Saturday, November 20, 2004
Time to pay up, Junior
By Australian Test player Glenn McGrath
November 21, 2004
FOR some reason, Mark Waugh had his phone turned off last night. I think he might have even thrown it away.
It was Junior who made a bet with Shane Warne in 1999 that I would never score a first-class 50.
It didn't take long for Junior to lose the bet when I knocked up a 50 playing for Worcestershire against Nottinghamshire in 2000 during a stint of county cricket. Although, I'm still not sure if he has ever paid up, so maybe it was double or nothing.
Strangely, Junior was nowhere to be found last night when I achieved a lifelong dream of reaching a Test 50.
To be truthful, it still hasn't really sunk in. I'd like to thank Warney for having the confidence in my batting that one day I'd get there, and I can't wait to eventually speak to Junior. I'll also have to speak to Steve Waugh as well.
When he was my so-called batting coach he used to say I was a natural left-hander trying to bat right-handed.
I tried batting left handed, but it didn't work and I actually felt as though I improved when Steve said "you're by yourself now".
Days like yesterday are almost a bonus in your career. It's a bit like the catch I took in Adelaide - things that come out of the blue. Not that I think my innings yesterday came out of the blue, contrary to what most people would be thinking.
During my time off with injury, I faced hundreds of balls from the bowling machine in the indoor nets and I always had confidence I could do something special with the bat.
Not that the boys had confidence in me. Before I walked out to bat several of them pointed out my tally of Test wickets (454) was closing in on my number of Test runs (477).
My primary job in the team is as a bowler and the things you set yourself for are the five wickets in an innings, 10 wickets in a match and maybe even a hat-trick.
Having been lucky enough to achieve all those things, the one big goal I had left - besides 500 wickets - was a Test 50.
It took me 102 Tests, but it's a great feeling. When I got back into the room, they made the point that I averaged seven in Test cricket and Matthew Hayden averages 55 - so it's the equivalent of him scoring 440.
The boys were all saying my partnership with Dizzy (Jason Gillespie) was about the most enjoyable hour of play they had seen. But the day really belonged to Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke.
Gilly and "Pup" produced a wonderful partnership and set the tone. The fact that Dizzy and I produced 93 at the end must have demoralised the Kiwis and I think we've really taken the game away from them now.
It was funny when I was out in the middle because I started to think how I'd be feeling if an opposition was putting on a 10th wicket partnership like we were.
In situations like that, all you want to do is get the wicket and get off the field and when you can't it gets quite frustrating.
Our plan today is to continue batting and hopefully I can hang around to help Dizzy get his 50, because he deserves it.
Any run we get now is a bonus and last night Ricky Ponting encouraged us to stay out there when the light was offered to us.
When I returned from India, I got a heap of new batting gear from Sommers and yesterday was the first time I used just about my entire new kit in a game. It obviously worked.
The best thing is that Sommers has a $10,000 bonus written into my contract about getting a Test 50, while another sponsor New Loan promised $10,000 to the McGrath Breast Cancer Foundation if I ever got a Test 50.
So yesterday wasn't only a great result for me, but for a lot of other people as well.The Sunday Telegraph
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Diwali 04, Jaipur (12.11.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (12.11.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (13.Nov.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (13.Nov.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (13.Nov.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (13.Nov.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (13.Nov.04)
Diwali 04, Jaipur (13.Nov.04)
Monday, November 08, 2004
Everytime I listen the beautiful 'Man kare yaad wo din' from Akhiri Badla, it
reminds me of a great team that never was.... Kishore and Salilda... Two of the
most innovative artists of their time. I always wonder why they haven't worked
more together... Salil da has 80 Hindi films to his credit as Music director and
Kishore features only in 11 of them [in half of the films he was given only a
single song]...
Kishore featured in 24 songs of Salilda [7 of which were for Half ticket]..
check out the list and we see almost every song of stands out....
1. Gujar Jaaye din - Annadata
2. Koi hota jisko - Mere Apne
3. Wo ik nigaah kya mili - Half Ticket
4. Chhota sa ghar hoga - Naukri
5. Man kare yaad wo din - Aakhiri Badla
6. O meri praaN sajni champaavati aa jaa - Annadata
7. Aankho mein tum dil mein tum ho - HT
8. Maujo ki doli chali - Jeevan jyoti
9. Munna bada pyara - Musafir
10. Aake Seedhi lagi - HT [Kishore sings in both male and female voices]
11. Kooen mein kood ke mar jaana - Parivaar [Even better Kishore sings in five
voices]
Gujar jaaye din and Koi hota ranks in the best of Kishore... Each one from Half
Ticket is a marvel so as Naukri...
I think Salil da had some reservations about Kishore's singing [which
surprisingly is not visible in the works of the two]..
Salil da alway preferred Mukesh and Yesudas over Kishore...
I remember reading somewhere that Salil da could appreciate Kishore singing only
after Koi Hota in Mere Apne [or was it gujar jaaye din?]. Anyone has some
authentic source on that?
Very few songs together but whatever they have, it speaks volumes of the talent
of the two... I wish we had more from the two... Do we have any bong films where
Kishore and Salil worked together... ?
just another Kishore-salil fan
Pavan Jha"
