With England looking pallid and Australia showing only faint signs of recovery, this summer’s Ashes could be thrillingly close
The traditional role of Poms in Australia is to accept graciously the humorous insults directed at the England cricket team, responding politely without resort to obvious cliches, particularly those involving convicts.
For all kinds of reasons, it is a little different this time. For a start, British visitors are now greeted with a kind of affectionate pity mixed with honest curiosity: “What exactly is a backstop?” On enervating Australian afternoons, when the mind turns only slowly, it seems best to say that backstop is a fielding position, employed by captains of incompetent teams who can’t trust their wicketkeepers.
Written by Matthew Engel
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/feb/05/england-and-australia-in-trouble-but-whose-distress-is-the-more-acute-cricket-matthew-engel under the title “England and Australia in trouble but whose distress is the more acute? | Matthew Engel”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
