The Surfer
Third umpires should take call on tampering
In the Guardian , Duncan Fletcher calls for a change in the way suspected ball tampering is handled
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In the Guardian, Duncan Fletcher calls for a change in the way suspected ball tampering is handled. Instead of asking opposition players to lodge a formal complaint, he wants the responsibility of bringing up the issue to shift to the third umpire.
The current system ... only creates animosity between teams. You could see that in the language being used by the players this week. Andrew Strauss has called South Africa's behaviour "malicious".
You want a game to be a hard battle but this situation leads to bad blood between players. It is wrong that the ICC was waiting for South Africa to put in a complaint about England. It is the ICC's responsibility to look for evidence of ball-tampering, or of other offences, such as throwing.
In the Independent, Angus Fraser writes that the stigma of being caught tampering should be treated in the same manner as a batsman not walking when he has knowingly hit the ball. In the same piece, he also recalls the dread that filled him when he was required to walk out and save a Test as a No. 11.
Full postSCG stands as ground for all occasions
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Surely the absorbing Test match which held the nation in thrall will have put paid to the persistent and surely frivolous talk of Test cricket being moved away from the SCG, writes Mike Coward in the Weekend Australian.
Much more than the match which saw Australia achieve its 11th consecutive victory over Pakistan in a decade, the occasion reaffirmed the greatness of Test cricket and the significance of seeing the traditional game played in its rightful setting. The SCG has a very rich history which its trustees and members must unselfconsciously trumpet as Cricket NSW continues to show intense interest in taking the game west to Homebush nearer the demographic centre of Sydney.
The craft of Paul Collingwood
After yet another over-my-dead-body final day batting effort from Paul Collingwood, Michael Atherton - a man who has played some great match-saving innings himself - analyses in the Times just what makes Collingwood so special
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
After yet another over-my-dead-body final day batting effort from Paul Collingwood, Michael Atherton - a man who has played some great match-saving innings himself - analyses in the Times just what makes Collingwood so special.
Mindset is vital. A batsman knows he is setting out on a defensive course, but he must remain positive and be prepared to hit the bad ball. A positive attitude will, in turn, help his feet to move quickly and help him to be committed in defence. But he needs also to eliminate risk; to work out which shots against which bowlers are dangerous in the conditions. Be disciplined, then, as Collingwood was yesterday in his refusal to play any cross-bat shots on a pitch he knew to be slow and low.And in the Independent James Lawton writes that while Collingwood may not one of the great stylists, his innings on Thursday was an example of "batting cut down to the very bare bones of functional defiance."
Also read Simon Hughes' account of the enthralling battle between Collingwood and Dale Steyn once the new ball was taken in the Daily Telegraph.
Full postBell belies reputation for soft runs
Just weeks after being embarrassingly bowled leaving a Paul Harris delivery, Ian Bell has produced a scrapping innings that showed off his temperament and grit
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Just weeks after being embarrassingly bowled leaving a Paul Harris delivery, Ian Bell has produced a scrapping innings that showed off his temperament and grit. After his nearly five-hour vigil in the second innings helped save the Cape Town Test, no one can question whether he's mentally strong enough for the international level, writes Steve James in the Daily Telegraph.
Only the exceptionally mean-minded will surely even question now. This was his moment of truth and he answered it emphatically. He may not have actually been there at the end, but he saved his team from defeat. There were no easy, pretty runs on offer here.
Vic Marks writes in the Guardian that in the toughest of situations, Bell has played his finest innings, which should earn him some respite from the arm-chair critics.
Full postWhen Bell came to the crease in the morning the pitch was still true, but the situation was already taut. He dealt with the crisis points adroitly.
There were no great alarms in the first few minutes when every batsman is vulnerable. He did not leave deliveries from Harris. Against the second new ball, another crisis moment, he was fortuitous in that he found himself at Morne Morkel's end. Normally this is not the place to be, but Steyn bowled a spell of superb quality mostly at Collingwood (29 deliveries out of 36). Still he played Morkel skilfully.
The third crisis was when Collingwood departed, soon to be followed by Matt Prior. Even without the Collingwood comfort blanket he remained calm, outwardly, at least, almost to the end.
Drop Paul Harris for final Test?
South Africa have dominated two Tests in this series without managing to deliver results in either, and now need to win in Johannesburg to salvage it
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
South Africa have dominated two Tests in this series without managing to deliver results in either, and now need to win in Johannesburg to salvage it. Paul Harris' series average has ballooned past 40, prompting Rob Houwing to wonder in sport24.co.za whether South Africa should beef up their pace attack for the final Test.
Full postThe ball-tampering row at Newlands
The ball-tampering allegations seemed to have blown over after South Africa did not lodge an official complaint before the deadline, but AB de Villiers has added more fuel to the fire
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
The ball-tampering allegations seemed to have blown over after South Africa did not lodge an official complaint before the deadline, but AB de Villiers has added more fuel to the fire. Here's what the papers had to say ...
In the Times, Michael Atherton says South Africa have "behaved cravenly".
Ball tampering is a serious allegation in cricket, and if you make it, as South Africa effectively did on the third evening by publicly raising their “concerns” about the state of the ball to Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, you had better be damn sure of your facts ... After letting all and sundry know that they felt England were up to no good on the third evening, South Africa ran for cover yesterday. A spokesman alerted us to a forthcoming announcement from the ICC, which arrived, in all its magnificent obfuscation, in the afternoon. The ICC, having received no formal complaint, considers the matter closed. From South Africa there was nothing.
Ed Smith, another Times columnist, offers a different view. He writes, "It is high time that ball tampering, given that everyone does it, is downgraded from its present absurd status as a crime worthy of deep shame and opprobrium."
Full postWhat's the matter with Kevin?
At some point very soon, either after this game or once the series is over, Andy Flower needs to sit down with Kevin Pietersen and work out what the future holds, writes Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail .
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
At some point very soon, either after this game or once the series is over, Andy Flower needs to sit down with Kevin Pietersen and work out what the future holds, writes Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail.
Watching him closely out here in South Africa, I’ve sensed he’s been a bit sidetracked. It’s not been anything obvious — just his body language and the way he’s been in the field. He looks a bit lost mentally, as if he doesn’t quite know where he’s going next. This may be down to a couple of reasons. Obviously he missed most of the Ashes hype last summer after having achilles surgery, so he may be feeling a little detached from it all. But I also think he may not quite have got the Peter Moores fiasco out of his system.
For Pietersen this has been no fairytale return to his native land. He is not inspiring much awe any more and there is the whisper that the South Africans sense a vulnerability against extreme pace in general and Dale Steyn in particular, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.
Full postQuestions over Yousuf's captaincy
After the heroics of the opening two days, the Pakistani hare looked around and suddenly found the Australian tortoise right behind him, writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian .
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
After the heroics of the opening two days, the Pakistani hare looked around and suddenly found the Australian tortoise right behind him, writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian.
Mystifyingly, Pakistan were just as defensive, with Yousuf having as many as eight men on the fence at times. Hussey declined the easy singles on offer, instead finding the ropes intermittently as the lead slowly mounted. If he was bemused by Yousuf's we-shall-bore-you-out tactics, he didn't show it, easing past a hundred and well beyond. On air, the venerable Richie Benaud called Yousuf's captaincy "inexplicable". The millions who had woken up before dawn in Pakistan would surely have agreed.
Tests still have power to thrill
There is no question that Test cricket has some important housekeeping to do
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
There is no question that Test cricket has some important housekeeping to do. Yet, in this week of all weeks, there is surely no case for redesign. The old house, after all, has rarely looked in better nick, writes James Lawton in the Independent.
Test cricket, as we have seen in the last summer of the Ashes, and in the match that is still unfolding in Cape Town and the one won so dramatically by Australia against Pakistan, does not need a new shape or new rules. It just needs the faith that is required to give it the space and the time to prove what some have known all along ... Really, what kind of rival plot line could a Twenty20 collision ever seriously present to the kind of drama still unfolding at the exquisite Newlands ground?
A glorious, yet empty victory
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that Australia's remarkable win in Sydney looks on paper like one of their most glorious victories, but figures can be deceiving.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that Australia's remarkable win in Sydney looks on paper like one of their most glorious victories, but figures can be deceiving.
And yet there was an emptiness about it. It was as much an abject defeat for Pakistan as it was a victory for a determined home side. Had the visitors played with even a modicum of skill and sense or pursued even remotely acceptable tactics, the match could not have been lost - by no means were the Australians irresistible. Simply, Ponting and his players gave their opponents a chance to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory, an opportunity they grabbed with both hands.
In the Australian, Mike Coward argues that the Akmal brothers must shoulder much of the blame for Pakistan's predicament.
This is especially so of vice-captain and wicketkeeper Kamran, who dropped Hussey on three occasions on Tuesday and yesterday missed a regulation diving leg-side catch offered by Siddle off Mohammad Sami. Siddle was then 25 and the total at 8-350. It was another dreadful and embarrassing lapse. If Kamran was inept his younger sibling Umar was simply impetuous. Again. There is no doubt he is going to be a fine Test cricketer, but as irksome as it may be at 19 he must recognise his limits.
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