There have been several aspects of the Fredalo incident which tickled the Spin, not the least of them the sight of David Gower - a man who was once fined for trying to liven up a tour game in Queensland by swooping over it in a Tiger Moth - analysing Andrew Flintoff's watery escapade on Sky TV with the straightest of faces. Then there was Ian Botham, who reasoned that Flintoff's biggest mistake was to get caught. "Flintoff would not be half the player he is today, and would not have the bravado to express himself on the pitch, if he lived like a goody two-shoes," fumed Beefy in his Mirror column, in no way harking back to his own days as a world-class all-rounder/hellraiser.
In fact the Mirror - a paper that would never dream of jumping to conclusions by publishing misleading photos - seemed more concerned with the behaviour of the group of five players who were out drinking until the small hours at Rumours club in St Lucia to celebrate the fact that they had run New Zealand so close earlier in the day. In text accompanied by photos of Jon Lewis, Jimmy Anderson, Liam Plunkett and Ian Bell (where was Paul Nixon? Sledging the barman?), the following words appeared in quick succession: "shamed", "appalled", "disgraceful", "shocked", "disgraced", "louts", "sickened", "barely stand", "swaying", "leering", "legless", "crawling", "steaming" and "boozing". And that was just to describe their performance in the cricket.
Reaction from Guardian readers on the blogs has been mixed. Those among you who enjoy a pint or 10 every Friday evening can't believe what all the fuss is about. After all, many of you have regularly gone on to represent your country in a World Cup just over 24 hours later without suffering any side-effects. But the majority of you, "sickened" and "appalled" by the recurrence of the phrase "drinking culture" in recent days, believe Fred and co overstepped the mark and demonstrated a "disgraceful" lack of professionalism. The Spin couldn't agree more. Now, time for our 9.30am snifter...
Extract taken from The Spin, Guardian Unlimited's weekly take on the world of cricket.
