Exactly. I like Stuart Broad, and he is a good prospect for England but he is deffo building up a reputation to be a prat. All this nonsense with the ball and his general lack of respect for the umpires.
I was contemplating starting a discussion as to whether the England remarks are rather ill-considered and inflamatory. Reason being Pakistan were penalised for tampering, when England are informally accused of it then the captain comes out and says "you have to be sure of what the opposition are doing". Maybe England didn't pull the Pakistanis up on it. Fair enough the Pakistanis can only blame themselves having been caught in the act in the past, but England have rather silly ideas about boundaries in terms of what they "can get away with"
England think like schoolboys, not necessarily looking to cheat but stretching the rules to their fullest extremes. They no doubt think that treading on the ball is ok from time to time and not very subtle at it, it's not exactly the same as bottle-tops and what have you deliberate tampering. Yawn came up with a silly tactic involving fielders moving didn't he? They thought it was something they could get away with, like naive little schoolboys. Same goes for Atherton with his pocket full of dirt, it was as embarrassing as if he'd had a catapult in his pocket.
But what is as pathetic as England's actions is South Africa, wanting to say "we think you're cheating" without actually reporting it. It's an accusation of unsporting conduct, unfortunately they fall into the same bracket by the way they've presented their accusations. Like jellybeangate, it's all very pathetic and they should get on with cricket and let the match officials apply the laws.
Therein lies the difference between this and the Oval debacle, the officials dealt with the laws it was nothing to do with player whinging England did the right thing at the Oval, shame the saffers felt they had to say something - especially when so much on top.
That was the main stupidity of the Pakistanis at the Oval, they wanted to show they were "insulted" but did it at the wrong time and in the wrong way. They were well on top, unfortunately England seemed to be "doing a Cardiff" before Cardiff happened, Cardiff over-referred to these days when "great escapes" have happened before. It's not even like the last two "great escapes" involved the last pair batting out more than a few balls. The Pakistanis should have sent a representative to the match referee, lodged a formal complaint and 'come out to play'. If South Africa felt England were cheating, they should have done the same BEHIND THE SCENES and got on with the game. For all the ball tampering allegations in both Tests, did the side accused actually gain anything?!?!? Neither side ripped through the opposition with reverse swing, any attempts to gain an unfair advantage obviously failed.
BACK TO THE CRICKET
It's rather farcical the South Africans should include a player in their squad before formal confirmation he is eligible. South Africa seem determined to expose themselves to ridicule with their selection policies, no finer example than Ntini
2nd Test - Ntini in the XI, "Ntini is selected on merit"
3rd Test - Ntini not in the XI
4th Test - Ntini not in the SQUAD
:laugh :sarcasm :laugh :sarcasm :laugh :sarcasm
More "after the donkey has died" than "after the horse has bolted", South Africa now can't win the series but then were they ever going to with such selections? Finally perhaps realising Harris is an ok spinner, but no greater than Giles. Finally perhaps realising they need to find new quick bowlers and not hope Ntini can revive his past glories. Ntini picked up two wickets in two tests, at an average of 117 which is the worst on either side.
GILES vs HARRIS
Giles (54 Tests)
1421 runs @ 20.90 (HS 59)
143 wkts @ 40.60
5wi x5, SR 85.17, ER 2.86
Harris (27 Tests)
401 runs @ 12.15 (HS 46)
82 wkts @ 33.65 (BB 6/127)
5wi x3, SR 72.93, ER 2.77.
Harris looking the better bowler, Giles the better batsman, but neither world class and while 33.65 is reasonable for a spinner, only 0.05 runs per wicket worse than Vettori, he lacks that real match-winning ability. Swann has played 12 less Tests and taken one more 5wi, his average is only 30.22, but a spinner really needs to be able to win matches. Harbhajan averages 30.83, but with 23 5wis he has shown to be a match-winner, his figures more comparable with Harris' than Giles bar those 5wis.
As for Ntini, well he's destroyed Bangladesh twice in his last 10 series, but aside from them he's only once averaged under 30 in his last 10 series and that was against India in 07/08. He took three wickets in each of his first three bowls of that series as they drew the series 1-1. In that series in India Harris took eight wkts @ 51.00, he did outbowl Kumble but Harbhajan took 19 wickets
