Strauss Has Been Too Bullish – Anything is Possible in 21st Century Cricket

It is easy to be wise after events but at 11.15am a note of bewilderment was made at the news of England's declaration: "If no follow-on, put them out of the game."

Once the option of the follow-on had been rejected on Saturday, presumably on the basis that England could lose the Test by having to bat last, the logical step for Andrew Strauss was to allow his side to continue batting until the game was absolutely safe: to score so many runs that, even if the Australians, on an excellent surface, were still there at the close of play on Monday, they would not have enough runs to win, to leave them batting without hope of victory.

Andrew Strauss declined this route. As a consequence we are back in Adelaide 2006 territory: a fancy declaration has unnecessarily jeopardized England's series. It could yet lead to a defeat that would knock the stuffing out of any team. England escaped with an amazing draw at Cardiff but defeat here would overhaul that result on the gobsmackometer by a margin that would have Peter Snow breaking the high jump record. The equation still favors England: 209 more runs are required by Australia with five wickets standing but now nothing can be guaranteed.

So far Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin have added 185 together with barely a glitch. This evening Andrew Flintoff was charging in with the new ball like a wounded bull and there was an air of desperation about England. Strauss' summoning of his team for an impromptu huddle just before taking the new ball was an indication of their state of mind.

England may be all right with an early wicket tomorrow but there will be palms drenched in sweat in the morning all around Lord's. Strauss talked about the importance of his team being more ruthless before the series; the need to finish off opponents. Yet he has not listened to his own propaganda. In this instance that would have entailed batting Australia right out of the game before trying to take their wickets.

If Australia were to win tomorrow, England will cling to the history books for justification of their declaration. No side has ever come anywhere near 522 for victory in a Test match, 418 by West Indies against Australia at St John's in Antigua is currently the highest. But in cricket it is safer to adopt the Henry Ford mantra, to treat history as bunk, and to play the conditions, which at Lord's means another sublime batting surface and a lightning fast outfield.

It may be that Strauss has mistaken ruthlessness for bullishness. The England camp are not immune from criticism and there was a lot thrown in their direction in the Caribbean for the conservative nature of their declarations when England needed to win to square the series. Maybe those criticisms were valid but different rules apply now. It is the start of a series and the opponents are Australia.

Moreover the game in the 21st century is changing faster than at any time in its history. Pitches no longer deteriorate, which makes the reluctance to enforce the follow-on all the more puzzling, and batsmen are no longer constrained by any parameters. In part this is because of the pitches. It is also a consequence of Twenty20 cricket. Batsmen now believe anything is possible.

In Chennai last winter India knocked off 387 in just over a day against England, scarcely blinking in the process. Earlier this summer down at county level Somerset sprinted to 479 in 85.3 overs to beat Yorkshire with four wickets and four overs to spare. Old verities no longer apply.

Strauss's declaration has set up a pulsating final day. As well as Adelaide 2006 there are echoes of Edgbaston 2005 here. Tomorrow all four results are possible. There should be only two.

Ashes Fever Lifts Tv Ratings As Cricket Fans Tune in to See England v Australia

Sky Sports and Channel Five benefit from Ashes drama in weekend that took England to brink of victory. By Jason Deans

Sky Sports 1 and Channel Five enjoyed good ratings over the weekend as cricket fans tuned in to the England v Australia Ashes Test from Lords.

Live coverage of the match made Sky Sports 1 the most watched multichannel service for much of Saturday and Sunday, while Channel Five's evening cricket highlights programs were the network's most watched show on both days as England took themselves to the brink of winning a Lord's Test against Australia for the first time since 1934.

Sky Sports 1 averaged 687,000 viewers and a 6.5% multichannel share for its cricket coverage between 10am and 7pm yesterday, Sunday 19 July, as England set out to bowl Australia out in their second innings and win the match.

The Sky cricket audience peaked at 993,000 viewers in the quarter hour from 12.45pm yesterday, according to unofficial overnights.

Sky Sports 1 had a slightly bigger audience on Saturday, 18 July, with an average of 698,000 viewers and an 8% multichannel share over nine hours from 10am.

Viewing on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday peaked at 1.22 million viewers between 5.45pm and 6pm. The channel averaged 1.18 million for an hour from 5.30pm.

On Friday, 17 July, Sky Sports 1 averaged 458,000 viewers - a 5.3% multichannel share - for its coverage from Lords between 10am and 7pm. The Friday cricket audience peaked at 903,000 viewers in the quarter-hour from 6pm.

Five, which has been broadcasting highlights of England's home Tests since 2006, enjoyed its biggest audience on Friday, with 1.4 million viewers between 7.15pm and 8pm, a 7% share.

Yesterday Cricket on Five: the Ashes attracted 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share in the same slot; while on Saturday the highlights from Lords had 1.3 million and a 7% share.

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Jimmy Anderson Arrives With a Cloudburst As a Cricketer of Substance

Some cricketers saunter on stage with a drum-roll of anticipation and announce themselves with a starburst of activity. Jimmy Anderson arrived with more of a cloudburst here today.

But between the showers and the mopping-up exercises, the frustrations of delay and the quiet hum of genteel hedonism that makes Lord's a great social as well as cricket occasion, there was a growing awareness that a cricketer of substance had arrived.

It would be wrong to describe Anderson as an overnight success since many nights have passed since he first played for Lancashire back in 2002, and he has been a Test cricketer for six years now.

But gradually, with enough patience to have impressed Samuel Beckett's Estragon, and with the help of coaches and psychologists (he has not talked about the latter but the help here has been crucial) an important player has slow-burned into life and is now at the center of England's activities.

He has shuffled, a little shyly, between the twin pillars that are Andrew Fintoff and Steve Harmison, pillars that look slightly crumbly and even a little defaced with graffiti, so that he is in front of them now as the nation's champion fast bowler, the leader of the pack.

We are not simply talking about a bowler here. His batting with Monty Panesar to save the first Test at Cardiff is already the stuff of fresh-minted legend.

Today we saw a different batsman, one who counter-attacked with Graham Onions so that the last pair spoiled the early successes of the Australian bowlers and at the same time warmed themselves up for their own offensive; there were five fours in his 25-ball 29.

He has also become one of the most relevant fielders in the England side. Already the best all-round athlete in the team, he now has a safe pair of hands too, good enough to stand at gully where his friend Alastair Cook only fitfully looked the part.

There have not been many England fast bowlers good enough to field close to the bat. Fred Trueman, of course, was famously brilliant and in fresher memory Mike Hendrick, Chris Old and Bob Willis also looked the part. But fast bowlers, traditionally, have been put out to graze at third man or long leg. John Snow comes to mind, with arms akimbo and his poet's nose thrown high as if to scent a passing sonnet.

Ok, we're not talking Garry Sobers here, the greatest of all all-rounders (the greatest of all cricketers, some would say, because unlike Don Bradman he demonstrated his genius across the globe and with more varied skills).

But Anderson is no longer one-dimensional. He is growing into a substantial cricketer. He is a father now. He has a new agent too. His smile is more relaxed and less nervous than it once was.

There is a depth to him that was not always there. There is a resilience now so that when he is attacked his confidence does not collapse as it once appeared to. Last year Allan Donald helped him to think of himself as the most important bowler in the team. But it is Anderson himself who must take most credit for the cricketer we see before us today.

Sky's Limits Leave Cricket's Fans in the Dark and Grass Roots Cut Short

For dramatic tension the 2009 home Ashes series has continued where 2005 left off – with one glaring difference. Not a second of live televised action has been available to anyone who has not paid a subscription to BSkyB (which begins at £27.50 a month). As a consequence, the nailbiting last stand between James Anderson and Monty Panesar on Sunday evening in fading Welsh sunlight was watched by a fraction of the potential audience.

Official television industry viewing figures show that Sunday's cricket was watched by 358,000 people on average between 10am and 2pm, then after two, until that absorbing close, by an average of 800,000. The peak audience, at 6.30‑6.45pm, to watch Panesar and Anderson successfully see England to the draw, was 1.47m.

That is considered a respectable pay-television audience by the England and Wales Cricket Board, Sky and TV insiders. It does not, however, compare with the huge audiences drawn to the Ashes on free-to-air Channel 4 in 2005. Then, the peak periods of the third, fourth and fifth Tests, all similarly thrilling closing moments, were watched by 7.48m, 8.2m and 7.2m people respectively. Cricket garnered huge, growing audiences; the 8.2m fourth Test peak drew a 47% share of people watching television at the time.

Any comparison with this year must allow for the fact that we have had only the first Test but the ECB's decision to sell the rights exclusively to BSkyB has dramatically cut the television audience for its sport. Despite the oceans of top action BSkyB has bought up exclusively, with not a single Premier League football match having ever been shown live on free-to-air television in 17 years, and despite the universally recognised quality of its coverage, under a quarter, 6m, of British homes subscribe to Sky Sports.

The Ashes is serving as a timely demonstration of Sky's hold on British sport, as a government-appointed panel, chaired by David Davies, considers which sporting events should be considered "crown jewels" and reserved for free-to-air television. The panel will conclude hearing submissions on Monday with a visit from the BBC.

Cricket will occupy more of the panel's deliberations than any other sport because its removal in 1998 from the A list – events that must be available live on free-to-air – and relegation to the B list, which stipulates mandatory free-to-air highlights, has been most controversial.

Critics argued, when the ECB first sold the rights exclusively to BSkyB for 2006-09, that it betrayed a gentlemen's agreement made in 1998 between Lord MacLaurin, then the ECB chairman, and Chris Smith, the culture secretary, that some live cricket would remain free-to-air even if it was taken off the A list.

A campaign was launched, Keep Cricket Free. Its founder, the media consultant David Brook, formerly at Channel 4 and now Scottish Television's director of programmes, maintains his view. "Sky is a good partner for cricket, providing comprehensive and high-quality coverage," he says. "A committed pay-TV partner is essential. But every sport needs free-to-air exposure and the ECB is missing that opportunity, for cricket to reach really large audiences at the moments of high drama."

Perhaps surprisingly the ECB does not substantially disagree. Giles Clarke, the ECB's chairman, says the Cardiff viewing figures are respectable – the Channel Five highlights had a 926,000 average on Sunday evening, a peak of 1.1m – but he argues that the BBC should have bid for the rights.

The ECB is understood to have asked Davies' panel not to recommend Test cricket be compulsorily restored to the A list but it argues that the BBC's public service remit, to provide for everyone who by law must pay £142.50 for a colour TV license, should include showing live cricket. The BBC has said it did not bid last time due to the problems of scheduling so many hours of cricket across four busy years of sport but the ECB does not believe the BBC demonstrated any real desire. Clarke has been scathing about the BBC's decision last year to pay £200m for five years of Formula One rights.

The ECB also justifies the Sky deals by arguing that the £220m the satellite broadcaster paid for 2006-09, followed by £300m for 2010-13, provides significant investment in grass-roots cricket. Clarke told this column last week that 23% of the ECB's income, which was £94.5m last year including the BSkyB money, is allocated to cricket development via clubs, counties and the 39 county cricket boards. Clarke has also quoted a slightly lower figure, it is understood, to Davies' review panel – that 21% of all revenue goes to grass-roots cricket.

Those figures, it turns out, appear to be an exaggeration. The ECB's finance director, Brian Havill, noted in the 2008 accounts that expenditure on "enthusing participation at grass-root and recreational level" amounted to £12m. That was 12.6% of the ECB's total income. "I am happier talking about the actual money spent rather than percentages," Havill said this week.

Some ECB sources argue that the 21% figure comes from treating the £12m as a proportion purely of the ECB's broadcasting revenue and point to other spending which could be classed as providing for the grass roots. Clarke, however, has explicitly stated it as 21% of the ECB's total income. The figure for grass-roots cricket, however it is defined and calculated, is dwarfed by the amount paid to the 18 first-class counties. That was £32.8m last year, described by Havill as "by far the largest of the [ECB's] expenditure items".

The counties overall run at a significant loss, and are subsidized by the ECB, which makes its money largely from the England international team, including the Sky deals. William Buckland, author of Pommies, a powerful critical analysis of English cricket, compares the game's governance here unfavorably with the Australian model where, along with other differences, all Test matches are available on free-to-air Channel Nine.

"The ECB justifies the Sky deals on the grounds of development," Buckland argues, "but it has removed television access for most people, and the bulk of the money goes to the counties, not the grass roots."

Buckland points out that the ECB is controlled by representatives of the counties, so has an inherent interest in maintaining the system that allocates most money to supporting the counties which are run at a loss. Senior cricket figures, notably Bob Willis, have argued strongly for reform, saying too much mediocre professional cricket is played at county level, which saps talent at the top and sucks up too much money that could go on development.

The ECB, however, argues that the county structure maintains a strong basis for senior cricket. "If we want a first-class structure, the center has to subsidize it," Havill said. "We have 400 professional players; you can argue we could have 300, but a pyramid of talent is necessary in all sports. If we did not subsidize the counties, they would operate at a much lower base."

England and Australia join battle again at Lord's tomorrow, a high point of a momentous sporting summer. Every ball can be followed live, thanks to the miracle of TV – but only by those who have paid a subscription to BSkyB.

England Oust South Africa to Reach Last Four of Champions Trophy

Against all expectations, England have reached the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. They gorged themselves in Centurion, achieving their highest one-day total against South Africa and their third highest ODI score overseas. They struck 12 sixes, another record. The batting line-up that played with such indecision and, at times, downright incompetence against Australia has been transformed.

England's 22-run margin means that South Africa are definitely eliminated. But only when a prodigious effort by Graeme Smith had been defeated was victory inevitable. Smith was ninth out, hauling Stuart Broad to mid-wicket, his highest ODI score – 141 from 134 balls – unable to make up for the hurt of another South Africa failure in a major one-day tournament.

South Africa had twice made more than 323 at Centurion, and the pitch was benign. Smith's face was wracked with tension – a big man batting with a boulder on his back. He manipulated the ball intelligently, never allowing South Africa's reply to stagnate.

He should have fallen on 83, chipping Paul Collingwood to long-on, where Owais Shah fluffed a regulation chance. A run later, he was just as fortunate to survive Graham Onions's great lbw shout, refused by the umpire Steve Davis.

He got the target below 100 with 62 balls left, and when he called the batting power play with 86 needed from eight, Albie Morkel took 10 off Stuart Broad's first two balls. But Morkel, a dangerous hitter, was run out by England's emergency wicketkeeper, Eoin Morgan. Smith was struck by cramp, but England's captain, Andrew Strauss, refused a runner. Strauss, who had withdrawn a run-out appeal against the Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews after a mid-pitch collision at the Wanderers 48 hours earlier, had no wish to spend his entire life on moral high ground.

England's dominant batting lacked only the ODI century that has eluded them since Kevin Pietersen made 111 in Cuttack hours before the abandonment of the India one-day tour because of terrorism 10 months ago.

Owais Shah, the man of the match, deserved to add to it yesterday, only for his commanding 98 to come to grief against the off-spin of Johan Botha when a defensive push popped up. He struck six of England's sixes, including two contemptuous leg-side blows against Morkel's military mediums. South Africa's trio of spinners disappeared for 140 in 21 overs. Shah's inclusion at No3 has been understandably questioned. Down at No6, the state of the game often shapes his response; at No3, he has to make his own assessment and it can occasionally be overly cautious. This time his tempo was sound.

Collingwood's week off during the NatWest Series has turned him into the Benjamin Button of English cricket. He shared 163 in 26 overs with Shah, working his favoured leg-side region with frisky intent, until with 82 from 94 balls he lost his leg stump.

But the career-defining innings came from Morgan. Morgan's reputation as an innovator has perhaps hung a little heavily on him, but his 67 from 34 balls was the night he proved he has a long-term future. Here, unless you count Nick Knight, could be England's first one-day specialist.

His fifty came in 26 balls, England's second fastest in ODI history, outpaced only by Collingwood's 24-ball effort in Napier last year. His charge at Botha to carve him over extra cover – the first of his five sixes – brimmed with optimism, and was one of the most uplifting moments from an England batsman all summer. He fell at extra cover four balls from the end.

Morgan took the gloves because a virus had laid Matt Prior low, and Morgan was designated to take over the gloves, an emergency role he was expected to fulfil. Stephen Davies, the wicketkeeper en route from Worcestershire to Surrey, today also finds himself en route to Johannesburg. England will monitor Prior for the next 24 hours before deciding whether to ask the ICC for a replacement.

All Out: Crisis in World Cricket As Tour Suspended Over Latest Racism Allegations

Indians deny calling black Australian a 'monkey' · Effigies burn as officials fight to rescue test series International cricket officials were last night locked in intense negotiations to try to resurrect India's tour of Australia after allegations of racism against one of the tourists' leading players threatened to plunge the game into crisis.

In a row that has reopened the racial fault lines in the international game, the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) announced yesterday that it had temporarily suspended its tour after the off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was banned for three matches for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds, Australia's only black player.

The Australians allege that Singh called Symonds a "monkey" in a heated exchange during the second Test in Sydney, which was won narrowly by Australia on Sunday evening. The Indians deny that any racist language was used, and the BCCI's decision to suspend the tour - in effect a threat to return home if Singh is not cleared on appeal - is a direct challenge to the authority of the game's governing body, the International Cricket Council.

The Indian board has also demanded the removal of the two umpires who officiated in the Sydney Test and issued an official complaint against the Australian player Brad Hogg, who it claims called the Indian captain Anil Kumble a "bastard" during the game.

The row between two of the game's most powerful and successful nations brought effigy-burning crowds on to the streets of Indian cities and has prompted comparisons to some of cricket's most controversial episodes. In a parody of the 1930s Body line controversy, when English bowlers deliberately aimed to hit opposing batsmen, the new crisis has been dubbed "Bollyline" by the Australian media.

The dispute, which has echoes of the ball-tampering row during the Oval Test between England and Pakistan in 2006, has once again exposed the sensitivity of relations between the Asian cricketing nations and the rest of the world.

India is the game's economic powerhouse, providing 70% of cricket's global revenue, and with fellow Asian nations Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh represents the most powerful bloc in the world game.

Many in international cricket feel the BCCI is too quick to wield its economic muscle in disputes of this nature, however, and senior figures believe the latest move amounts to India holding the game to ransom.

Race remains an acutely sensitive subject in the game. Symonds was the subject of racist barracking during Australia's recent tour of India, and the ICC recently settled with the Australian umpire Darrell Hair, who claimed his dismissal in the wake of the Pakistan cheating row amounted to racial discrimination.

The exchange between Symonds and Singh was the low point of a rancorous match in which several contentious umpiring decisions went against India, and contributed to their defeat. The bad feeling between the sides was evident throughout the game, moving the normally equable Kumble to complain that "only one team was playing in the spirit of the game".

The most notable incident came when Symonds was given not out on the first day despite edging a catch to the Indian wicketkeeper having scored just 30 runs. He went on to make a match-turning 162 not out, and in subsequent interviews was unrepentant about not "walking" when he should have been dismissed.

The row with Harbhajan Singh came on the third day when the Indian was batting, and the pair, both known for their intense competitive edge, were separated by team-mates after a long exchange apparently initiated by Symonds. Despite not hearing the exchange the umpires, the West Indian Steve Bucknor and Englishman Mark Benson, spoke to the players on the field and Singh was charged at the end of the day after Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, complained.

At the official hearing, which continued into the early hours on Monday, Ponting and Symonds testified that Singh had used the word monkey. Kumble and the senior player Sachin Tedulkar, who was batting with Singh at the time, denied the allegation. But the South African match referee, Mike Procter, said he was satisfied that Singh had used the word and that "he meant it to offend on the basis of Symonds' race or ethnic origin".

With the third Test due to begin in Perth on January 16, the ICC is under intense pressure to deliver a compromise that allows the series to continue. With the BCCI facing heavy financial penalties if India withdraw, few expect the tour to be called off. One option being considered is to delay Singh's appeal until after the fourth Test, which starts on January 24, enabling the tour to continue.

Racial flashpoints

2007 January South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs is banned for two Tests when a stump mic captures him saying to the crowd: "You fucking bunch of fucking animals, fucking go back to the zoo, fucking Pakistanis."

October Australia's Andrew Symonds complains that Indian supporters made monkey noises towards him during a one-day international.

2006January The ICC appoints India's solicitor general, Goolam Vahanvati, to investigate racist abuse of South Africa and Sri Lanka players by Australian fans.

August The former Australian batsman Dean Jones describes Hashim Amla, a South African batsman and devout Muslim, as "a terrorist" during what he thought was an advertising break while commentating on the South Africa v Pakistan series. Jones is immediately sacked by Ten Sports.

September Australian umpire Darrell Hair is forced to deny he is a racist after accusing Pakistan of ball-tampering during the Oval Test against England. Pakistan refuse to take the field in protest and Hair rules that they have forfeited the Test - the first such verdict in Test history. The ICC anti-racism code is strengthened.

2003 The Australian batsman Darren Lehmann becomes the first international cricketer to be banned for racial abuse for railing "black cunts" after a dismissal against Sri Lanka in Brisbane.

1968 The England tour of South Africa is canceled after the apartheid regime refuses to allow Basil D'Oliveira, a Cape coloured qualified for his adopted country, to play. The sporting boycott of South Africa begins.

1953/54 During England's tour of the West Indies an unnamed player turns to an Indian diplomat during a dinner and asks: "Pass the salt, Gunga Din."David Hopps