Ball tampering my foot... or is this just a massive leg pull?

THIS is it, the picture which has got the whole of South Africa in a lather. Stuart Broad's foot coming into contact with the ball on day three of the third Test in Cape Town.

The front page splash in the Cape Times decided to ignore the record temperatures, the packed crowds and South Africa's incredible 312-2 yesterday, choosing instead to run the banner: BALL TAMPERING FURORE.

Broad, not the most popular figure here, and Jimmy Anderson, the second-best wicket taker in the series behind Graeme Swann, both stand accused.

Broad for an innocent stop with his foot just before lunch yesterday, Anderson for picking at the quarter-seam. Images of both have been repeated again and again by the South African Broadcasting Association on television here and around the world.

While their captain Graeme Smith has just been out for a potentially match-winning, series-levelling 183 and the dominant hosts extend their lead to 366 with seven wickets in hand on another steamy morning here at Newlands, South Africa have now said they won't be making an official complaint to the ICC.

Instead, we await a statement after they "made clear their concerns" to match referee Roshan Mahanama.

Poor old England. They just can't win. First Kevin Pietersen gets wrongly accused of throwing beer at South African fans. Now they are hit with allegations of ball tampering on a day when South Africa seemed to cope rather well with anything Broad or Anderson threw at them. Between them they bowled 26 overs and took 0-103 yesterday. Neil Manthorpe, the British-born SABC frontman, raises the question: How did Broad get such great reverse swing in the last Test at Kingsmead and apparently they are going through the footage, checking for further fiddling. South Africa coach Mickey Arthur also asked the question after the spell which turned the second Test from a well-balanced contest into an innings and 98 run victory for England.

But the best comment on this subject comes from England coach, Andy Flower. The Cape Town-born Zimbabwean said simply: "This amazing amount of reverse swing gained from Stuart standing on the ball obviously hasn't worked today!"

Both captain Andrew Strauss and Flower are seething over this latest attack on England's integrity and Flower added: "The umpires or match referee haven't said anything to us. A lot of tall fast bowlers stop the ball with their boots so I don't see anything sinister in it at all."

Broad insists he stopped the ball with his boot because he couldn't be bothered to stoop for the ball in the near 40 degree heat which left the 7,000-strong Barmy Army bright red yesterday. They don't like him here, perhaps because his father Chris is a match referee or because he got a bit stroppy after his dismissal on review in Centurion.

Flower added: "I thought our bowlers were very skilful in the way they swung the ball at Durban. They did it a bit in the First Test at Centurion as well. Both sides know how to get the ball to reverse swing.

"It is a very well-documented skill. By shining the ball on your trousers you get a smooth side and that helps reverse swing."

Anderson ready to inject pace... hopefully

THE good news for England came off the pitch at Buffalo Park in East London yesterday, where the rain came down with England 142-3 in their warm-up for the Test series.

While Essex’s Alastair Cook produced a solid 66 not out against a South African invitation side before for the first Test in soggy Centurion next Wednesday, James Anderson was the talk of a town with not much to talk about when he turned up without strapping on his injured knee.

Seamer Anderson, who took a best-ever 5-23 despite his injury in the decisive One-Day International against South Africa in Port Elizabeth nine days ago, faces further injections in the troublesome joint and could play in the second warm-up later this week.

Having caught up with the squad after staying in Durban for further examination of his knee, Anderson only batted in nets yesterday and coach Andy Flower said: “Jimmy had more injections on Saturday to try to settle things down. He’s reacted well. He’ll play later this week and hopefully he’ll be ready for the Test.

“We are concerned about it. He's one of our main bowlers, he's our strike bowler. He needs a little more time without any bowling and we are giving him that. Two days of middle of practice in the second game should be sufficient for Jimmy."

But it won’t be sufficient for struggling Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid. The major disappointment of a triumphant one-day series, Rashid has been sent 1,000 miles inland to join the Performance Squad in Pretoria. Flower said: “We have got Graeme Swann with us, so I think it was a good opportunity for Adil to play a four-day game up there on a good pitch and allow Swann four days of cricket here."

But it was Kent’s Joe Denly who impressed for the youngsters. He completed a double hundred on day two against Nashua Titans.

Resuming on 188, Denly added a further 29 to see him past his landmark in a game which does not carry first-class status, while Ajmal Shahzad hit a swift 33 in a stand of 71 for the eighth wicket.

The EPP racked up 425-9 declared, before Shazhad and Sajid Mahmood then shared seven wickets as the hosts were bowled out for 235. Rashid didn't feature among the wicket-takers.

South Africa face public rift as Anderson struggles

SOUTH AFRICA are facing a major internal fall-out before the first Test against England at Centurion next week.

Yesterday the nation’s top-selling newspaper, the Johannesburg Sunday Times, claimed a “chasm” has opened up between controversial coach Mickey Arthur and head of selectors Mike Procter.

South Africa named an expanded squad of 15 for Centurion yesterday as they struggle to cope with all-rounder Jacques Kallis’s rib injury and paceman Dale Steyn’s hamstring problem.

The conflict between Arthur and Procter, who made his name as a paceman with Gloucestershire in the 70s, centres on the roles of seamers Wayne Parnell and Friedel de Wet.

Procter watched De Wet in action with England reject Monty Panesar for the Johannesburg Lions against Durban’s Dolphins at The Wanderers for three days last week and said:. "De Wet was running in with a big heart. In Test cricket you need pace and he's a genuine fast bowler. Guys can rise to the occasion and guys can fall by the wayside. I think he'll respond well if given the chance."

But Arthur is known to prefer Parnell, who played in the one-day series. When Procter, at Sun City for the golf classic on Sunday, was asked how deep the chasm has become, he said: "What happens is that you get differences of opinion. Mickey doesn't agree with everything I say and I don't agree with everything he says. I think that's pretty healthy."

A public rift at the highest level is unlikely to help South Africa’s confidence, which has already taken a battering before the first Test on 16 December. Rain in Durban on Friday handed Andrew Strauss’s men an unlikely 2-1 win over the hosts in the four-match one-day showdown – the hosts first home series defeat since 2002 - and India’s win over Sri Lanka yesterday pushed South Africa down to No2 in the world Test rankings.

The Proteas need a 2-0 or 3-1 win over England, fifth in the rankings, to snatch back top spot. England have problems of their own with the news that Jimmy Anderson, who took a best-ever 5-23 in the ODI win at Port Elizabeth eight days ago (pictured), has stayed in Durban for treatment on his injured knee.

While the rest of the squad flew to East London for their warm-up games against a South African invitation side this week, Anderson’s knee has got the England physios scratching their heads.

He needed a cortisone injection before his heroics last week and uncapped Durham seamer Mark Davies has been called up from the Performance Squad as cover for Anderson with Ryan Sidebottom also struggling.

Davies only played nine championship matches for Durham last year, taking 19 wickets at 29.6, but grabbed 6-76 for the Performance Squad against Gauteng in Pretoria last week.

Anderson was set to fly home for treatment before his remarkable recovery in Port Elizabeth, where he also revealed he injured a toe while kicking a locker in the defeat at Newlands in Cape Town 11 days ago.

Anderson’s former Lancashire and England captain Michael Vaughan, forced into retirement by his own knee problems, said: “I know as much as anybody about knees and I hate this talk of Jimmy's problem. There must be something wrong for them to have talked about him coming home.

"It's so important he stays fit because he's got the ability to make a difference with the ball that no other England player has at the minute."

Grim Smith 1, Strauss 0... and Swannie's moustache

GRIM SMITH won the opening battle of the Boer War in Johannesburg yesterday, blasting England captain Andrew Strauss for not wanting to play in tonight’s Twenty20clash at the Wanderers.
Grim, spelt Graeme, may just have done his rivals a favour by calling Strauss’s non-playing role into question yesterday — England’s Johannesburg-born captain Strauss is now considering playing after opening bat Alistair Cook succumbed to a virus overnight.
Smith will no doubt take the credit for that. He’s that sort of bloke.
He has been in charge of the Proteas since the departure of the disgraced and now-departed Hansie Cronje five years ago. And he has come a long way since his first clash with England at the tender age of 22, when his record-breaking batting spoke louder than his clumsy words.
As the two nations go into a torrid schedule of 11 showdowns in 10 weeks, Smith — who has taken his team to No1 in the world rankings in both forms of the game — saw fit yesterday to have a go at Strauss’s decision to miss the two Twenty20 internationals this weekend and give the captain’s armband (if only cricketers had them) to Paul Collingwood.
Having scored 72 and 117 not out in England’s opening two tour wins, there are those who feel Strauss might have made the difference when England were all out for 89 and crushed by four wickets in a Twenty20 warm-up against South Africa A on Tuesday night.
Smith, who averages over 50 in Tests, said when asked about Strauss’s reluctance to play in the shortest form of the game: “It does surprise me. It’s very difficult to keep chopping and changing and I think it will be difficult for your coach Andy Flower to be working with a different captain with a different outlook.
“Who handles team meetings, who runs the show? Those are questions it’s difficult for me to answer but it must be an interesting dynamic within the side.
“He’s scoring runs, he has been successful in one-day cricket over a period of time, maybe it’s something he is reassessing in his own mind but it does surprise me that on a tour like this having started so well that he’s not playing a part.”
Smith won’t have it all his own way on this tour though. The last time the pair met, Strauss was the runaway winner.
It was a Champions Trophy qualifier at Centurion last month, an injured Smith needed a runner and the England captain said no.
Despite a Grim ton, South Africa were comperhensively beaten and the hosts crashed out of the competition.
Smith insists: “There are no personal hard feelings. It is going to be competitive. I guess we’re trying to work out at the moment how Andrew is going to go about things. He has been a very quiet individual whenever we have played against him, almost stuck in the background, a clean and tidy type of character.
“I think he is trying to be a lot sterner and tougher in his ways and maybe he thinks the England environment needs that. He is much more outspoken now, I guess the captaincy does that to you so it will be interesting to see how he goes this summer.”
On a less serious note comes news of Graeme Swann’s moustache, another stunning exclusive. You may need a magnifying glass and spectacles, but it IS there, stubbornly clinging on just above the top lip as England warmed up for tonight’s Twenty20 clash against South Africa in Johannesburg. Swann himself twittered last night: “Oh dear, my so-called ’tache is a disgrace. A semi-ginger, patchy disgrace! Still I must stick with it... at least until ordered to shave!” A less light-hearted twitter from Swannie this week reads: “‘This part of Joburg is safe as houses,’ said our liaison officer. Round the next corner? Bullet-ridden car, news crews, body bags!” Paceman Jimmy Anderson echoed that sentiment: “Just seen the aftermath of a shooting near the hotel. Cars full of bullet holes. Very scary.”

Just put this on page 51 of today's Lite

LITESPORT would like to apologise to any readers of yesterday’s cricket story on page 35 headlined: “Swann warns SA this is NOT same old England side”.
This newspaper was taken in by two early wins on the tour of South Africa which encouraged us to accept Graeme Swann’s argument which ran along the lines of: “What we’ve been trying for the last five years hasn’t really worked and we’ve done something about it.”
Last night’s humiliating Twenty20 defeat against South Africa A in Bloemfontein suggests this England team ARE, in fact, just as bad as all the other touring teams we send around the world for a good hammering at the hands of our former colonies. For that we apologise unreservedly.
England, without captain Andrew Strauss who avoids the shortest form of the game, were skittled for 89 in an innings that featured three comical run-outs. The second-string South Africans got there with four wickets to spare.
With the first of two Twenty20 internationals looming at the much more intimidating Wanderers Bull Ring in Johannesburg, stand-in captain Paul Collingwood said: “I’m hoping this was just a blip. I never like losing, but I think sometimes it is going to be a little bit of a reality check as well.
“We’ve started so well, it’s a really great atmosphere and there’s a lot of hard work going into it. I guess it’s just our decision-making in this form of the game that tonight has let us down.”
England’s injury list is worrying too. Swann left the field with a slight thigh problem, joining James Anderson (knee), Graham Onions (back) and Stuart Broad (shoulder) in the casualty department.
To see the relevant stories, go to e-edition.thelondonlite.co.uk

Hey big spenders! How do Spurs do it?

BACK page of my beloved but soon-to-die London Lite today (e-edition.thelondonlite.co.uk) had to be all about Spurs and their record profits. Last year, according to the accountants, they made over £33m, up from a meagre £3m last year.
But further analysis reveals chairman Daniel Levy has done more than just balance the books with Harry Redknapp over the past 12 months. Miraculously, given this set of results, my sums show they have actually spent almost £150m in 16 months, with Juande Ramos (Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric, Heurelho Gomes) doing the early buying before Harry came in and re-signed departed Spurs favourites Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe plus, more recently, Sebastien Bassong, Niko Kranjcar and Peter Crouch.
Yes, while North London rivals Arsenal scrabble for scraps (okay, Andrey Arshavin (£16m) and Thomas Vermaelen (£10m) were good buys, but we've hardly seen a mega-spree from Arsene Wenger) Spurs have splashed out £150m since the summer before last - only mega-bucks Manchester City in the Premier League and, further afield, Real Madrid can beat that.
Spurs spent £119.3m in the year ending June 2009, but their books don't show the further £29.4m spent on Crouch, Bassong and Kranjcar, which puts quite a big dent in that record profit of £33.4m.
Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool? Not even close on the spending front. How the hell do Spurs do it, on smaller crowds with recession-hit backers... and they're redeveloping White Hart Lane, building a new training ground and... I dunno.
Look, here's the Lite quotes from Levy, make of them what you will in the light of their spending: "We have made significant progress in delivering on our long-term vision for the club. We have always had three key priorities and you will have heard them oft repeated - investment in the first team, a new training centre and an increased capacity, state-of-the-art new stadium.
"We have assembled what we believe to be one of the most talented squads we have had during our time in the Premier League, the ground is being turned and pitches laid for the new training centre at Bulls Cross in Enfield and we have submitted a planning application for a stunning new stadium on a site next to our existing stadium."
Levy is in talks over a new shirt sponsorship contract from next season, with the deal with Mansion set to expire at the end of the current campaign. God on the shirts next year perhaps? They'll need Him to maintain those spending levels!
Oh, and son Harry has just called from the car. England's cricketers, after that bright start to their tour in South Africa, went into game three in Bloemfontein today - their first Twenty20 of the safari against South Africa A - expecting another stonking win. I hear they were all out for 89. Gulp. South Africa's also-rans got there with 15 balls and four wickets to spare. And what did I say in the Lite today? I quoted Graeme Swann saying they'd be fine without captain Andrew Strauss, who doesn't get on with the shortest version of the game. He got 72 and 117 not out in those first two 50-over wins. Only Alistair Cook (22), Eoin Morgan (11) and Paul Collingwood (18) got double-figures today. Ouch. Check out Swanny and James Anderson on twitter.com later. There may be belated fireworks!