Sport 07-12-1999 England`s Pre-Test Warm-Up Ends In Draw who: England cricket team what: Draw against against KwaZulu-Natal where: Kingsmead, South Africa when: Yesterday snippet: England`s four-day pre-Test warm-up against KwaZulu-Natal in Kingsmead has ended in a draw after the captains agreed to abandon play due to rain on the final day. There was never any chance of an England win thanks to Tufnell`s sluggish bowling and a 94-run partnership by Doug Watson and Ahmed Amla. "But there was good news as well," reports the BBC, "with left-arm seamer Alan Mullally looking set to recover in time for the Second Test which starts on Thursday." Less optimistically, Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times seems to have lost faith in Phil Tufnell`s abilities. "One begins to wonder if he will ever be more than a containing bowler," he remarks, "until he gets on a real crumbler. His control remains effective but the dip that comes from really venomous spin seems to have gone with too much bowling on bland pitches." [... more]

What The Papers Say is delivered to thousands of readers every morning by web, WAP and email. Sign up today!