Yes the England team lost the series in India and yes there were things to critics about their performance—Shane Warne’s jibe about Monty Panesar’s lack of guile has never rung truer than after this tour, Steve Harmison’s attitude away from home is still deeply frustrating and in continuing to pick Ian Bell ahead of Owais Shah the selectors are taking loyalty to Bush-like levels—but all this pales into insignificance compared to the fact that the tour went ahead. That we are talking about cricket not security today is a small victory for civilisation against the terrorists.
Those responsible for the Mumbai atrocities had many aims. One of them was to scare the Western world away from doing business with India. This made it crucial that the Test matches took place both as a symbol of defiance to the terrorists and as a gesture of solidarity with the people of this great democracy. The England team, whatever their initial doubts, should be applauded for grasping this fact and returning to India. As captain Kevin Pietersen deserves special praise for holding the team together and acting as such a consummate diplomat; his 144 in Mohali wasn’t bad either and a potent rebuttal to those who wondered if the captaincy would destroy his ability to play his natural attacking game.
The series in India may be over but South Africa’s tour of Australia should provide us with much entertainment in the coming weeks. Who after the Chennai Test and South Africa’s record run chase in Perth can doubt that Test cricket is the superior form of game?
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