Their first match of all was against Australia in the 1983 World Cup. They won by 13 runs, thanks largely to an impressive all-round performance (69 and then 4 for 42) by their captain, a chap by the name of Duncan Fletcher Yes, that Duncan Fletcher, now England’s coach. England’s best hope of being at the Wanderers that Saturday evening certainly lies in their ability to impose themselves on Zimbabwe. History insists that this may be no formality despite the Zimbabweans’ desperate recent form. Since the World Cup they have won only one of 10 one-day matches.But that cannot entirely expunge their knack, established immediately upon their entry into the international game, of refusing to go quietly. The art of choking in any sporting contest, however, demands that some sort of consistent pressure is being applied by the opposition and neither England nor Zimbabwe have been renowned lately for carrying tourniquets around in their kit bags.The sides play each other three times in the preliminary matches, the circus visiting every part of the republic in the next three weeks, and the top two meet in the final on 12 February.
If they were to win all six group matches and the final it would be no surprise They are that good and England know it. The hosts’ one-day team are more formidable than their Test side and while they have named an initial squad without Allan Donald, their all-round firepower does not look much diminished.This is not to say they are impregnable and they have never quite shed a reputation for choking, which was witnessed most recently during the World Cup last summer in two scintillating matches against Australia. South Africa lost the first, tied the second – both in unbearably tense circumstances – and went out of the competition. England’s primary objective in the next month must be to ensure that they do not perform as though they are fiddling about in the dark wearing fancy dress.
One-dayers are a form of the game in which they once almost excelled, but they kept it sniffily at arm’s length as if it was some smelly, poor relation when they should have been embracing it warmly like a rich benefactor. It is time once more to switch on the lights and don the flannels of many colours. Barely 72 hours after a remarkable conclusion to the Test series between South Africa and England, the triangular limited-overs tournament begins in Johannesburg today.
The approach to a discipline which has its own plentiful merits – if the rest of the world have indulged far too much, England have played far too little – has cost them dear.South Africa who open the competition with a floodlit match against the third team, Zimbabwe, are overwhelming favourites. England’s primary objective in the next month must be to ensure that they do not perform as though they are fiddling about in the dark wearing fancy dress. Barely 72 hours after a remarkable conclusion to the Test series between South Africa and England, the triangular limited-overs tournament begins in Johannesburg today. “You have your ups and downs, but it’s OK now,” he says.Despite that, Anderson – still only 46 and very much in his prime – is the man many Wigan supporters expect to see at the JJB Stadium on a more permanent basis next year.”I’d like to come back at some stage in my career,” he says. “But I came to Melbourne on a five-year contract and, when I sign a contract, I believe in fulfilling it I won’t be here next year.”. It is time once more to switch on the lights and don the flannels of many colours. Anderson was strongly rumoured to be on his way out of the club at one stage last season and having to off-load his own son, Ben, to stay within budget could hardly fail to prove galling.
