Letters

Needless acts

Sir, — The Star TV coverage of the McGrath incident is a clear indication of the Australian's bad behaviour while losing a game.

The intention of McGrath was no doubt aimed at disturbing the concentration of Sarwan with a view of getting him out and thereby making West Indies to lose. McGrath certainly succeeded in his attempt to dislodge Sarwan but not West Indies batting.

What was the necessity for Lee to celebrate Sarwan's dismissasl with McGrath when the latter had no part in it? Lee is definitely acknolwedging McGrath's `efforts'.

G. J. ShenoyPayyanurA lesson to others

Sir, — The young West Indies team, led by the swashbuckling hero Brian Lara, has proved to the cricketing world that the Aussies are not unbeatable, with its stupendous and aggressive batting.

The win in the fourth Test was all the more creditable not only because it had come after losing the first three Tests but the team had chased a record second innings score of 417 and surpassed it.

The trump card of the Aussie bowling was the rising deliveries and how well the Windies batsmen, particularly Lara, Sarwan and Chanderpaul, tackled them was worth going miles to see. It is a lesson to the other international teams, particularly the Indians, as to how to take the fight to the opponent's camp.

Anantharam BangaloreSampras good even at 60 per cent

Sir, — The withdrawal of Sampras from Wimbledon is a great disappointment. At the last U.S. Open final he and Agassi demonstrated why they are a class apart from the present crop despite the contest not rising to great heights.

At the moment, only Lleyton Hewitt can possibly cause Agassi any trouble but then he has to be consistently at his best.

At Wimbledon Sampras would have been the choice, since, as it is said Sampras at 60 per cent is enough for an Agassi at 100 per cent, which was the case in the last U.S. Open final.

Bhagawath Viswanath BangaloreA living legend

Sir, — Andre Agassi has carved a niche for himself in the world of tennis by his serve and volley game. He deserved the number one spot in the sport and as the oldest player he made it to the top with dedication and determination, though only for a brief period.

His marriage with Steffi Graf brought luck to his career as did his son. Agassi has shown the tenacity of Tiger Woods, determination of Sachin Tendulkar and the cleverness of Garry Kasparov while reaching the prestigious position. Indeed he is a living legend in the tennis world.

C. K. Subramaniam MumbaiEast Bengal's wonderful season

Sir, — In Indian football, the year 2002-2003 can easily be said to be that of East Bengal club. The bunch of footballers had performed remarkably well during the season. Not only as a second time champion in the NFL, but also as a true champion team. It won four other major tournaments as well.

Only the other glamour team Mohun Bagan had achieved this earlier. East Bengal team management should be praised for the confidence it reposed on the earlier sacked coach, Subhas Bhowmick to select a team of his choice. The gesture of the team management and Bhowmick's dedication combined to bring rich dividends.

Mohun Bagan club management must learn from its rival that sacking a coach (Subrata Bhattacharya) when the team was not performing well, is not a healthy sign. No doubt all players of the East Bengal team deserve praise but to me the Brazilian import, Douglas De Silva was the true sensation with his skills.

Finally, it is nice to note that in Indian football, `Bengal ka jawab nahin'!

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee FaridabadInformative issue

Sir, — The Sportstar issue dated May 10, 2003 was splendid. The interviews with Monica Seles and Gibbs were really informative.

The article on Stephen Fleming by K. Srikkanth did full justice to the New Zealand skipper. The Cover Story was good.

Coming to the Poster, it was nice to see Fleming but I wish you had published a batting action of him.

I would like to see more coverage of European football.

Solaiman Palash DhakaThe humble Waugh

Sir, — The picture of Ricky Ponting, jumping for joy, on reaching his double century provided a rare moment of the great batsman, something that is a collector's delight.

Indeed Australian cricket has been witnessing a smooth transition from one great captain to another — Allan Border to Mark Taylor to Steve Waugh and now to Ponting.

As the second top run-getter in Test cricket, just behind Border, Waugh is also the first Australian to surpass Don Bradman's record of 29 centuries.

Waugh has played the most number of Tests and yet he is humble enough to admit that every record of his would be broken by his deputy Ponting.

It is a great tradition that one sees in Australian cricket.

Kannan Srivilliputhur