The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘England stubborn with its approach’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Cricket

‘England stubborn with its approach’

The Times attacked the English think-tank for being conservative in the batting order
The Guardian lashed out at the team for a ‘demoralising’ start

London: The English media on Monday came down hard on Kevin Pietersen and his men for losing the seven-match ODI cricket series due to lack of ideas and said they should now approach the remaining matches keeping the 2011 World Cup in Asia in mind.

Leading British newspaper Daily Telegraph felt the visitor was stubborn with its approach while also being “short of solutions” to lose four games in a row and lose the series at the earliest opportunity.

“England bowed out of this one-day series as they began, outplayed, outwitted, and out of ideas,” the paper wrote after England lost at Bangalore in a rain-marred day-night match decided by the Duckworth/Lewis method.

“To lose four games over a seven-match series in India would not be unusual for many visiting teams, but to lose four in a row, even if two of them did involve the arcane Duckworth/ Lewis method, suggests a side long on inflexibility and short of solutions,” it added.

Another top daily The Times noted that the England team had repeated its failure of last visit to India and advised Pietersen and Co. to use the remaining three matches to make notes for the 2011 World Cup to be hosted by Asian nations.

“England have repeated their failure here of two years ago in losing the series at the earliest opportunity, 4-0 down... England must now use the remainder of the series to learn with the 2011 World Cup in mind, and try to gain some confidence ahead of the Test matches,” it said.

The paper also attacked the English think-tank for being conservative in the batting order. “Unfortunately, conservatism in the batting order meant that they were always behind the target.

“The opening partnership of Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara should have been split. Bell is a good foil for a quick scorer — I always thought he would bat well alongside Marcus Trescothick — but not a crackerjack in his own right.

“And it was asking too much of Bopara — the No. 8 this time — to take on Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel from the start with the required rate standing at nine per over. An experienced hitter should have been promoted,” the paper said.

The daily wrote on Sunday that it was the best chance for England to show its Twenty20 experience gathered from playing in the Standford Series.

“England had implausibly claimed that the Stanford week was part of their preparation for the India tour but, if the Antigua experience really was to be of use, then here was the opportunity to show it. The dash for runs was only a couple of overs longer than a Twenty20 chase.”

England was given a revised target of 198 runs from 22 overs by applying the Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-curtailed match.

The Guardian lashed out at the team for a ‘demoralising’ start. “England’s start had been feeble, repressed and thoroughly demoralising. After every unproductive over, one thought “this must be the low spot” only to discover that another over later there was another.

“In the first six overs of pace, England did not middle a ball and scrambled to 21 for one in thoroughly embarrassing manner. Indians in the crowd laughed. The match felt lost,” the report said.

Praise for Dhoni

The captaincy of India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni came in for praise in The Independent, which said his field setting highlighted the gulf in class of the two teams.

“Mahendra Singh Dhoni positioned four slips and a gully for the final ball of this rain- affected and enthralling 22-over contest. There are some who would construe that the actions of the Indian captain were disrespectful to his opponents but they were not, Dhoni is not that type of man. — PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport