The short answer to the question is obviously “yesâ€. Not just because I’ve had four hours sleep. Not just because there’s a foot-shaped hole in our plasma television. Not just because, after retiring at 3.50am, I spent the next hour starting at the ceiling, going through the several stages of grief at this shocking non-result, moving from disappointed resignation, to intense sorrow, to where we are now - seething anger.
The inventors of cricket experiment with a 13-a-side formation.The inventors of cricket experiment with a 13-a-side formation.
The question “Did the Poms cheat?†was perhaps put most succintly by mate Steve, watching the game online in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who inquired via text message in the final few overs this morning: “WHY IS THERE A MEMBER OF AL QAEDA HOLDING A F***ING GLOVE AND A FAT POM IN A TRACKSUIT OUT IN THE MIDDLE?†It’s a fair if offensively-crafted question, and one which is now on every Australian mind, none more so than Ricky Ponting.
Ponting has a bit of explaining to do. Talk about snatching defeat (OK, it was a draw, but it feels like a defeat to us) from the yawning jaws of victory. His decision to persist with Mitchell Johnson when he seemed to be aiming not at the stumps but square leg, and to bring on trundler Marcus North in the crucial final overs, will be the subject of valid scrutiny whatever his heroics with the bat.
But he’s absolutely within his rights to question the not-one-but-two appearances made on the ground in the final overs by 12th man Bilal Shafayat, holding a pair of gloves as a prop, and English physiotherapist Steve McCaig, who clearly keeps the team in shape by eating all the pies.
Ponting rightly queried why a bloke who’d been batting for less than an hour (James Anderson) and his partner (Monty Panesar) who’d been in for all of two overs would need any attention from the physio at all. In fact all McCaig did was pat Anderson on the backside when he came out, prompting the commentators on Fox Sports Three to quip: “Well, that’s made a lot of difference.â€
“I don’t think it was required, he (Anderson) changed (gloves) the over before,†Ponting said.
“I don’t think they’d be too sweaty in one over. I’m not sure what the physio was doing out there, I didn’t see anyone call for the physio to come out, as far as I’m concerned, it was pretty ordinary really.
“But they can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game, it’s up to them to do what they want to do.â€
You can read Ponting’s full account here.
In trying to defend his tactics, England captain Andrew Strauss rabbited on about how Anderson had spilt some gatorade on his glove, clearly a life or death situation. But with one comment he unwittingly admitted he was playing silly buggers.
“Our intentions were good. We weren’t out there to waste a huge amount of time,†he said.
That’s precisely the point. England didn’t need to waste a huge amount of time. Just enough time to get them to the 6.50pm cut-off, which they did.
It’s unclear whether any members of this team will receive knighthoods, they are already being hailed by the Brits as heroes.
Sadly that’s the only thing we Aussies can take out of this game - a bit of juvenile teasing of the Poms for celebrating a game they didn’t actually win, and which we should have.
Anyway I’m going to bed. And Steve, good luck fixing your laptop.[/b]
