England and South Africa renew hostilities at the Riverside on Wednesday in a Twenty20 international with five one-day internationals to follow.
At first inspection this seems borderline quaint, 50-over cricket now as dated as moustachioed batsmen and tobacco sponsorship. Surely, in the parlance of our times, T20 is where it's at?
Not to the people of Durham. The NatWest opener is not sold out at time of writing, with little more than 24 hours before KP attempts a bonecrusher handshake on Smithers.
It is in good company. ODIs one (Headingley), four (Lord's) and five (Sophia Gardens) also have tickets still available as the teams limber up. This only leaves Trent Bridge and the Oval certain to reach capacity, which is a feather in the brown cap of Surrey CCC in particular.
Against New Zealand in May the Oval became the first venue to charge over £100 for a non-corporate ticket. The Surrey board were predictably delighted, passing three figures and raising a bat to the shareholders. But there were rumblings in the shires: threats to march on London with lit torches, and fears of reprisals from the dissident paramilitary wing of the Barmy Army.
This after all is not how CCCs are supposed to operate in the off-season. Approved winter behaviour is tying up a renewal of the Saab sponsorship deal and scouring the South African provincial scene for bits-and-pieces all-rounders with at least one grandparent from an EU accession nation.
One advantage they enjoy over Lord's is a guaranteed live match: if South Africa take a 3-0 lead then NW8 and Cardiff will see only further attempts from Pietersen to extract dead-cat bounce from his new charges. Are England fans so fickle that their interest is ended by a Test series defeat and outsider status in the ODIs?
A decidedly one-sided contest is expected given the teams' relative strength. The tourists seek an emphatic win to return to the top of the ODI world rankings ahead of facing Australia while sixth-ranked England still have the better part of a team to find.
Owais Shah is promoted to three as part of Pietersen's 'back my boys' policy, a worthy shout as the Middlesex man comes closest to the captain in understanding how ODI innings are put together. The selectors have repeatedly voted 'no confidence' at Test level but serious responsibility is finally his in the shorter game.
The middle of the home side looks its strongest in a while with Shah, Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad all credible performers. Paul Collingwood will provide further steel when his suspension is complete.
Despite this rough sketch of a decent side, England still look lacking where it matters. Ian Bell and Matt Prior as an opening partnership suggests that they've run out of space on the back of the fag packet and started recycling old scribbles. Jimmy Anderson and Flintoff need better support at the beginning and end of opponents' innings.
No such trouble for South Africa who continue to lead with Smith and Herschelle Gibbs, the kind of top two Geoff Miller can only dream about. AB deVilliers already knows he has the beating of the England bowlers and there is a second Morkel, Albie, to support the genuinely unnerving Dale Steyn.
It is strange that there is little demand for tickets to see the best one-day team to visit these shores in three years, but many prefer forgettable victories to haunting defeats. However long the game, those in attendance should expect some exceptional one-day cricket and a fitting end to a poor summer for England.
Peter May
No comments:
Post a Comment