& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

The villain of the piece
AHMEDABAD. Feb 15 (AFP): It would be a major quandary for any World Cup captain
One of your key batsmen, a few weeks after complaining of exhaustion opens the tour nament with just one run. plays the villain s role in a bungled run-out of a teammate. then drops a catch
What should Michael Atherton do? Reprieve the player ... or give himself another chance?
It may seem rather early to be burying the England captain after his persona) nightmare in the Group B de feat to New Zealand
YeU Wednesday s perfor mance follows a series of failures by the Lancastrian, and comes only a few weeks after the British media were even questioning whether he was the right man for the Job.
Atherton, it was suggested after the 6-1 one-dayham-mering by South Africa, did not have the tactical flair or imagination for a World Cup campaign.
Dermot Reeve, hardly a world-class talent but the finest cricketing brain on the English circuit after leading
Warwickshire to five championship and Cup titles in the last two seasons, was outed as a possible replacement.
Atherton, of course, would remain as opener, yet now the England No I s runs are
MIKE ATHERTON
drying up as well.
Reeve io no longer available as an option, after being axed from the final World Cup squad, but Neil Fairbrother, who ironically captains Atherton at Lancashire, could take over the reins.
Circumstances, however, suggest Atherton will give another chance, but only after telling himself to pull
his own socks up.
With Grame Hick — the man the England captain ran out on 85 while acting as his runner on Wednesday — -nursing a thigh strain and Robin Smith recovering from a groin pull. England have few options.
Manager Ray Illingworth will also be watching Dominic Cork's fitness closely: Jhe Derbyshire pace bowler may need resting after just returning from a knee muscle injury.
Atherton was also not the only under par player in th? first game. Graham Thorpe managing a mere nine after putting down two catches.
A few weeks. It seems, is a long time in cricket. It was only in December that Atherton hit 185 not out at Johannesburg to save the second Test against South Africa, an innings of almost 11 hours described by Illingworth as "one of the all-time great innings."
Yet since then there has been a 5th Test duck, a golden duck In the second one-dayer against the Springboks and the admission of exhaustion at the end of then tour.
The pressure is now on. "Captain Grumpy," as he was dubbed by (he South African press, desperately needs to put a smile back on England faces.