4 posts tagged “sports”

The return of Michael Schumacher to the cockpit for a recent test session has apparently sent shock-waves through the Formula One media. I must admit, I don’t think the shock-waves have reached me, but it has certainly caused a few members of the paddock to suggest the German might want to make a comeback. Mika Hakkinen and Alan Jones have each said that the seven-times world champion might be missing the competitive racing aspect of Formula One, and knowing he can still set decent lap times could be enough to lure him out of retirement.

He used to take a couple of months off at the end of each season, so another few months won’t make a big difference. Two or three years might have done. It’s a win-win situation: Ferrari gains from his expertise and he enjoys it. And you can never rule out a comeback… Alan Jones.

Is he missing racing? The answer is probably yes. Doing competitive lap times probably satisfies his feeling and he’s happy he is still competitive. Mika Hakkinen.

Many drivers have taken time out of Formula One, only to return a year or two later and claim another crown. It must be very satisfying to know that even after a break, you can still mix it with the new faces and defeat them on the tarmac. Niki Lauda famously took time out in 1980 and ‘81, and when he returned in ‘83 in a McLaren, he proved he could still win races. In 1984, the Austrian took his third and final championship title.

Both Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost took sabbaticals as well, Mansell in 1993 and Prost in 1992. Mansell left the sport after winning his only title in a Williams. He went to America and raced in the CART IndyCar series, taking the title and becoming the only driver to hold both crowns simultaneously. However, after the tragic events at San Marino in 1994, Williams convinced the Briton to return to fill the gap left by Ayrton Senna. Mansell famously won the final meeting of the year, despite initially struggling to keep up with his younger rivals. In 1995 and feeling confident, Mansell decided to join McLaren, but not being able to fit in the car, he couldn’t race until the third round. After just two events, Mansell retired again, complaining of the McLaren’s woeful handling characteristics.

Alain Prost’s comeback from a year out proved to be much more successful than his British rival’s. Prost took 1992 off, freeing up Mansell to take the title for himself. However, Williams convinced Prost to return in 1993 and the French driver took the championship after a dominating campaign of seven wins, three seconds and two thirds. However, Senna regularly challenged Prost in an inferior car and The Professor knew his time was up. Leaving Formula One contributed to the return of Mansell, the two careers intertwined not too dissimilarly as Prosts and Sennas.

So clearly, a return to the cockpit could prove successful for Michael Schumacher. He looks as though he hasn’t lost any of his spirit and I imagine testing the F2007 will have brought a satisfying smile to his face. Particularly the ability for Michael to still set quality times. But would a Schumacher return be good for the sport? Bernie Ecclestone seems to think so, stating various times this year that he would like to see Schumacher on the grid again. Perhaps Bernie is just thinking of audience numbers, but it would undoubtedly boost Formula One’s appeal across the world. However, should Schumacher return, the already crowded arena will be made worse. Currently we have just eleven teams lining up for Australia in 2008, but we have way more than 22 drivers vying for seats. And if Ferrari were allow their golden child back into the monocoque, which one gets the boot?

From the rest of the field’s perspective, I imagine they would like to see Schumacher return. Either they’ll get to trounce all over the weary old dog, or enjoy another chance to do battle with the old master. Either way, they would be in a win-win situation. Unless of course, Schumacher completely dominates the season again, 2002-stylee.

Personally, I’m not so sure I would like to see Schumacher back in racing trim again. The German driver perhaps left at the wrong time, but now he has gone, Formula One has moved on. It is like the sport has progressed into a new era, and waiting in the wings are new race winners and title contenders. I would like to see BMW start to win races, Honda and Renault to make a return to the front, Lewis Hamilton’s team mate to be given a chance to win (assuming he will be a non-winner to start with) and I would like to see Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen battle each other over race wins on a more regular basis. I feel, perhaps unwarranted, that if Schumacher returned, we may not see this because of the dominance he could bring to Ferrari again.

But I’m not necessarily asking myself the question. I’m going to ask you. Would you want to see Michael Schumacher return to competitive Formula One racing? Let me know in the comments below.

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A superficial analysis of the numbers might suggest that Murali has the edge. But then you need to remember that Murali's figures are padded by the fruits of no fewer than 25 tests against hapless Zimbabwe and Bangladesh (Warne has a total of three tests against such feeble competition). Secondly, Wanre's record away from home is just as good as his record at home; Murali is less effective away from the comforts of Sri Lankan wickets. Thirdly, their records when they confront the world's best players of spin in India are broadly similar. You can make an eminently defensible case for either man.

But the question of whether Warne is a better bowler than Murali or vice-versa is the wrong one. Of course, it's the only one you can really ask if you want to have a debate since if you were to wonder which of them is the greater bowler there is only once credible, sensible answer: Shane Keith Warne.

Numbers play a part in establishing greatness of course, but they can't tell the full story. There are players whose statistical records struggle to bear witness to the full extent of their greatness (Keith Miller is one obvious example that comes to mind, even though his figures are pretty damn impressive in themselves). Numbers aren't enough.

Warne is without doubt the greatest and most important cricketer of my lifetime. Though the art of leg-spin had been kept alive by Abdul Quadir and Mushtaq Ahmed in Pakistan and by a number of journeyman Australians, it took Shane Warne's genius to show that leg-spin - the greatest and most romantic form of spin there is - was no mere frippery or luxury but that it could be a deadly match-winning weapon even in less than perfect conditions.

Warne made spin possible again, demonstrating the absurdity of the attitude - especially prevalent when England were skippered by dullards such as Bob Willis and Grahame Gooch - that spin bowling was too risky, too unpredictable, too idiosyncratic to be relied upon. A fast bowler could be smashed for a couple of boundaries and it was nothing to be worried about; a spinner suffering such a fate would immediately b hauled out of the attack. That thinking led to the drudgery of picking four identical fast medium bowlers all the time. 

Warne's freakish command and control raised him above all those who would emulate him of course, but his efforts dismantled this dreary, anti-spin mentality. (Granted, some of it still lingers, at least in England, where until Monty Panesar's emergence spin bowlers were expected to justify their selection by means of their usefulness as a batman; a criteria never ever imposed upon quick bowlers, no matter their own shortcomings with ball in hand). Warne changed the way we thought about the game and changed it for the better. In his own way, then, he was a revolutionary.

And, of course, there is the other matter that no-one really wants to talk about: the unfortunate fact that Murali, through no fault of his own (thanks to that defective arm) is a chucker. It's a sad business, made worse by the ICC's refusal to do anything about it, but I don't quite see how you can talk about these two bowlers' respective merits without mentioning that it requires a charitable interpretation of the laws to call one of them a bowler at all. What Murali does with the ball is remarkable but, IMHO, it merits a mental asterisk.

Mind you, I might have to revise this opinion in the unlikely event that Murali can take the Aussies down a peg or two this month...

UPDATE: Commenter Matt chides me for not pointing out that though Warne has fewer matches against NZ and Bangladesh, he has played more tests than Murali. True, which is why I think it is possible to build a statistical case supporting Murali. But that's rather the point isn't it? The numbers are a useful but insufficient pointer to greatness.

As for wickets-per-test figures, how do you factor in the fact that Sri Lanka have generally speaking relied upon Murali whereas Warne had to compete for wickets against Glenn McGrath et al? Alternatively you might say that batsmen rarely had a breather against Australia, ensuring that they always felt pressure - and were hence liable to crack at any time - whereas Murali had to carry the Sri Lankans all the time (no disrespect to Chaminda Vass, mind you). I suspect that's a wash.

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Muttiah Muralidaran overtook Shane Warne as the 'greatest' wicket taker in Test cricket history.  Muralidaran currently has 710 test wickets but it is likely to continue to increase substantially as his career continues over the coming years.

If you look closely at Muralidaran's test scalps, he has taken a truckload of wickets against some of the worst cricketing nations in the world - namely Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (over 150) and also against countries who are in 'rebuild mode' from former greatness such as the West Indies, Pakistan and India.  As well as that, Muralidaran plays a lot of cricket in the sub-continent where pitches are deliberately prepared for spin.

If you compare that against Shane Warne's record, the majority of his test wickets came against, shall we say, much harder teams such as England and South Africa.  He has taken hardly any wickets against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (17 all up) - because Australia hardly play against them.  Warne was able to bowl well and take wickets on any pitch type - regardless as to how it had been prepared.  Warne was a game breaker, a specialist, a champion !

To top it off, Muralidaran is a fair dinkum chucker with the dodgiest action in the history of test cricket.  Seriously, I reckon I could take 10-for in a match against Bangladesh too if I was allowed to chuck !!

It would have at least been nice to see Warnie's record stand for a decade or so before being broken to give it the due respect it so well deserved.  And when it was eventually broken - to be broken by a player who was worthy.  I remember when Dennis Lillee broke Richie Benaud's record - that was well deserved by a champion bowler who truly earned it.  And when Richard Hadlee broke Denis Lillee's record.... again, well deserved.

I don't think Muralidaran's record comes anywhere near Warne's - regardless as to whether he has taken more wickets or not.

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