Spanky condemns lacklustre Saffers.

Actually alludes to what I was talking about in the match thread, once you take your foot off the pedal you can't automatically expect to regain impetus, especially when the opposition is so motivated.

He thinks this might have a deleterious effect on their Aussie campaign.

It's all in the mind, Graeme, it's all in the mind
29 Aug 2008

AMBITION is a critical factor in every sporting outfit. A team must crave success as a chicken does grain. Defeat must hurt more than any mere blow. Once ambition wanes, the slide begins and it is the devil’s own work to stop it. Morale is everything in sport. After all, it is a form of combat. To walk on to the field with compromised thoughts is to leave it with head bowed. Victory goes to the single-minded. It has never been easy to win let, alone to keep winning. Losing is the easy part.

As a cricketer, I had the fortune to play in the most successful teams raised by two counties, Somerset and Devon. All sorts of differences could be found between them, but they had in common a burning desire to prevail. Somerset eventually fell apart as bad habits set in. By then, the cider county had lifted five cups, the first it had secured in its colourful existence. Devon’s streak of success began in 1991 and is still going strong — the minor county has just won another final at Lord’s. Actually it is not a streak, but a culture. Somerset faded and could not return to the top till the entire stable had been cleansed. Devon retained their pride and 17 years later still dominates their competition.

South Africa have lacked ambition on their tour of England and hereafter will suffer the consequences. Winning a Test series in England for the first time since Graeme Pollock smashed the bowlers all around Nottingham in 1965 was a fine performance. Rightly, the team celebrated and its praises were sung. After a few days rest, though, it was important to get back to work. Instead, the players went walkabout. As much could be seen for the defeat at the Oval.

Suddenly, batsmen were swishing away outside off-stick or lifting catches to cover. Far from kicking their prostrate opponents, they assisted in their resurgence. Obviously the new captain also inspired England, but he must have expected stiffer resistance.

Admittedly, dead rubbers can flatten the spirit. Australia lost plenty of them until Steve Waugh challenged his players by publicly calling for a clean sweep before a series had begun. He refined success, wanting his players to strive till the last ball. South Africa should have learnt from that but instead let laziness creep in. It is an insidious vice and, unless checked, will prevent the team realising its potential.

Graeme Smith’s team have played abysmally in the 50-over matches. Even beforehand, the captain was saying that his players were tired of life on the road. That is not good enough.
Virender Sehwag used to think along those lines, and for a couple of seasons it cost him his place in the Indian side. Bad attitudes can spread faster than the flu. Strong teams do not allow themselves to think negatively. The mind can be conquered. Indeed, that is the primary challenge of sport. Champions rise from their beds determined to win again. A properly motivated side does not allow weak thoughts to linger. Such outlooks are the province of the doomed.

Far from recovering rapidly from the loss in London, the slump has continued. As a matter of urgency, the visitors need to get back on track. It is vital to end a tour on a high note. A birdie on the last hole can lift even the most downcast spirits. Otherwise the team will come home not in triumph, but turmoil It’s not much of a way to start a campaign that includes two meetings with the Australians.

The Aussies understand the dangers of complacency and it’s hard to imagine themselves slipping so far so fast. Not that Australia is the model for everything. Apparently, it has the world’s largest area of uncivilised terrain. Surprise has been expressed that any of the continent is considered civilised. But the Aussies never play limply.

Occasionally, they lose matches and sometimes series, but they fight back. Nor do they tolerate talk of tiredness. Warriors have walked across deserts, pensioners have finished Comrades marathons. It is not for healthy sportsmen to complain. Professionalism is not about payments. It’s about remaining fresh.

Unless results improve, South Africa must change direction. After losing in the early rounds of the last World Cup, India dropped most of its old guard. As a result, the team started playing with vim and vigour. Smith needs younger men around him, sharper in the field and between wickets, eager for the fray.

AB De Villiers can guard the stumps, Hashim Amla can play and clodhoppers and mild spinners can be sent packing. The selectors might also reflect on the gap left by Shaun Pollock. All the evidence suggests that he should have been the last of his generation to be replaced, not the first.

Didn't they just win their first test series in England since forever?

JGK wrote:Didn't they just win their first test series in England since forever?

I think his observations are valid regarding the effect on morale this one day performance might have on them. You don't want to go to Australia with your confidence severely bruised. It's all a state of mind.

Seems to be also pointing the finger at Smith who appeared too relaxed about The Oval defeat. He seems to lack the fire and passion which KP is demonstrating to power England up the one day rankings.

He can't help having a go at Australians can he?Someone should tell him it became less civilised when he moved here.Go home you ungrateful,whingeing pom.His sort we don't need here.

He's a fully fledged Aussie these days - he's one of yours...

Spanky and Red in absolute agreement.

I thought this thread said spanky condoms.

Well its the usual tripe from Roebuck but I will say that I agree with him about what he is saying about the Saffies.

I felt back in March they coughed up that test defeat to India at Kanpur a bit too easily and they have certainly dropped their guard pretty quickly here in England.

Not sure they have quite got enough of the ruthless streak personally and I would savagely disappointed if we lost either of the forthcoming winter series to them.

Ind and Eng worry me more.

Why would England worry you more Gordon - we've lost our last 3 series to top teams!

(Or is this one of your England will win the next world cup predictions )

Spanky is a miserable twonk. He blames SA instead of saying how well England have done. But I suppose that wouldn't go down well with his Aussie paymasters.

noelene wrote:He can't help having a go at Australians can he?Someone should tell him it became less civilised when he moved here.Go home you ungrateful,whingeing pom.His sort we don't need here.

Considering he is capable of stringing two sentences together without the use of the words "F*ckin" or "Cunt" I find that very hard to believe.

JKLever wrote:Why would England worry you more Gordon - we've lost our last 3 series to top teams!

(Or is this one of your England will win the next world cup predictions )

Probably I learnt well from the Master (Rizzo) on how to reverse woof.

Seriously though Eng have a world class batsmen, a world class allrounder, a world class fast bowler in Harmison if he ever properly committed, a huge prospect in Broad and the best spinner you've had in the last 30 years in Monty.

You'll weaken your ultimate chances with your usual team formation of course but the Aus team is clearly in transition at the moment (8 of the 2005 team will not be there in 2009) and Eng are enjoying a KP bounce at the moment.

Oh. Forum swear word sensor in crisis.

Henry wrote:

noelene wrote:He can't help having a go at Australians can he?Someone should tell him it became less civilised when he moved here.Go home you ungrateful,whingeing pom.His sort we don't need here.

Considering he is capable of stringing two sentences together without the use of the words "F*ckin" or "Cunt" I find that very hard to believe.

I expect comments like this from a writer on a cricket forum,but not a so-called cricket journalist.
How do you know whether he swears or not?Bet he did a bit of swearing after his shameful behaviour years ago.These days he would not get into the country with a police record like that.

These days he would not get into the country with a police record like that.

Rubbish. It's not like he's black.

GordoninPortsmouth wrote:

JKLever wrote:Why would England worry you more Gordon - we've lost our last 3 series to top teams!

(Or is this one of your England will win the next world cup predictions )

Probably I learnt well from the Master (Rizzo) on how to reverse woof.

Seriously though Eng have a world class batsmen, a world class allrounder, a world class fast bowler in Harmison if he ever properly committed, a huge prospect in Broad and the best spinner you've had in the last 30 years in Monty.

You'll weaken your ultimate chances with your usual team formation of course but the Aus team is clearly in transition at the moment (8 of the 2005 team will not be there in 2009) and Eng are enjoying a KP bounce at the moment.

Harmison's almost 30 and I still vividly remember his impotence here. He has to do a lot more than bowl a few good overs in ODIs against a lacklustre opponent and a good spell or two in a dead rubber test match. It's only as recently as earlier this year against the kiwis that he was ordinary.

As for Monty, he was nothing special against the saffers and we play spin better than them. Flintoff could be dangerous if he stays on his feet but he has a lot of cricket between now and the Ashes, including away series in India and the Windies which won't be easy going bowling wise given the flatness of the pitches.

Harmison: Yea we all know he is a PHS. I' a big critic. If he ever ditched that attitude though ( ) he'd be a big problem.

Monty: In certain sort of English conditions can cause problems IMO

Flintoff: Will have no more excessive workload than he did in the run up to 2005.

Its really all down to the KP captaincy factor...Right now everything is going swimmingly and the whole of Eng cricket is enjoying a bounce. Depends how long the honeymoon can be kept going...If its still on come July next year I doubt Eng will allow themselves any matrimonial rows with an Ashes series in the offing.

It's pointless matching teams player for player. If that happened pre-series in 2005 we'd probably not have bothered turning up.

The next Ashes is all about how England are playing going into that series.

Even though the saffers turned up when we just won 2 series against NZ, we fully well knew the way we'd stuggled to put away the Snoozers we were probably going to come 2nd best.

Interesting though how many poms, including Agnew in his column, are commenting how it's a big turnaround in one day fortunes and the future looks bright, principally because of what Harmison and Flintoff are doing. Yet haven't this pair be around for years? England has hardly been consistent.

The biggest difference at the moment would appear to be KP's influence as captain. Agnew also says though that he hasn't confronted pressure because of SA's woeful ineptness. Only time will tell.

Actually I think the 2009 Ashes will come down to one major factor and that is how well Mitchell Johnson and Beau Casson go.

Eng are certain to play the 5-man attack formation and that means there batting is their weaker suit. I think Lee and Clark will go nicely enough but if the back-up bowling is as carp as Gillespie and Kasper were in 2005 then we will struggle to exploit this.

I'd wager if you took a straw poll right now of Eng fans you'd probably get some pretty derisory reviews of both Johnson and Casson but we shall see. If they can hold there own - not necessarily attack leaders I think we will win. If they go Dizzy I think Eng have an excellent chance.

Red wrote:Interesting though how many poms, including Agnew in his column, are commenting how it's a big turnaround in one day fortunes and the future looks bright, principally because of what Harmison and Flintoff are doing. Yet haven't this pair be around for years? England has hardly been consistent.

The biggest difference at the moment would appear to be KP's influence as captain. Agnew also says though that he hasn't confronted pressure because of SA's woeful ineptness. Only time will tell.

This era (basically the Flintoff era) is a talent rich one for Eng.

They're basically wasting it with their insistence on playing 5-bowlers

The'll really have problems after 2012.

Red...... KP & Fred haven't played that much together in the past 2 years.

We're not suddenly a 'great' ODI side - but the balance looks so much better.

The bowling is more threatening with Flintoff/Harmison 1st change too.

GordoninPortsmouth wrote:
The'll really have problems after 2012.

That's assuming no-one breaks through. 4 years is such a long time - I couldn't tell you who will play then?

JKLever wrote:

GordoninPortsmouth wrote:
The'll really have problems after 2012.

That's assuming no-one breaks through. 4 years is such a long time - I couldn't tell you who will play then?

Well you'll need a player of the stature of Flintoff I feel.

You'll always pursue the 5-man attack (well you have the last 50 years) and that strategy is completely dependent on the quality of the linkman.

Flintoff, Botham, Bailey - yes
Pringle, Capel, Irani - no

GordoninPortsmouth wrote:
This era (basically the Flintoff era) is a talent rich one for Eng.

Didn't England just lose a home series?