Jun 29 2009
Symonds, Akhtar Boys Who Simply Will Not Yield
Under normal circumstances, one would wonder why not yielding is a negative quality when the very same attribute is one of the most essential ones needed in the game, especially at the crease. But Andrew Symonds and Shoaib Akhtar have had their Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde moments and their not yielding to reason has repeatedly landed them in the choicest of controversies and some of the most unusually awkward situations for their boards. Their career tales read like endless sagas – stories of how one’s brilliance can be overshadowed by the power of one’s vices. With team managements getting increasingly intolerant of waywardness, are they left with any other choice other than to let go of talent generally considered indispensable not only to their respective nations but also, to the game itself?
Akhtar – A ‘No’ Show
One can only imagine what the story in the Pakistan dressing room would have been had Shoaib Akhtar made it to England for the ICC World Twenty20. But there were plenty of talking points even before the tournament went underway as Akhtar found himself once again docked for want of conforming to the norms.
Originally included in the fifteen man squad for the ICC World Twenty20, Akhtar was reportedly suffering from genital viral warts and missed the preparatory camp. To compound the situation, Akhtar failed to comply with the rules within the central contract that stated clearly that any injury or subject matter of fitness should have been brought forth to the medical panel of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Instead Akhtar furnished a medical report from a private doctor after missing the camp and with the wounds expected to take more time to heal, the PCB did not want to run the risk of letting Akhtar play in a remote possibility that he could get tangled in a random drug test during the tournament because of the PCB’s unawareness of the medication prescribed.
Akhtar had repeated this practice before when he took up the matter of his knee injury with a private doctor instead of seeking the board’s help towards possible surgery ahead of the series against Australia. His form and fitness created a major friction for the Pakistan captain Younis Khan who was clearly disgusted at the selectors’ choice in Akhtar who struggled in the one day internationals against Australia in the U.A.E. His inability to bowl out his quota of overs put him in serious doubt about whether he was still good enough to be playing in this Pakistan side.
Akhtar may have well overcome his skin infection and may be eager to play for Pakistan again but after his performance against Australia and his violations, the PCB may have a hard time convincing themselves as well as Younis Khan and Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam of Akhtar’s prowess with the ball. Once again the question of Akhtar’s retirement from cricket becomes imminent as his future now lies in the hands of the interim selection committee chairman, Wasim Bari, after the resignation of Abdul Qadir.
Symonds – Breach or Betrayal
Cricket Australia appear to have answered the questioned about Andrew Symonds’ retirement by cancelling his central contract for the forthcoming season after initially giving it to him. Symonds’ latest indiscretion was a senseless drink he enjoyed watching a rugby match with some friends in England. While Symonds was not allegedly drunk, his brush with alcohol constituted a breach of the contract devised in collusion with Cricket Australia and the rehabilitation programme he underwent.
The rehabilitation and counseling became mandatory for Symonds after he decided to go fishing and instead skipped a team meeting ahead of a home encounter with Bangladesh last year. It was just one of many indiscretions that Cricket Australia had kept reprimanding and thereafter, forgiving Symonds for, including showing up drunk ahead of a match against Bangladesh in Cardiff in 2005. Reports of pub brawls, rifts with opposition team mates, insecurity over CA’s support of him in the infamous Sydney gate episode with Harbhajan Singh and the Indian team, only added to Andrew Symonds’ reputation as the modern day version of the proverbial bad boy.
Had Symonds managed to steer clear of the alcohol, he would have made a return to a major international cricket event. Symonds had already failed to convince the selectors of the merit of having in the team during the series against Pakistan (Andrew Hilditch had forewarned Symonds of the consequences) and despite Ricky Ponting’s confidence, He did not make the cut for the Ashes as the selection panel preferred Shane Watson and Andrew MacDonald.
But Symonds knows all about indiscretions and the price he has paid for them. Symonds was sent home after the fishing episode and he ruined his own chances of making it to the tour of South Africa when in the midst of his rehabilitation and counseling course, he unleashed unsavoury remarks in a radio interview about New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum who was playing in a domestic tournament in Australia. The latest episode in England has had people sympathizing with Symonds because he was not drunk. But going by the broad lines on which the contract may have been offered to him, Cricket Australia made the decision swiftly and promptly after sending the allrounder home, this after battling his biggest and longest duration of breakdown which many believe began with his repeated run ins with Harbhajan Singh in India which proved to be the final breaking point for the burly all rounder from Queensland.
Indispensable Stars – Priceless Value
Andrew Symonds has been an outstanding and consistent performer for Australia. A late comer into the team, Symonds signaled his strong presence from the very beginning as a bludgeoning hitter of the ball and as a useful part time bowler who could switch from spin to seam at will. A ferocious competitor, Symonds complemented rather perfectly the aggressive Aussie attitude.
While there are a-dime-a-dozen instances when Symonds has been the sole match winner for Australia and integral to his team, his lingering performance continues to be in the first match for Australia in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The situation in the Australian dressing room was one of turmoil after Shane Warne was discounted from the equation at the eleventh hour, quite literally, for taking diuretics and violating the code under banned substances.
Symonds had been around the Australian team for sometime. But it was that match that really showed Symonds’ nature as an invaluable commodity when he scored an unbeaten 143 after Australia found themselves in a hole against Pakistan at four down for eighty-six runs. Australia eventually went onto defend their title but Symonds’ efforts had been the outstanding highlight of the tournament. He repeated it in the Tests as well, the latest coming in the Test against India in 2008 when he bailed out Australia from six down for 138 to score his second Test century. It was this made-for-a-big-match quality that gave Australia the luxury of having a fearless all rounder at their disposal. The only thing that indisposed Symonds was Symonds.
The case could not be very different for Akhtar as far as that last statement is concerned. Akhtar was a revelation from his early days on debut. His double wicket destruction of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in Kolkata during the Asian Test championship sent shivers down the spines of batsmen. His ability to consistently test the speed gun made him a dangerous bowler to face. Comparisons with Brett Lee often dogged him. But where Lee thrived in an environment of adherence, Akhtar lost direction in situations he quickly lost control of.
A man who could singlehandedly destroy a team purely on his ability as an out and out fast bowler, Akhtar denied himself the fame of being reckoned as one and instead kept answering questions about his troubled career. Akhtar was fortunate to have the Kolkata Knight Riders pushing hard for his inclusion despite the PCB ban for five years over misconduct. He responded with a four wicket burst in the first match he played as KKR vanquished the strong Delhi Daredevils line up. But controversy and Akhtar rarely disassociated themselves from each other when Akhtar accused former Chairman of the PCB, Dr. Naseem Ashraf, of asking for a cut of the players’ salaries accruing from the IPL. Akhar faced a defamation suit to the tune of nearly four million dollars before a face-to-face talk saw the suit eventually being dropped. While the amount may appear staggering to many, Akhtar’s ability could have easily seen him earn that money multiplied faster than his deliveries had his focus stayed on the game with his own interests in it.
Fallen Heroes- the Self-Destructive Streak
No more free rides. Cricketers generally enjoy a certain degree of immunity for crossing the line in rather fine terms. But in the case of Andrew Symonds and Shoaib Akhtar, the line has been tread to the extent that boards have decided to part their ways with the player altogether than continue to leave a rotten apple in the dressing room only to have a room full of undesirable plucks.
Andrew Symonds was amongst the final few players left in a transitional squad. For Ricky Ponting, Symonds would have been an invaluable senior member in the team. Instead he has to often defend and reinstate the all rounder. The change of culture within the dressing room also has been hinted as having affected Symonds’ motivation, disconnecting from the new batch of young cricketers who adhere more to maintaining their fitness than to the traditional concept of discussing cricket after hours over a couple of drinks. It has been reported that his Australian team mates who stood by Symonds during the controversial issue of racial vilification are now shocked at Symonds’ indifference towards the team and cause. For a man unable to maintain his equilibrium over a consistent period of time, easy money is also being suggested by some of his former team mates as being the reason for Symonds’ slack motivation to continue to tow the lines and rules set in stone by Cricket Australia. He now remains non committal about his future, even as state teams are lining up to sign him on.
Shoaib Akhtar has loved being in front of the camera as much as he has bowling to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar. A man given to his own ways and devices, he has often cried foul and alleged defamation of his name every time a controversy was levelled against him. Ironically even injuries did not pass the scanner for controversies. From facing dope charges to having physically assaulted his coach, the late Bob Woolmer, to taking the bat to his fellow fast bowler, Mohammad Asif, Akhtar has even faced charges over feigning injury to skip games, skipping practice sessions and making himself a notoriously rebellious character in the team.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has often hinted that it had tolerated the last of his tantrums only to give in to temptation to include him at the eleventh hour only out of hope he would mend his ways and give Pakistan the edge it sometimes so desperately lacks. One has to attribute it to that very reason why Akhtar, after being determinedly banned by the PCB for five years over a slew of indiscretions, was blooded back by the PCB for the ICC World Twenty20 and the series against Australia before that. But it has often landed the PCB in trouble not only with their own Pakistan captain and coach but also, with the ICC. The PCB apparently is no longer interested in disrupting the harmony in the dressing room or falling into the book of shame for the ICC and therefore, making Akhtar’s case one of non-selection so as to back talented youngsters who are more deserving of it. However, no decision has been able to hold permanency with the PCB and Akhtar is counting on this factor to make yet another comeback.
While the cricket world keeps pinning hope upon hope that the bad but brilliant boys mend their ways, there seems no apparent sign of it. And at their age, do they really want to?
While everyone loves a character on the field, the situation becomes drastically one of dire straits for a team that has to constantly put up with their antics. The answers become clearer when the cost to the team in having the volatile player in the team far outweighs the damage inflicted upon the opposition as a result of the player’s performances. Symonds and Akhtar have, unfortunately, shown themselves in the red once too often.
