Nothing worse than a poor draw
Patrick Smith takes up the opposite position to his fellow Australian journalist Malcolm Conn in defending England's tactics in the dying stages in Cardiff
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Patrick Smith takes up the opposite position to his fellow Australian journalist Malcolm Conn in defending England's tactics in the dying stages in Cardiff. Smith argues that it was perfectly understandable for England to want to face the minimum amount of overs required.
That they did it so shamelessly and without a skerrick of panache took it from scheming to the bleeding obvious. Ham-fisted yes, but hardly cheating or in poor spirit. That is what worried the England commentators - not the motive but the method. To be critical of England for not playing in the spirit of the game is to be precious.
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As time becomes more precious, wickets imperative, it is just as important to hold your nerve as your catches. To look to accuse England of bad sportsmanship when more than enough time existed for Australia to get rid of the rabbit end of the home side's batting line-up is to whinge and sound mean-spirited. And there's nothing worse than a poor drawer.
Mike Selvey, in the Guardian, isn't so comfortable with England's shenanigans.
That was not gamesmanship or bending the rules to your advantage; it was taking the piss, unbecoming of the England management and team or any side who perpetrated it. What next? Orchestrated pitch invasions at appropriate moments? The umpires should have kicked them off.
Matthew Syed in the Times argues that Ricky Ponting's questioning of England's tactics smacks off crass hypocrisy from a man "who has turned slow play into an art form".
Peter Roebuck in the Age points out that England cannot let their escape in Wales paper over the obvious deficiencies in their side.
Ricky Ponting, in his column in the Australian, is looking forward to the assistance his fast bowlers should get at Lord's, but Christopher Martin-Jenkins in the Times thinks bowling will be tough work in the second Test.
Ponting may have complained about England's time wasting tactics, but Simon Hughes, in the Telegraph, asks the Australian captain to take a look at his own behavior, which he feels is hardly in the 'spirit of the game'.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here