IN BRITAIN THIS IS HOW WE DO IT OLD FLOWER.

It would appear that Andrew Strauss' gesture was one of sportsmanship in a recent Champions trophy match in South Africa, Sri Lanka being the opposition; there batsman, Angelo Mathews collided accidentally into England bowler, Graham Onions, in his endeavour to complete a run. Technically, the umpire was correct in giving the batsman out, however coach Andy Flower seems to be at odds with captain Strauss who called the batsman back.

I'm sure that there have been many such sporting gestures over the years, probably fewer now in the era of 'big money'. One instance occurred in the centenary test England vs. Australia, some years ago. Notts batsman, Derek Randall, having passed 150 runs, assumed that he had been stumped by Rod Marsh and was given out by the umpire only to be called back by Marsh as his wicketkeeper's pads had dislodged the bails.

The logic that must be considered here is, although I don't think for one moment that Onions intended to interrupt the batsmen's progress, had Strauss not stepped in, we could expect many more instances of this nature to occur.



HERE WE ARE WITH STRAUSS.