The bumfluff Botham
A tall, fair allrounder seized the day by the throat, redefined the possibilities of the match and may have had a decisive impact on the entire series
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
PA Photos
A tall, fair allrounder seized the day by the throat, redefined the possibilities of the match and may have had a decisive impact on the entire series. But it was not the big, broad, macho one; the willowy one with the pretty face, writes Simon Barnes in the Times.
Broad took over the match just after lunch and a shower of rain. He bowled with accuracy and purpose and complete dominance. He moved the ball both ways, late and subtle. He ran in like a sprinter, hurled the ball like a javelin thrower and finessed his opponents like a chess grandmaster.
In the same paper, Gideon Haigh writes that the key weakness of the Australians is their deep and abiding dependence on their captain.
Ponting is the most distinguished Australian batsman of his era, and an improving captain — it was pleasing to hear a suitable tribute from the crowd as he came to bat today, in what might be his last Test in England. But his physique has absorbed a lot of punishment in the accumulation of his splendid record. A disc in his spine occasionally catches on a spur on one of his vertebrae, part of the trouble being that he spends so much of his time crouched, in the field and at the crease. Last June in a one-day international in Grenada, he tore ligaments and damaged the sheath that keeps the main tendon in place in his right wrist, a tennis injury less common in cricketers that impairs him in playing the pull shot. They are not, strictly speaking, injuries: more infirmities that he lives with. But they are signs of an impinging sporting mortality that Australia will have to deal with.
In the Courier Mail, Malcolm Conn takes a gloomy view of Australia chances of taking the series.
Broad picked up the wickets on day two, when Flintoff, Anderson and Harmison failed, because he bowled like an Australian, according to Richard Williams in the Guardian.
The Oval was meant to mark the departure of a much-cherished all-rounder. Instead, it has celebrated the coming of age of the golden child, writes David Hopps in the same paper.
In the Independent Angus Fraser writes that Broad bowled beautifully but the the Australian batting was insipid.
... because no deliveries reared sharply off a good length and flew at a batsman's throat. Yes, the odd ball stopped slightly but the change in pace was no greater than a well disguised slower ball.
Broad has the mental strength, and subtlety, as well as the other attributes to be Flintoff's successor, and maybe more, writes Scyld Berry in the Telegraph.
Over this summer Broad has been struggling with an identity crisis over his role in the team. Should he use the steep bounce he gains from his height, vary his grip trajectory to take wickets on flat surfaces, or settle for a steady line and length and let his lofty physique and the pitch do the rest? With his height and pace and natural accuracy his best tactic is to emulate his idol Glenn McGrath and settle for the repetitive approach, writes Simon Hughes in the Telegraph.
Nishi Narayanan is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo