The Hindu : Sport : Confident England ready for a fight

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Friday, Jul 08, 2005

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Sport

Confident England ready for a fight

No sooner had a fellow set foot in England than the changes were obvious. Our train was modern and close enough to its predicted timetable to satisfy Mussolini. Whereas the leading newspapers used to be roughly the shape of Laxman, nowadays they resemble Prasanna. Even The Times has gone tabloid. About the only thing familiar were the clouds that hung heavy over the land, as glum as a bowler informed that his captain was thinking of inserting on a shirtfront.

Naturally England has been celebrating its victory in securing the 2012 Olympics. Hardly anyone thought it could bring it off. Probably it helped that the French had been snooty about English cooking. A nation that dines upon frogs and snails is poorly placed to comment upon anyone else's cuisine. Doubtless London will hold a glorious Olympic Games. It is an opportunity not to be missed. Until Sydneysiders worked their wonders in 2000, Australians were routinely dismissed as arrogant barbarians. Few thought the Greeks could organise anything, except possibly backgammon in a cafe, until they staged a magnificent Olympics.

20-over contest

As far as cricket is concerned the last few days have been dominated by the domestic 20-over competition. It has been a hoot. The crowds have been enormous. Last week 30,000 people watched Surrey play Middlesex at The Oval. Never mind that the match was also shown live on pay television. On Wednesday evening the West Country staged its own local derby and after two overs Andrew Caddick's figures read 0/42 and he still finished on the winning side with 120 runs to spare!

Younger players also seemed to be relishing the freedom granted by these brief affairs. But, then, youth has always preferred a flirtation to wedlock. Interviewed after scoring 28 in 11 balls, one cheerful youth observed that he liked to take a look at the pitch and bowling before cutting loose and considered two balls to be sufficient for the completion of this work. Hereafter coaches may find themselves in the curious position of having to tell a youngster to get on with it!.

What effect this madness will have on English cricket is hard to predict. If nothing else it will remind old and young alike of the simple joys of giving the ball a whack. And as Antoine de Saint Expury remarked: "If you want to build a ship, don't instruct the men to go to the forest to gather wood. Instead, teach them to love the sea."

Perhaps the mayhem will instil fearlessness in rising batsmen. England has long been torn between the boisterousness of the Georgian age and the starchiness of the Victorians. The former gambled, fought, rode horses, drank and played an unscrupulous game, an approach that lasted until headmasters, clerics and other empire builders started to use sport as a way of instilling the characteristics needed to survive the Siege of Kanpur. Cold showers and self-sacrifice followed.

Between them, the Barmy Army and 20-over cricket suggest that the Georgians are back. No-one in England will be content, though, till the Ashes have been recovered. But, it's not going to be easy.

Mind games

Already the mind games have begun. John Buchanan has spoken disparagingly about the English top order. Nor have the English have been holding back. Duncan Fletcher says the visitors have been shaken by their bad start. Although the Australians will never admit it, England's coach is right. Just the other day one of the Aussies said that it was going to be tight.

Judging by its success in securing the Olympics and by the attitudes of spectators and players at the 20-over matches played in these long summer twilights, it will take more than words to put the Poms off their games.

England has the confidence needed to put up a fight. Great sporting issues are, though, usually settled by great players, and Australia has most, perhaps all, of them. And then came the bomb blasts.

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