Pothas's Test ambition scuppered by Home Office
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Getty Images
Poor old Nic Pothas. He’s scored a barrel load of runs this season – 231 without being dismissed – prompting his Hampshire captain, Shane Warne, to demand that he make his England debut in the first Test at Lord’s on Thursday. He will have to wait a little while longer, as the Daily Telegraph finds out:
A Greek passport holder who was born in South Africa, Pothas has almost come to the end of his four-year qualification period. Pothas is due to sit his British citizenship exam on Monday - a written test followed by an interview. If all goes well, he could get the green light that same day, which would then make him available for selection for the first Test. It could also take the Home Office up to five weeks to reach a decision. [..]
Now it seems that somebody else - probably either Paul Nixon or Matt Prior - will get the opportunity. If that person does well, it could be a while before England come knocking again.
And on the same wicketkeeping line, Christopher Martin-Jenkins assesses England’s options in The Times. With Pothas now unavailable (“technically eligible…a South African who has played for South Africa A, so he should and will be discounted”) the two leading contenders are Paul Nixon – who showed great courage in the World Cup – and Matt Prior. It is Sussex’s Prior who Martin-Jenkins feels is most suited to Test cricket to his superior career average of 38.
In the same paper, Patrick Kidd hears Clive Lloyd cast a concerned view over West Indies’ poor fitness and fielding – two factors which made the sides of the 1970s and 80s such a dominant force.
Clive Lloyd said that the work ethic that made the teams of the 1970s and 1980s world-beaters was missing, in part because so few West Indians play regularly in England. “County cricket made us fitter,” Lloyd, who played for Lancashire from 1968-86, said. “We could bat several times a week in alien conditions. We enjoyed training. I’m not sure these players are brought up in the same tradition. You need to be fit to bowl four or five spells in a day. Compared with the likes of Joel Garner and Colin Croft, these guys are midgets.
Meanwhile in the Independent Angus Fraser believes Steve Harmison should not be picked for the first two Tests of England’s summer – in spite of the early season form he has shown.
Harmison should not be written off as an England bowler. Far from it - he has too much to offer. But he should not be picked for the first two Tests of the summer. Indiscipline, both on and off the field, has crept into the England side and, tomorrow, Vaughan and Moores have the chance to show that they are not prepared to tolerate such behaviour. But will they use Harmison as the vehicle to make such a statement? It is unlikely. An arm is more likely to be placed around his shoulder and a few sympathetic words whispered in his ear. Yet would a player of lesser ability be treated in the same way? Such actions will set a dangerous precedent.
Will Luke is assistant editor of ESPNcricinfo