LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Ottis Gibson gives Proteas shot in the arm with England medicine
It hasn’t always been clear why foreign coaches have been so popular in international cricket recently but there have been several, obviously successful, interventions by Ottis Gibson during the ODI series in Sri Lanka that suggest the Barbadian is making a significant difference to the Proteas. Sure, the fast bowlers have bowled attacking lines and lengths in the first 10 overs, searching for early wickets rather than dot balls, but you would expect such a tactic from a man who played the game that way himself, whether he was from Barbados or Benoni. Gibson was appointed to the England coaching staff in the immediate aftermath of the team’s humiliation at the 2015 Cricket World Cup, during which they played cricket from a bygone era, virtually shotless batsmen crawling to woefully inadequate totals with bowlers and fielders waiting for something to happen rather than attempting to take control. He witnessed the transformation of England’s ODI team, from premature World Cup eliminat...
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