Reading between the lines

So, the South Africans have taken the opportunity to put the boot in, and their size tens home straight in on the private parts of the England camp: the captain and coach. They don’t have an issue with KP, it seems. All they are doing, now the crack in the team is held open with a wooden wedge, is pour water onto it. This press release, as reported in The Guardian is, knowingly or not, genius: Continue reading

Witch-hunts and wizards

Well, as the KP fiasco takes root ever deeper, it’s beginning to bear the hallmarks of a witch-hunt. I’m not going to add my tuppence h’apennorth to the debate on KP himself, only to point out that like Usain Bolt, there’s an awful lot of psychology going on with the insouciance with which he bats, and to note that David Gower’s airy wafts outside off stump were strokes of genius when they sped through the covers, signs of carelessness when they were edged to the slips. We English love genius and hate our heroes sullying themselves with anything approaching hard work – until, that is, their star inevitably fades, and we can nod knowingly and wonder how much they would have achieved if only they’d done the hard yards. Continue reading