The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Steve Waugh hails ICC's decision

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Steve Waugh hails ICC's decision

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, FEB. 10. Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh hailed the International Cricket Council's decision of finalising a benchmark allowing bowlers to straighten their arms to certain degrees.

Waugh, who is in the city to raise funds for tsunami relief by auctioning a few of his cricketing memorabilia, said that it was good that the contentious issue of chucking had been addressed rightly. The issue was left to the personal judgments of the umpires and players raising problems in the past. "Umpires would think differently (about straightening of the arm) than the players raising the conflict,''

Waugh said that the issue with its different interpretations had confused the spectators, players and the administrators. "Now that there is a clear rule about it, you know you have to bowl at or below 15 degrees.''

Waugh, who has already donated Rs. 10,00,000 on his own for the tsunami relief, said he aimed to raise more for the survivors who were facing problems in getting back to normal life. He ruled out visiting the places hit by the tidal waves saying, "I think I can make the best impact raising money for the people who are working to rehabilitate the affected people.'' He said he would be visiting Sri Lanka within six months to join the efforts of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Waugh donated a unique cricket bat with ornate designs by indigenous `Gunya' tribe of his country, as one of the central attractions of the charity dinner auction meant exclusively for invitees who brought seats for the function.

The celebrated cricketer, who turned to philanthropic work during the fag end of his career, is now seeking another venture — that of starting a business in the country. "I have met a lot of people including bureaucrats and ministers and am looking for a partner to start my own business in the country,'' he said.

Waugh said that he found a lot of "stimulation'' in cricket sustaining his 20-year-long career but now he had to seek a profitable diversion in business to look after his three children. He said his philanthropic work would continue with the formalisation of the Steve Waugh Foundation, which would be "up and running shortly.'' He also said that a school for the visually impaired people would come up in another 12 months in the city and he had already secured corporate support for that.

India starts favourite

Waugh said the upcoming tour of Pakistan to India would be an interesting one, and put the host as his favourite. He said India had good combination having a fantastic batting line-up and quality young bowlers led by the "promising Irfan Pathan''.

Referring to the visitor, he said the side had "unlimited potential'' but need to come together more purposefully in order to make the series close. "They (Pakistan) haven't been really competitive in Australia in the recent series. They were brilliant in patches but could not show enough consistency to pose a challenge,'' he said.

About deferment of the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal Asian leg match, Waugh said it was not the players but the different boards that could not fit into the schedule forcing the postponement.

When asked about his feelings about the upcoming Ashes series, Waugh said England was likely to put up a big challenge.

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