Sport 20-11-2002 Giles Crocked By England Team Mate who: Spin bowler Ashley Giles what: Deepens England injury nightmare as he breaks wrist where: Adelaide, Australia when: Yesterday snippet: "Just when England thought it could not get any worse, it did," groans this morning`s Guardian echoing the defeatist tone of the entire press. "Ashley Giles, their best bowler in the first Test, has joined the lengthy list of wounded and will be out for up to six weeks after breaking his left wrist while practising yesterday." The Times reluctantly concurs: "Giles` fracture, suffered in the nets yesterday batting, if you please, against a fast bowler who was about to be omitted from the team because he has not lived up to his potential as a possible breaker of Australian bones and wickets really must seem to those that remain like the last straw." Giles` accidental assailant Steve Harmison might, ironically, be the answer to England`s prayers, reckons Ian Botham, writing in The Mirror: "Not only would I pick him," says Beefy, "but I would give the new ball and just tell him to bowl as fast as he can. It`s got to be worth a try." What the Australians are looking for is to be challenged, insists The Guardian, "not just with Nasser Hussain`s pre-match rhetoric but with deed: runs from Marcus Trescothick and Vaughan, aggression from Andy Caddick, sparky fielding, a bit of lip, a touch of swagger - even in extreme adversity. Because Steve Waugh`s side knows that, however good it is, it still carries with it more front than Glenelg. It is just a pity that England has been so split asunder that a reasonable challenge is beyond them." [... more]

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