Published: September 1, 2010
A victory is vital to Sussex, who have played one game more than Lancashire, and Goodwin and Montgomerie dragged them out of potential trouble at 45 for 2 with a third-wicket stand of 166. With eight runs to his name at the moment West Indian official Billy Doctrove ruled he had not made contact with the ball as the wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and bowler Mohammad Sami appealed for caught behind, Cook added only 15 more before offering Umar Gul a tame return catch.. Centuries by Murray Goodwin and Richard Montgomerie helped Sussex into a commanding position over their Championship rivals Lancashire yesterday. All they have to do now is time their declaration perfectly to leave a tempting target and enough overs to get it, then bowl out the visitors. In the space of 10 minutes, England’s Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook had been on the beneficial end of a couple of umpiring howlers. In the case of Cook, the consequences were not as severe as Inzy might have feared after the young Essex batsman’s hundreds at Lord’s and Old Trafford. Inzamam-ul-Haq is not a man given to shows of emotion, so the angry bark that clearly issued from Pakistan’s taciturn captain an hour and a half into play here yesterday was unmistakable evidence that he was seriously displeased He had good reason, too, according to television replays.
Umar Gul, with 4 for 73, was the most successful Pakistan bowler but, overall, the tourists will have been disappointed with their efforts.Pietersen should have been given out twice before passing 20 and was caught behind off a no-ball when on 29. He was also dropped at midwicket the ball before retiring hurt with cramps in his left forearm. The departure of Pietersen on 104 allowed Chris Read to join Ian Bell and, after a nervous start, the England wicketkeeper gave glimpses of why he has been recalled.. Botham, too, had this inexplicable knack of being able to dismiss top-class batsmen with seemingly innocent deliveries.I once hailed him as “the man with the golden arm” An England team-mate confided: “A good line that. But you know what we call him in the dressing-room? ‘Golden Bollocks’.”. Kevin Pietersen made the most of his good fortune on the first day of the third Test to take England into a commanding position against Pakistan here yesterday. Pietersen’s fifth Test century was made in typically swashbuckling style and it enabled England to reach 347 for 6 at the end of an enthralling day’s play.
Pakistan, after seeing several crucial umpiring decisions go against them, had every reason to feel disappointed with the way events unfolded and they now face an uphill challenge to stay in the Test. The pitch, despite England’s total, has offered the faster bowlers assistance and Pakistan’s seam attack was guilty of bowling too short on a surface that rewarded those who pitched the ball up. Comparisons with Flintoff are inconclusive in that Freddie is only in mid-career, but as of now it can be said that Botham was a better bat defensively and a cleaner hitter. His bowling was not as hostile, Freddie being faster with a much sharper bounce. Botham concluded that conditions were not in his favour so he bowled faster and straighter than for some time, Australia lost five wickets for one run in 28 balls and England won by 29.In Manchester, Botham’s magnificent hitting brought him a century off 86 balls, including six sixes, for England to romp away by 103 runs to keep the Ashes by 3-1. That year, for the first time, there was a sixth Test but the Oval, in truth, was an anticlimax, a draw in which Botham still managed to take 10 wickets and pass 200 in his career.Botham, most judges would agree, is second only to Sir Gary Sobers in the pantheon of great all-rounders. When Australia won the one-day series before the Tests, anticipation of a keen contest, eventually, it was to be hoped, going to England, was high.