Lara’s Dream

‘AFTER a brief hiatus, Italian football has returned to the pinnacle of the European stage.

West Indies avoid the whitewash

Last night AC Milan beat local rivals Inter on the away goals rule – the game finished 1-1 – to move into the European Cup final.

The Telegraph says that AC won because ‘their approach was more adventurous from the beginning’. But since this is Italian football, that means two AC players crossed the halfway line in the game’s opening stages, opposed to Inter’s one, or none.

For sheer excitement, tortoise racing can match the football on offer in Italy. And neither of those sports comes close to the high-octane thrill-a-minute sport that is Test cricket.

The Guardian leads with a picture of the entire West Indies cricket team kissing the wicket at St John’s in Antigua.

The reason was that the West Indies had made the highest ever fourth wicket winning total of 418 runs.

That’s just awesome, and it gets even better when the opposition are revealed as our dear friends, the Australians.

The Times shows the scorecard, with centuries for Sarwan and Chanderpaul, a ‘modest contribution’ from Brian Lara of 60 runs, and seven wickets down.

A score of 60 for an English batsman against the Aussies would be no little achievement, but for one of the world’s best, it’s a walk in the Caribbean sunshine.

‘I can hardly put into words what has happened,’ said Lara. ‘It is fantastic to see us show this mettle and character.’

And it can’t be bad for cricket per se to see a side upset the world’s best.

And while the Italians go wild, the West Indians party into the small hours, the British read in the Independent that Greg Rusedski is injured.

The British No.2 pulled out of the Zagreb Open after feeling pain in his back. It would have been his first match in almost nine months, but it was not to be.

And it is indeed a shocking thing. How can a sportsman who has not played for the best part of a year still be the second best tennis player in Britain? Who’s the third best? Tony Blair..?

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Posted: 14th, May 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink