Howard Goes Back In The Black

Come back Mitch ... 

A novel approach, not read of in books, has been taken by Australia's high performance coach, Pat Howard, in ensuring Australia meet the most emphasised goal of the Three Men and Biggie review committee. Searching for sustained success, Howard has ignored sixteen years of dominance of the world cricket by our own side and has turned instead to his former sandpit and has imported the planning and approach of the New Zealand All Blacks.

A few things whisper suggesting a comment.

Whilst looking for the seeds which are thoughtfully sown to grow a strong tree with successful branches bearing fruit in every season and accepting that good man management applies to any group of men who find their talent and egos sharing conflict and celebration, there are elements of his approach that are unsettling.

For instance, when we find four or five blokes who are six seven, weight 25 stone and can jog along at Usain Bolt's shoulder, which one of them gets the new ball?

On match day, Clarkie might be able to sidle up to Siddle and give him the bad news that even though he's our best bowler it's his turn to rotate but with a man in Pat's Plan, the skipper might find himself folded neatly into quarters and tucked away in his own pocket.

Even if we don't get physically specific and opt for selective brobdingnagian recruiting, clearly the Australian team needs to pose a greater psychological presence over their opponents because, let's face it, the current crop doesn't present as physically intimidating. Since Mitch left the side, the snarl has melted like one of Dali's clocks in the middle of a surreal summer. Ponting's barbs are a bit past it. Most of the quicks are kids with attitude but without any of the really tasty, well educated and thoughtful lines that Hayden and Symonds produced, standing in close and constructing whole sentences of obscenities without an adjective or adverb in sight. In fact, without any other part of speech. Even the most aggrieved batsman would only ever want to hug the ever smiling Happy Hilfenhaus. At best, Siddle gets stroppy in the middle but then turns on the love at press conferences.

No, Australia needs some grunt and here Pat Howard may have it right. Its the Kiwi lead we can follow to set England and South Africa on their tails at the toss. Bugger just having everyone's favourite, the Short Haired Leader from Liverpool at the toss, let's bring all the boys out or better still, when the anthems are finished, Clarkie should reposition his men in a line, eyeball to eyeball with the opposition and then perform the Yakker. Loosely based on the New Zealand Haka, perhaps our own might go like this:

Tomato, tomato 

sauce with pies

We'll eat them, we'll eat them 

before your eyes.

Cold beer and red wine

pour it in you

We're going to get you out

in between the shouts

What d'you say?

What d'you say?

You're mine today

You won't get far

Oooooooohno

This would replace the rallying song being sung by individuals in those quiet moments of personal reflection so necessary to develop ruthless winners. Jonah Lomu was known to be a chronic journaller and Buck Shelford pressed wild flowers during his quiet moments. This current version has variations which the individual is encouraged by team management to explore. There is nothing more empowering that knowing you can decide where the full stops go. This is also based on the Haka:

Sustagen, sustagen

in my drink bottle.

Drink it, drink

12th man on a lottle.

Stretches and ice baths

before Lynx Voodoo

bonding with team mates

as I turn blue.

What did Mickey say?

I won't play today?

How's he know anyway?

My life's a cliche

Oooooooohno

Renee Geyer sang it ... are we heading in the right direction?

Sangakkara The Difference

Younis Khan (87) and Asad Shafiq (80)
added 151 for the fifth wicket

It was a match that was lost in two days but it took four to read the rites over Pakistan.

Batting fourth, Pakistan were never going to draw the Test, let alone chase down the massive 509 run difference between the sides after Sri Lanka declared its second innings. In the face of their poor form with bat and ball on the first three days, they started the day at 3-36 and a hiding was quite on the cards. After all, they only just managed three figures in their first innings: but Pakistani cricket is made of sterner stuff these days and led by their Rock of Ages, Younis Khan, they at least made Sri Lanka take a second ball and kept them in the field for most of the last day.

Only two wickets were lost before tea was taken - night watchman Saeed Ajmal, who raced for the batsmen's end in the second over of the morning for a single that was non existent and was thrown out by a Randiv direct hit as he tried to retrace his steps; and Asad Shafiq, who edged Ranga Herath to the safest slipper in world cricket, Mahela Jayawardene. Asad is a fine player - much better than his average in the high thirties. With only one century (against Bangladesh late last year) he has often made good starts but failed to get the big scores to repay the faith regular captain Misbah-ul-Haq has in him. Nine times in twenty Test innings he has passed 40. He was a sound ally for Younis, combating the spin threat of Herath and Randiv for three and half hours and adding 151 with his senior partner in what could only be a losing cause.

Such displays of heart soon return teams to bounce-back positions.

Kulesakara took 2-27 and 3-48

The new ball accounted for Younis, leaving in the first over as Nuwan Kulesakara again made an in road with the new cherry in his hand. His five wickets in this match have made him the most impressive of the Sri Lankan's as they have always been gained when most needed and always when the ball was new. Concern that Welegedera was injured and unable to play in this series can now be put to rest. Younis edged meekly to wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene to end a stay that was entering its fourth session. His 87 fell short of allowing him to stand alone as the scorer of the most centuries in the 4th innings of Test cricket. A fifth would have taken him ahead of Ricky Ponting and Sunil Gavaskar, among others, but he bumped his average to a tick over 59 in 4th innings, which makes the second best of all time behind Don Bradman, but then, you would have guessed that.

Mohammad Ayub and Abdur Rehmann fought on with Adnan Akmal as the shadows lengthened but after Nuwan Pradeep got his first Test wicket - to another dubious decision - Randiv ran through the tail after a dry effort with the real batsmen and Sri Lanka completed what was inevitable at stumps on day two.

The 209 run victory belongs to Kumar Sangakkara who was literally the difference between the sides, Kulesakara, who stuck when it was needed and to a lesser extent Herath and Randiv. Both were far less effective in the second innings as the Pakistani batsmen remembered first principles.

First blood to Sri Lanka but Pakistan will be a different side in Colombo and Pallekele. For Pakistan, the docile Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo looms as a draw. Its Sangakkara's favourite batting strip, with an average in the mid seventies and seven centuries, including three doubles. Two years ago, Sri Lanka made 600 and India 700. At Pallekele, there is rarely a match played without rain being a contributor so the conditions might be the greatest opponent in squaring the series. Jayawardene tends to be defensive when leading a series and will put the wagons in a circle. He's fought Indians. He knows what lies ahead better than most.

A disappointing match for Pakistan but these sides are more even than this result.

The Star's Not Out In Galle

Sangakkara made 199*

The rising star of Pakistan seems to have been clouded at Galle, as Sri Lanka took a vice like grip of the first Test. Pakistan haven't played for four months since thrashing the ICC No 1 England in their three Test series in the UAE at the start of the year.

The break doesn't seem to have helped them much, where as Sri Lanka played the same opposition in April and again caused the English to be embarrassed. Sri Lanka have only lost four of the twenty Tests played at Galle in its fifteen year history - twice to Australia - and that record won't be worsened in this match.

Perhaps now, the huge influence of Misbah-ul-haq on this Pakistan side, becomes painfully evident. Normally the skipper and the calmest of cool heads in world cricket, he is missing because of over rates in the last ODI before this Test began. If stats and records are different between the different forms of the game, shouldn't penalties for over rates be likewise? Whilst not wanting to argue the case on over rates as it seems captains should be held responsible, why apply penalties across different forms of the game?

If the first day wasn't bad enough - Sri Lanka made 2-300 - then the second, when Sri Lanka stormed to 472 on the back of only four contributions and took five quick wickets, probably broke Pakistan's back. Tillarkaratne Dilshan, back to opening since Mahela Jaywardene resumed his captaincy, scored an unusually steady century but it was the gloriously languid Kumar Sangakkara who stole the show with a delightful 199 not out. He was so painfully close to equalling Brian Lara with a ninth double century and only Bradman above them. Of the top six, Sangakkara was the only one Saeed Ajmal did get out but too many runs were scored in between.

If Pakistan had been rusty with the ball, they were worse with the bat, losing 5-48 by stumps on the second day. Nuwan Kulasekara, back into the Test side for the first time since late 2010, got Taufeeq and Azhar in consecutive balls in a dynamic opening spell but Rangara Herath and Suraj Randiv were soon among the wickets themselves. The pair are Sri Lanka's potency, having taken 26 of the 38 English wickets which fell in April.

Kulasekara took removed
the openers in both innings

The third day continued Sri Lanka's dominance. Pakistan took thirty overs to add just 52 runs and once Younis and Mohammad Ayub were separated there wasn't anything left in the tail. Ayub, making his debut at 32 years of age, batted sensibly in the circumstance after being moved to seven when another night watchman exercise failed with extreme predictability. Randiv and Herath shared the spoils.

Mahela Jayawardene is not a conventional skipper and his decision to bat again and not invite Pakistan to follow on was an interesting choice. His bowlers couldn't have been tired, having bowled only 55 overs and those evenly spread either side of a night's sleep. With rain threatening on the final two days, his bowlers fresh and a lead of 372, surely Sri Lanka should have stayed in the field? In the interim, Sri Lanka lost wickets as needless runs were obtained quickly at the start but wickets from Junaid Khan and Ajmal closed a fairly useless part of the game.

In fifteen overs until stumps, facing the ludicrous target of 510, Pakistan again fell apart at the top of the innings with both openers going in Kulasekara's opening spell and Azhar out to a sharp catch by Thilan Samaraweera in the gully off Herath. The matter will be decided between heavy showers of rain over the next two days but its hard to see Pakistan finding the skill or the spirit to win.

By no means a side issue, the umpiring has been inconsistent and the judgment of both umpires has been poor. Does this point to a decline in the standard of umpires occupying the top roles? The more likely scenario is the influence of the DRS. Where technology is in play, there is less pressure on umpires to get it right first time because technology will cover mistakes. Its very possible this is leading to less concentration and less "work pressure" for umpires who previously had sole responsibility, more pressure and therefore, more finely honed skills. We may end up with better decisions but worse umpiring. However that plays out, the decision making in Galle has been poor.

The ICC can suspend a captain for failing to do his job but seems incapable of doing theirs but with no redress. Perhaps Indian business men who run the game could have their earnings sequestered by an ICC tax to put DRS systems on all major grounds of all Test playing nations or at least offer to go dollar for dollar with host nations. Why not hand the job to private companies and put a toll on using DRS grounds to patrons, users and TV networks? It works on freeways ...

... or why not get of your pontificating backsides and act like the leaders you are supposed to be! It took years to get action on corruption in the game and now the DRS issue is haemorrhaging umpires blood over frustrated players. The ICC is slower than Inzammam-ul-haq running a second.

For Love Or Money?

England have completed a 2-0 defeat of the West Indies after rain obliterated a third day of the last Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham without a ball being bowled. It was a convincing series victory for the English but for the West Indies, there is still much to take away which is positive. For Darren Sammy, the main learning point of the exercise should be about staying in the game for all its sessions and the ability to stop collapses. In both losses, it was one disastrous session which cost his team the game as five or more wickets went down.

Darren Sammy

Individuals will take there own lessons from England. Most hurt have been Keiran Powell, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo, three men targeted successfully by the English pace attack as they were the keys to a West Indian defiance.Chanderpaul did what he does best and Samuels was the revelation, finally batting the way he has promised he would from the start of his career.

Darren Sammy continues to build his team and is vital to their self-belief. Calls for his sacking by formers such as Michael Holding are perplexing. It seems that the easiest sport to play in the West Indies is the tearing down of players who turn up and give their all. On the side lines, certain glory hunters and guns for hire sit, waiting to ride back into town on their snow white chargers, as former players cheer and whoop concerned only about winning. I wonder if the old men of the time had been calling on Clive Lloyd's head in 1975 and the sacking of his babies after Australia thrashed them 5-1. The likes of Richards, Greenidge, Rowes, Kallicharan, Roberts and Holding might not have been seen again if Garry Sobers or Rohan Kanhai had torn them apart. Instead they talked of potential, guts and their love of the game. They called for patience and support.

That dourest of English captains, Nassar Hussain, the man whose mantra of safety first throttled his captaincy, has made the statement in the last few days that team spirit is something you see in winning teams. Your never see, he says, the English high fiving and back slapping late on an afternoon when opponents have them chase leather all day and yet, in between the showers, that's been a constant refrain of the West Indies under Darren Sammy this summer and back home when the Australians were besting them. Like Lloyd and Sir Frank Worrell, he has shaped these men from disparate nations into a team ... a band of brothers who hurt when they lose and back each other no matter what. If you watched Sammy and his men as Sunday morning unfolded and Tino Best scored a completely unheralded and exuberant near hundred, that was an inescapable conclusion.

Vivi, take note

The Ramdin-Richards series of incidents proves the same thing. Yes, Ramdin's note waving action was outside of the spirit of the game and he has received a just and reasonable rebuke from the ICC referee but behind it, was the refusal of a man proud of his place and his team to accept what he considered unjust criticism. Here Hussain also agrees. The one thing missing under Chris Gayle's captaincy was spirit and verve. Ramdin might have expressed it with a fist of ham but at least it was there for all to see and without fear of the scariest man in cricket. For ten years now, West Indies players have lived with two constants: the unjust and unrelenting attacks of former players from the glory days of the the eighties, dismissing them and calling them insignificant in the scheme of West Indies cricket. These are players who hated losing and had extraordinary skills. Each time they tear down, they build themselves and their exploits up. Funny that. The reaction of the team management, including coach Otis Gibson, manager Richie Richardson and captain Darren Sammy has been instructive. Whilst not condoning Ramdin's actions, they made no move to discipline him. Sammy described the ICC punishment of 20% of Ramdin's match fee as appropriate and enough, shrugging an admittance that he probably went too far. When asked about his penchant for having prepared notes in his pocket when he scores centuries - with his first Test century he bought out a thank you to Ian Bishop, David Williams and Ronnie Sarwan - Sammy smiled and said he hoped we saw more notes.
The Gomer Pyle "Surprise, surprise!" moment in sport during all of this were those Knights of the Self Abound Table, Sir Ian and Sir Viv, who stood together once again.  

Knights of the Self Abound Table

Botham, always happy to use and abuse the benefits his freakish skills gifted him, has come out with his usual bludgeoning defence of his former Somerset buddy Richards. The worst offence against these old boys promoted beyond even their own self-importance, is to attack them. They have hunted as a pack for years, destroying Peter Roebuck in a smear campaign that played its own more cleverly distanced and salacious part in his eventual death. They puff and bluster like the old men they have become, no longer able to demand respect for who they are, just who they were, because all they have are words and they are long on tearing down and well short in building up. 
If Richards wanted to inspire Ramdin as he suggested his criticism had, why wasn't he with him at training or a constant ear at the impressionable man's side. Likewise, why hasn't Botham been available to console and guide the likes of KP through his troubles - after all, Botham would be eminently qualified in that regard. If Michael Holding thinks Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach have lost the plot, shouldn't he be standing a post at the bowlers end in the nets? All this whilst others like Graham Gooch, Richie Richardson, Andy Flower and in the past Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Dennis Lillee quietly ply their trade working with, not against the current custodians of the game. Why did Vivi walk away from the players and the team in the late nineties? Why has Botham done little but offer public comments? Because commentary pays more, only requires 20 minutes of your every hour and is so easy. You never have to deal with defeat in air conditioned commentary box. 
Ramdin stands accountable for his act of passion, whilst Richards is paid for his name. I'll leave you to sort out which is love and which is prostitution.

His Best Day

Tino Best drives straight

Tino la Bertram Best had no right to believe his cricket career would every get any better than having played Test cricket and left three years ago. A gregarious, effervescent character, his bowling had been robust but ineffective at the highest level and his tail end batting very much more swash than buckle. He had been so full of energy and enterprise when he debuted in 2003 against the Australians, that strategy and game plans were neglected. After 14 Tests, the West Indies could no longer afford him to be taking thirteen overs to take wickets which cost fifty runs a piece and he was dropped.

Now aged 30, he wouldn't have been seen again but some of the old enthusiasm was showing through in the domestic season for Barbados and he squeaked into the touring side for England. Injuries and desperation gave him an unexpected second chance at Birmingham and after two days of rain and a day of battle by the batsmen, he strode onto the Edgbaston ground after only three balls of the fourth morning, already smiling.

What a day out he had.

In a morning session extended by the game's situation, he spent more than two hours spanking England's bowlers, captain, coach and selectors for their arrogance and the disrespect they had shown his team and the game in standing down two of the most deadly finishers in the game. He blazed his way to a half century off just 44 deliveries, settled in to support his partner Dinesh Ramdin to a well deserved century and then became became the highest scoring No 11 in the 2045 Test history of the game. That he missed his century by such a narrow margin was heart breaking but irony is the mixing bowl in which cricket ingredients are combined and his dismissal was not a victory for England but another reminder that no one man is bigger than the game. For once, those that cherish this game would have wished it not be quite so hard. Watching him walk to the boundary with his head wrapped mournfully in his hands before raising his head to smile again and thank the crowd was an experience which ended a morning which washed the cynicism and greed clean from a week of character assassination and self righteousness.

Best then took wickets early and late in his more fancied role as an opening bowler, as England stumbled either side of a glorious partnership.

Ramdin reaches 100

Amidst the last wicket partnership of 143, Ramdin raised a fine century. There had been intensity from the start and a steel in his step in a rescue mission that he refused to yield right to the end. In a remarkable display, after working a single to square leg and bringing up his second Test hundred, Ramdin continued on towards the press box, unfolded an A4 piece of paper from his trousers pocket and held it up to be read. "Yea Viv talk nah" was the written message, emphasised with a finger jabbed in the direction of the BBC radio commentary team. Viv Richards had slammed the West Indies team in general and Ramdin in particular on the eve of the Test, calling on him to be sacked. It was an emphatic reply and a brave one. Men who tilt at gods seldom survive but there aren't many bowlers from the seventies and eighties who wouldn't be smiling in the aftermath. Sir Viv has talked much and achieved little since he put that SS bat away and Ramdin's point was powerful, especially given the planning involved in its delivery. They say you should respect your elders but perhaps only if they are respectable. Kevin Pietersen may have appreciated the statement.

The match now beyond them in the time available, England did what they do worst, batting out time. Alastair Cook, Jonathon Trott and Andrew Strauss were all gone by the fifteenth over with less than fifty on the board to the combination of Best, Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy. There was more than a wiff about the English when Strauss was third out, brilliantly caught by Darren Bravo at first slip off Best. They were vulnerable and the only side who could lose the game.

Ian Bell was elegant

Pietersen at his unambitious best

Pietersen and Bell changed that. Both with things to prove after events on and off the field in the last seven days, they came out and played as they should have against an attack well short of others they have bested in the past three years. Pietersen blasted the potentially dangerous Sunil Narine from the attack, smashing 7 fours and a monstrously large six over long on from the Test newcomer as his fifteen overs went at nearly five. Bell was more surgical than brutal but no less effective, driving, cutting and pulling Rampaul for boundaries in one over as the day stretched into the long English evening. Their partnership of 137 in thirty overs was the work of two determined men, unwilling to succumb to comments high above the boundary from yesterday's men.

Samuels removed Pietersen thanks to Sammy's quick reflexes and sure hands at first slip. Perhaps it was the time of the day or an approaching hundred which distracted him but the value of Samuel's apparently innocuous part time off spin again went against popular opinion. With the day finally closing in, Jonny Bairstow played across the line looking for runs to square leg and was castled by Best.

Fittingly Best had the last, hearty laugh.

Unless the West Indies take 5-5 on the final morning, the game is headed to a destination that was booked after lunch on the second day. Even then, an even more over powering opponent waits for them ... the English weather. Rain has ruined their tour. England have won all the important moments and will deserve their series win, but rain has taken away or damaged any preparation time before or during the series. In these micro tours, any interruptions are destructive. Not surprisingly when they finally get on top, rain, not the West Indies, will dominate the last day.

Still, you can only do your Best.

Thirty Thousand Happy Reasons

Thanks to more than 140 regulars who visit thecricketragics and the many occasional guests, the site ticked past the 30 000 mark this week. The last ten thousand views have come the fastest, in just 14 weeks. Many thanks to all of our supporters. Full statistics are available at the Stats tab.

Marlon Samuels Superb

The skies finally cleared in Birmingham and the 3rd Test between England and the West Indies got under way two days late. Such is the confidence of the England side, that even with their opening bowlers dropped recreational reasons, Andrew Strauss could still win the toss and bowl. Of course, his only chance of winning in three days is to have the West Indies start losing twenty wickets of the first day.

The West Indies made four changes owing to form and injury. Assad Fudadin made his debut at No 3 after an excellent recent home domestic series where he scored his only two first class hundreds. Normally, his career stats wouldn't encourage a debut but the abysmal form reversal of Kirk Edwards which has seen him unable to reach double figures in England, have forced the selectors hands. Not since Doug Walters has a man been so dogged by English conditions, although Edwards has outstripped the Australian's failure. He will be back once he gets off the back foot, literally. He is too talented to end his Test career here.

Sunil Narine came into the side, happy to play Test cricket after his duties with Kolkata in the IPL were exhausted. His situation is only part of a future we appear likely to have to get used to among the lesser cricket nations who have neither the influence or financial clout to tie their players to contracts which will bind them to Test cricket. In the last few weeks, the ICC has made a fuss about the primacy of the oldest form of the game but their roars are the whimperings of a toothless, mangy cat - once a lion but now a Bengal Tiger - which makes loud calls in the wilderness which seldom worry businessmen in the cities of India.

Narsingh Deonorine returned to a side he should never have been dropped from, despite the form of the West Indies middle order.

Bell drops a clanger ...
Onions moved to tears

Tino Best returned to the Test side for the first time in three years but his record don't suggest anything more for the well oiled English bats to worry about. Shaved and sprung in South African fields but prepared and oiled in the County Championship, they are only doubtful against spin and flight. Deonarine and Narine have a job to do but nowhere near enough time to do it in.

The first session belonged to the West Indians, losing only Keiran Powell, caught at second slip by Graeme Swann off Tim Bresnan after adding 49 opening with Adrian Barath. Fudadin joined Barath and the pair put their side into a very sound position at lunch (1-86). Barath opened up the Anderson debate early on when he edged to third slip and Anderson's replacement, Ian Bell, grassed a simple enough catch.

The second session was England's despite the sparkling form of Marlon Samuels. Barath lasted only three overs after the break and had his share of good and bad lunch in those 18 deliveries. Bell dropped him - an even easier chance off Steve Finn. Much was made of the fact that Bell was the only player wearing sunglasses, whilst both umpires were wearing those low light, orange numbers to enhance their vision but perhaps the real problem is that Ian Bell just isn't a very good slip fielder. Jimmy Anderson would have shelled both without a thought. Barath went at the end of the next over to another one of the incomprehensible DRS leg before decisions. The naked eye would have sent the ball past the leg stump but umpire Tony Hill raised the finger and Barath was on his way when technology showed it shaving the leg stump. Had Hill said no, the same technology would have saved the batsman.

Even after review, the naked eye still looked the best judge.

Seven slow overs followed in which just 9 runs were added as Finn and Onions worked the batsmen over before Darren Bravo inexplicably returned a catch to Finn in his follow through. If Bravo wore the Starred cap of another nation, rats would be on the breeze. It was a dreadful shot in what has been a string of them from the no doubt talent Bravo. Given the measure of his talent, his tour has been even more disappointing than Kirk Edwards.

Marlon Samuels raises fifty

Samuels entered for what would be a two and a half hour stay of the most exquisite timing and shot making of the summer. He failed to make a hundred - again - but it delightful batting. His driving from cover point to straight was crisp and perfect, with half of his boundaries coming from Swann. A flat swat over long on summed up his dominance of the English off spinner. By tea he had lost Fudadin to a brutish bouncer from Bresnan which the batsmen looped to Bell who finally held one and Deonarine, edging to Strauss at first slip.

At tea, it looked a familiar story.

Dinesh Ramdin added 56 with Samuels in the hour after tea with bright attacking cricket and it was a surprise when Samuels fell, lbw to Bresnan on another of those DRS lottery umpires call decisions. As it the the Caribbean lads haven't had enough against them on this tour! Darren Sammy and Narine made small but useful contributions as Ramdin continued to attack the English bowlers. England claimed three wickets in the final session and it might just be conjecture but its hard to not imagine Anderson's catching at slip and Broad's deadly bowling at the tail might have had England batting by stumps and West Indie dismissed a hundred runs shorter than their stumps score.

Bresnan, Onions and Finn bowled well but they are not the A-team. Swann was again shown up for his lack of variety once batsmen attack. He is no Ajmal.

Kevin Pietersen Stopped Play ... And It Rained

Jimmy Anderson - not a happy chappy

No play on the first day of the final Test between England and West Indies scheduled for Edgbaston and quite likely only limited opportunities for play on the second day as well. In fact, apart from the third day where the sun may appear, the rest of the Test looks like being very wet.

A wash out may be just the tonic for the England selectors and their coach, Andy Flower. Faced with increasing pressure on their playing staff because of too much cricket being scheduled by greedy administrators,  Flower and the selectors have already flagged Jimmy Anderson for a rest in this dead rubber game and will likely stand Stuart Broad aside as well should the rain further delay the toss tomorrow. Steve Finn will play in Anderson's place and Graham Onions will grab Broad's position. Flower is not alone in this approach, with both Mickey Arthur and John Inverarity making it clear that a fully fit group of Australian quicks will be rostered on and off games. This has happened for years in ODI games but it will be a new policy to Test cricket.

The telling media leak is that Anderson is furious over the decision.

Prior to that, the most famous episode was the "resting" of Australia's leading fast bowler, Graham "Garth" McKenzie after two Tests of the 1967-68 series against India. Australia had brushed the Indians aside in Adelaide and Melbourne, McKenzie taking 13 wickets, including 7-67 at the MCG. He was stood down to blood Eric Freeman, allow Neil Hawke to return and give Dave Renneberg a lengthy debut, all in preparation for the Ashes tour to England later that year. At his career's end, McKenzie finished just two wickets short of the then Australian wicket taking record of Richie Benaud (248).

Its a dumb practice. Without doubt, there is too much cricket scheduled but in this instance, preference is being given to make sure Anderson and Broad are able to stay fit for all of their commitments ahead in the English summer, which includes one day and T20 series against South Africa and Australia ... yes, Australia. The chance to fill county grounds with bodies for five days of ODI cricket against the oldest enemy is too much for administrators in either country to resist. Bugger the players. Well, they just might.

Test matches must remain the sacred cow of international cricket and the ICC themselves should be acting in this matter. Only they can ensure that sides play at full strength, subject to availability of their players, to maintain the integrity of Test cricket. When Australia crowds turn up to watch South Africa next summer in the last Test, they won't care if either side has already won the series. They will have bought their tickets in advance to watch the best teams play, not a game without Dale Steyn or Jacques Kallis or perhaps James Pattinson or Ben Hilfenhaus ... because they are being rotated out.

KP - resigned to the outcome

Availability comes into question following the retirement from international short forms of the game by the wild child of cricket, Kevin Pietersen. Are we really surprised after the treatment he has received at the hands of the ECB? There is little doubt Pietersen is a hexagonal peg which has tried to fit into a circular hole - he of too many sides to his character trying to mesh with an organisation which sees itself as perfect. In an interview with Nasar Hussain recorded seven years ago just before his Test debut and aired again last night on Sky/Fox/Austar, the differences were obvious. His diamond ear stud glistened below the then skunk hairdo as he sat in his bright pink shirt talking with the dour straight man of English cricket. Even then there were three or four issues simmering and he hadn't even worn the England cap. His controversial time as England Test captain and subsequent sacking, the texting incident earlier in this series and the refusal of the CB to bend their rules in regard players having to be available for both short forms of the game in the one contract, are just three incidents from his last four years which provide enough reason for him to hold the ECB in contempt.

The ECB maintains through it unofficial spokesmen - the former skippers on the Sky Sports commentary team - that the contracts are designed to protect ODI cricket, given the greater desire the players have to play T20 cricket. Given a choice, many of the best would make themselves unavailable for ODIs. Ian Botham, a role model for Pietersen's short captaincy stint, disagrees with the ECB but them Beefy disagrees with most convention.

Petulance then? When you are already the highest ranked T20 player in the world and can write your own contract to play in the burgeoning number of T20 tournaments - the IPL chief among them but the Australia's Big Bash catching up - why does he need to play for England? Loyalty in sport died a silent death in cricket in the late 1990's, after earlier haemorrhages in rebel tours to South Africa. Corruption has played its part in the last 15 years but so have the money grubbing administrators, keen to milk the cash cow dry. The ECB and its lackeys can talk it up all they want, but Pietersen's decision won't be the only one made by players who want to ensure they have more control over how their skills are used.

It underlines again the need for a great rationalisation of the international program and the way the calendar is filled. We have seen a plethora of two Test series in the last few years which died at 1-1 in want of at least the chance of a decider. To have the two best southern hemisphere teams play a two Test series last November whilst another five days were wasted in ODIs and T20's was a joke no one, including the players, were laughing at. It is increasingly obvious that ODI's must be phased out and replaced with T20 cricket but even then, players must have more say in the programming.

Too much cricket might well be enough unless someone remembers the game itself is the reward and not the endless pursuit of the revenue it raises.