Another fine Saffer the Poms have gotten themselves into

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE, Cape Town

Andrew Samson does not have Kevin Pietersen’s tattoos, Allan Lamb’s naughtiness or Basil d’Oliveira’s silky strokes, but like them he is a South African made good in English cricket.

Cape Town-educated, Johannesburg-based Samson has been appointed to the most covetable position in the sub-culture of cricket geeks: statistician in residence on Test Match Special (TMS), the BBC radio programme that after 57 years on the air remains the benchmark for all broadcasting on the game.

There will be no surprise that Samson has landed the job. In May, the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians named him “Cricket Statistician of the Year” for 2013 - the Nobel prize of cricket number crunching.

But the circumstances of Samson’s TMS appointment have rocked the bean counters’ boat. He has replaced Malcolm Ashton, who has worked for TMS for the past five years, apparently because the BBC are no longer willing to foot the bill for a statistician’s travel expenses and accommodation on non-match days when England are on tour. Sources say Samson has signed on on the understanding that he will pay his own way.

The BBC have also secured Samson’s services for England’s home test series against Sri Lanka and India. Ashton, meanwhile, has been relegated to the one-day internationals.

The English press is not amused. The Daily Telegraph bemoaned the “familiarity” of “a much-loved member of the (England) team (finding) himself dropped down the batting order in favour of a South African with a big reputation”.

A precedent for the current commentary box kerfuffle was set when Samson replaced Ashton on England’s 2010-11 series in Australia because Ashton balked at picking up his own tab on tour. The South African did himself and his country proud, and has since been used by the BBC again.

Samson, 50, has been Cricket SA’s official statistician for 20 years and maintains his own database of statistics drawn from more than 100 000 matches played at all levels of cricket.

Unlike Pietersen, Lamb, d’Oliveira and a host of other South Africans, Samson will return home to continue his work here in the summer.

He confirmed yesterday from Nottingham, where he is working on the first test between England and India at Trent Bridge, that he had “no intention of having the three lions tattooed anywhere anytime soon” but declined to comment further owing to the sensitivity of the situation.