Later today, we’ll know whether England still have a future in the World Cup when they play South Africa in what is, in effect, a quarter-final.
In the opinion of most of the English media out here, South Africa are clear favourites, based on experience, matchwinning potential and sheer intensity of purpose.
But South Africa have gone off the boil. It’s not a happy camp. There are rumours of dressing-room disharmony, that their top batsman Jacques Kallis is unhappy at criticism that he plays too much for himself and that the policy of selecting a quota of non-whites in the squad has sapped their drive and morale.
They have lost two matches in the past week and, like England, they are trotting out the line that they’ll still be able to turn it like a tap when the pressure is on.
I wonder. The key man could be Monty Panesar. He should exploit the South Africans’ vulnerability against spin, as the Bangladeshis did the other day. And South Africa don’t have a decent spinner to give them vital variety. They have some fine aggressive fast bowlers but they are essentially a one-dimensional bowling unit and that doesn’t win World Cups.
In contrast, England have greater variation of pace. They are not as good in the field — South Africa’s cordon of fielders inside the ring is only surpassed by the Australians — and they cannot match Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall for brutal hitting.
England will persist in the same top three of Ian Bell, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss because there are no credible alternatives.
Those who advocate Andrew Flintoff as opener seem to be ignoring the fact that he lacks the footwork and physical flexibility against the short ball. It worked at times for Ian Botham, but he was a superior batsman with softer hands who didn’t push at the ball like Flintoff when he’s short of confidence.
Flintoff is a form batsman. Botham scored 14 Test hundreds, with a compact game and secure defence when necessary. Comparisons are odious.
It would also be unfair to Flintoff if England fielded first and he bowled his share of overs in the middle and at the end of the innings in the customary sapping Caribbean heat and humidity, then was expected to strap on his pads to open the innings.
Flintoff must stay at No 6 and hope he recovers dramatically his batting form. It is sad to see such a charismatic batsman struggling so painfully.
He is physically low. There was a scare at the weekend after he went for blood tests in case he had glandular fever.
Not that we were brought into the loop on that one. His hospital visit was only confirmed a day later by the England spin doctor after it was pointed out to him that Flintoff had actually conveyed his fears to one of our media party.
You might have thought that the spin doctor’s role would have been to keep England’s cricket fans informed via the media that our champion all-rounder was not 110 per cent. But we had to winkle the information from him.
The hand of that compulsive non-communicator, Duncan Fletcher, could be seen there. The coach decides what we’re told and his first instinct is usually ‘don’t give them anything you don’t need to’.
That all may change if England go out of the World Cup today. I can’t see Fletcher wanting to stay on if he can’t coax England to punch above their weight and get into the last four. He has been even more terse than usual at recent press conferences.
For now, raise your glass to Kevin Pietersen. In the previews to today’s match, Pietersen was refreshingly honest about England’s stuttering, effete performances so far in this World Cup.
He said that they hadn’t been good enough, that doing the job for just 50 or 60 overs wasn’t satisfactory.
Which is no more than what we’ve all been saying and writing. But all the other members of Team England keep churning out the line that they managed to do it in Australia, so why can’t they do it again?
Thankfully, the talking has to stop today. The England players must show the clarity and independence of thought that’s been lacking so far.
I wish I could hear the trenchant views of Tom Cartwright out here, as England continue to insist it’ll all work out fine.
Tom, the best coach England never had, didn’t believe in excuses or selective use of recent history. Sadly the former Warwickshire all-rounder has been laid low by a massive heart attack and can barely communicate.
But an excellent new biography of him — The Flame Still Burns — contains so many forthright opinions on where England’s going wrong that I make no apologies for another dip into the book.
Here is Tom on the England & Wales Cricket Board's desire for uniformity and branding… ‘I feel very strongly about every kid having the opportunity to achieve what the great players before them achieved, to wear the crown and three lions of England.
'Now you have officials at the ECB wearing the coronet and three lions to give them a bogus credibility and it devalues the achievement of playing for England. It all becomes disconnected from the past — and meaningless.
‘It’s not a snob thing. It’s like the green baggy cap. You won’t find the Australians giving that away to anybody of dubious credibility.
'They value the history of their game; they pound their players with it. The magic comes from the past and the folklore... Every development has to be comfortable with the past. Otherwise the whole thing’s lost’.
Amen to all that. You’d be amazed how many England players only start to know about their predecessors once they’ve retired. They’re not bothered that the past informs the present while still playing. You’ll never hear a current Aussie cricketer profess ignorance about cricket history.
That’s one of the countless reasons why they’ve been the best team in the world for more than a decade. Respect for traditions underpins the desire to be the best.
