Monday, August 04, 2008

Oh captain my captain

It is no surprise that Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood have given it up – it is not easy captaining the English cricket team in today’s era. The demands are just impossible.

To begin with, the selectors, the media, the public all want their captain to score runs. Where would they have found Mike Brearley if that had been the condition in the 1970s? Or Mike Denness before him? Even Vaughan resigned because such inhuman demands were placed on him. There’s one of two things he can do: pat his bowlers in the back after grounding yet another catch or launch into a flowing cover drive. Which would make a bigger difference to his team’s fortunes you think?

The media in particular (and we know how they rule the selectors’ minds, don’t we?) wants the captain to be kind to their representatives as well. So when Vaughan questions the cricketing records of a journalist, he’s pilloried. There’s no place for a candid captain nowadays, is there? Now who else does this expectation rule out?

As I write this piece, national selector Geoff Miller comes up with a new demand: he wants one person for both the test and the limited overs captaincy. It’s a shame on Andrew Strauss, isn’t it? May be he can offer to keep wickets in one-dayers. He does have a successful precedent in India’s Rahul Dravid, doesn’t he?

Some sections of stakeholders (selectors, officials, media, the public, the blogerati, the neighbourhood dog) are beginning to ask for experience in a captain as well. Come now, imagine the kind of people whose services England would have lost out if such a silly demand had been taken seriously in the past – Tony Lewis and Chris Cowdrey are just two illustrious names I would like to mention. I fear we may have lost the services of that wizard, Robert Key, for good (or bad, come to think of it). Alastair Cook, as an extension of the same logic, may be deemed too green just now.

Finally, and this is surely the work of a Tony Greig baiter, there are ear-splitting whispers that the selectors should stick to true Englishmen as captains, not people who adopted England as their country. So that puts paid to the hopes of Kevin Pietersen – he can win matches for England with his bat, no problem, but he can’t use his brains to lead them to victory. The English have a nation to defend, what is a few losses on the field?

So who does that leave us with? Andrew Flintoff? Will he behave with the media? Ian Bell? Isn’t he likely to be too aggressive? Ryan Sidebottom? Now why is no one talking of his candidature?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

[color=red]The Most Affordable XRUMER/BACKLINK SERVICE Online!
The EFFORTLESS and POWERFUL WAY TO BUILD MASSIVE # OF BACKLINKS
[color=black]
200,000 BLASTS of your URLs+ Anchor Tex, message, pictures (can be spinned) etc
$10 USD (shared with other clients like a carpool), or
$25/200k for exclusive!(you control EVERYTHING)
$50 Exclusive @ 500,000 blasts.
(Complete reports will be given to clients)

[IMG]http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1540/arrowdownh.gif[/IMG]
For orders, questions or concerns? Email: [u]formless.void47 at gmail.com [/u]
Note:
1. For STRICT Whitehat sites, it is advised to create buffers to pass on linkjuice. i.e. social bookmarks, cloaked pages etc.
You can blast the site directly, but it entails risk.
Using buffers are 100% safe, speaking from experience.
2. Xrumer is a very technical tool. Just describe to me what sorts of effects you want and well make it happen!
If you want to buy Xrumer?
>>>>> http://cloakedlink.com/chzgykebsd <<<<<<

[color=black]
-------
CLIENT 2 SAMPLE SPACE FILLED WITH URLs,Pics and Keywords
seo gujarat seo optimization tips affordable seo company seo friendly cms define seo inexpensive seo aberdeen seo experts seo agency small business seo pure seo cms big mouth media seo company hyderabad promotion seo services creative seo buy seo software seo nottingham seo ranking tool buy domain link seo services seo optimization company bad seo san antonio seo seo training mumbai seo jobs india Xrumer Guide link building services seo training videos seo gold buy it now link search engine optimization service seo elite training seo elite discount seo oxford seo training hyderabad traffic travis seo shenzhen seo seo pay per click seo company noida seo quote new york seo firm seo elite affiliate xrumer 5 download Using Xrumer best seo cms quick seo Xrumer Website buy order Xrumer Key top seo tools

-----
CLIENT 3 SAMPLE SPACE
[url=http://provenheightincrease.co.cc/ebook/height-increase-forum-support]height increase forum support[/url] http://provenheightincrease.co.cc/ebook/height-increase-forum-support

[url=http://herpescures.co.cc/drugs/Working-On-A-Cure-For-Herpes-Stages-Of-Genital-Herpes-Herpes-Gums.html]working on a cure for herpes stages of genital herpes herpes gums[/url]

http://www.ripoffreport.com/internet/global-life-enhancem/global-life-enhancement-ripoff-cd4ma.htm

[url=http://vierac1seriestcp42c14.onsugar.com/6602788]PanasonicVIERAC1SeriesTC-P42C142-Inch720pPlasmaHDTV[/url]


-----
CLIENT 4 SAMPLE SPACE
[url=http://provenheightincrease.co.cc/ebook/hgh-human-growth-hormone]hgh human growth hormone[/url] http://provenheightincrease.co.cc/ebook/hgh-human-growth-hormone

[url=http://growyourdick.co.cc/penile/penis-extension]penis extension[/url] http://growyourdick.co.cc/penile/penis-extension

http://teethwhiteningstripsreviews.info/xr/iowa-teeth-whitening.html

http://buycheapplasmatv.info/cgi-bin/index.pl?=best-outdoor-hdtv-antenna [url=http://buycheapplasmatv.info/cgi-bin/index.pl?=best-outdoor-hdtv-antenna]best outdoor hdtv antenna[/url]

[url=http://teethwhiteningstripsreviews.info/xr/Newbury]Puducherry South Lanarkshire best at home teeth whitening Saint-Hyacinthe Palau cosmetic teeth whitening treatments teeth whitening manchester new york secrets twilight teeth whitening[/url]

-----
CLIENT 5 SAMPLE SPACE
[url=http://cheapxrumerservice.co.cc]Cheap Xrumer Service[/url]
[url=http://cheapxrumerservice.co.cc]Cheapest Xrumer Service[/url]
[url=http://cheapxrumerservice.co.cc]Best Xrumer Service[/url]
--------
http://cheappleodinosaurprices1.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

http://cheaphdtvplasma.co.cc/television/58-inch-plasma-tv [url=http://cheaphdtvplasma.co.cc/television/58-inch-plasma-tv]58 inch plasma tv[/url]

[url=http://stopacaiberryscams.info/cgi-bin/index.pl/acai-berry-slim-original]acai berry slim original[/url]