Originally by: Imperator Jora'h

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- Quite what the Silver Fox in his Cape Town lair would have made of this is too frightening to contemplate.

The Silver Fox is Duncan Fletcher who after leaving the England cricket team coaching job is apparently living in South Africa, he is possibly quite angry at England's display, which is debatable because I dont think he cares now he's left

- Duncan Fletcher had complained that questioning the form of Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood had a destabilising effect on the England team.

I don't think Ian Bell is the toughest person mentally, and if people are questioning the selectors on a daily basis its no surprise certain players form suffers. They are human and read papers like the rest of us. Well the rest of us who understand THE WORDS ON A PAGE

- Well, Bell managed three balls and Collingwood four. The likelihood is that the former England coach would have looked askance at his live television feed and wandered off into the kitchen in need of a strong cup of tea.

Correct, they were abysmal. No footwork from either of them clearly suffering from confidence. Your third ball is not the time to play across the line especially when the swing is that pronounced. There are 11 year olds with more composure and batting knowledge than Ian Bell. He probably is spiking the tea and has been for some years, he had to somehow get through working with Nasser *******.

- It might be tempting to make the scathing observation that the innings offered by Collingwood and Bell were not as much double duck as Donald Duck were it not for fear of the immediate destabilising effect that might occur.

This some weird British means of backhanded criticism while maintaining the thin illusion of politeness?
Correct, it's like saying "I don't want to be rude, BUT..." Furthermore the article is just DRIPPING in sarcasm. Well done for faintly noticing it. See what I did there?

- Fletcher's analysis of the pressures caused by chopping and changing has merit in general terms, but it hardly seems appropriate in this situation.

It's about consistency in team selection breeding results, it's a fair point when half your middle order isn't desperately scratching around in the middle for a paltry run and some form.

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Originally by: Slade Trillgon

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"Bell is a class act; Collingwood is a great scrapper. Yet their departure to Kyle Mills without scoring in successive overs û Bell playing across a full-ish ball and Collingwood jabbing at one û meant England declined immediately after lunch from 84-3 to 86-5 and ensured that this is yet another Test that they must contest without wresting an immediate position of authority."

I am a native US English speaker, with a history of horrible spelling and grammar abuse, whose professors would have laughed if I had tried to pass the above off as a sentence.

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