Date-stamped : 09 Dec96 - 02:13
Report- Electronic Telegraph

England on mend after injection of confidence

By Martin Johnson

IT IS not often that news from Bulawayo sends shock waves
reverberating around the world (one of the bigger stories in
yesterday's local paper was headlined "Woman, 56, steals
donkey"), but Zimbabwe's second city is well and truly on the
map now. This morning's donkey rustlers will get very little
space underneath "England win cricket match".

Yesterday's one-day international at the Bulawayo Athletic
Ground appeared to be a foregone conclusion, but to general
astonishment, this tiny nation of shopkeepers took on the
runners-up of Zimbabwe's major domestic competition and romped
home by 59 runs. OK, so Matabeleland finished runners-up in a
competition containing two teams, but let's not get nit-picky.

It is bad enough to be the subject of ridicule on tours to
Australia and the West Indies, but for the sake of England's
self-esteem, a match that was of little or no significance when
it appeared on the original schedule became a vital one.

England, in fact, did not bat at all well after being inserted
on a slow, bland pitch, and 210 for nine was the sort of total
that had plenty of potential for further embarrassment. With the
ball, however, they somehow finally managed to resemble an
international cricket team, and Matabeleland never seriously
threatened to get anywhere near their target, falling for 151 in
43.3 overs.

Michael Atherton raised a few eyebrows by risking his bad back
to play in the game, but the England captain is stubborn by
nature, and despite the fact that he batted only marginally
longer than usual on this tour, he did at least manage to score
runs - 28 off 29 balls.

However, while England stagnated after getting off to a flyer,
the home team never got started at all. The first 15 overs of a
one-day innings, with the field forced in close, has given rise
to the phenomenon known as "pinch hitting", but the home team's
top order used them for what can best be described as "pinch
blocking".

They staggered to 35 for two in the 15 overs, partly because of
their own lack of enterprise (not one ball in that period was
lifted over the infield) but mostly because of some genuinely
accurate bowling from Alan Mullally and Darren Gough.

Atherton afterwards described this period as the key to the
game, though the most important feature of the match, apart from
the result, was the way he himself came through it. Two days ago
Atherton could not even touch his knees, never mind his toes,
but yesterday his agility in the field even produced a run-out.

"The two injections I had in the back have worked very well," he
said, "and it was nice to move around freely." The other
important injection yesterday was a syringeful of confidence,
though Atherton claims that his team have not been bothered a
jot by what he described as the "doom and gloom merchants",
namely the press.

However, just as no one is now going to call for street parties,
a national holiday and the lighting of bonfires from John
o'Groats to Land's End, neither does it do to dismiss early
incompetence as something to be filed in an 'It'll be all right
on the night' folder. Losing, as well as winning, can become
habit-forming, and England are not so much casual users as
certified junkies.

England's reputation had clearly preceded them here, as Nasser
Hussain's dismissal for 11, caught by Heath Streak from the
bowling of Andy Whittall, led to the PA announcer, apparently
seriously, congratulating him on "a very good effort" as
England's vice-captain trudged back to the pavilion.

Whittall, a former Cambridge University captain, did the early
damage with a three-wicket spell of off-spin, which is one more
wicket than he has taken in his three Test matches at a cost of
130 runs each. Then, when England were looking to accelerate in
the closing overs, Whittall's 24-year-old cousin, Guy, took four
for 45 with his medium pace.

Four England dismissals were the result of failing to clear the
fielder posted on the short square-leg boundary, and if the
normally impeccable Zimbabwean fielding had been anything like
up to scratch, they might have lost half a dozen wickets to
run-outs.

HOWEVER, if the home batsmen rarely flirted with run-outs, this
was largely because they were barely able to get the ball off
the square. Gough and Mullally rendered them virtually
strokeless, and another encouraging factor was the building of
Chris Silverwood.

Understandably nervous on his England debut in Harare,
Silverwood has now got over his stage fright and may yet have a
role to play in the Test matches. This is because Andrew Caddick
has looked so lethargic that the ball is leaving his hand like a
shuttlecock, and Ronnie Irani is currently a long way from
looking like a Test all-rounder.

It looks as if both of them will have a last opportunity to
impress in the four-day game here, but with no replacement for
Dominic Cork, England are seriously short of pace-bowling
options.

It is inconceivable that they would be touring Australia with
only 14 men, and barely reconcilable with their claim that they
are not underestimating the opposition.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

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