ARTICLE: England scruffy on and off field. (D.Hopps)-12 Mar 1993
The Guardian 12 March 1993 - Scruffy England told to look lively
David Hopps
David Hopps, in Colombo, finds Keith Fletcher, the team manager,
more concerned with performances than appearances
Ramini Fernando's hairdressing salon at the Taj Samudra hotel
had closed early. Lord's determination to revive English cricket
by rooting out unnecessary facial hair had not put a single rupee
in the coffers.
The anticipated scramble from England players keen to impress
their masters with an immediate blow-dry, shave and manicure nev-
er materialised. Instead, most of them headed off to the west-
coast beaches, abstractedly scratching their designer stubble,
flicking sand from their flip-flops and defiantly baring their
reddening torsos to the world at large.
For England's team manager Keith Fletcher, more concerned with
rectifying a distressing collapse of form and confidence before
tomorrow's Test in Colombo, the TCCB's ''smarten up'' edict must
have seemed the most fatuous response imaginable.
If Fletcher had been presented with a disposable razor after
England's deflating defeat in the Khetterama day-night interna-
tional, he would have been more likely to use it to cut his own
throat.
England have been lambasted in turn for the lack of a travelling
doctor, then a chef, then a sports psychologist. Presumably
Lord's are about to respond by flying out a hair stylist.
''You can only take so much,'' Fletcher said yesterday. ''A few
of our players have got to start looking at themselves. You can't
disappoint for ever.''
For one awful moment it seemed that he, too, had been converted
to the Hardy Amies Guide To Better Cricket. Fortunately it em-
erged that he was still trying to remedy cricketing faults. It is
a good job that somebody is.
One player who will return for the Test at the Sinhalese Sports
Club is Phil Tufnell, who is eminently capable of swaying the
match in England's favour but who has the uncanny ability, howev-
er hard he tries, to look like Steptoe's grandson. He is not a
man to set new standards of sartorial elegance.
Michael Atherton's expected installation as an opening batsman
(he even had a net yesterday) will be viewed more favourably. He
has played so little cricket on this tour that his flannels are
guaranteed to be spotless. He also has the ability to think
smartly, although the realisation does not seem to have dawned
yet that that might make him eminently qualified to be the next
England captain.
Fletcher is not about to insist that his players abandon their
designer stubble, which is clearly a weakness of promoting
coaches from the A team where half the squad is barely old enough
to shave.
''If people want designer stubble, I'm not about to put a curfew
on them,'' he said. ''When I was playing cricket in hot countries
I deliberately never shaved in a morning. If you do, you open
yourself up to a sweat rash and then you really feel uncomfort-
able.''
But what will be addressed in the written report of the tour
manager Bob Bennett is the restrictive clothing contract drawn up
with England's sponsors, Tetley Bitter, and sanctioned by the
board's marketing manager Terry Blake, in conjunction with the
chief executive Alan Smith.
England's players must wear Tetley tracksuits on match days,
travelling days and at official nets. Fletcher virtually has to
model the thing for life. The only reason there are no Tetley py-
jamas is that no one wears them any more, though perhaps such
delicate information should not be divulged to the average TCCB
committee man. Bennett will press for smarter casual clothing.
England's third rest day since arriving in Sri Lanka on Saturday
will also offend those aching for punishment to be inflicted in
the form of naughty-boy nets, although those who have complained
long and loud at the Graham Gooch work ethic might be advised not
to carp too much.
It is less a change in policy, now that the captain is safely
back in England, than a natural response to the hectic schedule.
What is disturbing is England's shoddy performances on the
field. Fletcher is particularly disturbed about a lack of mobili-
ty which has caused them to be outfielded, especially in the
limited-overs games, by both India and Sri Lanka. That is why
younger batsmen of the quality of Ramprakash, Lathwell and Moxon
are just as likely to gain selection against the Australians this
summer as the likes of Gower and Lamb.
What was particularly disturbing during Wednesday night's defeat
was a lack of mental alertness. The argument that centralised,
football-style planning has robbed individual players of the
ability to think for themselves can only be fuelled by such per-
formances.
''Players should be thinking cricket all the time on the
field,'' said Fletcher. ''On certain occasions, in India and Sri
Lanka, that has not been the case.''
What are embedded deeply in English cricket culture are the con-
stant shouts of encouragement and the perpetual rounds of ap-
plause. Like the TCCB's knee-jerk reaction over standards of
dress, they are no substitute for thought.
ENGLAND (probable 12): Stewart (capt), Atherton, Smith, Hick,
Gatting, Fairbrother, Lewis, Emburey, Jarvis, Tufnell, Malcolm,
Taylor.
SRI LANKA (from): Ranatunga (capt), Mahanama, Hathurusingha,
Gurusinha, P A de Silva, Tillekeratne, Jayasuriya, A M de Silva,
Muralidaran, Ramanayake, Liyanage, Wickremasinghe, Warnaweera,
Wijesuriya.
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