A farce on a bland pitch

The first Test between England and South Africa was the sixth successive draw at Lord's but Patrick Kidd wants to know why the umpires offered the light at 4.35pm given that the batsmen weren't really in any danger and that England had given up trying to get them out. He writes in the Times:

OK, the game was going nowhere, but surely the only reason you forfeit the final hour is if neither side can win. By declaring 47 runs ahead, hadn't Smith given England a chance of winning? Scoring 47 shouldn't be beyond England in an hour. Of course, Smith's declaration was only made because England had promised not to chase it, but it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Kidd and other Times cricket correspondents pick their World XI based on the players they have seen.

In the Telegraph Simon Hughes in unimpressed by the bland pitch, which according to him was was like a cover girl's face after it had been airbrushed: pale, smooth and blemishless: beauty in the eye of the batsman.

The culture needs to change. Batsmen don't want bland pitches any more than bowlers. More risks must be taken. At the moment grass, which can add life, meets the same fate as body hair on Olympic athletes, and is unceremoniously shaved off. Steve Rouse, at Edgbaston, has the right idea and is more expermimental. He relishes a low scoring match. Maybe we need more ex-bowlers as groundsmen.

On iafrica.com, Rob Peters and Ebrahim Moola debate whether Kevin Pietersen is a loss to South African cricket.

Moola: KP could easily be in Hollywood or the House of Lords, such is the man's charisma. He represents the evolution of the game from a twee, limp-wristed game of rounders to a high-octane slugfest suited perfectly to an audience with a concentration span about the length of Glenn McGrath's batting average.

Peters: If cricket was not a team game I might have conceded that Pietersen was a loss to South Africa. If for example, he was a loud-mouthed and far less humble version of Roger Federer, I would admit that I would find it hard to see him turning out in English colours at Wimbledon. But Pietersen is nothing like Federer, not in ability and certainly not in the way of humbleness.