Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003
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Cricket
By Ted Corbett
South Africa's Jaques Kallis (left) celebrates the fall of Mark Butcher on the final day of the fourth Test at Headingley. South Africa beat England by 191 runs, Kallis picking up six wickets. — Reuters
The after-shocks will continue for much longer; English cricket is in its worst state for five years and at its lowest ebb since the dire days of 1989 when 14 years of Ashes misery began. The South Africans, on the other hand, have a bright future, a maturing side under a vibrant young captain and one or two older heads like the man of the match Gary Kirsten who made 130 and 60; and Jacques Kallis, whose main job is batting but who produced his best Test bowling figures of nine for 92 after cutting England down today. This morning he removed four batsmen for 21 runs in total and had a spell of four for 16 in 33 balls and in all his innings analysis was 17-4-54-6. Kallis ensured that the absence of the new father Shaun Pollock was hardly noticed. From the start of his crouching run he looks the part and when he reaches the wicket he thrusts his left leg in front of the middle stump; classical bowling for a fast medium outswinger. The result today was a stream of balls moving from middle and leg towards the offside augmented by a series of off-cutters like the ball that removed Mark Butcher. According to England dreams overnight, Butcher was supposed to supply the orthodox defence and attack while the giant Andrew Flintoff supplied the biff and bash. That way England might reach 401. That theory went out of the window when Butcher slog swept the first ball of the day a few inches above the head of the square leg umpire for four and edged his second ball from Kallis to Andrew Hall at slip: 169-6. What a waste of his three hours at the wicket; what an obvious indication that somewhere in the dressing room someone was either not making plans or not making them clear. Flintoff began with a scoop drive over cover for four and edged his next ball, also to Hall, also off Kallis: 182-7. Martin Bicknell hit three fours, the rest were swept away for 209. England had added 44 runs and finally undone all the hard work that brought it four wickets for 21 on the first morning. You will expect me to tell you how England contrived to turn several winning positions into disasters in the course of the first four days only 72 hours after winning in similar conditions at Trent Bridge. I cannot. I suspect the shock waves from Nasser Hussain's resignation are still reverberating around the dressing room. Michael Vaughan has had too little time to prepare himself for the reality of every cricketer's dream: to be captain of his country. He has been asked to lead sides pulverised by injury without sufficient backing from the coach Duncan Fletcher. David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, must also accept some of the blame. Logical men think it is time for Graveney to be replaced. I hear he is "stressed out" and it might be right for him to take a long holiday although another Test side and two tour parties have to be chosen in the next two weeks. England is unlikely to have Hussain in its Oval team. He has a broken toe on his left foot caused by a blow on the foot while he was batting. He went on television this morning to deny he had kicked a wall in frustration at being dismissed. "I would have used my right foot if I had been that angry," he said. Graeme Thorpe may be recalled or the Surrey youngster Rikki Clarke and Ed Smith dropped. England also needs a new bowling attack but where does it find it? Graeme Smith, rightly triumphant at his side's success, says they can improve and looks forward to the return of Pollock at the Oval. Vaughan, seeking the positive spin, claimed, "a week is a long time in cricket" as if a miracle might occur in that time. I'm afraid that England faces a haul lasting years rather than weeks to get over this defeat. SCOREBOARD
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