Forty Years Of Hurt
‘FORTY years ago when Englands cricketers last won a tour of South Africa, the Guardian reminds us, they played under the name MCC and drank cocktails at the all-white clubs.
| One Dolly that Vaughan did hold onto |
Now, four decades on, England are England, the Proteas have a black player in their midst and the Barmy Army of travelling England fans spurn cocktails with the brigadier and his wife for cans of industrial strength lager under a merciless sun.
Back then, England won the series by one game to nil; this time they return 2-1 winners, and, in truth, they were good for a bigger margin of victory.
But, as the Times reports, the draw secured in the final Test in Pretoria was good enough for the win, which earned them an overall win bonus of £327,000 and the new Basil DOliveira trophy. (How times change, indeed!)
Its the best moment for me since I became captain because weve really struggled with form, says Michael Vaughan in the paper. Weve had to dig deep with mental resolve and weve come through.
Never underestimate the power of confidence and the will to succeed. Simply put, it can be termed character – and its a quality not overly evident in the odious little scrote called Craig Bellamy.
In todays instalment of the story that runs further than the Newcastle player, the Times says that Bellamys on his way from the club and then asks which clubs will be willing to sign him.
The teams mentioned are: Liverpool (his agent has connections at Anfield), Manchester City (how else do you follow the pending sale of the petulant Nicolas Anelka?), Aston Villa, Everton and Spurs (a club linked with any and every player on the market).
But our favourites are Inter Milan, the Italian giants who are Bellamys chosen team on his PlayStation: A move abroad would appeal.
And a move anywhere would also make sense for Rodney Marsh, who, the Independent reports, has been sacked from his job as a nodding head on Sky Sports for comments made about the Asian tsunami.
His offence was to tell a caller on Youre On Sky Sports that David Beckham wouldnt be going to Newcastle not after what the Toon Army did in Thailand.
Marsh immediately apologied, saying: My intention was to make a light-hearted football joke.
You can, it seems, in this country send thousands of soldiers to fight a war based on lies and false evidence without a blemish to your reputation.
But tell a slightly off-colour joke and youre out of a job quicker than you can say Ron Atkinson.
It really is a funny old game, as another jocular ex-footballer once said..’
Posted: 26th, January 2005 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
