangerous low crosses for Villa and co. His prior duty which is defense has also been done to perfection by him working against Camoranesi, Del Piero and then against Podolski in the final. He won the ball when needed preventing wide runs develop to crosses into the box on numerous occassions, ably assisted by Puyol most of the time.

CDM: Marcos Senna (Spain): Well I am confused what to write about a holding-mid. Senna was the silent watch-guard for the Champions. Holding midfielders have their work cut out. To try and win possession back and keep the playmakers and goal scorers at bay, take advantage of ineffective clearances and also joining in with the defense when things look dangerous. He may not have been at the mix of things in the attack as were Xavi, Iniesta or Fabregas, but then by 'Holding' back Senna did his duty to the full.

LM: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands): Sneijder's goal against Italy is rated as the best in terms of build-up in this Euro. It was the highest quality of football seen in the tournament where he combined beautifully with Van Bronkhorst. In the next match, Sneijder addd more agony to an already 1-3 down France with a thunder from outside the penalty box in he 91st minute. And without Sneijder's accurately directed free kick, the dutch would have lost the quarter finals within 90 minutes. Yet another 'Real' star.

RM: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany): I'll call him BS due to his long name. BS had an interesting start to EURO after coming on as a sub and getting sent off. But there he came back to the starting eleven in the QFs against Portugal. Clearly the more commanding of the number 7s of both sides. BS opened the German account to slide in a low cross from the left by Podolski. He then delivered incisive free kicks from the left to help Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack to their goals. It was almost a one man show by BS that day as Portugal had put in 2 goals. In the SFs, after Turkey drew first blood, it was BS's deflection to the far post that got the Germans on their way. BS would have hoped for a better impact in the Finals, but he did enough to be in the Diego Maradona's dream team ( and mine too).

LF: Andrei Arshavin (Russia): Arshavin missed the first rout against Spain, and the victory against Greece due to suspension. From there on he was the talk of the tournament. After scoring and providing against Sweden to push Russia to the QFs, Arshavin orchestrated and gave a terrorizing time to the dutch (who were supposed to terrorize Russia, after bashing Italy and France) defence by moving forward cleverly and setting up Russia's 2nd goal and scoring the 3rd, both in extra time, and preventing penalties that would've ended Russia's run a game earlier. No wonder big clubs are fretting for him. And we shall wish him best to realize his dream move to a Spanish club.

CF: David Villa (Spain): The top scorer of EURO08 has to be in this team. The only hat-trick scorer of EURO08 in a 4-1 demolition of Russia. And a vital goal against Sweden in the 91st minute helped Spain to be the champions that have won all their matches. Italy managed to suppress him. Unfortunately, a calf injury put him out of most of the SF against Russia (would he have scored another couple of goals there??) and also the final. But still he's is the top-scorer.

RF: Semih Senturk(Turkey): When there is a goal needed, there is Semih. Late heart-breaking goals have been the theme of Semih and turkey. Czezh lead 1-0, Semih comes on as sub and equalises before Nihat fires 2. In the quarter finals, Croatia lead 1-0 in the 119th minute thanks to Klasnic. But Semih equalises in 121st minute to force the penalties which Turkey win. In the Semi(h)-finals, Germany lead 2-1 80th minute for Semih to equalise in 82nd minute (ouch! Lahm scored one more for Germany, but where did Semih go??? but thats too much to expect!!!).

So what about the rest of the team?? Manager - obviously Guus Hiddink. He did it with the South Koreans. And Russia were made brilliant. Anyone else could have lost control after losing their 1st game 4-1.

Substitutes:
1. Cesc Fabregas (Spain): The great substitute. He came on to replace injured Villa in the all important SF, and produced the same effect without scoring as did Villa in the group match against the same opponents.
2. Edwin Van Der Sar (Netherlands): The GK of a team that didnt get past the QF played a good part in even them getting there. There were too many spectacular saves on the way. Ribery (he was the only one doing something), Toni, and how can the saves he made to Kolodin's shots be ignored?
3. Lukas Podolski (Germany): Germany's highest scorer, besides being employed as a left mid.
4. Fabio Grosso (Italy): This Italian left back did his most to combine with the attack and create goals which didn't come much. But he still was one of the most actively running and puffing players on the field for the Azurris.
5.LF:Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia): In Russia's dream run, Roman was Russia's dream boy, and Andrei Arshavin was his dream side-kick. Roman exhibited, beautiful control, good direction and some of the most deft touches for goal. His Goal against the Dutch is probably the most memorable purely on its importance and the way Russia were playing then. His first-round goal against Spain too should be given credit for beating this list's Goal-Keeper.

Eleven of EURO2008's best

With just a match to go in this football fiesta, it's time we look at some of the players who provided nothing short of quality.

Multinational 11: (no country is repeated) - made to a 4-3-3 for convenience
GK: Iker Casillas (spain): It may take more than cryptography on the creative side, or brute power on the physical side to break the Casillas code. The 'Real' goal-keeper may have been put to sweat in just one match, but that was more than ample demo of this keeper's value. After successfully frustrating the imposing Luca Toni (who has had negative fortunes this euro), he blocked penalty kicks from Daniele De Rossi and Di Natale, to propel Spain to the Semi-Finals where he was rarely tested.

RB: Cosmin Contra (Romania): Romania may have not gone beyond group stages, but they did enough to be a real pest to the killers of the 'group of death'. If Italy and France were held to draws, it was duly because of Contra's marking of the likes of Florent Malouda, Karim Benzema, Ambrosini and Toni. He's one from the non-qualifiers that deserves a place in some list.

CB: Pepe (Portugal): One of the untiring defenders, another from Real, who runs the entire length of the field and breaks forward in attack in a jiffy as he showed when scoring Portugal's first goal of Euro08. He is equally dangerous in set pieces, and could have had a goal or 2 more from corner kicks.

CB: Christian Panucci (Italy): Without him Italy could've been out in group stages. Besides his equaliser to Adrian Mutu's goal for Romania, he joined fellow Azzuri defenders in effectively blocking Buffon's territory from the French.

LB:Phillip Lahm (Germany): Lahm has been terriffic along the flanks and always involved in every attack, cutting in every now and then, backing up for creating attacks out of clearances and preventing counter-attacks. Lahm scored a very beautiffully orchestrated decisive goal in the quarter-finals vs Turkey.

RM: Libor Sionko (Czech Rep.): Sionko has been the source of the Czech goals, scoring one, as well as setting up Jan Koller in the match vs Turkey that the dramatically lost.

CM: Luka Modric (Croatia): Modric proved why Tottenham Hotspur or so interested in him. His time started and ended with penalty kicks. After scoring a 4th minute penalty against minnows Austria, sadly he missed in the shoot-out against Turkey in the quater-finals. But Croatia's progress to that level could've been doubtful without. Modric's quality football and orchestrating the attack between himself, Olic and Srna.

LM: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands): Sneijder's goal against Italy is rated as the best in terms of build-up in this Euro. It was the highest quality of football seen in the tournament where he combined beautifully with Van Bronkhorst. In the next match, Sneijder addd more agony to an already 1-3 down France with a thunder from outside the penalty box in he 91st minute. And without Sneijder's accurately directed free kick, the dutch would have lost the quarter finals within 90 minutes. Yet another 'Real' star.

RF: Semih Senturk(Turkey): When there is a goal needed, there is Semih. Late heart-breaking goals have been the theme of Semih and turkey. Czezh lead 1-0, Semih comes on as sub and equalises before Nihat fires 2. In the quarter finals, Croatia lead 1-0 in the 119th minute thanks to Klasnic. But Semih equalises in 121st minute to force the penalties which Turkey win. In the Semi(h)-finals, Germany lead 2-1 80th minute for Semih to equalise in 82nd minute (ouch! Lahm scored one more for Germany, but where did Semih go??? but thats too much to expect!!!).

CF: Zlatan Ibrahimovic(Sweden): Sweden played just the first round, but Zlatan ended his goal drought for Sweden with two goals, in a victory against Greece, and a near draw against Spain. Zlatan is Sweden's consolation.

LF:Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia): In Russia's dream run, Roman was Russia's dream boy, and Andrei Arshavin was his dream side-kick. Roman exhibited, beautiful control, good direction and some of the most deft touches for goal. His Goal against the Dutch is probably the most memorable purely on its importance and the way Russia were playing then. His first-round goal against Spain too should be given credit for beating this list's Goal-Keeper.

The bright Tests in the dark shadows

So much of T20 has happened. The intriguing battles that were fought out at Old Trafford and Trent Bridge were largely pushed into dont care categories by many indian cricket fans. Thankfully for some reason i decided to pay some attention to it. The match provided the best turn arounds in recent times. After all it is not too often a team wins by 7 wickets after almost following on. And poor Daniel Flynn didn't have too many people talking about him here. Monty and Vettori bowled neck to neck in terms of their left arm spin talents, and both were rewarded with 5 wicket hauls.

Notably, Daryl Harper the test umpire said that he can vividly remember the progress of quality test matches, but can't remember a T20 he saw a week ago except if it involved a demolition of sorts. Quite true i would say for one who follows test cricket regularly. It is not always that a talented left handed opener who was dropped comes back and plays a role in win like that. Not always does a right arm hit the deck bowler on debut make a big impact. Ian O'brien's 4 for in the 3rd test should have got a different result for New Zealand. But instead it was Pietersen and the impressive Tim Ambrose who got England out of a mess at 86-5. Stuart Broads antics with a 64 odd propelled them to 364. In the end it was James Anderson's snake charm swing bowling that caught the worlds eyes. The wickets of Redmond and McCullum, with them playing around the ball are the delicious sights of cricket. And the wicket of Daniel Flynn was a intruiging mind game. And Ryan Sidebottom finished them off in the second innings with 6-67, and england won by an innings and 9 runs. Quite contrary to the start.

Meanwhile the Windies held on resoundingly to a draw. Ramnaresh Sarwan with help of a 2nd day interuption nullifeid the effects of Katich, Clarke centuries, and a Venom Spitting spell from Brett Lee that made Windies collapse from 316-4 to 360 odd all out. And Stuart Macgills retirement didn't get due attention.

Come On, Test Cricket must live.

Charge completely drained...

One thing Adam Gilchrist and co of the Deccan Chargers, Hyderbad can be happy of is that the DLF IPL (Inconsolable Premier League) is over. Very Very Special Laxman may have faced only the initial part of the drubbing, but the captain nor his deputy could give anything special. So much so that they couldn't register a win at home and skipper Gilchrist had to apologise for his undefined crime to the home crowd, which was spirited enough to attend their last match in search of some last repsite. Gilly accepted the harsh truth that their skills needed to be polished ( and it doesn't take a genius to realise that he meant the play during the final overs of batting). Many a time, 3 or 4 matches to my knowledge, they have squandered good starts to end up only in the region of 140-150.

It all seems as a season destined to go wrong, when after getting into a fighting chance in their opener against kolkata, they had to make a return after lights went out. Even though getting an eye back in is more difficult for batsmen, the bowlers lost some momentum too as Ojha pushed a couple of wides. Then came traumatic ends, with andrew symonds being plundered by Virender Sehwag for 30 runs, and Shane Warne and Mohammed Kaif for 15 runs to bring about more losses. Then for a change Mumbai were drubbed by Gilly's 42 ball 100 as they lost by10 wickets in the fallout of Harbhajan's slapgate. Thier next and final victory came against Chennai where too Gilly's 50 set it up. Expected to improve from thereon, everything other than that happened.
It can be seen how bad its gone as the then bottom-sitters Bangalore managed a double on them.

Everyone knows that the bowling was the weak link. Chaminda Vaas couldn't produce the same effect as Shaun Pollock for Mumbai. The same comparison can be made of Scott Styris (who had played 45 t20's prior to IPL) and Dwayne Bravo, and also Herschelle Gibbs and Sanath Jayasuriya as far as batting is concerned. But despite the claims of bowling falling short RP Singh was always in the hunt for the purple cap and Ojha has 11 wickets in 13 games and has been quite impressive. Paidakalva Vijaykumar along with RP Singh has been Gilly's death overs man in the past couple of games. It was still nice to see Gilly encouraging him after Vijay completed a 8 run 19th over despite 3 wides. The experience will be very valuable for Vijay.

The other star for them in the IPL was Rohit Sharma. Hailed as the heir to Sachin Tendulkar, Sharma lived up to it with the kind of clean striking and sensible control of aggression. He is their leading run scorer and donned the orange cap once. VVS Laxman compiled a couple of 50's after he promoted himself to opening to give time for himself and gave great pleasure with the flowing strokeplay he is attributed with. Venugopal Rao flunked at the opening slot, but played some near-match-winning innings against kolkata, and also the following games. He has proved to be able to switch on perfectly. Possibly he'll find himself back in the indian squad after just one series in 2005 against Sri Lanka. But the big blow package, Shahid Afridi, blew up big time. Save 2 innings against Chennai and Mumbai of 20 n.o. and 33, others seemed very immature and turned into losses which could've been victory had he made more thought. He is the biggest culprit for me, but as all know thats the way Boom-Boom plays.

But the agony is over and as Gilly once again said, the most difficult time could be from now if they have to stand any chance of avoiding this again. Plenty of work to do before the next edition. Every detail of their play need to restudied, lot of skill honing to be done. But the biggest challenge will be to recover from this holocaust, especially for Gilly who's never experienced this kind of defeat streak in his career. But after all, he is Gilly, who is well known to rise to challenges and perform when least expected. And VVS, Gibbs etc are pro's and they should be able to correct things around. Hopefully VVS and Gilly, will ensure that VVS stays as ' very very special'

Chelsea - the season that was....

This was the season everything was expected to go wrong for chelsea after chaos in september. It somewhat did in the end, but only after getting close to a dream season. So close that little fairness from the forces above could have earned them a coveted double. Avram Grant replaced the irreplaceable 'special one' Jose Mourinho, and he endured a season of total criticism from Chelsea fans, including me, until i was forced to rethink about him after realising how good a position chelsea were in about mid-april. Grant earned unpopularity chiefly by replacing the special one, and also due to questionable tactics and questionable changes that turned some victories to draws in the premier league, but the fact remains that they lost only one premier league match since december, and that this is the first time chelsea have reached ECC finals and almost won it.

Other things that have stood out this season another transfer flop in a 15 million deal for Nicholas Anelka, the frenchman from bolton scoring just 2 goals in the premier league since arrival in january and one in the Champions League. Florent Malouda scored only on the opening fixture, though he's done considerably better since april. Michael Ballack has been nothing short of wonderful since his return, and played a big part in chelsea's fortunes besides proving that he can be effective alongside Frank Lampard, something many doubted.He also served well as the captain in Terry and Lampards absence. Drogba missed a month and a half to the African Cup of nations, but has given chelsea important goals especially the ones against arsenal in the EPL and the against Liverpool in the Champions league semifinal. But he was not close to his threatening best shown last season. Frank Lampard continues to be the heart of Chelsea, doing every bit in creating chances, scoring goals and one will never forget the penalty he took against liverpool to take chelsea to champions league finals, a week after his beloved mother, Pat's demise. Carvalho has been good at the back, pressing forward whenever needed with a couple of goals to show, and a couple of send-offs wont stain his season. Captain John Terry had a month off to injury incurred at the emirates stadium thanks to emmanuel eboue. Except for the disheartening miss in the final penalty his season was a clean one. 30 million man Andriy Shevchenko is still being wasted due to injury for most of the season, even though he has impressed every now and then especially during mid November-December in Drogba's absence. It was otherwise an eventless season for Sheva and may have to take over as the spearhead as Drogba seems keener on a move to Sheva's former club AC Milan. Chelsea can take heart of being the second best in Europe and approach the next season afresh with a bang.

Season Highs:
1. vs Birmingham City- Chelsea start their campaign of the EPL on a winning note.
2. vs Manchester City - a 6-0 win improves a weakining GD and the morale of chelsea
3. vs Rosenborg - Chelsea come back to win 4-0 away at rosenborg after a tame draw at home which was followed by Mourinho's departure.
4. vs Aston Villa - though Chelsea managed a draw they managed 4 goals and saw Michael Ballack find his scoring form which eventually proves vital for chelsea
5. vs Arsenal - with the race for the title getting tight and arsenal losing form this was chelsea's best opportunity to improvise. Despite arsenal scoring from unlikely Sagna, Drogba's brace earns them an important win.
6. vs Everton - having lost crucial points the same week conceding late to Wigan, this victory away at goodison park closes the gap.
7. vs Liverpool - liverpool have a annoying record vs chelsea in champions league. With Hyypiia putting in an own goal in the 94th minute of first leg, chelsea won the second leg with a drogba brace.
8. vs Manchester United - Chelsea took the title race to the final game thanks to a brace by Michael Ballack
9. vs Manchester United - Chelsea may have lost the final but the way they sent Manchester united looking to the skies with, defying all frustration that came along, they still showec thorough determination, as Petr Cech asved Ronaldo's penalty. And Manu had to win 6- 5 on pens despite heavy hand of luck. A double runner, up losing only in the last minutes in both is a applaudable achievement.

Season Lows:
1. vs Rosenborg - Chelsea start their champions league in poor style drawing 1-1 at Stamford Bridge to Rosenborg. Within days, Jose Mourinho left the club.
2. vs Manchester United - Chelsea lose in their first game under Avram Grant at Old Trafford.
Didier Drogba speaks out about low morale in the team under Grant.
3. vs Fulham - Chelsea draw at home against Fulham, extending their streak without a win to 4 games and end up in 4th in the table.
4. vs Tottenham - With Chelsea pinning their hopes of silverware on retaining the Carling Cup, Spurs dealt a severe blow with a 93rd minute winner from an unlikely source, Jonathan Woodgate.
5. vs Barnsley - Having already upset Liverpool in the previous round, Barnsley caused another as Odejayi heading in a goal after Cech's attempt to claim the ball failed. Further disappointment for Chelsea.
6. vs Fenerbahce - Chelsea created anxiety by losing 2-1 away in the 1st leg of the Champions League Quarter Finals, with their goal too only an own goal by the opposition.
7. vs Wigan Athletic - Emile Heskey struck in a 90th minute goal causing Chelsea to drop 2 points at home. It ultimately proved vital as otherwise Chelsea would've led Manchester United by 2 points on the final fixture, causing different situations of pressure besides making Wigan go for more.
8. vs Bolton - Chelsea needed nothing than a win to push Manchester United to the end. But thanks to some debatable decisions by the referee Steve Benett in Manchester's match changing Wigan's approach, Manchester united led by 2 goals in the final minutes. The news demoralised Stamford Bridge and Chelsea yet again let in a late equaliser.

Bhajji - the cupboard of controversies

With Sudhir Nanavati banning Harbhajan Singh for 5 odis's and Sharad Pawar saying "The BCCI have also told him and any further misconduct on his part would invite a life ban.", it makes me wonder whether, if the statement in followed in word and spirit, Bhajji will last beyond the Test series in October against Australia given his strongly deplorable relations with them.

Bhajji's un-understandable hate exclusively for the Aussies seems to have stemmed way before the age of Andrew Symonds's or Mathew Hayden's establishment in the Aussie team. In his Debut series in Sharjah involving also New Zealand, he was found guilty of breaching ICC Code of Conduct for "pointing to the pavilion" after dismissing Ricky Ponting during an ODI in Sharjah. He was fined 50% of his match fee and given a one-match suspended ban. Whether that triggered Ponting to have a red-eye toward Harbhajan, thus building up to a opera series this january is a wild thought, but that instant was the beginning of a series of poor behavior throughout Bhajji's career.

Harbhajan was involved once again in another notorious test match ( though the match referee was the object of notoriety) when he was found guilty of breaching the ICC's Code of Conduct for showing dissent at an umpire's decision and attempting to intimidate the official with repeated appealing.

Coming back to Bhajji and Aussies, he went public with derogatory comments for the first time when he proclaimed the aussies as 'whiners', after the aussies labelled the surface sub-standard after losing the last test of a 2-1 victorious series which was played at such a bad surface in Mumbai's Wankhede stadium that made the match end in 2 and half days despite rain interruptions.

It seems he didn't leave aussie retired players even if they were the coach to the indian side. After a horrible stint for the indian side losing the champions trophy at home and a series in malaysia that they failed to reach the finals, he called coach Greg Chappell as a strict disciplinarian who had sought to instil fears and insecurity among team members. He later apologised for his comments.

Then started his stint that is fresh in the memory of everyone - the monkey chapter. It started in a one-day match in India in the series prior to their tour down-under. Andrew Symonds complained that he was abused by a section of the crowd. Later in the infamous Sydney test, all that we know happened and Bhajji had the BCCI rope in a kiwi official for the hearing, and went out saying he didn't call Symo a monkey, but a word in hindi meaning ba****d. And the nation was behind him all this while and Bhajji was made a hero.

And winning a series first time wasn't enough for him. He had to end the series by calling Hayden a liar. Atleast that was in response for being called a 'lil obnoxious weed'. But he want on to even question Gilchrist's credibility, one of 2 aussie players to visit the indian dressing room congratulating them on their perth victory.

And now after this slapgate with another bad-boy of the indian team ( is bhajji so bad that he can make another bad-boy cry like he needed preity zinta's hug to stop the tears???), it will feel like a big act of betrayal for the BCCI for making them a fool now. And with Nanavti and BCCI's verdict one is seriously left to wonder on how long this will go. Probably the weed is being pulled out now......

(with inputs from www.espnstar.com )

Flemo and the legacy....

Martin Crowe left his international career, not getting to touch the coveted World Cup despite raising expectations by performing to that extent upto the point the disappointment came. Probably much the same could be said of this very focussed and inspirational captain of New Zealand.
Stephen Fleming who has the record number 0f matches captaining the Black Caps, will be reflecting on the many more he could have done in his reaching-out career. But Fleming can be considered a genius in his trade. His most valued prize in terms of name and recognition is probably the ICC Knockout tournament that they won in 2000. Fleming has also led his team to bilateral series victories both home and away, besides a position in the finals of the VB series in australia, a final series in which australia were knocked out, which directly led to the sacking of legendary Steve Waugh from ODI captaincy.
In terms of team building and team ethic few are better examples. From handling the likes of Nathan Astle, Daniel Vettori, Chris Cairns and Chris Harris and maintaining them at their full potential, Fleming has left some well charged batteries in New Zealand's future by nurturing the likes of Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram and the lot.
As a batsman Fleming had a very shiny style. His clips off the pads, off and on drives and backfoot punches to square leg are exquisite. His strike-rate may be suggestive of a sheet-anchor but the case was otherwise. Fleming opened the batting in ODI's alongside the dashy Nathan Astle and his century in the group stages against South Africa in the 03 WC which had a hand in eliminating them in that stage itself will be among his very remembered ones. In Tests Fleming partnered many with Richardson, Sinclair, Bell besides also coming at No.3 quite a few times. He has a best of 274 not out against Sri Lanka, and had an 'average' average that required him to make a 50 plus score in his last test innings to take it past 40.
Fleming is also a accomplished slip fielder and now holds the record for the most number of test catches. Being authoritative at slips and having the best view of all proceedings in test matches is probably paradise for captains.
Fleming will remain New Zealand's best captain even though all kiwis may hope that the junior of the best will make the do better.

Marcus clears the suspense. Sadly!

Successful England opening batsman Marcus Trescothick has now formally announced his retirement from international cricket after repeated pulling out of tours to stress-related problems.However, he will continue to play for his county Somerset.

Trescothick has probably been the best opening batsman for england in more than a decade as suggests his career stats of an average greater than 37 at 85.41 per 100 balls in odis and a 43 average in tests at 54.5 with a best of 219 against south africa. He was an exponent of the uppish cover drive, walking down the wicketbefore dismissing it with utmost beauty. His square play, particularly the slog sweep lent him good success against the wizard Muralitharan both home and away. Equally good to watch was his Jayasuriya-style hits over mid-wicket against even faster bowlers ( i remember him doing it to even Glenn Mcgrath in a ICC trophy match that england won)

He has the fastest century by an english opener in odis out of 81 balls against india in a 2002 tour where he was adjudged man of the series. Besides, Trescothick bowls occasional right arm seam, sometimes effectively when there is assistance. Trescothick has also occassionally kept wickets and captained England in Nasser Hussain's absence a few times and later Michael Vaughan.

Trescothick was a key performer in the 2005 ashes victory in which he scored over 400 runs. Trescothick's key partners have been Nick Knight in odis, and Michael Vaughan in tests.

But his appearances stopped abruptly after pulling out of the ICC champs trophy in India and later the Ashes tour to australia which England lost 0-5. From then he gave hints that he would like to return to international cricket if health permits, before finally announcing his retirement.

For me it was a very shortened run of what could have been an even more enchanting career than what it has already been. May God be with Marcus!!