Not trying to start a war with this one, merely noting the two captains’ drastically differing fortunes at the toss. Whilst Andrew Strauss has won nine of his last 12 coin tosses, Graeme Smith has won only one of his last 11 – a record compounded by that one, coming in Durban, being a good toss to lose.
I always used to find the adage that “luck has a peculiar habit of favouring those who don’t depend on it,” particularly relevant with regard to the Australian team of the Steve Waugh and pre-2005 Ricky Ponting eras. They were by far the best team around, and through my three lions-tinted spectacles seemed to have all the decisions their way too. They married a bit of self-made luck with devastating collective and individual skills.
England may be some way off such dominance, but they seem to have the luck bit sewn up.
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