Hard-nosed pragmatism replaced romantic idealism in the England camp yesterday when Andy Flower advised Graeme Swann against setting himself up as a bastion of the best traditions of the game.
With England due to have begun their second warm-up game this morning, the unsavoury incident to mar the first, which prompted an uncommonly angry response from Swann, continued to be a matter for debate.
Swann was incensed at what he described as cheating by Dilruwan Perera in failing to accept the claim of a low catch by Andrew Strauss on Saturday. The England off spinner then bemoaned the number of modern batsmen who are not prepared to walk.
Although Flower, the team director, believes that players can decide for themselves, he is clearly not minded to back a moral crusade that he imagines runs the danger of backfiring.
“Graeme is a moral standard-bearer is he? Very interesting,” Flower said. “I think you have to be very careful about taking too high a moral stance unless you are perfect. I do not tell players to walk. I would be a hypocrite if I did because I didn’t walk when I played.”
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Asked whether he thinks that Swann is “pure as driven snow”, Flower said, “In the heat of Sri Lanka or elsewhere, I do not associate those things.”
Flower was coaching in nets behind the stand during the Sri Lanka Board XI game when Perera refused to go on the say-so of Strauss. The umpires were unsighted. “We do have to respect the umpires’ decisions even if we disagree with them,” Flower said. “You have to get on with the game.”
Maintaining clear heads in intense heat and humidity when things are not going their way sits among the biggest challenges for England when the two-Test series begins on Monday. Conditions are so harsh that it is possible to work up a sweat when even walking the few hundred yards between the hotels on Galle Road, despite an ocean breeze to fan the route.
With some tense moments in previous meetings between the countries, the accusation of Swann led the back page of The Island newspaper yesterday, although it was not reported at all by some of the others. Perera defended his behaviour.
“England are barking up the wrong tree,” he said. “I was not sure of the catch, so I stood my ground. Later, I was given out caught behind when the ball had hit my pads. When I was bowling, a caught behind off Ravi Bopara was not given. These things happen in cricket.”
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Doubtless, England were grateful to be able to move on, courtesy of the three-day game against a Sri Lanka Development XI. Stuart Broad bowled at about 80 per cent of his usual speed in the nets yesterday when he tested his sprained left ankle, justifying Flower’s confidence that he will be fully fit for the first Test.