da imperador bet： Cricinfo looks at eleven baffling omissions from the World Cup squads

da mrbet： Andrew Miller22-Feb-2007

Australia’s Find of the Year wasn’t good enough for the World Cup © AFP
Stuart Clark – AustraliaHere’s a conundrum. Australia’s one-day bowling is all over the place,so what do they do? They choose to ignore their Find of the Year,Stuart Clark, whose nine Tests in 2006-07 produced 47 wickets at aneconomy-rate of less than two-and-a-half an over. It was a bafflingbit of selectorial whimsy that justifiably had Clark, “the new GlennMcGrath TM”, seeking some sort of clarification from the chairman ofselectors, Andrew Hilditch. “If there was a World Cup semi-final atstake, I’d much rather have him bowling than a couple of other guys,”said Geoff Lawson among others. However, Hilditch and Co. perhaps hadhalf an eye on the events in Kuala Lumpur last September, when Clarkwas spanked for 87 in seven overs by Chris Gayle and Brian Lara.Cameron White – AustraliaEver-present in the opening rounds of the CB Series, and a qualifiedsuccess in the Chappell-Hadlee disaster that followed, White’s luckran out when Australia’s two Queensland allrounders, Andrew Symondsand Shane Watson, swapped roles ahead of the CB Series finals. Watson- perpetually promising but perpetually injured – returned to fitnessjust as Symonds was being carted off in the other direction with abicep injury. It was a destabilising trade-off for Australia. For allthat White can do a passable impression of Symonds with the bat, theselectors were less certain about the reliability of his part-timelegbreaks. So Brad Hogg got Symonds’ spinner’s gig instead, and theBear had to grin and bear it.Khaled Mashud – BangladeshBangladesh, quite literally, have decided to drop the Pilot by oustingtheir former captain, wicketkeeper and longest-serving internationalcricketer, Khaled Mashud. Apparently this decision had been a longtime coming in the corridors of power at the BCB – since the tour ofEngland in 2005, Mashud has produced just one one-day innings of note,an unbeaten 48 against Zimbabwe in July 2006. Meanwhile his teenagedunderstudy, the former Under-19 captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, made anunanswerable case for inclusion in the recent return series in Harare.Mashud has not had much fun at World Cups – he was sacked as captainafter Bangladesh’s dismal showing in 2003.Mal Loye – EnglandAnother case of youth getting the nod over experience. Mal Loye, 34,made a mixed impression in his belated ODI debut for England thiswinter, slog-sweeping every fast bowler in the Antipodes beforenibbling a wide one to the keeper, usually in the same over. Usefulthough his top-of-the-order impetus might have been, it was insteaddecided that a wild-card allrounder, Ravi Bopara, would provideEngland with more options. Even so, it seems highly probable that Loyewill appear in the Caribbean at some stage – if Michael Vaughan’s kneelasts an entire tournament then Kevin Pietersen is a Dutchman.Ramesh Powar – IndiaWith Anil Kumble on the wane in one-day cricket and Harbhajan Singhless attacking than he was in his pomp, an opening in India’s squadseemed to have been forged for Ramesh Powar, arguably the slowestflightiest offspinner in the game today, and a man who, since hisrecall 12 months ago, has been picking up his ODI wickets at a rate ofalmost two a game. His belligerent batting should have been a factorin his favour, but he has managed just one half-century in 11 visitsto the crease, and it is believed that the selectors found it hard tolook beyond his … err … ample frame.

Boeta Dippenaar – South Africa’s Fall Guy , though not for the first time © Getty Images
Nathan Astle – New ZealandA surprise absentee, but this time of his own volition. Nathan Astletook a leaf out of Damien Martyn’s book by jumping ship just momentsbefore his liner docked at the perfect retirement port. One of thecleanest strikers in the game, and an under-rated seamer with 99 ODIwickets to his name, Astle will forever be remembered for hisastonishing blitzkrieg against England at Christchurch in 2001-02 -222 runs from 168 balls to all but seize the first Test of thatseries. He wasn’t exactly sluggish in ODIs either, with anational-record 16 centuries to his name. But four ducks and a 1 inhis last seven innings convinced him that his heart was no longer init.Yasir Hameed – PakistanIt’s hard to know what Hameed must have done to offend the Pakistanselectors. In the past two years he has played in just four ODIs outof 45, and yet in those games he has run up scores of 41, 57, 71, and41. Admittedly they have come a touch slowly by one-day standards, butHameed is by nature an opener, and that department has been Pakistan’sAchilles Heel since the retirement of Saeed Anwar. Instead, MohammadHafeez, Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal have been trusted to come up witha combination that can improve on their tally of three half-centurystands in the past 12 months.Boeta Dippenaar – South AfricaOne of nature’s stodgier one-day cricketers, Dippenaar’s finestone-day innings was arguably his seven-ball 1 on March 12, 2006, inthat match at Johannesburg – by getting out of the way nice andearly, he allowed his flashier team-mates to cut loose and hunt downAustralia’s incredible total of 434. And yet, in 10 previous one-daymatches in the Caribbean, Dippenaar has been the plodder turnedgamebreaker. He has clobbered 428 runs at an astonishing average of107, and he has not once finished on the losing side. He might havebeen worth a place as a lucky mascot.Chamara Kapugedera – Sri LankaSeveral batting line-ups are vying for the Dad’s Army tag in thisWorld Cup, but few can make a more legitimate claim than Sri Lanka,for whom Marvan Atapattu (36), Sanath Jayasuriya (37) and RusselArnold (33) are all expected to turn out. Clearly, the next generationwill have to wait its turn, and with that in mind, Kapugedera will, inall probability, be ushered into the side. His 18matches to date have yielded just 203 runs and a solitary fifty, butgiven that he only turns 20 on Saturday, time is very much on hisside.Runako Morton – West IndiesNot so long ago, Morton was the man of the moment in West Indiancricket. His unbeaten 90 against Australia in last year’s ChampionsTrophy helped propel his side all the way to the final, an achievementthat looked set to culminate in a memorable homecoming for one of thegame’s most notorious bad boys. In the course of his career, Mortonbeen expelled from the squad in 2002 for lying about a grandmother’sdeath, and arrested in 2004 in connection with a stabbing incident.But his form fell away as the tournament drew nearer, and after 30runs in his last five innings he returned once again to the margins.Hamilton Masakadza – ZimbabweMasakadza hit the heights at Harare in July 2001, making 119 againstWest Indies when aged just 17 years and 254 days, to become theyoungest debut centurion in Test history. It was a record that hassince been passed by Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful, but unlikeAshraful, Masakadza has not pushed on to greater things. He scored hismaiden half-century against England at Bulawayo in November 2004 andbowls useful legspin to boot, but a tally of 42 runs in three inningsagainst Bangladesh this month counted against him. He was shunted outof the squad in favour of Friday Kasteni.