And while on N-Power, by way of aside there is this piece in the Guardian, where Tanya Aldred suggests that the N-Power Girls, while undoubtedly fetching (in looks, not just in fetching drinks), are soooo seventies.
Elsewhere, chairman of England's selectors Tom Graveney joins the chorus of critics suggesting that England's jellybean jape was childish to a degree. Later on in the same Angus Fraser piece, there is this comment by Moores:
"Sport is a battle, you go out and play in the fair spirit of the game. But that's what makes it thrilling to watch. If people weren't bothered about it or didn't get so emotional, it might become quite bland. There's no point in saying noise for noises sake. But we've spoken in the past about trying to get England teams more upbeat. So the team is going out there to play and represent their country with some passion to try to win games.
Admirable sentiments; you cannot quarrel with it. What is left unexplained, though, is how a schoolboy prank equates a national side representing its country with pride and passion. Surely anyone who watched the Test unfold would have found more pride, more passion, more spirit in the way Ryan Sidebottom bowled to Sachin Tendulkar with the second new ball, for instance? Or the way Michael Vaughan played at his flowing best, defying the odds and a pumped-up bowling attack both? Any time the spotlight falls on teams and individuals pushing it in the name of gamesmanship, the culprits promptly conflate their acts with this whole 'playing with passion' thing - and each time that happens, passion and pride has less to do with it than pettiness and bad sportsmanship.
On another note, the one aspect of the first two Tests that merits repeated mention is this: In four tries thus far, that have included two centuries, England is yet to top the 300 mark. The man who will be sweating that little detail most is the team's batting coach and former Zimbabwe star Andy Flower, once rated the best batsman in the world, and named Wisden's Cricketer of the Year in 2002. Here, he suggests that the toss, and Zaheer Khan's 'awesome' bowling in both efforts, proved too much for his charges; but, he says, they have what it takes to pick themselves up again and put on a show at the Oval.
Image: N-Power girls during the opening day of the first Ashes Test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham on July 5, 2001.
Also read: Sachin Tendulkar on the Test win
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