On 14 October 2008 Michael Sylvester wrote:
>There was a time England led the world in cricket...
Not since the 1880s, after which Australia came to the fore!

http://www.334notout.com/ashes/scorecards.htm
http://www.334notout.com/ashes/scorecards1.htm
http://www.334notout.com/ashes/scorecards2.htm

>Now England is competitive again because of the  many Indian
>and Pakistani members that make up the British cricket cycles.

I don't know what you mean by the "British cricket cycles", but England has
always been "competitive", with ups and downs. What changed post-WW2 was
the rise, first of West Indian cricket (which went into relative decline
around the 1980s) then Indian and Pakistani and, latterly, Sri Lankan
cricket.

It is certainly true that English cricket has benefited from the presence
of cricketers of Indian and Pakistani descent, but only a small number of
them are regular members of the current England team. The most influential
cricketer in the England team at the moment is the current captain and
world-class batsman Kevin Pietersen, who was born in South Africa.

For those interested, here's the right-handed Pietersen hitting a six with
a reverse (left-handed) sweep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k-f_nwtF3Q

Michael wrote:
>South African cricket is also dominated by Asians.<

I don't think South Africans would recognise that description! At any rate,
in the current South African 13-man squad there are two Asians:
http://www.cricket.co.za/default.asp?cId=8620

Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
http://www.esterson.org


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