The Surfer

The selection committee, supposed to take a decision on Monday, finally met on Wednesday and decided, “it is not like the team is losing just because he isn’t there,” (impeccable logic) and wondered, “Who will he replace there? Various batsmen have scored some runs here [Melbourne] so it might be unfair to drop them.” Welcome to the world of our selection committee, where the likes of Faisal Iqbal making a 40 and Misbah-ul-Haq making 60 after innumerable failures and dropped catches, means that it’s fine and dandy to keep the country’s best number three out of the side.

Flower’s strengths are simple ones: he does not overcomplicate the game; he has the strength of mind to ignore the often shrill voices that accompany the team; he has formed a quite superb working relationship with Andrew Strauss; and he is not what Roy Keane used to call a “bluffer”.

What makes this situation even more perplexing is that South Africa have Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, in their ranks. One of Fletcher's greatest assets with England was his ability to coach batsmen to overcome spin bowling. His work helped England complete memorable series victories over Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.

The problem, however, lies not merely in the options available but how best to utilise them. Had it not been for a poor first-day performance at the MCG, so desperately lacking in commitment and self-belief, the first Test wouldn’t have required Ponting’s obvious desire to make it more competitive and appealing for the large crowds present. The SGC and its spinner-friendly conditions should simply invite Yousuf to sit his team down at the pre-match team-talk and invoke a recent, popular slogan: “Yes, we can!”

The Ashes of 2005 was the apogee of sporting theatre, possessing the rare combination of being perpetually watchable to the point of addiction and being unwatchable to the point of fearing for your health. The years since have dulled neither its appeal nor its thrilling nature and that explains why it won the Greatest Contest in The Independent Poll of the Decade.

What were the doubts that caused the England selectors, who had clearly seen something in the cygnet when they picked him for the tour to South Africa ten years ago, to balk at playing him in the final XI until 2008? There were two issues, neither related, both of which Swann has put firmly to bed.

It can be a wearing examination and Morne Morkel’s dismissal early on the final day in Durban showed that it had taken its toll on him. The night before Morkel had been getting well forward to Graeme Swann but when play resumed he appeared to quickly forgot his routines. In the second over of the day he was trapped leg-before going back to the off spinner moments after having faced Stuart Broad.

9 The 2005 Ashes series.

Pakistan has often been taken apart; has lost 10 consecutive Tests against Australia. But it kept trying. Before each session its players gathered in a huddle. That has not always been possible in Pakistan. In bygone years a few corpses could have emerged as the huddle broke up. Now the visitors appeared more cohesive.

Generally Ponting's first priority is to give his bowlers enough time to win the game (though this may change in a tight Ashes series), the South African way is to ensure that the opposition do not have a chance of winning and only then to press for victory. Now Smith's team may have to swerve.

Such an emphatic defeat often prompts calls for sweeping changes. This rarely happens in modern, squad-orientated international cricket, where security of tenure is so treasured. But in the South African side there are several players suddenly under severe scrutiny in a country where the supporters routinely expect victory. Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy, Paul Harris and Makhaya Ntini are all under pressure.