Apart from being played over 50 overs there is a leg-side limitation of five

Apart from being played over 50 overs, there is a leg-side limitation of five fielders. In addition, the side bowling has to have two players in catching positions for at least the first 15 overs. Such restrictions, besides making it difficult for off-spinners, call for innovation and we should expect to see South Africa open with either Richard Snell or Dave Richardson as a baseball- style pinch hitter, sent in specifically to take advantage of those fielding restrictions.Michael Atherton tends to view such experiments as frivolous, although he may be forced to change his mind if England come unstuck against the tactic. But once a spanner is thrown into the works, there is little initiative or acumen to try to remove it by anything other than tried and trusted means.This can work well against impetuous teams like the West Indies, but in South Africa England face a side with, if anything, even less madness in their method. At least that was the case before the arrival of Paul Adams, who must be blooded if only to find out what fields he needs for the World Cup, where he could be a match winner for South Africa on the dusty pitches.The rules for these one- dayers differ from those played in England.

As long as everything goes according to a pre-determined plan, England usually win. The match was declared void and Tilbury progressed at the third attempt, after a replay.Nonetheless, the attention did Endersby no harm, leading eventually to a contract with Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town, that season’s Cup winners. The first team at Portman Road remained out of reach, however, and he left after two years for Tranmere, subsequently serving Swindon, Carlisle and York before quitting the game in 1987 to become a publican. Now aged 34 and a qualified chef, he manages the Chequers, between Redbourne and St Albans.”Trawling around the lower divisions is not a career I would recommend but, having said that, I have good memories of every club I played for,” he said.Jon Culley. Football

If fortune – in the shape of Les Ferdinand’s injury-time equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday – has already smiled on Newcastle’s FA Cup ambitions then their manager, Kevin Keegan, will be demanding more than another visitation from lady luck when his side seeks their first semi-final appearance in 20 years against Arsenal at Highbury tomorrow.
The Gunners may have been outclassed by the Premiership leaders at St James’ Park only last Tuesday, but Keegan believes that Newcastle’s chances in the Coca-Cola Cup will be determined by “attitude”, especially as Robert Lee, the midfielder at the heart of his side, is rated doubtful with a sore Achilles tendon.”You never know what players will do,” Keegan admitted. Unlike Test cricket, there is not the need to actually take wickets in order to win, and some of the batsmen can rightfully claim to be up with the best in the world when the spread fields allow loose techniques to go unpunished.Despite that, and the fact that one-day cricket is often the crucible of innovation, England teams can often appear too stereotyped in their strategies and their players too obvious in their play.

But while there is every indication that England will try to win the series, they will also “pick and mix” their players, using it to help finalise their World Cup squad of 14 which, under the rules of that tournament, must be named by 22 January.With that in mind, all 17 players – five of whom have arrived since Christmas – should get a game, although Ray Illingworth’s preference for cricketers who are dynamic in the field may limit the appearances of Robin Smith, Mike Watkinson and Dermot Reeve, purely on the relative infirmity of their throwing arms.England play enough of this type of cricket to be good at it on a regular basis. This is the same amount of games that this year’s World Cup finalists will have played by the time they get to the “big one”, scheduled for 17 March in Lahore.If it seems excessive – even the England captain thinks seven is too many and should not have been agreed to by the overseas tour committee at Lord’s – it is a necessary by-product of the horse-trading that goes on to get overseas teams to agree to play all the counties when they tour England.However, with the amount of travel involved, both assignments will be hard work, although the World Cup – which takes place over four weeks and not two – at least affords some breathing space and the chance of allowing players to get over their aches and strains.Unless the rain returns, there is little chance of that happening over the next fortnight. But even if popular items like burglar alarms and coat-hangers are all being reduced, there does not appear to be a similar curtailment in the amount of limited-overs cricket England are about to play.Such is the demand for the frenetic “everything must go” style of cricket here that today’s day-night match at Newlands is merely the first of seven one-day internationals to be played over the next 14 days. The January sales are on and, for the moment at least, bargain hunters are even thicker on the ground than England cricket supporters. “I’m looking forward to someone doing something about the weather,” Lynagh said with a smile. Now that is something even Nigel Wray may find difficult to fix..

Cricket

DEREK PRINGLE
reports from Cape TownIt is the silly season in South Africa at the moment. But Lynagh’s career prospects have clearly come into the equation, and we are not talking here about a job in the back office and all the beer he can handle.”I have a property background in Australia,” he said, “and Nigel’s company just happens to deal in property, so some opportunities may present themselves there.”Not everything was sorted, however. Saracens are hoping that Lynagh’s Italian connection, not to mention his Irish grandmother and Scottish grandfather, will be pertinent.In the meantime, Saracens, who plan to be playing in a new venue by September, are negotiating with Philippe Sella. They have also signed Robert Howley, the Bridgend scrum-half, and plan to secure the Irish flanker Eddie Halvey.Lynagh’s new deal is likely to bring him well above six figures He isn’t saying.

Retiring from international rugby was a great weight off my shoulders.”The exact timing of his arrival on the pitch depends upon the Rugby Football Union’s special general meeting this Sunday. Although foreign players currently need 180 days’ residence before they can play for English clubs, those with European Community qualification need only spend a week here. “I hope I’m not a constipated bull anyway.” Campese, who is coming to this country next week with New South Wales, may or may not be kinder to his old stand-off than he was to Will Carling.However, at 32, Lynagh is well able to withstand the bluster of Campo and any other Aussie who might want to have a go. Having played club rugby in Italy for the past five years with Treviso, he has thought out his next move carefully since Saracens – and two other English clubs – contacted him in October. When he moves, it will be with his girlfriend, Isabella, whom he plans to marry once she has completed her degree in economics at Venice University.”I’m not a person who jumps around all over the place,” he said.