Good Week, Bad Week
Smith and co don't seem to care.
Good week for..
Exposing the emptiness of one-day cricket
Who the devil are these fellows in breathe-easy adidas blue? The English press is over-reacting, as is its wont on those rare occasions when the lads in pajamas win against a country from outside the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, but South Africa have been comprehensively outplayed in the first two matches this NatWest series.
For a team with such superior firepower and experience, it is almost incomprehensible. Graeme Smith himself has said that he has only been lower after his World Cup and T20 WC semi-final defeats last year, but how can that possibly be true when his side are exhibiting so little application? The left-hander is naturally combative, at least until this week.
Mickey Arthur also has other things on his mind following approaches to coach Middlesex and Hampshire - yet another reminder of the financial advantage that England enjoys and fails to capitalise upon. In either role he'd manage countrymen not good enough for his national team but earning and averaging well at championship level.
So is there any explanation? How about the most obvious one? With the Champions Trophy abandoned there is no cheap 'major international trophy' to hand - and with that a one-day series becomes just a delay to the flight home.
When a team has the opportunity to seize the world number one ranking, and set the tone for forthcoming series with Australia, and fails so spectacularly to do so, we are surely right to ask: if the players don't care then why should we?
Matt Prior
One bowl of cornflakes with KP, one full-length diving take, one return to the international fold?
Ryan Sidebottom, sore enough from his current injury woes as well as Prior's glovework in Sri Lanka last winter, no doubt shares our scepticism.
By all means give the bloke another try but it'll be 10 or 15 Tests before we have a real sense of whether it's the right decision. Let's see how the new England spirit holds up when their gloveman drops Sehwag first over of the day in Ahmedabad only for the hosts to lunch on 454/1.
Bad week for...
Honouring The Don
Bradman's 100th birthday has brought a slew of new and old pieces in search of perspective but no number of words do the subject justice.
Only a few weeks ago with Mark Ramprakash reaching 100 hundreds we had yet another perspective on his record (295 knocks it took the Don; 552 for second-placed Denis Compton and over 1000 in some cases).
Like any other statistic you care to look at on Bradman, these would not be credible had people not born witness. Without having been there, writing about him is more or less impossible.
One trick has been comparisons with other great sportsmen: Michael Jordan, or Tiger Woods. Some time ago statisticans worked out that Jordan would need to increase his points-per-game average from around 30 to mid-40s to earn the right for comparison. Since Bradman averages 50% more than anyone else ever it seems reasonable to ask Tiger to do the same: passing 18 majors makes you better than Jack, but it'll be 27 before you can be compared to the Don.
Resemblance is futile. It is surely more likely that science manages to clone the bloke before another comes along who can be compared.
Geoff Lawson
The Pakistan coach has had a tough time of it from day one, enduring a relationship with the media that would sadden Gary Glitter.
One handicap has been the refusal of Younis Khan to take the captaincy - he always seemed the brains behind Inzy's better days, and is a man and player of far greater stature than the young and wilting Shoaib Malik.
If it were understandable that Younis rejected the chance following Woolmer's death, any chance he might have changed his mind on reflection?
"Woolmer was a great human being and a good coach. I liked working with him. If he had remained coach I would have taken up the captaincy when the board made me the offer after Inzamam's resignation," Younis said to PTI this week.
"Being captain is a big responsibility and I would have only felt comfortable if a coach like Bob was there."
So what's poor old Geoff lacking now? Humanity and coaching skills?
Super Duper Soaraway Stanford Series
The WICB are off to the high court as sponsors Digicel complain that AT&T are getting access to the Stanford 20/20.
The decision to replace the West Indies' name with Stanford's now looks a stroke of genius rather than pitiful pandering: it will allow them to brush off Digicel with the claim that this is not an official match.
In this case though surely the match stays out of international record-keeping? And then the game is nothing more than a charity match without the worthy causes?
Peter May