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Originally Posted by Ernest Anyone think we have a chance of winning this series? |
Heck, yes! We are 1-0 up. The worst we can be at the end of today is level with two to play. There is no doubt in my mind: this series is still there for England to win. As long as the team believes that - and they have six days to get themselves into that frame of mind once the present game is over - we should come through. We can't allow ourselves to contemplate defeat this early because one of our players has picked up an injury. (This is not to downplay any of your concerns, Ern, which mostly arise from the fact that the injured player is making a great contribution with the ball at the moment while others who are paid to do so are not, but simply to emphasise what we all know: cricket is as much a mind game as anything else.)
If Flintoff does have to come home, he should immediately get himself fixed up. Did he ever have that bone spur sorted out? I think not. Now's the time. We can probably do without him against Bangladesh, but we need him back on the field when the Aussies turn up at Lord's on 21 July.
One other thing occurs to me. Cape Town is a nice place to spend a few days, and Johannesburg isn't. But that's just tough for the guys who are out there doing a job. I hope that the team will be on tonight's flight to Johannesburg so that they can start training at altitude tomorrow. At 5,000 feet above sea level, physical exertion in Johannesburg really is a different proposition from exercise down in Cape Town. You also can't rely on getting five full days in there at the this time of year - January being slap in the middle of the wet season for that part of Africa
and sunset being almost an hour earlier there than in Cape Town (I think the games start only 30 minutes earlier in Johannesburg, so the light issue can come into play as well). Thus England should be training and aiming for a result in three and a half to four days.
We could (and should) have an unassailable position after the Johannesburg test.