Pick 'n' mix World XI looked doomed from the start
Amid rumblings that those in high places are not amused that the Super Series has been given a lukewarm reception in the press, Mike Selvey's column in the Guardian will hardly help
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Amid rumblings that those in high places are not amused that the Super Series has been given a lukewarm reception in the press, Mike Selvey's column in the Guardian will hardly help. He describes the World XI as:
A disparate bunch of talented individuals, thrown together for a series of exhibitions and a number of them appear to have gone along just for the ride and the loot.
And in case those who run the game weren't listening, he signs off as follows:
It is a lesson, though, to the ICC, whose brainchild these super-mismatches were. Great players do not necessarily a great team make. It is why the Who were a supreme band and Blind Faith were not.
Simon Briggs in the Daily Telegraph also fails to be convinced, describing the side as "a dispirited and apparently apathetic group" and warning that the World XI concept is facing a swift end unless something dramatic happens at the SCG:
The funny thing about 1970s revivals is that they never seem to catch on. Fondue sets, prog rock, Rest of the World cricket teams: fans of retro chic soon realise that they died out for a reason. And unless Andrew Flintoff or Jacques Kallis can do something spectacular over the next few days, the ICC are likely to reach the same conclusion.