da aviator aposta： England’s glittering stars will be itching to be involved in a real contest after they polished off a lacklustre Zimbabwe 4-0 in the recent one-day series whitewash
da bet7： Preview by Andrew Miller07-Dec-2004
Steve Harmison, back after three months off, will have a chance to shine© Getty Images
The tricky part of England’s winter is finally behind them. They havesuccessfully juggled their political hot potato in Zimbabwe – with onlythe occasional glitch of protocol along the way – and the team can now, atlong last, refocus their attentions on their day job. Tomorrow atRandjesfontein, cricket (a sport, lest we forget, that England wereproving to be rather good at come the end of last season) returns to thetop of the agenda.But what an agenda. The small matter of five Tests in six weeks lies aheadof England, and for the first time since South Africa’s readmission tointernational cricket, they are travelling as clear-cut favourites. It isnot a burden that has traditionally sat easily on English shoulders, and withjust four scheduled warm-up days ahead of the first Test at Port Elizabethon December 17, tomorrow’s tour opener, against Nicky Oppenheimer’s XI atthe family ranch near Johannesburg, has taken on an added significance.The Oppenheimers are the hosts with the most, the dynasty at the helm ofthe world-renowned De Beers Corporation. They have had generations ofexperience in polishing rough diamonds and, in that respect, there couldbe no better setting for the return of England’s karatty kids, SteveHarmison and Andrew Flintoff, who have not had a chance to shine since thefinal of the Champions Trophy more than two months ago.England’s other high-profile omission from the one-dayers in Zimbabwe wasMarcus Trescothick, who takes over as captain while Michael Vaughan has awell-earned break. Given the tightrope he has walked in the lastfortnight, his day off will presumably be spent in a darkened room, wherehe can refocus his attentions on field placings and forget the need toavoid diplomatic faux pas.The shift of emphasis away from Zimbabwe and towards the Tests wasconfirmed by the announcement of England’s team for the Oppenheimer match.It contains all eight of the recently arrived Test specialists, who havespent the last few days warming up amid torrential downpours inJohannesburg, and of the seven players who featured in all four victoriesover Zimbabwe, only the ever-willing Paul Collingwood has been pressgangedinto further action. His inclusion is a sure sign that he will berelegated to the bench come the main event.England will not be allowed to exorcise their Zimbabwe demons that easily,however, not with a certain Heath Streak lining up to have a dart at themtomorrow. Streak, who recently called off his floundering civil actionagainst the Zimbabwe cricket authorities who stripped him of the nationalcaptaincy, recently hinted that he might be willing to make a return tothe team. With that in mind, he is unlikely to be going easy on England’sbatsmen, not least Trescothick, whose overseas record pales in comparisonto his home form, and who will be mindful of the need to hit the groundrunning after his break from the game.The weather, however, may yet deny England their opportunity to get fullymatch-focused ahead of the Port Elizabeth Test. With unseasonally dismalconditions predicted for the rest of the week, all 11 of England’sfirst-choice Test players could struggle to obtain any meaningful time inthe middle over the next few days. “If it rains for four days, I’ll saythat we’ll be undercooked for the first Test,” said Duncan Fletcher, withthe sort of guarded admission that made him a natural for diplomaticduties in Zimbabwe.That’s the trouble with today’s non-stop treadmill of internationalcricket. Those who dare to take a breather run the risk of tripping overtheir own feet as they rush to get back up to speed. For England, however,a change (of personnel, as well as venue) is as good as a rest. Given thenumbing predictability of the Zimbabwe saga, they’ll be itching to getinvolved in a real contest, come rain or shine.England 1 Marcus Trescothick (capt), 2 Robert Key, 3 Mark Butcher,4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Chris Read (wk),8 Gareth Batty, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 Stephen Harmison.Oppenheimer’s XI Ashwell Prince (capt), Andre Seymore, NeilJohnson, JP Duminy, Francois du Plessis, Wendell Bossenger (wk), HeathStreak, Grant Howell, Werner Coetsee, Charl Willoughby, Lonwabe Tsotsobe.
