England to pop even if corks will not (18 May 1999)

18 May 1999

England to pop even if corks will not

Michael Henderson

The World Cup is supposed to be a "carnival of cricket". Spectators at Canterbury today, who had planned to gargle a few glasses of something pleasant out of a slope-shouldered bottle, might take a different view.

For them, it will be Tizer and Dandelion and Burdock and, while those splendid beverages provide evocations of childhood, some ticket-holders may feel that, as grown-ups, they have been led down the garden path.

In no time at all crowd problems, and the safety of players, have become the talking points of this World Cup. That is not to be sneezed at. All players must be protected at all times, in all places.

Even so, it is stretching things a bit to suggest that the meeting of England and Kenya in a group game at the cosy old St Lawrence ground is a "hot" event. It is not exactly India v Pakistan in a semi-final at Headingley. Nevertheless, the ground authority, in conjunction with the police, have put the block on bringing alcohol into the ground and will close the bars in the afternoon as a crowd-control measure.

Though nobody wants to see groups of hotheads on the field, menacing players during and after the game, it seems a shame to punish the many for the assumed sins of the few. If spectators cannot enjoy a bottle of wine at Canterbury, is there anywhere they can?

After the opening day victory against Sri Lanka at Lord's, England are worth at least half a bottle. Having got that game out of the way, and now that their captain is back into some sort of form, they are in a strong position to qualify. However much they scoff at suggestions that they had to beat the Sri Lankans, that was always the case and remains no less true for having been accomplished.

By the time they play South Africa at the Oval on Saturday, in a game that will probably determine which team finishes top of the group, they should have worked up a head of steam. Kenya will not extend them greatly. They achieved glory in Pune three years ago, when they beat West Indies to record the greatest surprise in World Cup history, but they will not beat England today.

The indications yesterday were that England will stick with the side who won at Lord's, though, after a pitch inspection this morning, off-spinner Robert Croft may be preferred to Adam Hollioake.

Ian Austin, who opened the bowling against Sri Lanka, ahead of Alan Mullally, retains his place and England will stick with Nasser Hussain as Stewart's partner at the top of the order.

"I thought we gave a very good performance," Stewart said. "Even three days later, as we reflect on it, it still seems good. We have set ourselves a standard." Indeed they have and they can thank Mullally, who bowled with real purpose and no little skill at a delicate stage of the game. After restricting the target to 205, the game was an easy one to win.

It is bound to be a frustrating time at the moment for the four players who cannot get a game, but the captain insisted that England would continue to put out the team the selectors considered most likely to win the match. "We are looking to play the best side every time because we want to get on a winning trot," Stewart said. "We're looking to go all the way."

He acknowledged that, by winning last Friday, England had given the competition the boost it needed in terms of public recognition. "If England are winning matches then there is always going to be interest, and if we beat Kenya there will be more interest. The more games we win the better it will be for everybody."

Kenya, who lost by five wickets to Zimbabwe at Taunton on Saturday, are stronger with bat than ball, as is the way with the emerging cricketing nations.

They are coached by Alvin Kallicharran, the brilliant left-hander who belonged to the West Indies teams who won the first two World Cups, and their bowling coach is Peter Lever, Lancashire's former Test paceman, who undertook a similar role with England four years ago.

"We want to prove ourselves one of the best of the smaller cricketing nations and show that we are worthy competitors," said their captain, Asif Karim. Anything other than a heavy defeat must therefore be considered a boon.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)