Cricket: Atherton takes it easy after the great escape
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Your support makes all the difference.Naughty boy nets were cancelled when England arrived here yesterday, the team still buoyant after their epic draw in the second Test. But although the official mode of transport was a jet aeroplane, few who were at the Wanderers on Monday would have been surprised had their captain, Michael Atherton, been able to manage the thousand or so miles under his own steam, despite a rowdy night spent celebrating their great escape.
Atherton, who spent much of the flight behind sunglasses, is clearly still basking in the knowledge of a man who knows he has taken more than just a few points off an opponent. By absorbing everything South Africa could throw at him hour upon long hour, he not only drew the scorpion sting from the South African bowlers' tails, he provided his own side, by colossal example, with a potent antidote to losing. A disease England have been susceptible to, for some time.
England may never have been on top in Johannesburg but, by not losing, they have now gone five Tests without being beaten. It is a feat last achieved in 1991/92, after the West Indies were beaten at The Oval, New Zealand were beaten 2-0 at home and the first Test against Pakistan was drawn.
However, if anything, brave rearguard actions seem to have more of a galvanising effect on the British psyche than victories do. In fact Atherton admitted he often gets more satisfaction from staving off certain defeat than winning, and both he and the team left the high veldt transformed in spirit, if not entirely free from their problems.
The most pressing of these, as it has been for some time, is the No 3 batting spot. Mark Ramprakash, despite possessing an enormous amount of flair at county level, appears to be totally unsuited to Test cricket and the gremlins it lodges in the minds of the unwary. To be bowled twice by half volleys suggest there are forces at play that can only be exorcised from within.
In fact, nobody has made the position anything like their own since David Gower, and although all seven of the front-line batsmen on this tour have had a knock there at one time or another, most merely scratched about before casting off the hairshirt and settling for somewhere more comfortable. On pre-Test match form, John Crawley would warrant another chance, though Raymond Illingworth may just promote Robin Smith, giving Crawley the chance to settle in at six instead.
However, the No 3 spot aside, it will not have escaped the England chairman's attention, that when Atherton does not anchor the innings and supply the steady drip of runs, around which the others can indulge (as he failed to do in England's first innings) there appears to be no-one who can stop the innings from disappearing down the plughole.
Having withstood over 10 gruelling hours of South African bombardment, Atherton deserves a break. But, before he heads for the mountain passes and vine-covered slopes of this scenic area, he may meet one more aggrieved party: Phillip DeFreitas, whom he left out of England's World Cup squad and is likely to be in the Boland side against whom England start a four- day game here tomorrow.
The making of Captain Courageous, Section Two
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