Sachin's a special bloke, says Bacher

ALI Bacher told the Corridor proudly last week he was still in fairly regular contact with some international cricketers, two of whom, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh, he counted as friends.

Bacher sent Tendulkar a text message last week after Sachin picked up the Cricketer of the Year award at the annual ICC Awards ceremony. A thank-you reply came back almost immediately. "He's a special cricketer and a special human being," mused Bacher.

THE Corridor was amused to note Ryan Canning's absence for the Cobras at the start of day three of their SuperSport Series match against the Titans at Willowmoore Park last weekend. We asked around and found out Canning had an upset stomach. Not content to leave it at that, we wanted to know more (we are journalists, after all). "We all ate at Nandos in Benoni last night," we were told by team management. So was it the chicken in a pita or the grilled chicken strips and yellow rice, we wondered. The Corridor humbly suggests Nandos rectify the glitch and entertain the Cobras at their expense when next they play the Titans.

WE had a word with Dolphins CEO Jesse Chellan this week, after having noticed Imran Tahir was back among the wickets for the Dolphins against the Warriors with a match analysis of 56.4-14-153-9. We asked Chellan what was going on regarding Tahir's qualification to play for the Proteas, particularly with a World Cup on the sub-continent coming up. "It's a work-in-progress between the Dolphins, Cricket SA and Home Affairs," Chellan told us. We ploughed forward. "Any idea when this work-in-progress might be concluded," we asked. We will not embarrass our good friend Chellan by quoting his reply, except to say it's unlikely Tahir will be available for today's second ODI against Zimbabwe.

ON a more sombre note, the Corridor became aware recently that all was not well with Graeme Pollock, although friends and admirers gathered round recently for a fundraiser held at the Kyalami Country Club. The bash was apparently arranged by former fast-bowler "Spook" Hanley's wife, Patti, and was a memorable and touching affair. In attendance were Ali Bacher and CSA president Mtutuzeli Nyoka, with Bacher giving a heartfelt speech.

THE Corridor was pleased to note that the ICC board decided in Dubai on Wednesday to give Pakistan 30 days to clean up their cricket in the light of the spot-fixing allegations that emerged in their recent series against England. Local cricket fans, administrators and players will be pleased to read of such measures before the Proteas' upcoming series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The ICC board also announced they had found "no compelling evidence" that cricketers were involved in fixing during the ODI between England and Pakistan at the Oval last month. Apparently, the criminal investigation into the spot-fixing and no-ball debacle at Lord's earlier in the series is continuing in England.

WHAT were they thinking? That was our reaction to Cricket South Africa's "Pure Protea" television advertising campaign. The ads, which depict Proteas players stopping play to sign autographs, are lame and, quite frankly, just not cricket.