da bwin： Paul Coupar reports on the first day of the Sri Lankans’ tour match against England A at Worcester
Paul Coupar at Worcester04-May-2006England A 96 for 2 (Key 46*, Joyce 24*) trail Sri Lankans 179 (Dilshan 47, Lewis 6-49) by 83 runs
Scorecard
Jon Lewis appeals on his way to 6 for 49 © Getty Images
Angus Fraser was not the cheeriest operator at the best of times. But little got him grumbling like the idea of expensive-but-supposedly-threatening “wicket-taking bowlers”. “I always thought it was just an excuse to bowl expensive crap,” he once harrumphed.Fraser’s fellow seamer Jon Lewis could be forgiven a grumble in sympathy. Playing for England A at sunny Worcester Lewis today whipped out six of Sri Lanka’s expected Test line-up, for 49 runs. Yet hardly anyone expects him to play in the first Test at Lord’s next week.A late call-up, Lewis only featured because the younger and more glamorousSajid Mahmood was being hidden from the Sri Lankans ahead of ananticipated Lord’s debut.Lewis’s first-class average is 26; Mahmood’s 31. It is a classic exampleof the division of bowlers in the minds of many fans and some selectorsinto the workhorse and the thoroughbred (the Frasers of this world mightsay workhorse and show-pony). Their assumption is that that Test cricketrequires the indefinable ‘something’ – pace or `magic’ – that only thethoroughbred provides, no matter how inferior his figures at a lowerlevel.Which is part of the reason Lewis has never won a Test cap, despite 12years of shining county figures. He managed three one-day internationalslast summer “but at the end of last season the selectors said I didn’thave enough pace to go to the subcontinent,” he says. The feeling is thathis age – 31 in August – also counts against him. And with consistency ofselection a mantra there is little chance of a workhorses-for-coursespick.But is the prevailing wisdom really true? Take Fraser – the archetypalworkhorse – versus Shoaib Akhtar, the archetypal “wicket-taker”. Frasertook 177 Test wickets at 27, only marginally higher than Shoaib, whose 165 wickets have come at 25. Nor did Fraser lose his zip on pitches without sap. In Australia he had 29 wickets at 32. Shoaib has 17 at 43. And another man who bowls in the late 70s mph has made amore than decent career – Chaminda Vaas averages 28 in Test matches andhere nipped out Alastair Cook for nought.All of which suggests the picture is not black and white. “The standard ofcounty cricket is very high at the moment,” Lewis continued. “I think theguys who’ve played county cricket and gone straight into the England sidehave done particularly well over the past two years. The standard ofcounty cricket is excellent and if you do well in that then you deserve toget a chance.”I feel like I could do a job anywhere,” he continued. “I’m happy bowlingon any sort of wicket, I’m not just an early-season bowler in England. Ifeel like I’m confident bowling anywhere at any time and that I can getthe best players out. But it’s obviously up to the selectors to pick theside and if they don’t pick me that’s their prerogative.”Today he gave them another jab in the ribs, as Sri Lanka tumbled to 179 ona true-enough pitch. Bowling on a dinner-plate sized spot outside offstump, Lewis simply waited for the ball to move off the seam or in theair, which happened fairly often, or for the batsman to do something daft,which happened seldom. Four of his victims were caught in the cordon, onewas lbw, one bowled. After removing the top four, Lewis came back afterlunch to end a threatening partnership of 95 between Tillakaratne Dilshanand Chamara Kapugedera.Still if ‘workhorse’ cricketers think they’re underappreciated it’snothing compared to retired ones. “Did you ever play for England?” Derek Pringle was asked by two young lads today. Yes, he politely explained. Wereyou, they continued, eyeing Pringle’s 6ft-and-plenty frame, awicketkeeper?