Caps Off To England

‘CLEVER old England.

England celebrate a dot ball

With the cricket season limping to a close like a middle-aged one-legged runner, the national side steals the headlines with a display of cunning ineptitude.

“England run on empty,” announces the headline in the Telegraph, coming as it does atop a long article about how terribly Michael Vaughan’s team played yesterday.

The bright side is that the review of the state of play – South Africa are 362 for the loss of 4 wickets – takes up the entire front page of the paper’s sports coverage.

Sure there’s a little bit about David Beckham, but when isn’t there?

So it’s hats to off to England and caps all round for anyone who can bowl a ball straight, catch, field, throw, look good in white, or just think up a new excuse for the team’s impending failure. Best of luck.

Elsewhere, in the Independent, there’s some rugby union chat. News is that South African-born England player Mike Catt is in line for a recall to the national side.

Catt’s a dynamic player at his best, and England’s World Cup chances can only be enhanced by his inclusion in affairs.

But another South African is making waves of a less pleasant sort.

Off the field activities have never been rugby’s most alluring part, what with the smashed beer glasses, the fights, more smashed glasses and more fights, the sport is best viewed on the pitch.

But still South Africa’s captain Crone Krige has been forced to deny that there is racism in his side. Well, kind of. What he really says in the Indy is that when he asked the black players if they felt victimised, none of them said yes.

But just as soon as they get back from their crocodile-infested bathing pond with the clean kit for the white guys, we can always ask them again…’

Posted: 5th, September 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink