Crowd heckles England stars; EDGBASTON: Ugly scenes as Ashes warm-up ends in bore draw.

Byline: Brian Halford

ENGLAND will say that all that matters is the Ashes and that all that mattered yesterday was that their players derived maximum practice benefit from the final day of their friendly with Warwickshire.

But it was still desperate to see the three-day game first drift towards a dreary conclusion and then end at the earliest opportunity, 5pm, to boos and shouts of "rubbish" from the cheated crowd.

After play was delayed by rain until 2.15pm, England batted on desultorily before declaring at 319 for two, setting Warwickshire a target of 507 in 27 overs. Only 12 of those overs were then bowled before the players shook hands and headed for the pavilion. Kevin Pietersen reacted to slow-hand clapping spectators by disgracefully mimicking them.

Pietersen's gesture was an appropriately crass end to a day which was an insult to spectators who had paid up to pounds 20 each to attend.

After England resumed on 18 for two. Ravi Bopara retired after reaching his century, then Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior added 111 aimless runs. It was tame entertainment and, as for Ashes preparation, it was hard to spot the relevance of nurdling round the spin of Ateeq Javid (career first-class wickets: zero) to lining up against Brett Lee in Cardiff on Wednesday.

Alongside Pietersen's sarcasm stood two other candidates for the day's nadir. First, when Collingwood reached 50, his reaction of a small gesture to the dressing-room but nothing to the applauding crowd. Second, England's declaration right at the end of the tea interval, cheaply depriving the paying punters of another ten minutes cricket. How pusillanimous can you get? We all hope England win the Ashes but, on the basis of yesterday, they will win no awards for charm. The hundreds of schoolchildren present may well choose to give cricket a miss for the next few decades. For those that stick with it, at least it was good practice. Longtime cricket-watchers are accustomed to being treated with contempt.

Perhaps, given the match again, Warwickshire would adopt a different pricing policy. The decision to charge non-members pounds 20 a day must have deterred a few.

Charging members also kept away some people, although the reaction of some who did attend provided another ugly dimension. Some chose to direct their ire towards the office staff in unforgivably rude fashion. In one case, a (junior) club representative was spat at. The perpetrator should never be allowed inside Edgbaston again.

How sad that a potentially splendid occasion will be remembered principally for a Bears PR own goal and England's unspeakable arroga nce.

CAPTION(S):

Stumped: Warwickshire wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose watches as his England counterpart Matt Prior cuts a delivery on his way to 50 not out.