The weekend after the Test before
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
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The Sunday newspapers are bursting with analysis of England’s capitulation at Adelaide last week, beginning with a roundtable at The Sunday Telegraph. The usual lot are there: Mike Atherton, Ian Chappell and Andrew Strauss are chaired by Scyld Berry – and the quartet discuss England’s negativity on the final morning
Chappell: I didn't understand the lack of urgency, like in the running between wickets. I'd have sent Pietersen in at two-down on the fifth morning to let Australia know we still wanted to win the game. To me, that was the difference on the last day – one team were thinking they could win it. A lot of Test cricket is about the message you are sending to the opposition. For instance, when Gilchrist started whacking a few he was sending the message 'we can still win this game'. I don't mean whacking them in the air but you've got to attack Warne. He got one for 167 in the first innings because you guys attacked him thoughtfully. Collingwood [who made 206] doesn't go belting balls in the air but he played attackingly the whole time.
And Atherton sounds a warning to those who believe, or hope, that Monty Panesar will turn England’s fortunes around
Atherton: Monty's not going to be the panacea that the public think he is – finger-spinners are rarely match-winners here – but he is a more attacking option than Giles and therefore should be in the team.
Chappell: What is your back-up plan if the ball's not swinging in Australia? Unless you can bowl really fast or wrist-spin, you've got to have somebody who can beat batsmen in the flight because it's bloody difficult to get wickets, especially if you're up against good players. Even though Giles is bowling slower there's just nothing on it. If you're reverse-sweeping him on the fifth day [as Mike Hussey did], that tells you something about what's going on.
Atherton: Giles hasn't played any cricket for the best part of a year.
Strauss: In Ashley's defence it became like a one-day game, when fields have to be different and you can't create that pressure with men around the bat. All credit to Mike Hussey who made it harder for Gilo to build up any pressure.
In the same paper Berry senses that Panesar knows his time is nigh
It was the first time England's left-arm spinners had gone head-to-head. Ashley Giles and Monty Panesar had bowled a couple of overs each in tandem during the tour-opener in Canberra against the Prime Minister's XI, but yesterday was the first time that they could be fairly compared and contrasted. The comparison ended up all in the younger man's favour, and is sure to lead to Panesar's reinstatement in England's team for the third Test starting on Thursday. The difference in quality was as wide as the gap between their ages. Panesar, 24, bowled heavily over-spun balls which dipped and gripped and were yet so accurate that he usually had three men around the bat. Giles, 33, rolled his index finger and floated up balls which were as neat and respectable as a dowager on her way to Sunday church, and about as seductive.
Over at the Sunday Times, Brett Lee gives a behind-the-scenes view of Australia’s win – and celebrations
I had been charged with providing the entertainment for the evening and kept the party swinging with an iPod until 30 seconds to midnight, when I pressed the pause button and stood on a chair. At first everyone thought I was going to make a speech and I had to endure some pretty crude heckling before order was restored.
“Okay, boys,” I announced, “we’re going to have a toast. I want everyone to hold up their beers because . . . (I glanced at my watch for dramatic effect) . . . in exactly five seconds time Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff will be 29 years old!” The room erupted with a massive cheer, and after we had sung Happy Birthday and some hip-hoorays, the party resumed with a dedication that I thought he might appreciate: My Way by Frank Sinatra.
“Happy birthday, Freddie, you old bugger!” I said.
“Thanks, mate,” he grinned.
In the same paper Andrew Longmore talks to another left-arm spinner, Phil Tufnell.
Will Luke is assistant editor of ESPNcricinfo