Shamefully, I’ve not kept a sufficiently close eye on the cricket today. It’s early May and it doesn’t feel right for there to be a test match on so soon. Anyway, reader TS writes “Do you realize that England have just given Graeme Swann the new ball? In a test match at Lords, no less! In May! If this doesn’t merit an “O tempora O mores” post, I’m not sure what does.”
Patrick Kidd and the chaps at Cricinfo seem equally perplexed. Actually, I quite like the move and not just because giving Swann a couple of overs with the new ball is refreshingly unorthodox. There’s method behind the idea too, however. Yes, it’s May and yes conditions are good for seam and swing, but the key to the decision, I would hazard, is Chris Gayle. That is, Gayle bats in test matches in much the same way as normal cricketers approach a Twenty20 knockabout.
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