Just before the Kenya vs Canada match, in the pre-match cricket show anchored by Harsha Bhogle, there was a discussion pertaining to the inclusion of Michael Hussey and Eoin Morgan as replacements for the injured Doug Bollinger and Kevin Pietersen respectively. Sunil Gavaskar made a very pertinent point on air at this point.
He said that, in his opinion, players who have been transferred out of thesquad of 15 for an ICC tournament due to injury reasons should not be allowed to get back in if they are fit again during the tournament. His biggest concern was that this rule can be misused by teams.
I have given a bit of thought to this subject and written an article that has been kindly published by FreehitCricket over here. Please do read it, and let me know your views.
Friday, March 11, 2011
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2 comments:
(Posted at Freehit too)
Excellent analysis, Shridhar. And very good suggestion... much superior to the ICC's current rule in terms of fairness and also enhances the WC by ensuring that the best players are not ruled out by minor injuries (which can heal in a week or so).
But I think another development also needs to be looked at. Australia have 16 members in India currently who are training in the nets and acclimatizing to conditions; Nannes won't play unless someone unless gets injured, but he'll have a running start if someone does.
Whereas the rest of the teams, to my knowledge, have only 15 members in India, SL & B'desh. So if someone in any other squad gets injured, their new player (16th) won't be as ready-to-go as Australia. So I'm very surprised that non-subcontinent teams, in particular, have neither complained to the ICC nor had a 16th member join the squad themselves.
I'm really bemused by this. Am I missing something?
-BP
(Posted at FreehitCricket too)
Thank you, BP for the comment! You are right that Australia has an additional 16th member with them in the form of Dirk Nannes. Apart from him, Chris Tremlett was also travelling with the English squad all this while and has been drafted in as a replacement for the injured Stuart Broad.
Frankly, I don't have a problem with this practice. They cannot be a part of the XI till they are in the 15-member squad. So they are travelling just as a reserve, who would be better off acclimatising.
Just like the support staff, the concerned Board has to bear his expenses as well. In my opinion, to say that this shouldn't be allowed is like to say that the visiting teams should not acclimatise.
The hosts do not need a 16th player with the team, because if required, he can be called up at a very short notice, and he will know the conditions well. If the other teams like South Africa, West Indies or New Zealand are concerned, they can always travel with an additional player themselves!
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