21/11/2007
It is the nightmare that has revisited England teams on the subcontinent for generations. The weather is stiflingly hot, the pitch is flat and the bowlers are struggling to make inroads. Deadly snakes even lurked just over the square-leg boundary, though with the Tests yet to start, it is better to leave the Freudian analysis there.
Gizza butcher's: Matthew Hoggard keeps at a safe distance from the snake (right)
The larger of the two snakes, lying in rough ground eight yards beyond the rope, was olive brown and just over five feet long. Locals called it Naya, their word for the Indian cobra. Kevin Pietersen tried to get a better view of the beast by prodding it with a stick. His interest enticed the entire England team over for a look during the lunch break.
According to one herpetology website, no country on earth suffers a higher snakebite fatality rate than Sri Lanka, where 800-1,000 people die annually. The Indian cobra is the chief cause, though its shy nature means it tends to avoid confrontation with people which is probably why, when suddenly faced by England's new-ball attack of Ryan Sidebottom and Matthew Hoggard, the latter climbing a low wall for a better vantage point, it chose to disappear down a length of broken pipe.
It is the nightmare that has revisited England teams on the subcontinent for generations. The weather is stiflingly hot, the pitch is flat and the bowlers are struggling to make inroads. Deadly snakes even lurked just over the square-leg boundary, though with the Tests yet to start, it is better to leave the Freudian analysis there.
Gizza butcher's: Matthew Hoggard keeps at a safe distance from the snake (right)
The larger of the two snakes, lying in rough ground eight yards beyond the rope, was olive brown and just over five feet long. Locals called it Naya, their word for the Indian cobra. Kevin Pietersen tried to get a better view of the beast by prodding it with a stick. His interest enticed the entire England team over for a look during the lunch break.
According to one herpetology website, no country on earth suffers a higher snakebite fatality rate than Sri Lanka, where 800-1,000 people die annually. The Indian cobra is the chief cause, though its shy nature means it tends to avoid confrontation with people which is probably why, when suddenly faced by England's new-ball attack of Ryan Sidebottom and Matthew Hoggard, the latter climbing a low wall for a better vantage point, it chose to disappear down a length of broken pipe.