England’s Ashes flops should focus on their game and let others do the talking | Simon Burnton
England’s Ashes flops should focus on their game and let others do the talking | Simon Burnton
Share:
Heather Knight talked of releasing the ‘inner mongrel’ but a friendly cavalier King Charles spaniel came running instead. Before Thursday’s second women’s Ashes T20 in Canberra the England captain, Heather Knight, surprised many when she suggested her team was intending “to bring our inner mongrel” to the game. The nation’s touring cricketers have a great many qualities but if the snarl, growl, snap and fang suggested by that phrase is one of them it is really very inner indeed.
![[Simon Burnton]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/08/04/Simon_Burnton,_L.png?width=180&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
England duly slipped to another defeat, albeit this time by a narrow margin. They had been given hope by Knight herself, with an excellent 19-ball 43 that was unbeaten except by the rain that prematurely ended the game just as their target was shifting from ludicrous to faintly feasible. Afterwards Knight clarified that her earlier comment had been prompted by a speech delivered to the team by Courtney Winfield-Hill, which had itself been inspired by the assistant coach’s beloved cavalier King Charles spaniel, Wilson.
![[Heather Knight at the Adelaide Oval ]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9ec2e696be06085772ad018ef73d83187f843905/0_0_2112_1408/master/2112.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
So much for the mongrel. Suddenly the image of a very different kind of canine was brought to mind. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club describes the breed’s characteristics thus: “Their temperament is gentle and never aggressive in any way. They are fun-loving dogs that adore nothing more than to curl up on a comfortable lap or armchair. They love their comforts and will go to great lengths to manipulate you to be allowed to sit on the best furniture.” This felt very much more apposite. Indeed some would say that England have been bringing their inner cavaliers for some time, the problem being that doing so is less likely to assist in winning cut-throat games of elite sport against ruthless and remorseless rivals than it is in falling asleep on sofas in the daytime and successfully convincing humans to give you biscuits.
