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| Mercedes confirm Michael Schumacher's return to Formula One Michael Schumacher said it is "time to get serious" after confirming his sensational return to Formula One this morning. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
England's Kevin Pietersen is running out of shock and awe South Africa have detected a vulnerability to extreme pace, and to Dale Steyn in particular, in England's leading batsmanThe ball was full; it was straight and Kevin Pietersen missed it. Up went the finger and even Pietersen barely bothered with a glance at his partner to check whether it was worth a review. The bat was tucked under his arm and he marched back to the dressing room to contemplate his second failure of the match.For Pietersen this has been no fairytale return to his native land. He is not inspiring much awe any more and there is the whisper that the South Africans sense a vulnerability against extreme pace in general and Dale Steyn in particular. Steyn it was who dismissed Pietersen second ball in the first innings. After a bouncer came the full-length delivery and Pietersen's feet went nowhere.This evening Pietersen's front foot was lodged on middle and off. He played around that left pad in pursuit of a four through mid-wicket and made no contact. It was the first ball he had received from Steyn. After Pietersen's dismissal the South Africans were elated; they smelt a victory and the possibility, already faint, of an epic England run-chase had receded further. We shall see.When Graeme Swann declared recently, "we are keeping Test cricket alive single-handedly" there was a touch of hyperbole – there usually is with him – but he had a point. Even with Pietersen's late departure we still have another cracker on our hands.Graeme Smith has played his part here as well. He could have delayed his declaration a little longer. Hansie Cronje probably would have done barring the intervention of a leather jacket. Smith allowed the mathematical possibility of an English victory. If Strauss's side are still at the crease after about 140 overs they will not be so far away from the target of 466.Ostensibly Smith's declaration was no more generous than Cronje's 14 years ago at Johannesburg when Mike Atherton delivered his 10-hour epic of 185. South Africa's lead was 478 and England batted 165 overs to secure the draw.But that was another age – before the revolution – when Test batsmen were Test batsmen. They did not play as many shots. When asked recently whether any modern player would produce an innings like that 185, Atherton said: "I think there are several players around now who could; Andrew Strauss could [though he won't today]. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid could. So could Mike Hussey. But they probably would not do so. Today they would be going for the win."Now it was not so obvious that England were going for the win, but their two openers displayed an enterprise that would have startled in 1995. And until Strauss and Alastair Cook were parted a few early calculations were made regarding how many runs England might be able to get on the final day. Cook skipped down the wicket to the left-arm spinner once again. He contrived to heave the ball over Friedel de Wet at deep backward square leg and yet it still only went for four, an outcome that gave little pleasure to bowler Paul Harris or captain Smith.Pietersen was not the only man out to an attacking stroke. Cook was playing aggressively when his favourite pull shot sent the ball into the skies via the top edge. Nor was Strauss dead-batting the ball from Harris, which he edged to short-leg. He was attempting to guide it for a single.This is not to suggest that England will be going headlong for a victory that would require a rewriting of the record books when they resume this morning. But such an outcome will not be completely ruled out. Pitches stubbornly refuse to disintegrate in this era, which gives the batsmen hope. So too do some of the successful chases conducted against a white ball. But a draw from here would leave the England players punching the air again. The comparison with Johannesburg 1995 offers them modest hope: then England were four down overnight (for 167).Having to bat for so long is a special challenge for batsmen. It is no good thinking: "I've got to bat for four sessions if we are going to get out of this hole." Each session has to be broken up into segments of, say, 15 minutes. This is what England tried to do in the Sydney Test of 1978-79 tour and which led to a memorable exhortation from Derek Randall to his captain, Mike Brearley: "Keep going, skip. In 10 minutes' time it will only be 15 minutes till tea." For this England side it is still a very long time until tea.England in South Africa 2009-2010Kevin PietersenEngland Cricket TeamSouth Africa cricket teamCricketVic Marksguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
England: escape artists still have much to do Tributes have been paid to Paul Collingwood’s grit, Ian Bell’s coming of age and one of Test cricket’s great 0 not outs from Graham Onions but excitement at England leaving Cape Town with their series lead intact ought to be tempered. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Window watch: Tottenham want £4m Ben Foster Tottenham Hotspur have been told that Ben Foster will cost £4 million after they made an inquiry about signing the England goalkeeper. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Dyson leads UConn to upset of No. 1 Texas 88-74 STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Jerome Dyson scored a career-high 32 points and Connecticut overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to upset top-ranked Texas 88-74 on Saturday.... hosted.ap.org |