Jon McleodCricket bites Stanford in the butt
November 2nd 2008 20:00
The underlying premise of STANDFORD, the root of many objections, was that it sort to find a villain and humiliate him on the grandest stage cricket has ever created.
By placing a winner-takes-all, million dollar bounty on victory, they hoped the game would come down to the final ball with the outcome decided by a four, a six, a wicket or best of all a steepling shot into the night sky and one fielder standing under a $20million catch with enternity to wait - would they be blinded by the glint of falling riches or would they see nothing but a ball - the ultimate examination of nerve.
In the end, England’s universal inadequacy on the night cost the organisers their car-crash moment when a player would rob his team mates of a $1millions each.
The PR people seek to make modern sport an individual’s pursuit. It is a product of an era of over-emphasised personality driven by the demands for celebrity. But as a England proved cricket, and all team sports, are one and lost as a unit.
There was a time when RAFA BENITEZ was the most stubborn man in the Premiership League. His convictions were that Steven Gerrard should play nowhere near the centre of the pitch and that rotating his squad would preserve their title ambitions.
But the Spaniard has mellowed in his dogma. Now ARSENE WENGER has replaced him as the man to muddle conviction with stubborness with delusion.
Arsenal are already out of the league and Wenger's claims his young side is strong enough and mature enough to win a title against the established and proven professionals of Chelsea and Man U is absurd wnough for everyone to see.
By placing a winner-takes-all, million dollar bounty on victory, they hoped the game would come down to the final ball with the outcome decided by a four, a six, a wicket or best of all a steepling shot into the night sky and one fielder standing under a $20million catch with enternity to wait - would they be blinded by the glint of falling riches or would they see nothing but a ball - the ultimate examination of nerve.
In the end, England’s universal inadequacy on the night cost the organisers their car-crash moment when a player would rob his team mates of a $1millions each.
The PR people seek to make modern sport an individual’s pursuit. It is a product of an era of over-emphasised personality driven by the demands for celebrity. But as a England proved cricket, and all team sports, are one and lost as a unit.
There was a time when RAFA BENITEZ was the most stubborn man in the Premiership League. His convictions were that Steven Gerrard should play nowhere near the centre of the pitch and that rotating his squad would preserve their title ambitions.
But the Spaniard has mellowed in his dogma. Now ARSENE WENGER has replaced him as the man to muddle conviction with stubborness with delusion.
Arsenal are already out of the league and Wenger's claims his young side is strong enough and mature enough to win a title against the established and proven professionals of Chelsea and Man U is absurd wnough for everyone to see.
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