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Batsmen blamed as South Africans ease to 78-run victory

South Africa (230) beat England (152) by 78 runs

Be sure your words will find you out. Michael Atherton's recent comments that there was ``little room for flair in Afrikaaner cricket'' came home to roost in the England dressing room in Rawalpindi after a sixth successive defeat by South Africa.

Flair there was in abundance in their opponents' game: superla- tive ground fielding, a successful ``pinch-hitter'' in Steve Pal- framan and line bowling which scarcely deviated in the 44.3 overs the England innings lasted.

The defeat by 78 runs means England are likely to qualify in fourth place in Group B - unless Pakistan make an unexpected mess of their remaining matches - and will go to Faisalabad to take on the winners of Group A. If that should be Sri Lanka, by virtue of the four points given them in default, then who knows? That is about the only crumb of comfort this result offered.

Whisper it only at Headquarters, the United Arab Emirates reached the same total of 152 for the loss of only eight wickets against Hansie Cronje's team here last week.

It was particularly galling that England gave themselves a reasonable chance of winning when they dismissed South Africa for 230. It was their misfortune that drizzle began to fall when Neil Smith was in the middle of his spell, making it difficult for the spinner.

That was at a time when fielders were slipping regularly on the greasy surface - though Neil Fairbrother's unsuccessful charge to effect a run out, which ended with him mowing down the stumps with his head and shoulders, was more the result of tripping.

Smith and Graham Thorpe, used for two overs, went for 57 runs and that, as both captains later agreed, was a decisive element of the game. Thorpe's innings of 46, at least, was the highest of the game.

Warwickshire's Smith remained at the top of the batting order to plunder some early-over runs but the ploy failed, despite the absence of Allan Donald with an upset stomach. Smith hit one boun- dary in the seventh over, clubbing Shaun Pollock over mid-on, but his 11 runs took him 24 balls before frustration set in and he fell to Fanie de Villiers.

Atherton had moved himself back up to partner Smith but lasted only until the fourth ball of the innings, when he was drawn into an away-swinger from Pollock.

South Africa's convenor of selectors, Peter Pollock, told me the previous day that his one wish would be to have Graeme Hick in their batting line-up. ``To me he is one of the very best in the world,'' he said.

So the jubilation in the South African camp at Hick's early dismissal was understandable. He tried to clip de Villiers off his toes through the on side but the ball flew straight to Brian McMillan at mid-wicket.

Pat Symcox's prowess both as fielder and off-spinner then played an important part in England's downfall. When Alec Stewart pushed to mid-on and went for a quick single, Symcox's throw hit the stumps. The England vice-captain was running wide and got tucked up with his bat, which came to rest just outside the crease.

That brought Neil Fairbrother to the centre and England now had two left-handers together, the situation Atherton had tried pre- viously to avoid by batting down the order.

Symcox turned the ball considerably in the rough outside the left-handers' off-stump and Fairbrother was quickly out, trying to paddle to leg with the ball ballooning up off the bottom of his bat.

Thorpe hit the first boundary in 19 overs and tried to nudge Sym- cox, but a fine edge landed in the wicket-keeper's gloves. At the same score Jack Russell cut Pollock uppishly and the sure hands of Jonty Rhodes, at backward point, did the rest.

The fast bowlers showed spirit with Phillip DeFreitas, in his 100th international, hitting Symcox over mid-wicket for the game's only six. He put on 42, England's highest stand, with Do- minic Cork, but by then it was a lost cause with more than 10 runs an over needed three-quarters of the way through the in- nings.

England had done the hard work earlier on after Palframan and Gary Kirsten had put on 56 in the first 13 overs of the South African innings. Palframan was prepared to charge the quick bowlers but gave one chance off DeFreitas, sending him high to square-leg where Cork ran a dozen paces but failed to get proper- ly under the dropping ball.

Peter Martin, steadiness personified, dismissed Palframan when another intended big hit sailed into Russell's gloves and a good underarm throw by Stewart accounted for Kirsten.

South Africa's middle-order tried to take control but all suc- cumbed to tight bowling and fielding. Cronje was beaten by Darren Gough's away movement, Daryll Cullinan was bowled between bat and pad by DeFreitas's final delivery, Jacques Kallis - perhaps un- luckily - was given out caught behind off Cork and Rhodes pulled Martin on to his stumps. The last five wickets went down for 35.

As Atherton said later: ``Too many of our batsmen are out of nick.'' No-one more so than the captain himself, though he says he does not worry about his own lack of form.

At home, England's failures have prompted an attack by Dennis Silk, chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board. ``We might come about seventh in the rankings of international crick- et,'' he said.

Silk is calling for a national cricket academy, a more competi- tive domestic structure and for international players to be con- tracted to the board rather than counties.