The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Rain saves England the blushes

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Friday, Sep 01, 2006

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Rain saves England the blushes

Ted Corbett

CARDIFF: The first one-day international on Wednesday — washed out by rain after seven overs of the Pakistan innings — was more than an attempt to prove that the Welsh cricket fans can fill their ground for an exciting fixture.

In the midst of great controversy Cardiff has been given its first Test. Not just any old Test but the Ashes Test of 2009 when the claims of Old Trafford have been ignored and the match scheduled for Sofia Gardens.

To say it proved inadequate for a one-day game is to understate the case by a long way. There is only one route to this city centre ground, there are few entrances and it naturally took a long time for the 16,000 capacity crowd to get to their seats.

Much of the ground is in the open so that when it rains, as it did after the mid-match interval, there is little shelter. When it became dark the scoreboards were without any illumination. The way the England batsmen played on Wednesday simply reflected the belief that in difficult weather conditions — thick cloud and a damp atmosphere ahead of the persistent drizzle — it will not win a World Cup Super Eight place much less the trophy.

Although the Pakistan innings lasted too little time for a judgement about the final result its wish to play attacking shots from the start meant that after seven overs it had 46 runs on the board in its bid to reach the revised target of 159 in 32 overs. England had finished with 202, mainly due to a dignified but hardly exhilarating innings from Ian Bell — who at least provided a platform from which others could attack — and further evidence that Stuart Broad is a remarkable young cricketer.

Many a lad of 20 would, understandably, have been overwhelmed by going to the middle to face an attack that had reduced his side to 173 for nine but he gave no sign of nerves and, playing exactly the right innings — from a stance reminiscent of his father, the match referee Chris Broad — supported the effervescent Darren Gough.

Quite mature

Two-and-a-half hours later, Broad junior was racing in to trap Shoaib Malik, no mean victim, lbw for five. My only concern about this astonishing young cricketer is that people like me will praise him so much that he is deflected from his path. It is unlikely, as he seems to have an old head on those slim shoulders.

What is the wisest course for this lad is still unclear. An immediate permanent place in the one-day side? Selection for the ICC Trophy, for Australia and for the World Cup? An outside chance of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, often considered the greatest prize for a British sportsman?

It seems a lot to ask of a lad only just in his 20s but he has an easy action, no past record of injury and the mental resilience to succeed. More than Sofia Gardens you might say. What the future holds for both of them is the big question and not just in Wales this week after a forgettable first one-day international in the Principality.

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