TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 SPORTS It’s no longer boring, boring England LONDON: Once viewed as the perennial played a mind-numbingly boring style tions if the tactics backfire. stunning against New Zealand and under-performed in. whipping boys of one-day cricket, New as they nudged and nurdled the ball As far as England are concerned, it England are winning new friends and “If you’re going to compete with the Zealand have not only reinvented them- around for 40 overs before launching a was never all doom and gloom as they admirers with a fearless approach to the best in this format of cricket these are selves but have also helped inspire a desperate late assault. reached the World Cup final in 1979, art of batting. the kind of scores you’ve got to be think- remarkable transformation in England’s England reached the lowest of lows 1987 and 1992. England have bludgeoned their way ing of,” added the great all-rounder. approach. The natural fear and caution when they lost to the co-hosts by eight But their failure to grasp the differ- to totals of 408, 365 and 302 and critics “You can’t do it every time, and there that has permeated the soul of English wickets in a Pool A match in Wellington ence between test and one-day cricket have been forced to eat their words will be times when you attack and it cricket and left the team off the pace in in February. was summed up when Geoff Boycott among the torrent of sixes and fours goes wrong, but if you have that atti- the one-day arena for much of the past New Zealand captain Brendon took 17 overs to reach double figures in pouring from the flailing bats of Morgan, tude and belief ... you can go far. This is 40 years has given way to a new bel- McCullum showed them how the mod- the 1979 World Cup final against West Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Joe Root et al. something I haven’t seen from England ligerent, uninhibited style of play. ern game should be played, smashing Indies during a painstaking opening Former captain Ian Botham, who in ODIs for a very long time.” They trail New Zealand 2-1 in a five- 77 in 25 balls as the eventual runners-up stand of 129 which put too much pres- flourished a flashing blade of his own in The 50-over World Cup was launched match series after three action-packed to Australia sprinted to a meagre target sure on the rest of the side to reach a the 1970s and 1980s, hailed “new in 1975. England have never won the games and the turnaround can probably of 124 in just 12.2 overs. McCullum is target of 287. England” after they cracked an ODI trophy and captain Morgan has a four- be traced back to the humiliating defeat one of the most destructive hitters in England won the Twenty20 World record 408 for nine in the first match of year plan in mind to prepare for the suffered at the hands of the Kiwis a few the game and has given his side real Cup in 2010 but in recent 50-over tour- the series. 2019 edition on home soil. months ago. At the start of this year Eoin energy since taking over as skipper in all naments they have been way off the “It was magnificent,” said Botham, “We’ve come a long way in the last Morgan’s team were the laughing stock forms of cricket in 2012. pace. With Ashes victories over Australia now a Sky Sports pundit.”It’s probably three games, scoring 300-plus in each of the 50-over World Cup in Australia He encourages the other batsmen to mixed in with other bright moments in the best I’ve seen any England one-day of them which is a huge achievement and New Zealand. follow his swashbuckling lead and the the test arena, they rarely seemed to side bat. “They came out with nothing and a big turnaround,” he said. “We are While teams such as Australia, New rest of the team have complete freedom consider re-evaluating their approach to but positive thoughts with the bat and trying to change our process. I want Zealand, India and South Africa regularly to express themselves, secure in the the longer format of the limited-over the ball so it could be a really exciting the guys to continue with that mind- posted scores of 350-400, England knowledge there will be no recrimina- game. The shake-up, though, has been time in a format that England have really set.” —Reuters Thailand seal golden Games SINGAPORE: Thailand emphatically defended trait of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. their Southeast Asian (SEA) Games football title Vietnam had already seen off Indonesia 5-0 yesterday as they finished top of the medals in the bronze medal match, a result which sent table for the second consecutive edition. the Indonesians into international oblivion after Thailand’s under-23s had to wait until after half- the country’s ban by FIFA. After Mac Hong time to break down dogged Myanmar, but Quan’s early penalty, Vo Huy Toan struck twice three goals in the second period earned them a and Nguyen Huu Dung scored in first-half injury deserved 15th SEA Games title 3-0. time, before Que Ngoc Hai completed the rout Thailand’s women’s water polo team on 71 minutes. shocked Singapore and their female volley- “I hope the case of Indonesian football will ballers also took gold in a victorious run for the be cleared as soon as possible because it’s very team on the penultimate day. disappointing for the players,” said Indonesia With hosts Singapore only capable of coach Aji Santoso. adding one more title to their record haul of 83 “They don’t even know what they’ll do after gold on the final day, 2013 table-toppers this tournament.” In men’s basketball, the Thailand led the way with 93. Philippines had some nervy moments before Thai officials celebrated on the pool deck beating Indonesia 72-64 and extending their when their women edged Singapore 5-4 in the proud record of winning the title all but once water polo, and there was more to come when since the sport was introduced in 1977. they beat Vietnam 3-0 in the volleyball final. Thailand won two gold in petanque, as well as Later at a National Stadium packed with claiming the women’s doubles sepaktakraw title Myanmar foreign workers and watched by as they finished top in the volleyball-style sport armed police with dogs, Thailand had to perse- with five gold out of 10. vere before finally winning the football final. Singapore’s lone gold medal came in the With Myanmar ‘keeper Phyo Kyaw Zin inspired, men’s jumbo doubles squash, when Marcus it took defender Tanaboon Kesarat to break the Hua and Vivian Rhamanan beat Indonesia’s Ade deadlock on 54 minutes before goals from Furkon and Sandi Perdana 11-3, 11-8. Chanathan Pombubpha and Pinyo Inpinit. Competition in the biennial, 11-nation, 36- It was a fitting title for the tournament’s form sport regional Olympics concludes today, team, who thrashed Indonesia 5-0 in the semi- before the event formally wraps up with a gala finals and celebrated gold by holding up a por- closing ceremony. —AFP FATULLAH: India’s Harbhajan Singh bowls in this file photo. —AP Extra bowler the way forward for India MUMBAI: The biggest change made by India cap- really exciting as a captain. And I think both of Tendulkar retired. A few games after that it was a tain Virat Kohli since taking over from Mahendra them enjoyed bowling together as well-if one put very strange feeling. “You suddenly don’t see a very Singh Dhoni is the inclusion of an extra bowler, and pressure, the other took a wicket and vice versa.” impactful figure in the dressing room. As a crick- while it is too early to judge if the strategy will pay Not having Dhoni, who played 90 tests, around eter, you always get used to having him around, lis- off in the long run, he intends to give it every for the longer format was still a unfamiliar feeling tening to him, having discussions with him. “That chance. for the new captain. “It’s obviously strange,” Kohli voice is always there and it’s a very familiar feeling Kohli was named captain after Dhoni retired said. “The same thing happened when Sachin in the change room.”—Reuters from the five-day format during the series in Australia last year, and India’s one-off match in Bangladesh, which ended in a draw on Sunday, was their first full test series under the 26-year-old. Focus on Sangakkara as India have, in the past, preferred to play six frontline batsmen in their test side but brought in an extra bowler for the match against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka face Pakistan While it was difficult to gauge the impact of the switch given that rain washed away a chunk of the GALLE: Kumar Sangakkara will get a chance Lanka have already played six series in as match, Kohli seems set to stick with five bowlers for to build on his prolific Test record before many years, the last of which also took place tests in Sri Lanka and at home to South Africa later retirement when familiar foes Sri Lanka and on the island a year ago.