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| New Zealand’s query over Gul leaves Greenshirts fuming |
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
From our correspondent
LONDON: Pakistan on Monday took a swipe at New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori for raising the finger of suspicion at pacer Umar Gul, who took a world record haul of five wickets to floor the Kiwis at The Oval on Saturday.
Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, made it clear that Vettori was completely off the mark when he suspected some foul-play from Pakistan, who dismissed New Zealand for just 99 and then won the ICC World Twenty20 Super Eights match by six wickets.
“I didn’t expect it from a cricketer like Vettori,” said Butt. “I have a lot of respect for him, but he made a statement which is uncalled for. He (Gul) would never do a thing like this.” It was confirmed on Monday that Vettori did approach match referee Ranjan Madugalle with a query about Gul’s astonishing spell of 5 for 6 in just three overs.
The New Zealand captain also raised a big question mark on whether it was legitimately possible for a bowler to reverse swing the ball after just 12 overs while speaking at a post match press conference at The Oval.
However, the New Zealand team management tried to play down the controversy with one of their officials saying that the matter is closed now. “It was an informal approach where Daniel Vettori sought clarification from the match officials about Gul’s reverse swing,” Stephen Hill, the New Zealand media manager, told Cricinfo. “They said there was no issue. The matter now rests.”
But Pakistani officials were unwilling to just ignore the issue after being almost accused of ball tampering at the same venue where they suffered the ignominy of becoming the first nation in Test history to forfeit a match.
In 2006, Pakistan refused to take the field in the fourth Test against England at The Oval after being penalised by umpires for alleged ball tampering. The match was controversially awarded to England though an International Cricket Council (ICC) probe later cleared the Pakistanis of any wrongdoing.
Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said that he was unhappy over questions being raised over the conduct of his best bowler.
“It is disappointing to hear these things. Umar is a fantastic bowler. Not everyone can bowl a reverse ball. You’ve got to have a special ability to do that. He’s quick and his action makes a lot of difference.”
Geoff Lawson, Intikhab’s predecessor, also threw his weight behind Gul, who is the most successful bowler in the brief history of Twenty20 Internationals.
“My first reaction after reading (Vettori’s) comments was of being pretty disappointed,” Lawson told Cricinfo. “It sounded as if an issue was being made just because the New Zealand batsmen couldn’t play him. There was no great mystery to what he was doing. He was bowling it nice and full and getting it to go just enough, not metres.
“I was a commentator at the game, and we were noting on air that some of the New Zealand bowlers were getting it to go a little bit reverse when they were bowling full towards the end of their innings. Gul was the best bowler at the last World Twenty20 and it’s pretty disappointing for New Zealand to have made an unofficial approach.
“It seems Pakistan carry the cross for these kinds of things.” Gul found support from Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga who said it was possible to extract reverse swing early when conditions suit. “Due to the dry pitch the ball gets easily scratched after about five overs and even I can reverse swing it easily,” said Malinga. “Also Gul has a good action and the two most important things needed to carry out reverse swing: a firm and straight wrist and a good seam position.”
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ISSN 1563-9479 
