Well, the England-South Africa Cricketing Coalition won a major international tournament on Sunday, ending “35 years of hurt” (the BBC news website there, perhaps slightly over-egging the sense of national disappointment at not having won an ICC tournament). I must say it’s been a bit of a shock, witnessing England play confident, aggressive limited-overs cricket. I don’t suppose the presence of Kieswetter, Pietersen et al can rightfully be considered part of a coalition since, unlike the Lib Dem activists in Birmingham this week, the exiles’ South African compatriots are, er, not overwhelmingly approving of their presence in the England side. Their actions are perhaps more analogous with the MPs who have defected from the Lib Dems to the Labour party, except of course that the cricketers have, it turns out, joined a winning team. At least in the shortest form of the game, at least for now…
However welcome or unwelcome they might be, and realistically England have always had a fair few ‘foreigners’ in their ranks, it’s hard not to credit them, and perhaps the Zimbabwean coach Andy Flower, with the change in attitude of the England team as a whole. South Africans (and Australians, for that matter) always seem to possess so much more of a winning mentality than Brits.
So the presence of Lumb, Kieswetter and Pietersen at the top of the batting order, and the attitude they bring to their game, quite apart from their heavy contribution in the runs department, must have had a massive effect on the confidence of the overall team. That said, how much the bowling unit needed an injection of confidence is open to question, given that Broad, Swann and Sidebottom are not known for their diffidence.
Last weekend, in Yorkshire, I didn’t manage to get a bat as Maggie seemed unwilling to hand it over. What’s more, she despatched my third delivery through square leg for four. I decided it was time to go back to the swings.
Perhaps my weekend off contributed to some rustiness this weekend, but Holy Cross’ return to Falkland produced a dismal defeat, with my own brief stay at the crease consisting of a lot of flapping and scratching around, before being predictably trapped LBW and departing for an ignominious duck.
However, onwards and upwards. Wednesday night sees the mighty Bellevue team swing into action for the first time this summer. And the sun, apparently, is going to shine…
Love that you are teaching Maggie! What a gorgeous photo on the link.
Georgie always says her favourite sport is GOLF??? But when she asked Harriet today what her favourite sport was… Harriet proudly and defiantly told her 'Cricket' … and that was the end of the conversation.
liking the new profiles. 🙂
not happy that you're still getting mileage out of my (mis)fielding with my feet! that was once many moons ago and only because of a bashed thumb! 🙁
re my blog, you're probably correct, sheepthrowing killed my blog – and possibly many others, but I'm thinking of reviving my blogging days (and also considering killing facebook!)