LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: It’s just not cricket anymore? Well, world has changed
‘It’s not just the Proteas’ test team which could do with a fresh start. It’s test cricket itself’
If this Test series had been rugby rather than cricket the scores might have been something like 40-6, 3-55 and 48-3. Inconceivably, all three have been one-sided thrashings, two by England and the other by SA. It is not a unique state of affairs, but it’s highly unusual.
The 239-run defeat at the Oval on Monday saw the Proteas fall 2-1 behind with the fourth and final Test in the series due to start at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday.
Given the disparity in results and quality of individual performances, it is impossible to forecast which South African team will arrive. The one that lost by 211 and 239 runs, or the one which triumphed by 340 runs in Nottingham? The inability of either team to mount any sort of meaningful fightback having conceded an early advantage was picked up as a sign of the times by many former players, although few attempted to expand on the reasons for it. Inevitably Twenty20 cricket was blamed but without the application of reason or logic. It is meaningless to say batsmen "play too many shots".If there is any truth in what is a pretty glib assessment, it may lie in the proximity of the finish line and how that may subconsciously affect both batsmen and bowlers. You can play two-and-a-quarter Twenty20 matches in a single day of Test cricket and almost any over can affect the course of the match and the result. The instant nature of the game affects the way players think. Setbacks and mist...
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