UNDER THE COVERS

Like the sport they serve, specialist cricket writers work to a set of rules and codes unintelligible to much of the the rest of the world.

As has been pointed by Peter Whiby in his excellent media critiques in the Guardian, the majority of them regard themselves as the equivalent of rather grand theatre critics. They are there to analyse and muse on what is going on in the field, but without the responsibility, or the inclination, to report on what is going on off it.

Most of them went absent without leave at the time of the Flintoff pedalo affair and their collective performance after Bob Woolmer was found dead in his Caribbean hotel room was a disgrace to the profession which they profess to serve. Most newspapers had to send in the pinch hitters - qualified reporters and journalists - to take over the messy business of finding an angle, doing some research and gathering quotes, leaving the specialists to ramble on interminably about the Bob Woolmer I Knew.

The current Harbhajan Singh/Andrew Symonds sledging row also constitutes a marvellous story but, tinged with controversy as it is, one which had the cricket writing gentry diving for the covers. The nitty gritty when it broke was detailed in the main by agencies or newspaper desk jockeys. Fairly typical was the Guardian's approach, with their version of events given by Richard Nathanson, their "European Football Correspondent".

Three days late, the likes of Pringers, CMJ and the rest emerged to pass comment - before disappearing back into their wine cellars.
Pringle will be remembered forever as the England player who got lost twixt the middle and pavilion after losing his wicket in a Test match; Martin-Jenkins is best known as the composer of the worst intros in the history of journalism.
They are the worst of a very bad bunch. No wonder the late England coach Duncan Fletcher loathed cricket writers.