Breaking News……….
AUSTRALIAN fast bowler Shaun Tait has quit cricket indefinitely, citing emotional and physical exhaustion.
Tait said his love for the game had diminished and he would not play cricket at any level for an indefinite period.
“This is a very difficult situation for me to be in at this time,” Tait said today in a statement.
“This is not an overnight decision but something that I’ve been struggling with for sometime.
“A break from professional cricket will hopefully give me a clear mind and a chance for my body to rest and recover.
“My love and enjoyment of the game is struggling due to these issues and if I continue to go on, it will be unfair on my team mates and support staff of both the Australian and South Australian cricket teams – and most importantly my family and close friends.”
It is important to note here that Tait was struggling with his speed after he was under strict watch by ICC for chucking allegations levelled against him by Newzealand, also it is interesting to note that during the current series against India he failed to bowl above 145Kph.
The World Cup star struggled in his one Test appearance of the summer – the third Test against India in Perth after a long battle to regain fitness following elbow surgery he was inducted in the Aussie team this summer as a pace bully but failed to make an impact on the series as he failed to co-op with the pressure of being under constant scrutiny by the ICCÂ umpires.
After Adam Gilchrist’s surprise retirement this has been the second blow to the struggling world champions.
Finally, the dumb selectors gave a belated chance to Abdur Raur and he showed what Pakistan was wasting all these years!! Given a proper encouragement and handling, he could emerge a real force in not too distant future.
Amit.p:
Asif is more of a test bowler so far he has been unable to make any impression in the 50 over game, also he has lost quite a bit of pace he will sure be in the team if he is fit. So far Pakistan’s attempt to find new talent in the pace department has not been successful, I think even now Asif, Shoaib, Gul and Rao are the front runners in the pace department none of these new guys is good enough to replace any one of them.
i often wonder why pakistanis dont mention asif name as their front line bowler … everybody seems more concerned ab’t Akhtar and Gul . I agree Asif is not as fast as Akhtar and Gul and often expensive in odis but in test matches i consider him far better than both bowlers. There is no news floating regarding his fitness either … perhaps his recovery program is taking too much time.
We need to have Shoaib Akhter and Umar gul fit before the Pak- Aus series.
Whats that dumb Australian coach is doing he is a fast bowler and fast bowling was supposed to be our strength and it seems our bowlers cant bowl out even Zimbabwe. PCB should just fire that Idiot and hire a Pakistani bowling coach.
Wasim:
I was also disappointed to see that these New fast bowlers are nothing more than club cricketers, Sohail Khan had pace but he is flat like sami cant move the ball, he is too bulky and collapses as soon as he approaches the crease his short one was quick but was not well directed unless he learns to move the ball he will not be affective against big teams.
Kamran Hussain had the movement but he is too slow, Tanvir is improving but he is too erratic he still can’t bowl a bouncer,he is only affective against right handers although he is trying to learn how to move the ball away from left handers but still has not mastered the art.
I think PCB will be looking for Shoaib Akhter pretty soon.
Mr Kasim you are right Shoaib Akhtar did played a couple of matches alongside Mohammed Zahid but if you look at Zahid,s performance he played only five test matches in his debut match he took 11 wickets which is a record for any Pakistani bowler in the next 4 matches he could take only 4 wickets he got seriously injured in his debut series got a stress fracture of the back which normally ends the career of a fast bowler, he had to change his when he made a comeback and his speed was no longer there he broke down again playing against srilanka and that was the end of him, its just a myth that PCB didnt took care of him, he was a great talent but unfortunately his injury proned career didnt lasted too long.
Also the fact that he came in a Golden era when Pakistan had too many great fast bowlers. Unfortunately gone are those days the new lot is overly hyped and I am yet to see an express bowler in this lot who can hit 90miles and can swing the ball. These young bowlers more or less look like Indian medium pacers of the 80′s.
When Shoaib Akhtar came to the scene, Mohammed Zahid was also there before or after him, I am not quite sure , but I know they played few matches together. Shoaib Akhtar has been pampared till this day but when Mohammed Zahid broke down, I guess he suffered back stressed , the poor guy was not even looked after and was completely forgotten !!
I remember reading Brian Lara’s comment that Mohammed Zahid was the fastest bowler he ever faced !!
I was in the States at that time and since then and have never seen him bowling so I can’t comment on this but as they say ” there must be fire if there is smoke .”
Aus would have to look for a quality spinner too. Hogg has looked ordinary in the Test series. He’s a good ODI bowler but he might be a low on confidence right now. There are no new Aussie spinners coming up either, so Aus would have to make sure their remaining bowlers are fit and free of injury.
Australia’s selectors are not as helpless as Pakistan’s where no desrving youngster get a chance if that lad is not related to a General, a powerful Politician or a high Beurocrate. There may not be as fast a bowler as Tait but there are still plenty of medium-fast bowlers of quality available. In Pakistan also, plenty of talents are rotting due to lack of opportunity.
Samy:
You are right it will ony affect Australia if Lee or Johnson get injured normally Nathan Bracken is Australia’s first choice for Odis, now if India or Srilanka attack Lee or Johnson In Odis Australia will be in trouble. Their options are running thin.
How can he regain fitness by staying away from all kinds of cricket it must be something else, the ICC drug testing does not apply on CB series. He is not only a chucker but also a drugy.
This will affect Australia’s chances in the CB series to some extent, but they still have a good bowling lineup.
Tait was looked as a replacement for Lee, but if Lee were to get injured now, Aus would have problems finding a really quick fast bowler without Tait.
wasim:
Two back to back breaking news articles and you have beaten cricinfo this time they still have not posted anything about Tait quitting cricket. I think the hype Aussie media put behind him worked against him, he was already struggling after a elbow surgery and was under pressure because of chucking charges, the Aussies must have decided to give him a rest so that he can further work on his action.
What is the authencity of this news, I have not read it anywhere else I just went on cricinfo’ website but their was no info about tait quitting cricket. Either you guys are good or just spreading sensationalism