Cricket: English press praise win but can't help sarcasm

LONDON - Relief was the dominant emotion in Britain's newspapers yesterday as, for the first time during the tour of Australia, they found themselves reporting on an England victory.

England's 43-run win against Sri Lanka in the one-day triangular series match at Brisbane also meant that sarcasm, a favourite standby of the British press, was in plentiful supply.

"You'll never guess what? England win a match at last," was the back-page headline of the tabloid Sun.

"It's a miracle! Yes, shock of all shocks, England's beleaguered cricketers actually won a game here yesterday," the newspaper added.

Another tabloid, the Daily Express, said: "It has taken 61 days, 14 games and 31 players, but England have finally won a match."

Half-centuries by Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart and an improved all-round bowling performance helped England to break their disastrous run.

Captain Hussain made 79 off 106 balls and wicketkeeper Stewart 64 from 61 deliveries to take England to a daunting score of 292 from their 50 overs.

Despite losing their last five wickets for 14 runs to be all out on the last ball of the innings, England's total was the fourth-highest score made in a one-day international at the Gabba.

The England bowlers then responded with their best performance of the tour to restrict the Sri Lankans to 249 for six, with only Mahela Jayawardene (71) and Russel Arnold (60 not out) offering any real resistance.

England's victory was their first success anywhere since they beat Zimbabwe on September 18 in a one-day match during the Champions Trophy tournament in Colombo.

That, as the Express reported, meant it had taken England 89 days to win again.

The Mirror said: "Hallelujah and eureka ... and about bloody time too."

It added: "So desperate had England become, after four draws and nine defeats in Australia, that they would have settled for beating the blind school here."

The Daily Mail was in no doubt what the result meant to the England team.

"Given what had gone before it must have felt like Christmas, Hogmanay [the Scottish celebration of New Year], VE Day [the end of World War 2 in Europe], 1966 [the year England won the soccer World Cup] and the Golden Jubilee [of the Queen] rolled into one."

However, all the reports made the point that Sri Lanka were nowhere near as strong as Australia.

"The win will have brought a collective sigh of relief from here [Brisbane] to St John's Wood [the North London district which is home to Lord's cricket ground]," the broadsheet Daily Telegraph said.

It continued: "England have been second-class citizens compared with their hosts, but the introduction of a third party has brought a return to normal cricket, or at least opponents who make errors."

England will have a chance to extend their winning "streak" to two matches when they face Sri Lanka again in Perth tomorrow.

* The national selectors yesterday named South Australia state captain Darren Lehmann as skipper Ricky Ponting's deputy for Sunday's match against Sri Lanka in Perth.

They promoted 32-year-old Lehmann following injuries to regular vice-captain Adam Gilchrist and leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Australia lead the series after beating England twice last week.

* The West Indies were on the brink of victory at lunch on the third day of the second test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Trailing by 102 on the first innings, Bangladesh were 130 for five in their second knock.

The home side began the day on 40 for no loss, but proceeded to lose wickets at regular intervals.

The tourists won the first test in Dhaka by an innings and 310 runs.

- AGENCIES