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SLAM! Sports 1999 World Cup SLAM! Cricket 1999 WORLD CUP INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Saturday, June 19, 1999World Cup Cricket NotebookLONDON (AP) -- The tied World Cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa forced organizers to hurriedly consult the tournament rules before deciding that Australia should advance to today's final against Pakistan at Lord's due to its superior position on the Super Six standings.Unfortunately, there was no uniformity among bookmakers about how to distribute dividends to betters on the first ever World Cup tie. The major bookmakers in Britain couldn't agree on how to settle bets, creating a furor among people who'd placed money on a win for either team. Hundreds of angry betters asked the Independent Bookmaking Arbitration Service formulate a standard payout on such results in future. Some firms paid a win to people who backed Australia, another voided all bets, yet another refunded all stakes on South Africa and applied the dead-heat rule for bets on Australia. ------ The importance of the toss LONDON (AP) -- Winning the toss is usually considered a positive start in cricket because the winning captain has the option of either batting or bowling first, which can be critical depending on weather and pitch conditions. But in Pakistan vs. Australia head-to-head encounters, winning the toss has become almost a bad omen. In the last five games between the two countries, the team which has won the toss has lost the game. In the World Cup group match at Headingley, Australia won the toss and sent Pakistan into bat before losing by 10 runs. The Pakistan skipper won the toss in previous four games -- at Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi in 1998 and Melbourne in 1997 -- but Australia won each of those games by six wickets, five wickets, 86 runs and three wickets respectively. Captains Wasim Akram and Steve Waugh have both said they'd like to win the toss and bat first today. -------- World Cup beefs up security LONDON (AP) -- World Cup organizers are planning to double security for the Australia vs. Pakistan final at Lord's today and have called in extra police in a bid to ensure the decider isn't ruined by over-enthusiastic fans swarming the pitch in the critical last overs. Australian captain Steve Waugh said the extra security was for the good of cricket. "I would not want to see (fans) running out there if there is one over left and everything to play for," he was quoted saying. Rival skipper Wasim Akram said the Pakistani supporters have made his players feel at home with their vocal support but he hoped they wouldn't invade the field and wreck the game. ------ Bevan said the best LONDON (AP) -- If the fleet-footed Michael Bevan needed any praise, there is plenty coming from his skipper. Steve Waugh says Bevan is to one-day cricket what Sir Donald Bradman was to test cricket. "Blessed with a touch of genius, he has a head start on the other mere mortals who accompany him and oppose him on the field," Waugh wrote in a newspaper column. Bevan will be revered by future generations in "much the same way" as Bradman is for test cricket, he wrote. Those statements emphasize how vital Bevan is in Australia's one-day team. Bevan's talents with the bat and his speed were seen to the full in the remarkable semifinal victory over South Africa at Birmingham when he top-scored with 65 and saved many a boundary while fielding at mid-wicket ropes. Faultless with the power and direction of his throw, the South Africans balked at taking a second or third run when Bevan was picking up the ball. "If he wanted to, might well be contesting the 100-metre final at the Sydney Olympics next year, such is his phenomenal speed," Waugh wrote. The left-handed Bevan, 29, once of Yorkshire and set to rejoin Sussex next season on a three-year contract, came into the World Cup with a lofty one-day average of 62.19, double that of Waugh and around 23 runs better than the next highest Australian, Ricky Ponting. He currently sits on top of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers ratings of one-day international players, with 36 more points than South Africa's Lance Klusener and 75 superior to Indian master Sachin Tendulkar, placed third in the elite list. |