Good, Bad & Ugly

Joe Drabble showers Alastair Cook with praise after he batted England into a winning position at the SCG

By Joe Drabble   Last updated: 5th January 2011  

Good, Bad & Ugly

Cook came to the boil again at the SCG

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It was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly as England batted their win into a commanding position on day three at the SCG.

First we'll focus on the good - Alastair 'run machine' Cook. Is he not sick of scoring runs yet?! He has 766 in seven innings so far - the second most ever recorded by one Englishman in a series.

He was imperious yet again today, picking Australia off at will and keeping out the rare threatening ball that came his way. His brilliant innings of 189 has surely steered England to an outright series win?

He boasts an average of 127.66 Down Under and looks destined to pick up the man of the series award for his heroics.

Now to the bad - Ian Bell. Now, I'm not talking about his strokeplay, that was exceptional today, but how he had the audacity to stand his ground after edging Shane Watson to Brad Haddin is beyond me.

Everyone, himself included, knew he had nicked the ball through to Haddin, yet he took advantage of the inconclusive technology that is 'Hot-Spot' by challenging the call.

Tainted

Replays of any heat on his bat were impeded by his pad, meaning the decision was reversed by TV umpire Tony Hill. 'Snicko' later confirmed the edge.

He was on 67 at that point and he went on to bring up a tainted first-ever Test century against Australia.

And now the ugly - Phil Hughes.

I'm not talking about his appearance, but outright cheating. If Bell was out of order challenging his caught behind, then Hughes should be charged for sense of humour failure.

If you've not seen his claimed catch with Cook on 99 then I suggest you do. Fielding at short leg, he clearly scooped the ball up on the half volley and had the audacity to claim a catch.

Cook, less than impressed, stood his ground as umpire Hill reviewed the TV footage. It took just two seconds for the original decision of 'not out' to be confirmed and Hughes was left red-faced.

That aside, it was another great day's Test cricket in Sydney. It was 'Jane McGrath Day' and the SCG was awash with pink as money was raised for her Breast Cancer charity.

I'll be in a better mood tomorrow.

Comments (2)

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Jonny Folk says...

I really don't understand how you can think that Bell would use up a challenge if he thought he had nicked it. It would be very selfish and a massive gamble, unless you're saying that he'd taken into account that "Replays of any heat on his bat were impeded by his pad" - he's a cricketer not a scientist! I hope you come back on here and apologise for impugning the reputation of a decent man in such strident terms, without any evidence to back up your claims.

Posted 09:02 5th January 2011

John Baxter says...

Joe, you seem not to be alone amongst the media in claiming psychic powers (the cretinous Channel Nine crowd also claim such). How do you have a clue whether Bell knew he'd nicked it? After all, YOU didn't "know" until you saw Snicko.

Posted 08:26 5th January 2011
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