Another century, yet another flat pitch
Amid the celebrations of Andrew Strauss' fourth Test century of the winter, there must have been nagging concerns about the pitch at the Kensington Oval, which appears too flat for comfort
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Amid the celebrations of Andrew Strauss' fourth Test century of the winter, there must have been nagging concerns about the pitch at the Kensington Oval, which appears too flat for comfort. As he punched yet another boundary down the ground he could contemplate uneasily the wisdom of his selection. Was the investment in a sixth batsman really necessary? Vic Marks wonders in the Guardian.
The mistake was to describe this as a "good wicket". Prof Edwards, who oversees the ground here, had promised this pitch would be "fast and bouncy" but the groundsman has yet to be born who predicts his beloved surface will be "slow and low". In an age when everything can be scientifically annotated and analysed it is amazing how neglected the art of pitch-making remains. Last week in Karachi there was probably a dreadful cricket wicket, so many runs were scored by the batsmen of Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The balance between bat and ball was all wrong, bad for the game.
Andrew Flintoff's performance in Antigua was a startling demonstration of glorious and reckless self-sacrifice, of altruism, of a man giving everything for a cause beyond himself at a certain cost to himself, writes Simon Barnes in the Times.
Sinking of self into a common cause: this is what team sports are supposed to be all about. But it is not so terribly hard to find examples of players in team sports whose philosophy is based, instead, on the idea of sinking common cause into self. Chelsea's disappointing season can be traced to Didier Drogba's belief that his own sulks were more important than his team's results.
In the Telegraph, Steve James writes that England are starting to make some bold moves by dropping Ian Bell and Steve Harmison.
With Andrew Flintoff absent, it would have been easy to return him to No 6 and the calmer waters in which he has swum so strongly before. Instead, the stern words issued after exclusion in Antigua have been left to ring. There have been clear instructions. Bell’s fitness, and a few extra pounds, is obviously a concern. In response he has been training feverishly. But one wonders whether Harmison can now do likewise. Grave question marks linger. Bell will return one day to international cricket, but can Harmison?
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo