10 April 2006

Dubai: Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach and former International Cricket Council (ICC) High Performance Manager, feels chucking is yet to be defined.

In an interview to Gulf News, Woolmer, who is here to conduct a coaching clinic at the Chevrolet InSportz Club, spoke about various aspects of the game including Pakistan's chances of victory over India in Abu Dhabi next week.

Gulf News: Michael Holding has pointed out that politics is shielding chuckers. What is your opinion?
Woolmer: I do not want to comment on Holding's remark, but I feel cricket is yet to define a throw. A javelin thrower throws the javelin, the baseball pitcher also throws the ball, but what a throw means in cricket is yet to be defined. I don't think that a 15-degree adjustment to the arm is a throw.

Do you mean that what is seen by the human eye must be accepted instead of seeking the help of technology to spot a chucker?
First of all, they should define a throw before they actually ban players. If a human eye can tell that your arm is bent by 15 degrees then good luck, accept it.

All international matches start with both teams at 50-50. India have been playing some very good cricket recently, especially in one-dayers. So it will be a real challenge for us to beat them. We are gearing up for the World Cup next year and we need to find ways to beat India. It will be nice if we discover it in Abu Dhabi.

What went wrong with Pakistan against India in the one-dayers?
India played very well against us. Every surface we played on had a lot of juice in it for the first hour. It made batting very hard. We lost the toss in three games and had to bat first.

How did you transform the team into a winning unit in Sri Lanka after the set back against India?
We won against England in November-December and beat India in January in the Test series. So there was no transformation necessary. We have now developed a fighting spirit and a never say die attitude.

What do you fell about Mohammad Asif's performance?
Asif is a wonderful find. He is a McGrath-like bowler though we cannot really compare anyone with McGrath. Asif is tall, can bowl at a speed of 134 to 138kmph and can make the ball move both ways.

Is too much cricket reducing the career span of cricketers?
Yes, it is bound to happen. There is no point in blaming the ICC for excessive cricket because the ICC is made up of all the cricket boards. The boards are the ones who should look into the matter.

By K.R. Nayar

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.