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Gideon Haigh reviews Out of My Comfort Zone by Steve Waugh

Gideon Haigh23-Jan-2006

Michael Joseph, hb, 801pp, £20

Eight hundred and one pages; 300,000 words; 1.9 kg. In this statistically-minded age, it is the dimensions of Steve Waugh’s autobiography that first command attention. He has, again, swept the field. Bradman disposed of his life in 316 pages, Hobbs in 320, Allan Border in 270. And this after 10 tour diaries, an album of photographs, and three biographies. The man’s a machine.The hackneyed sportspeak of the title isn’t insignificant either. This is not a comfortable book to hold, let alone read. Most sport memoirs are slight, perfunctory and produced with little care. Waugh has the opposite problem. His stupendous effort in producing this book oozes from every page, almost every passage. He writes like he batted, seemingly in thrall to the idea that the man with the most pages wins. Unable to determine what is important, he has convinced himself that everything is.That’s a shame. There are hints here of genuine self-disclosure, of the drive that made him the cricketer he was, and of the frailties contained by his tight-wound personality. “For me,” he explains, “the hardest part about not doing well was that I began to think I was a failure not just as a player but as a person too.” He was, he admits, a bottler up of his emotions, even with brother Mark. At the peak of his twin’s travails in the match-fixing mess, Waugh recalls, they had a heart-to-heart that, in the great tradition of Aussie stoicism, wasn’t: “Before we parted, we had one of those moments where you know you should let your guard down and just do something. I’m sure we both sensed it – the notion that we should embrace and reassure each other it was going to be okay. But we didn’t.”Waugh is the voice of pragmatism when he wonders if he came back a better player after omission from the Australian side: “Sounds fantastic in theory, but most players who get dropped either don’t make it back or are no better prepared when they get their next chance.” But he is the voice of suggestibility when he enumerates his host of superstitions above and beyond the famous red rag – the alighting on him of a ladybird, for example, he took as a good omen.Captaincy was even lonelier than playing: “A captain can tell he’s skipper the moment he sits down to a team dinner at a restaurant and the chairs on either side are vacant for longer than they have been in the past.” He admits to the occasional “mild anxiety attack” at the coin toss. By the end of his career, his only confidante was his wife, to whom he “let all my pent-up emotions gush out and bawled like a baby” when he was retrenched as one-day skipper.Just when Waugh seems about to open up, however, he seeks the comfort of cliche (“An overwhelming sense of anticipation on top of the comforting knowledge that this was an Australian cricketer’s ultimate sporting adventure stirred me as we gathered at Sydney airport in readiness for my second Ashes tour”) and the safety of statistics (“I performed okay in our other matches, playing in all eight games and finishing fourth in the Australian batting aggregates”). His comfort zone is not merely small but well-fortified.Waugh is also prone to descriptions that are like literary slog-sweeps: batting on an awkward pitch is like “being a wildebeest crossing a swollen African creek bed, knowing that eventually a submerged crocodile will eventually sink its fangs into your flesh”; Michael Bevan was “a `pyjama Picasso’, creating masterpiece after masterpiece to the point that his genius became mundane when people were spoiled by his continued brilliance”; Gavin Robertson “once had the classic textbook technique but it somehow metamorphosed into a batting stance that resembled a badly constipated individual with a `headless chook’ approach”. The writer might have left his comfort zone, but did he have to try taking the reader with him?

Getafe have admitted Mason Greenwood "would suit" Barcelona after Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments on the Manchester United loanee's future.

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Greenwood impressing on loan at GetafeRatcliffe has opened door for his return to Old TraffordBarcelona also interested in English forwardGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

United sent Greenwood out on loan to Getafe on September 1 after concluding a six-month investigation into his conduct away from the pitch. He saw charges of attempted rape, assault, and coercive control against him dropped in February last year, but the club ultimately decided against reintegrating him into the first team. Moving to La Liga has allowed Greenwood to rebuild his career, though, and after recording 13 goal contributions in his first 24 appearances for Getafe, it has been suggested that Barcelona could make a formal offer for the forward this summer.

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Getafe president Angel Torres is still hopeful that Greenwood will stay at Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez beyond the end of the season, but admits that Barcelona would be the ideal fit for the 22-year-old if he were to move on to a new challenge. "He is very comfortable and crazy about staying another year," Torres said to Spanish radio station . "It's a matter that they [United] have to decide. There is new ownership. They have to decide. In Spain, he has a market. Barca's way of playing would suit him well but it depends on Manchester United. If it's true, he'll tell me."

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Torres' comments came in response to news from Old Trafford earlier in the week, with United's new minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe opening the door for Greenwood's potential return to the club. The INEOS chairman confirmed that a fresh decision over Greenwood's future will be taken when his loan deal at Getafe expires. "He’s a Manchester United footballer so we are in charge of football,” Ratcliffe said. "So the answer is yes, we have to make decisions. There is no decision that’s been made. The process will be: understand the facts not the hype and then try and come to fair decision on the basis of values which is basically is he a good guy or not, and answer could he play sincerely for Manchester United well and would we be comfortable with it and would the fans be comfortable with it."

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR GREENWOOD?

Greenwood is still under contract at Old Trafford until 2025, but has not played a competitive game for United since January 2022, and it remains to be seen whether he will be given another chance under the INEOS regime. For now, the one-cap England international's focus remains locked on matters at Getafe, who are set to come up against his potential suitors Barcelona in their next La Liga game on Saturday.

Liverpool have been linked with a thriving midfielder at a fellow Premier League outfit, as Jurgen Klopp pushes for more improvements to the Anfield side this month.

There have been a raft of changes on Merseyside this year, with James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving in June upon the expiry of their contracts, and Jordan Henderson and Fabinho departing to Saudi Arabian sides for a combined £52m.

Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo have all been signed as part of the midfield rebuild, but the club still needs to make another acquisition to combat the exodus and return to the forefront of domestic and continental football.

What's the latest on Boubacar Kamara to Liverpool?

According to Spanish sources, the Reds have identified Aston Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara to conclude their transfer business this month.

Read the latest Liverpool transfer news HERE…

While no fee has been mooted, the Frenchman is currently valued at £35m by FootballTransfers, though it would almost certainly cost in excess of this figure to prise him away from the Villans' clutches.

How good is Boubacar Kamara?

While Kamara only moved to the West Midlands side last year, joining on a free transfer after his deal with French side Marseille expired, and played 24 times in the Premier League last term, hampered by injury and missing chunks of the campaign.

While Villa would loathe to part with the industrious midfielder after securing European football with a seventh-placed finish in the English top-flight last year, it would be interesting if Liverpool were to test the resolve of Unai Emery's side with an enticing offer.

The Merseyside outfit still need to add a sturdy layer of depth to their centre despite the incomings this summer, and Kamara could prove to be the perfect holding midfielder to bolster the ranks, having completed 85% of his passes, made 2.4 tackles and won 55% of his ground duels last term, as per Sofascore.

Hailed as a "controller" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the £150k-per-week gem ranks among the top 22% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for tackles and the top 18% for blocks per 90, as per FBref, accentuating his grip on games and robustness in the defensive phases.

Given his faculty to exert control, the 23-year-old could prove to be the perfect midfield partner for Szoboszlai, who has impressed in the early stages of his Anfield career after joining from RB Leipzig for £60m in July, with teammate Harvey Elliott already remarking at how he has "showcased his quality".

The Hungarian dynamo is a creative midfielder with a multitude of weapons at his disposal, capable of supplementing the attack and fiercely striking on goal himself, while also being energetic and relentless in his general application.

To showcase this, he ranks among the top 17% of midfielders for assists, the top 10% for shot-creating actions, the top 18% for progressive passes, the top 5% for blocks and the top 14% for clearances per 90.

The all-encompassing approach is exactly what Liverpool needed this summer to spark life back into their centre, but with Kamara alongside him, providing his consistency in the tackle and holding the team together, he could be allowed to display his abilities to their full extent.

Mushfiqur Rahim has already made a sound start to his new role in the Bangladesh team: that of just a batsman. Coincidentally, it has come at a time of personal joy. On the day after the Chittagong Test, his wife Jannatul Kifayat gave birth to their first child.Ahead of their training session at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Monday, Mushfiqur treated everyone to sweets. The 92 first-innings runs in Chittagong must have added to his joy as it was an important contribution to the team, while also giving him a personal boost.In December, BCB had ousted Mushfiqur as the Test captain (handing over the job to Shakib Al Hasan) after Bangladesh’s diabolical tour of South Africa where he also courted controversy by criticising the fast bowlers and suggesting that the team management gets away with losses while the players don’t. With Liton Das also being given a longer rope as the regular wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur’s job in the team became more condensed.Mushfiqur said that now he has to solely think as a batsman, and he is enjoying the new role. “There was always pressure but as a captain, I was an automatic choice,” Mushfiqur said. “Now as a top-order batsman, I have to perform. I tried to give my best in the last game. I was unlucky in the second innings, the ball wasn’t that great. I will keep trying, and get more runs in the next game.”I had three jobs and now I have one job. I always try to perform my responsibilities to the best of my ability. I scored while being the captain and wicketkeeper and I even got out for a duck. I have to face whatever comes in front of me, and go forward. I am enjoying it.”Mushfiqur said that he misses at least one side of wicketkeeping, which allowed him to have a closer look at the pitch. But, otherwise, he believes Liton is in it for the long haul. “I always enjoy fielding. Keeping wicket of course gives you a better perspective, especially about the wicket,” he said. “But I am happy. Liton is batting and keeping well and I think he can give serve Bangladesh cricket for eight to 10 years.”Although Shakib had inherited his job, Mahmudullah was the captain in the first Test that Mushfiqur has played after losing his captaincy because of Shakib’s injury. Mushfiqur said that Mahmudullah is a kind of captain who chooses to lead by example.”I liked his captaincy,” Mushfiqur said. “He has been a good captain at the domestic level including the BPL. He tries to lead by example with his performance. He says what he believes in, which also inspires me. The team is really looking forward to playing under him in Dhaka.”

Girona star Artem Dovbyk scored a sensational hat-trick within six minutes as he fired his side into a clear lead against Sevilla on Sunday.

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• Dovbyk scored three times in six minutes
• Now has 14 goals in La Liga
• Joint-top with Madrid star Bellingham

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  It was an incredible start to the game as Sevilla took the lead after just 10 minutes through Isaac Romero. Just three minutes later, Dovbyk pulled his team level and then added a second almost immediately afterwards. In the 19th minute, he lashed the ball low into the net from outside the box to complete his hat-trick.

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• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The 26-year-old forward's treble takes his goal tally in La Liga to 14, putting him level with Real Madrid sensation Jude Bellingham at the top of the scorer chart. The Ukraine international also has five assists to his name, one fewer than Toni Kroos and Villarreal's Alex Baena.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR GIRONA?

  Girona are still going strong at the top of La Liga, though Real Madrid sit just a point behind and have a game in hand over the shock leaders. After Sunday's game they will turn their attention to Wednesday's Copa del Rey clash against Mallorca, followed by a clash against Celta in La Liga.

Tamim aggravated the injury he suffered during the second Test, forcing him to miss the rest of the South Africa tour and at least two weeks of Bangladesh’s premier domestic T20 tournament

Mohammad Isam20-Oct-2017Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the rest of Bangladesh’s tour to South Africa after aggravating the injury on his left thigh muscle for the second time in two weeks. He will return home on October 22, and is set to miss at least the first two weeks of the Bangladesh Premier League, which is scheduled to begin on November 4.Tamim had first injured his left thigh during the practice match at the start of the tour in Benoni and in the first Test in Potchefstroom, which he played carrying the injury. Both instances occurred when he was fielding.Despite not being 100% fit, he played the second ODI in Paarl. Before the game however, he had said that he was risking another injury.At the time, Tamim said: “If I get injured again [in the same spot], then I will be out for two months which I hope the team management doesn’t want and neither do I.”When he played in Paarl, there were many who were dismayed by the team management’s decision to risk an in-form batsman, like Tamim, who had already aggravated the injury during the first ODI. Bangladesh, meanwhile, have also lost Mustafizur Rahman due to an ankle injury.Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, on the South Africa tour as manager, has said that Mominul Haque, who is in the ODI squad, will remain with the team for the T20Is as Tamim’s replacement.

Nottingham Forest have scheduled imminent medical tests to finalise a summer deal for Manchester United star Anthony Elanga, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Who is Anthony Elanga?

Elanga is primarily a left-sided winger who has played his football at Old Trafford for the past eight years having graduated from the club’s academy to get promoted to the first-team fold back in January 2022, as per Transfermarkt, but there’s a chance that he could be on the move during the present window.

During the 2022/23 Premier League season, Erik Ten Hag only handed the 21-year-old five top-flight starts and he was reduced to coming off the bench as a substitute on 11 occasions, via WhoScored, showing how out of favour he is and highlighting that he needs to leave should he want to receive more regular game time elsewhere.

The Telegraph have reported that despite interest from West Ham United and Everton, the Sweden international turned down the chance to join David Moyes’ and Sean Dyche's sides and instead has opted to make the switch to Steve Cooper’s men, with The Athletic revealing that the Reds have had a £15m offer for the attacker accepted in M16.

So far this summer, the Midlands outfit have finalised a permanent deal for Chris Wood who initially joined on loan from Newcastle United and most recently they confirmed the arrival of defender Ola Aina from Torino, and the club’s third recruit could be about to walk through the doors at The City Ground.

Are Nottingham Forest signing Anthony Elanga?

Taking to Twitter, Romano revealed that Nottingham Forest have already agreed with Manchester United for a medical to take place for Elanga, whilst also providing an update on their pursuit of goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who Cooper is keen to secure following his successful loan spell last season.

“Nottingham Forest are insisting on Dean Henderson as negotiations are ongoing with Manchester United after loan bid sent earlier this week. Medical booked for Anthony Elanga after permanent deal agreed on Friday.”

How many goals has Anthony Elanga scored?

Whilst Nottingham Forest will know that Elanga wasn’t given a fair chance to prove what he was capable of last season, the left-winger has racked up a total of 50 goal contributions (30 goals and 20 assists) in 124 appearances since the start of his career, so should he put pen to paper, he could be reborn under Cooper.

The CAA Stellar client can pose a huge threat in the final third having ranked in the 92nd percentile for most attacking touches in the opposition’s penalty area, whilst averaging 3.59 shot-creating actions per top-flight match last term was also impressive even though he was a bit-part player, as per FBRef.

The Malmo native, who has the versatility to operate in five different positions across the pitch, including everywhere across the frontline, also has bags of experience under his belt having previously played in both the Champions and Europa League competitions, so he would be able to instil a much-needed winning mentality and increase the level of performance in the Midlands.

ScorecardA match that might have finished in an historic tie just went the way of Middlesex after a tense and absorbing conclusion, providing the defending champions with only a second win of the season and the hope that they might yet claw back more of the space that opened up between them and leaders Essex with last week’s thumping defeat at Chelmsford.None of the ties in first-class cricket has featured identical totals in both innings, yet that prospect was on the cards here as Middlesex, who had looked as though they would reach their target comfortably while Nick Compton and John Simpson were together, began to lose wickets with disconcerting regularity in the post-lunch session.Warwickshire fought as you would expect from a side desperate for a win and stand-in captain Jonathan Trott was never without an idea that might make something happen, but they are now 48 points adrift from safety,They gave themselves a substantial shot of hope and adrenalin before lunch when Jeetan Patel managed, seemingly against all probability, to draw Compton out of his crease and had him stumped.Until that moment, Middlesex looked in command, needing 112 with six wickets in hand. Yet Warwickshire, who have not enjoyed too many good moments in a largely dismal season, used that wicket as a motivational factor and had a fresh determination as they emerged for the afternoon session.Ryan Higgins at first maintained Middlesex’s momentum but Warwickshire somehow kept themselves in it. A fine catch by William Porterfield, diving forward from gully, removed Simpson off Rikki Clarke. And from 170-6, needing 64, Middlesex stumbled three more times.James Harris was unable to get out of the way of a super ball from Boyd Rankin – among a mixed bag of a performance, it has to be said – and gave a catch behind at 193-7, Higgins popped up a bat-pad short-leg catch off Patel at 210-8 and, tantalising Warwickshire fans even more, Ollie Rayner stepped across one from Rankin to be leg before, leaving his side nine down with seven still required.Tim Murtagh and Tom Helm kept their nerve admirably, however, taking four singles off Clarke before Murtagh found a gap on the offside against Rankin and took three runs to the longer boundary.Dawid Malan, Middlesex’s acting captain, believed the key phase of the match had been the last session on day three, when Tom Helm dismissed Trott for 99 and rapidly cleaned up the tail, leaving Warwickshire at least 20 or 30 runs short of where they had hoped to be.”I think the way Tom plus Tim Murtagh and Ryan Higgins bowled at the end of day three – their spell set it up for us because at tea they had been in the driving seat and we probably bowled them out for a lot less than they should have got,” Malan said.”We desperately needed that win. We haven’t been playing our best cricket so far and have not been able to string four good days together.”We have won two and lost two of our last four which is disappointing on the loss side because we pride ourselves on being hard to beat, but positive on the winning side.”To get a win moving forward with guys due to come back from injury and England duty when the Championship starts again we are in a good position to get a few wins in a row and be pushing for the top.”The concern for Warwickshire, of course, is about finding a way somehow to get away from the bottom, although with only six matches left time is running out.Yet coach Jim Troughton still believes his team’s character remains intact, even though results suggest that time is catching up with some of the senior members of their dressing room.”Yes, we probably need to win at least half our remaining games but in 2010 we needed to win four out of five and if there is one thing you can always say this team has been good at, over the years of winning trophies and getting to finals and bringing this club a lot of success, it is being up for it in the big games that matter.”We always knew that we were hitting a period of transition and that this season was going to be tough and we’ve had some performances this season we have not been proud of, where we have crumbled under pressure or drifted through sessions.”But this is a league in which anyone can beat anyone. Somerset have shown that up at Scarborough. And in this game we have gone toe to toe with a good side so we have to take positives from that.”We need to keep asking questions of the older players. We need to compete over all four days of games and to walk off at the end of the game knowing we have given everything and (on this occasion) I don’t need to question that.”He could not question the passion of some of those players, either, as was evident in the scenes on the third evening, before and after Stevie Eskinazi was dismissed for a duck – the score at which Warwickshire had been convinced he was out in the first innings before going on to score the match-winning individual score.The umpires had to intervene, asking Rikki Clarke and Keith Barker in particular to calm down, giving Trott another challenge as captain he might not have bargained for. Troughton admitted the incident had been a cause for concern.”We had a chat with the umpires and recognised that the passion probably bubbled over a little bit,” he said.”Our members maybe sometimes ask where’s the fight, where’s the passion in our team. They definitely saw it there but to people watching without knowing the context it does not look great. So we talked about being competitive and hitting them hard but not stepping over the line.”

Durham are hoping to complete the signing of Imad Wasim as an overseas player in the NatWest T20 Blast. Imad, who is currently rated as the best T20 bowler in international cricket, will join for five matches before departing for the Caribbean Premier League.Imad, who was born in Swansea, made his international debut in 2015 and was recently a member of the Pakistan team that won the Champions Trophy, playing in every game at the tournament.He has impressed with his left-arm spin in the Pakistan Super League, as well as during stints at the CPL, and will bring something extra to a thin Durham squad, who have lost two from two in the competition so far. Tom Latham, their main overseas signing, is currently out of action with a foot injury.Imad’s signing is subject to him receiving a work permit.

Part-time legspinner Joe Denly was the unlikely bowling hero as Kent opened their Royal London Cup win account with a 46-run victory over South Group rivals Middlesex in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network07-May-2017
ScorecardSouth Africa’s Wayne Parnell was Man of the Match•AFP

Part-time legspinner Joe Denly was the unlikely bowling hero as Kent opened their Royal London Cup win account with a 46-run victory over South Group rivals Middlesex in Canterbury.Having failed to defend 330-plus scores in their previous two games, Kent managed to protect a modest all out total of 200 with Denly bagging 3 for 20 to secure his side’s first win in four starts and inflict a third defeat on Middlesex. Needing to score at a shade over four an over to record their second win of the campaign, Middlesex committed cardinal one-day errors in losing cheap wickets at regular intervals to fall woefully short.The visitors lost Dawid Malan in the third over when the left-hander sparred outside off against Wayne Parnell to nick to second slip. Four balls later, Parnell, in his last home game of his current spell as Kent’s overseas allrounder, ran one back up the Canterbury slope to trap Nick Gubbins lbw for a single.Adam Voges and Nick Compton added 47 before Kent struck through Darren Stevens, who belied his 41 years by taking a stunning return catch from a Voges’ drive to make it 49 for 3. Eleven runs later and Kent were celebrating again when a direct hit from 12th man Will Gidman, substituting for the injured Matt Coles, ran out John Simpson after Nick Compton had called for a sharp single to the cover fielder.Coles returned after treatment for a sore shin to pocket a comfortable catch off the bowling of James Tredwell that ended Compton’s 85-ball stay for a painstaking 37 and left Tredwell with 1 for 29 from his 10 overs.Keeping pace off the ball, Denly struck to have Ryan Higgins caught behind and then, in his next over, he trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw when working across the line. Middlesex, with only three wickets remaining, still required 78 going into their final 10 overs when Denly, leaping full-length to his left caught a rasping James Franklin drive one-handed to send the visiting skipper packing for 33.Mitch Claydon replaced Denly to have James Fuller caught off a skier leaving Parnell to finish it with another reflex return caught-and-bowled catch that accounted for Ravi Patel and gave Parnell, the Man of the Match, deserved figures of 3 for 33.Kent’s day started badly when they again lost the toss in overcast conditions and were duly invited to bat with the floodlights already on. Their gloom deepened after only two deliveries when Daniel Bell-Drummond, fresh from scoring back-to-back hundreds in losing causes, feathered a defensive push against Roland-Jones into the gloves of Simpson to depart without scoring.Home skipper Sam Northeast and second-wicket partner Denly, batting against his former county, steadied Kent with a stand of 52 that ended in the 13th over when Denly pulled a short one to midwicket where Voges held a stinging overhead chance.Northeast, who enjoyed a life when on 24 after Voges downed a regulation slip chance, posted his 13th List A half-century from 73 balls and with six fours. He and Sean Dickson added 44 before the latter miscued his attempted pull against Franklin to mid-on to go for 29.Northeast followed, sweeping against Patel to give a catch to the keeper for 55, having spent almost two hours at the crease. Alex Blake lasted only five minutes, tamely hanging his bat out to dry against Franklin, the left-hander went for 2 after edging a third catch to Simpson behind the timbers.The procession of Kent batsmen to the pavilion continued when Stevens miscued to extra cover to gift Patel a second scalp, bringing together Adam Rouse and Parnell for a face-saving seventh-wicket stand worth 34. .With little to lose Parnell went for his strokes only to smear Malan’s first ball of the day, a low full-toss, straight into the hands of Tom Helm at deep midwicket.Coles edged an attempted drive against Helm to slip where Voges took off to hold a stunning overhead catch diving to his left, then, to the first ball of the third and final Powerplay, Rouse nicked an attempted cut to his Middlesex counterpart Simpson to give Helm a second wicket.With four of their 50 overs still to be bowled, Kent’s last man Claydon, who had just hooked the only six of his side’s innings, was yorked by Roland-Jones, the pick of the Middlesex attack with 3 for 35 from his 10 overs.