David Coote has been hitting the headlines(Picture: AP)
Is it significant that every single one of England’s first five white-ball games against the West Indies this month has been won by the team that won the toss? That team decided to field first every time and, except in the second one-day international which England won so excitingly, the results have not been close.
England’s T20 side trounced their opponents by seven and eight wickets last weekend with overs to spare. In the other two ODIs, the West Indies did the same to us.
So the idea that the toss had a major impact on proceedings feels counter-intuitive – the toss-winning side just looked vastly better on the day.
But as former England selector Ed Smith reminds us, we are making that call only within the circumstances we’re given. There is no alternate reality available where WI won the toss and then batted second to see if England might have been dismissed as easily.
But, overall, it feels fair. You can only play the hand you’re dealt. The point here is that although a tiny moment – the coin toss – has clearly affected the game, those watching still believe there is logical consistency in what came next. England could have won the T20 series 3-0 last night: they were just better.
Jos Buttler grins in disbelief after falling to a superb catch – but he was soon back in the runs (Picture: Getty)
Conversely, Jos Buttler’s first-ball duck on his return to the side after four months out supports no hot take. Buttler remains brilliant. Gudakesh Motie’s catch was freak, out of this world.
It was an improbable outcome, not a Buttler mistake, and the England white-ball captain’s quality showed in terms of runs in the very next game.
But, for another man, a single moment could upend an entire career. In the Euro 2020 final Italy beat England on penalties after winning the toss and getting to take the first. Research shows the team taking the first penalty wins just over 60 per cent of the time, partly due to the added pressure on the team going second. At that year’s Euros, the team taking penalties first won 100 per cent of the time, leading Gerard Pique to write publicly that the coin toss rule should be changed.
Italians I know always reaffirm their gratitude that such an (and this is a quote) appalling Italian team were allowed to win a trophy by us and Gareth Southgate. And England absolutely could have cleaned up in normal time. But the outcome would almost certainly have been different had that pesky coin flipped the opposite way.
But this is sport, where outcome is all. So the tiny uncontrollable is considered an irrelevance in the broader picture that ENGLAND FAILED.
So to the headlines’ current favourite David Coote. If you have not seen the first video involving him to emerge this week by now I wouldn’t. It’s depressing. His apparent desire to be a lad for the lads is so transparent it makes me sweat with empathy, remembering the embarrassing quips I offered the cool kids in the noughties.
David Coote with Jurgen Klopp (Picture: Reuters)
Clearly, it seems unlikely Coote will work at the elite level again. Seeming to bash your colleagues in this manner doesn’t usually fly in any workplace. Or at least bashing them in public, as is now the case after the video was leaked. Would workplaces run at all if people weren’t able to vent?
And this all came before the sequel was released appearing to show Coote snorting a white powder while on Uefa business.
But the case of Coote might not fit the Buttler metaphor. Maybe the six years the referee spent without issue as a semi-public figure are the anomaly, rather than the character we have seen on our phones.
British people hate hypocrisy. And to us these clips appear to suggest a bigger, truer story about Coote and his work. If it’s all verified and proven – the Football Association, Professional Game Match Officials Limited and Uefa have already launched investigations – he behaved arrogantly and he got caught.
And do these moments – whether a public shaming, a lucky coin toss or a golden duck – show us who people and teams really are? In some cases, perhaps they do. But in others, maybe they could coexist with another beautiful half-century.
Kate is presenting TNT Sports’ winter of cricket including England’s white-ball series against the West Indies and Tests in New Zealand. Join the TNT Sports 1 coverage at 7.30pm tomorrow and Sunday.
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