IT WAS too much to expect the ICC to act with decency during their meeting last week in Dubai. There was no chance India was going to abandon Zimbabwe and agree to their removal from full member status. They need the African vote to further extend
their authority over world cricket so, after three days of horse-trading and underhand machinations that would have made Macbeth blush, Zimbabwe voluntarily offered to miss next year's Twenty20 World championship in England in return for retaining their full member status and the millions of dollars in funding that guarantees.
None of that money will benefit Zimbabwean cricket. It is effectively a gift to the power brokers that run the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. Two separate audits of the ZCU finances have agreed that there is huge falsification of the accounts, systemic fraud and many millions unaccounted for and yet the ICC, in full knowledge of this craven theft, chucks more money at them as a peace offering and to ensure the Twenty20 can remain in England. Why? The money generated for the ICC by staging the event here is plenty enough reason and, quite frankly, all that this ICC is worried about.
There was an opportunity for the governing body to act with decency and concern for the young cricketers of Zimbabwe, to send a message that cricket was not a corrupt, shallow sport, but they spurned it.
The sadness is that we should not be surprised.
What did, however, was the South African Cricket Board. A natural supporter of their neighbour, they finally decided enough was enough and cut ties with the ZCU. It was this action that helped the UK government into its refusal to grant visas to Zimbabwean players and officials and ultimately brought this sorry business to a head for the ICC.
If the South African team behaves in such a principled and determined fashion as their board then England could suffer a rude shock starting on Thursday at Lord's in the first Test.
That they are aggressive is expected, all South African teams are, but there is more to this squad than belligerence. Graeme Smith has matured into a fine captain and would have benefited from playing under Shane Warne for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. South African captains have tended to be dour creatures, lacking imagination and flair, but Smith studied Warne and has admitted that he learned a great deal about match situations from the flamboyant leg-spinner. His greatest asset, though, is his battery of fast bowlers.
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are going to cause more than a few bumps and bruises this summer. Steyn is an express, a slingy action and whipcord body generating great speed.
He has taken 54 wickets in his last seven Tests, is the No.1 rated bowler in the world and beat Allan Donald's record of fastest South African to 100 Test wickets. So the statistics are impressive, but even more so is his willingness to bowl in all conditions. He has stamina and determination and at 25 years old is entering his peak years as a premier quickie. A good English series will suggest he could be one of the modern greats like Brett Lee.
Morkel, 23, is a different type of bowler.
At 6ft 6in, he generates steep bounce which is always difficult for batsmen to counter and Darren Gough recently described him as the "quickest bowler I've seen for sometime".
England's batsmen will have to be on their mettle against these two and, once they are spent, there is Maykaha Ntini, the most willing of workhorses and the world's angriest man, Andre Nel.
The weakness is the spinner Paul Harris. He hardly turns a door handle let alone a ball and his role will be to allow the quickies a rest.
If the pitches offer spin, Monty Panesar should win England a match or two.
The South African batting is also impressive. Smith started this series in 2004 with two double centuries and has recently combined well with the recalled Neil McKenzie. Jacques Kallis is a supreme batsman and the middle order is Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher.
Amla can favour the legside too much which England can attack with a swinging ball, but, as a unit, these provide a mighty strong core.
Winning in England though is hard. To do so they will need to consistently expose the weak underbelly of England's batting, a task made easier by the selectors' refusal to make any of them accountable. Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood are the luckiest to be selected. Both have struggled recently, both were effectively put on notice before the final Test against New Zealand and both failed miserably. Yet here they are, an unchanged team selected for the sixth consecutive time, a record.
If they deserved the recognition it would be laudable.
Bell averages 37 in England once the donations from Bangladesh are excluded and in 20 matches has only four centuries. That is not the performance of a frontline batsman.
If the South Africans can successfully target Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan, they will have gone most of the way towards dominating the series. Their bowling is impressive, their fielding a different league to England's rather slapdash catching and their batting efficient.
If their mental state is as tough as they like to project then a series win is possible.
It would almost be justice for the honourable actions of their board, but sport does not work with sympathy. Just ask the young Zimbabweans whose grounds are waist high in grass while the mowers remain dormant, in contrast to their masters' Swiss bank accounts.
The full article contains 960 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
