ENGLAND tyro Marcus Trescothick could have been excused for aiming the swept six that helped him to his century against a Sri Lanka Colts side straight into the cosy midriff of the ECB's public relations department.
Trescothick is one of the bright new things of English cricket thanks to his successful introduction as Mike Atherton's opening partner against the West Indies last summer and then in Pakistan before Christmas.
Yet the ECB still managed to play right round a straight one when allowing a rather less than flattering profile of the Somerset run-getter to appear on their official website just as England were preparing for the first game of their Sri Lanka tour.
The description of Trescothick suggested that the 25-year-old "still gives his wicket away too often when set, trying to dominate."
Accurate maybe, but still highly critical of a player who averages 33 from his first six Tests and hardly the kind of message a player would like to read from his employers on the eve of a tricky Test series.
Trescothick replied in the perfect manner by hitting an unbeaten ton on the opening day of England's first-warm up game, while the ECB admitted the episode had been "a bit embarrassing and very unfortunate."
The Board added that the profiles, which were hastily withdrawn, had been written independently by cricket website firm Cricinfo, who in turn said that they had been intended for Sri Lankan coverage.
That would explain why major question marks appeared against a number of England's players, including captain Nasser Hussain.
"The team simply cannot afford regular failures from their number three," read Hussain's profile as Graham Thorpe apparently waits in the wings thanks to form which "may well herald promotion to the captaincy."
Meanwhile, middle order candidate Michael Vaughan "gets bogged down on a slow track against tight bowling" and while the words may not tip the balance of the series either way, the ECB certainly dropped a googly in seemingly endorsing them at a time when English cricket is riding high.
Trescothick and company could feel rightly miffed, although Graeme Hick possibly has less cause for complaint.
According to Cricinfo he was "quite fortunate to make the trip." Anyone want to argue ?
CARDIFF'S Millenium Stadium looks a superb choice as the venue for football's domestic cup and play-off finals.
It meets all the criteria in terms of facilities, capacity and somewhere off the regular football fixture list.
And judging by the way the Welsh rugby team laid down on Saturday, the Principality can't wait to greet us with open arms.
But the way things are going at Wembley they could have being playing cup finals under the Twin Towers for years to come.
The home of English football enjoyed a longer curtain call than Frank Sinatra yet the powers-that-be have made such a dog's breakfast of rebuilding the stadium that Sven Goran Erikkson might be long gone before he gets the chance to sit on the bench and watch his team grace the hallowed turf.
IT'S becoming something of an old chestnut but isn't it time television replays were brought in to help football referees ?
We'll never know if the time delay is too disruptive until it's given a trial run.
Last weekend's rugby internationals used the technique perfectly when the referees made a couple of crucial decisions over tries thanks to their colleagues watching slow motion pictures in the stand.
Had football grasped the nettle by now, Blackburn's Matt Jansen's 'winner' against Barnsley would have stood and the Clarets keeper Nik Michopoulos wouldn't have conceded a penalty at Crewe.
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