22 Jul, 2009
Under Captain Strauss, is England getting uglier?
Posted by: TheAshesBlog.com In: Players ()
According to Aussie cricket writer Greg Baum, Andrew Strauss is turning England into a petty team that is bordering on cheating, and has taken over from Australia in the sledging department:
“At Lord’s, England again has been the uglier team …
… England’s bowlers have sledged more than Australia’s. From 20,000 kilometres, it scarcely matters what they are saying: it is a puerile look. England was unconscionable in the way it wrapped up Flintoff in cotton wool in the pavilion between bowling spells. England observed few niceties …
A cricket team takes its cues from its captain. Flintoff was more suited to leading by example than instruction, Pietersen was divisive, but Strauss’ appointment looked to be a vote for good sense. Counter-intuitively, Strauss’ England had revealed itself to be competitive, but manipulative and petty.
… In this series thus far, Australia has carried itself with greater dignity.”
- Strauss’ style is unappealing – The Age
Greg Baum might be overstating it here. Perhaps he’s reading a bit too much into a few minor incidents. I’m prepared to give Strauss another go before labeling him in such a way. Perhaps the events mentioned in the article were a few moments of weakness. I agree that Australia has carried itself “with greater dignity”, but I’ll have to wait and see what the Third Test brings us before calling England’s current cricket team “manipulative”, “petty”, and “ugly”.
Have a read through the article in full, and leave us your thoughts in the comments box below.
