44 Friday Sports Friday, December 22, 2017 Protect England tail from ‘bodyline’, former Atherton tells umpires

Smith calls it ‘over-the-top’

MELBOURNE: Umpires should invoke batsman’s skill. “Test or not, the Law cricket’s laws and protect England’s tailenders and the playing conditions are there to protect from Australia’s relentless “bodyline” batsmen incapable of protecting themselves,” in the ongoing Ashes series, former England Atherton added. captain Michael Atherton has said. “Cricket is an odd game in that it has three Australia have reclaimed the urn with an distinct disciplines and, within that, you have unassailable 3-0 lead in the five Test series, the unusual situation where someone who is their fiery pace battery totally useless in one of , Josh area can face a world- Hazlewood and Pat Batsmen who class performer in an- Cummins singeing Eng- other - with potentially land’s frontline batsmen cannot bowl are harmful consequences. in Brisbane, Adelaide “Batsmen who can- and Perth. not required to not bowl are not re- The pace trio have bowl to great quired to bowl to great not spared the tailen- players, but the oppo- ders. England’s number players site is obviously the 10 batsman Jake Ball case - precisely why was subjected to a the Law is framed as it barrage in the Brisbane opener and is, as built-in protection for the incompetent. number 11 James Anderson suffered a sickening “No one wants to see the game sanitised, but blow to the side of his helmet in the third Test the Law is there for a reason. The umpires at Perth. should make use of it,” added Atherton, who Atherton conceded Australia were clearly played 115 tests between 1989-2001. the better team and that any side with such Australia captain found Ather- ammunition would have attacked the tailenders ton’s claims “a bit over the top.” “No doubt, if for practical and psychological reasons. “That they had the kind of pace that our bowlers can said, I did wonder aloud at the time why the generate, they’d probably do the same thing,” MELBOURNE: Tennis player Milos Raonic of Canada (R) and Australia cricket team captain Steve Smith pose umpires were so reluctant to act to protect Smith said at Melbourne Park where he had a for photos during a media call for the upcoming Australia Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. —AFP Ball,” Atherton wrote in the Times newspaper. hit with tennis’ former world number three The law states that short pitched bowling is Milos Raonic. in 2013.” Smith returned a few of Canadian feels,” joked Smith, the leading scorer of the dangerous if the umpire considers it likely to “We were (always) going to bowl a lot of Raonic’s serves but struggled with one aimed ongoing series which resumes in Melbourne on inflict physical injury when measured against a short stuff to those guys, much like we did back at his body. “Now I know how Jimmy Anderson Tuesday. —Reuters

as fast as he could along a set of rails from a stand- Push for ing start. “We never really push this thing over the winter because we’re normally away (competing),” 196 all out, with only the experienced Hamilton Pyeongchang the Montreal-born athlete told Reuters. “I can tell Steyn plays Masakadza playing a substantial innings. you it’s far better during the summer. “(But) the Masakadza survived an early dropped starts on concrete Olympics are definitely the end goal and it does chance against Steyn and went on to make 79. drive you on,” added the 25-year-old. “It could be worse, I could be on a rugby field getting beaten down hopes of The next highest score was 26 by the uncapped BATH: The push for Winter Olympic glory be- up for 80 minutes.” Rod Burl. Steyn 12 overs in four spells, comes concrete right from the start for Britain’s including one with the new pink ball, conceding aspiring bobsleigh and skeleton athletes. The dry TEST EVENT record 16 runs. He started by bowling three consecu- push-start track at Bath University in south-west tive maiden overs with the new ball, having a Blanchet raced the two-man bob at last Feb- PAARL: Dale Steyn doesn’t want to talk about England gave Amy Williams, skeleton gold medal- ruary’s world championships in Koenigssee, Ger- the possibility of becoming ’s all- confident appeal against Solomon Mire turned list at the 2010 Vancouver Games, a first taste of down and then having Masakadza dropped at many, and has also competed on Pyeongchang’s time leading -taker, he said during a the sport and Sochi 2014 champion Lizzy Yarnold Olympic track. His immediate focus now is a test steady comeback to long-form cricket on point on one. has honed her technique there. Steyn said he was fully fit and pain-free. He push at the Bath track at the end of the month Wednesday. Shelley Rudman, 2006 Olympic skeleton silver had not tried to bowl at express pace on that he hopes could put him back into contention Steyn was not among the wickets for a South medallist, also graduated from the undulating 140- Wednesday, concentrating on finding his for Korea. African Invitation team on the first day of a metre run, on the campus edge alongside muddy “As a brakeman, you’re ranked on how well three-day day-night match against the touring rhythm without revealing too much to the Zim- babweans in case he was picked for the Test. playing fields and across the road from a cats and you start a bobsleigh. So if I was to go out for the Zimbabweans at Boland Park, but was happy dogs home. second half of the season, I’d have to do well in with his rhythm ahead of an expected Test That, though, seems likely because Steyn will only play the first two days of the current On a dank December morning, under a steady the push starts,” explained Blanchet. “There’s still comeback against Zimbabwe in a day-night drizzle and occasional hail bouncing off the con- a lot to do.” clash in Port Elizabeth, starting on Tuesday. game before joining the South African Test squad in Port Elizabeth. “I am still fitter than the crete surrounds, a group of athletes practised their Built in 2001 with lottery funding, the push- Steyn, 34, needs just five wickets to overtake starts in circumstances far removed from the icy start track was refurbished in 2015. “Because we ’s record of 421 Test wickets-but youngest guys in the side,” he said. “It was just about getting through this year and trying to World Cup venues. don’t have our own sliding track, this is the place it has been more than a year since he took his Sam Blanchet, a former rugby professional who where we spend seven months of the year, in the 417th wicket, shortly before breaking down decide whether I still wanted to do it... I’ll play played for the Exeter Chiefs and Bedford Blues as gym, grinding all the training out,” Yarnold told with a freak shoulder fracture against Australia until I’m not good enough or someone’s better than me.” well as England in the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens be- Reuters on Wednesday. in November 2016. “The dry push track that we have here at the It was his third major injury in just over a “Every time someone talks about a record fore falling out of love with the contact sport, was I get injured,” he added. “So I’m not both- one of them. university is only practising the start element, year. He has only played in four of South Africa’s where you are running next to the sled and jump- last 25 Tests. The Zimbabweans struggled to ered. Let’s just go play. Let’s see what hap- Working his way back from a recent injury sus- pens.” —AFP tained in a bobsleigh crash in Whistler, Blanchet ing on. Then we come back up to the top and do it pushed a makeshift welded metal sled on wheels all again.” —Reuters