England vs. Australia – 5 ODI’s

When you have a one off series in the middle of a summer with no test matches and just five one day internationals many people may be asking what the point is and whether or not we should be playing them when there is an Ashes series next year followed by one back in Australia just a few months after.

Pros:

-         If we win the series comfortably then it will be a success and a 5-0 whitewash could end up with us becoming the number one ranked one day team in the world.

-         It keeps the international players fresh and in form with a huge series against South Africa coming up.

-         It gives us a chance to look at players that could potentially bat at number 6 in the test matches; Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara.

Cons:

-         The players will have less rest periods before the big test match series against South Africa.

-         The younger Australians will get a chance to get used to England conditions before the ashes next year.

-         If we were to lose our confidence could take a huge hammering especially as we are 2-0 up already.

All of these seem to be a matter of opinion though as I personally would want to play as much cricket as possible whereas I’m sure some of them would like to have a lot more of a rest. Aside from this it should be a good series and with England 2-0 up I’m looking forward to the next three games.

Friends Life T20 Competition 2012

So it’s that time of the year again in County Cricket circles when the County Championship is pushed to the background and the crowds take cover as the counties biggest tournament gets under way. In this post I’m going to look at 4 teams that I think have a fantastic chance of going on to big things in this competition and could definitely be there come finals day.

Somerset

Always the bridesmaids and never the brides they seem to spend most of the last few seasons doing really well and getting to the big final occasions and then losing repeatedly. They have a fantastic team (even without injured skipper Marcus Trescothick) and will look to players such as Jos Buttler and the spin duo of Max Waller and George Dockrell to lead the charge. They have such a fantastic team and so much raw talent that I honestly think that they will win it this year.

Surrey

Another team that has a young squad that is full of talent and they should do very well. Obviously they have been the victim of a terrible tragedy in the last few days and without a doubt they will want to make sure that this season they do their utmost to wind something so they can dedicate the victory to Tom Maynard. Unfortunately I think they will need another year or two before they become the side that everyone else is trying to beat.

Essex

A brilliant one day team that is ridiculously hard to beat at Fortress Chelmsford as they know the angles of the ground so well for both the batting and fielding aspects and play fantastic cricket there. The biggest problem Essex seems to have is when they go away from home they seem to struggle a lot more. When you consider that they have a fantastic team and they are so good at one day cricket you wonder how they haven’t won more but for me I think they will lose in the Semi-Finals this year.

Nottinghamshire

Another fantastic team with the likes of Alex Hales and James Taylor (two young players that have played for the England team and are very highly rated for the future). When you add in to this team people like Michael Lumb and Samit Patel you have a fantastic team that should do very well. As long as the groups work out and the next round draw I think that they will lose in the final to Somerset.

England say goodbye to easy Test Matches and Hello South Africa

Well apart from the weathers interference the test match series went exactly as most people thought that it would with a comfortable win for England and a few good performances from West Indian players that were good but on their own were never likely to challenge this England side.

Steven Finn and Graeme Onions were added to the test match players in the final match of the series and it seemed as if everyone was either for it or against it. I personally was very much for it but not for the reason of resting the other two players but so that if the worst was to happen and James Anderson or Stuart Broad were injured then the player coming in would have recent test match experience.

We now have the One day series and not a lot has changed apart from Kevin Pietersen’s retirement from the shorter forms of the game and Ian Bell being recalled to the team. I think again that we will win all the games that are played as I can only see us being stopped if Chris Gayle (recently returned from the IPL) bats most of his sides 50 overs to get them a big score.

The biggest test is when South Africa arrives here on our shores later this summer. They are the number 2 in the world at test match cricket (behind us) and they will want to make a big statement. They have a fantastic batting line up including Graeme Smith, AB De Villiers and Jacques Kallis and a bowling attack which includes Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel which is definitely not something to be taken lightly.

That series should provide some of the best test match play since the ashes series of 2005 and hopefully we will finally get some good summertime weather and we can play all the sessions of all the test matches and finally find out for real just who is the best test match team in the world South Africa or England.

England vs West Indies first test Review

So the first test of the summer is over and it very much turned out the way most people thought with an England win and despite a fight back for most of the 4^th day and the first hour of day 5. After that though Alistair Cook and Ian Bell put together a valuable hundred partnership and the rest as they say is history.

The one thing that every team knows about when they go to play at Lords is that it is a very difficult place to take 20 wickets and so it proved again. During the final couple of hours of the test match it was day 5 and the pitch (apart from the areas where the bowlers had run on to the pitch) was absolutely perfect for batting still which is not something that happens at most venues.

With the second test just a few days away it will be interesting to see how the West Indies are going to change their team up and how they are going to begin to fight back. The pitch at Trent Bridge definitely will not be as good as the Lords one and you should see some spin there definitely on days 4 or 5 so Graeme Swann should be able to play a bigger role than this test match.

With 2 more test matches against the West Indies coming up and a bout of good weather heading our way it should definitely be some fun times ahead and there will be good opportunities for the rest of the England team that haven’t done great on my marks out of 10 (see below) to get some good scores before the South Africans arrive here later this summer.

Marks out of 10

A. Strauss – 8

A. Cook – 7

J. Trott – 6

K. Pietersen – 6

I. Bell – 9

J. Bairstow – 6

M. Prior – 6

T. Bresnan – 6

S. Broad – 9

G. Swann – 5

J. Anderson – 7

England vs West Indies

Squad in full and 10 things about the series:

 

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, capt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)

1)      Jonny Bairstow, who maybe not a lot of people have heard of, is a brilliant young talent and someone who’s probably going to be in and around the international teams for a long time to come.

2)      It will probably come down to four out of six of the picked bowlers, and for my money the two left out will be Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan.

3)      Bairstow and Prior are both going for the number six position that would have been Ravi Bopara’s if he had been fit. Although based on previous I would say Prior will bat 6 and Bairstow 7 in the line-up on Thursday.

4)      Kevin Pietersen has been playing and scoring runs for the Delhi Daredevils but it’s a much bigger ask to go out on a swinging pitch in England in May and hit the ball as well as he has been doing.

5)      Andrew Strauss needs runs! This one cannot be said enough as if he fails again in another series he may struggle to hold on to his place especially with a winter ahead in the sub-continent.

6)      Ian Bell needs runs. Not in such a bad position as Strauss as Ian Bell scored a lot during the last year but he had a bad winter against Pakistan and Sri Lanka and could do with at least one maybe two centuries in the three match series.

7)      With three tests at Lords, Trent Bridge and Edgbaston and the last few weeks being full of rain will we even get enough play?

8)      Shivnarine Chanderpaul, well any cricketer or serious follower should know this person’s name. He is a fantastic batsman who very rarely looks in trouble and it’s going to be a big task for our bowlers to try and get him as early as possible in each innings.

9)      The West Indies have two good spinners and if we get some turning tracks they may be able to get their team into the games, although if we do get a turning wicket we have Graeme Swann so still feeling confident.

10)   Despite everything I’m going for a comfortable England win probably 3-0 and the only thing that I see stopping that is the weather.

The Start of the County Season

The start of the county season is a time for every cricket fan to rejoice and look ahead to a feast of county and international cricket over the next few months, well at least that's what we were thinking of when the weather was nice in the early part of April then came the constant downpours of the last few weeks and the cricket that we've actually had has been a very small amount.

The County Championship is on it's third game of the season so far but there is not a team out there at the moment that has not lost some time to the weather. I come from Essex and as such am a huge fan and follow them whenever I can, so with our second game being against Yorkshire who are also chasing promotion back into the top division we thought that it would give a good indication of the way things would go and see if we were correct in thinking that the top 2 places would be between those two teams. A lot of rain later and we still don't have a clue.

In the top division it seems as if it might be a race between Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire who lead the way after the early few games although there are a lot of other teams that might have a say in that such as Durham, Somerset or last years winners Lancashire. Still with at least 12 games to until the end of the County Championship season there is plenty of time for another team to make it up there or one of the before mentioned teams breaking away from the rest.

Moving across to the international scene and we are welcoming the West Indies here very soon and the first test match will begin on the 17th May. Growing up I heard a lot about the great West Indian sides of the past with people like Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner but when you compare that to the current day side you see how far backwards they have gone. Chanderpaul is a wonderful player but apart from that I just cannot see anyone else troubling our bowling attack and I think we will win comfortably in all forms.

Still as long as the weather controls itself and we get a bit more like the sunshine we hoped that we would have then we could be in for a cracking few months both domestically and internationally.

England vs Bangladesh....1 Day to Go

OK, so we all know that a test series against Bangladesh doesn't actually matter much in the grand scheme of things, they are by far the worst test team around and despite the fact that they have a number of good spinners and a few good batsmen they are not likely to pose too many problems to England especially not if like they are suggesting there are overcast conditions which means that the ball will nip around and swing a bit which should lead to some good wickets for the England Seamers.

All eyes will not be on the consistent test match players but on the younger guys that are being given a chance especially with Steven Finn and Eoin Morgan both looking to start the test match tomorrow. Morgan especially gets a chance after impressing over the last 12 months in the 20 and 50 over formats of the game.

Many eyes will be on the middle order batsmen especially to see if he has the temperament to bat for a long period of time if needed and the only problem will be if he gets out trying to play a big shot that would be more at home either during a twenty20 or a fifty over match. He is definitely a talent for the future and with his career in test matches starting off against Bangladesh he should be able to get some runs under his belt and hopefully begin a long and succesful career in test match cricket.

Steve Finn got a chance out in Bangladesh but the conditions and pitches out there really weren't the best for his type of bowling and pitches in England in May should definitely be more the surface that he enjoys bowling on. With the changeable weather, the helpful pitches and his 6ft 8 inch frame he should provide a lot of good balls and I would be surprised if he didn't pick up a 5 wicket haul at some point during the 2 test match series.

But with Bangladesh coming over here I guess that we can count on a 2-0 series win if the weather stays away long enough and hopefully some of the boys will get both runs and wickets under their belts which can only come in handy when we play Pakistan later in the summer.