This past weekend Paul Collingwood became the highest capped England Player passing Alec Stewart's record of 170 caps and what a way to do it, by scoring an unbeaten century, taking a couple of wickets and an outstanding catch (although I suppose the last one was nothing new because he seems to have made a career out of breathtaking catches).
It was a weird kind of game with England bowling first and bowling well for a change and restricting South Africa to 250-9 with both Paul Collingwood and Jonathan Trott bowling brilliantly with a combined set of figures of 13-0-45-2. Unfortunately for Trott the skipper was on bad form with his catching mitts dropping 3 chances, including 2 of the easiest catches that I have ever seen which cost him his first International Wicket.
When it came to chasing down the total it was the same 2 of Collingwood and Trott combining for a 3rd wicket partnership of 162 with Paul Collingwood finishing unbeaten on 105 and Jonathan Trott just missing out on a maiden One Day International Century after falling for a composed 87 before Eoin Morgan came in and finished the job off.
So with the next game on Friday and England 1-0 up it will be interesting to see if they can keep this good run of form going or if they will go back to their usual of 1 good game followed by 1 poor game. However we can always hope that we will be able to challenge the South Africans not only in this series but also in the Test Match Series that follows after.
Elsewhere in India it's the second match of the Test Series between them and Sri Lanka, and after the first one petered out in to a draw where almost 1600 runs where scored for the loss of just 21 wickets over the 5 days we were hopeful that we would get a pitch where a result would be possible but shortly after tea on Day One India where 366-1 which doesn't hold out much hope for the next 4 days.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
20/20 Cricket at its best
The 2 game Twenty/20 Series between South Africa and England didn't really tell us anything about who would be top dog come the One Day International Series or the Test Series but it was definitely fun, and it appeared to be raining 6's both at Johannesburg and Centurion.
First game and England posted a pretty good 202 with a sublime innings of 85 from Mr Morgan (he who used to play for Ireland you may remember) including an incredible shot where he flicked it over his head and over the keepers head for 6. Of course England largely have the rain to thank for their win as South Africa seemed to be well on their way to chasing that total down and were clearing the ropes enough times on their own, which of course meant the dancers never got a rest.
So England went into game 2 in the series confident but with Alistair Cook captaining the side as Paul Collingwood was out with a bad back, but we did have the returning Kevin Pietersen to boost our hopes. Those hopes soon vanished as the opening pair combined to put on 170 and in total they hit 17 maximums in their mammoth total of 241-6 and as Englands highest ever 20/20 score was the 202 they made in the previous game they never looked threatened. The only real positive note was a good half century from Jonathan Trott although at one point with Trott and Pietersen out batting together all 13 players on the field were born in South Africa.
So with Injuries running through the squad: Paul Collingwood (back), Stuart Broad (Shoulder) and James Anderson (Knee) and the One Day International Series starting on Friday, and the bowlers trying to recover from the pasting they received in the 20/20's (mahmood 4 overs for 61 and Rashid 1 over for 25) it's shaping up to be a good competitive series.
Elsewhere there were hundreds for Rahul Dravid, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the match between India and Sri Lanka with Dravid playing a brilliant innings of 177 after his side had collapsed to 32-4.
First game and England posted a pretty good 202 with a sublime innings of 85 from Mr Morgan (he who used to play for Ireland you may remember) including an incredible shot where he flicked it over his head and over the keepers head for 6. Of course England largely have the rain to thank for their win as South Africa seemed to be well on their way to chasing that total down and were clearing the ropes enough times on their own, which of course meant the dancers never got a rest.
So England went into game 2 in the series confident but with Alistair Cook captaining the side as Paul Collingwood was out with a bad back, but we did have the returning Kevin Pietersen to boost our hopes. Those hopes soon vanished as the opening pair combined to put on 170 and in total they hit 17 maximums in their mammoth total of 241-6 and as Englands highest ever 20/20 score was the 202 they made in the previous game they never looked threatened. The only real positive note was a good half century from Jonathan Trott although at one point with Trott and Pietersen out batting together all 13 players on the field were born in South Africa.
So with Injuries running through the squad: Paul Collingwood (back), Stuart Broad (Shoulder) and James Anderson (Knee) and the One Day International Series starting on Friday, and the bowlers trying to recover from the pasting they received in the 20/20's (mahmood 4 overs for 61 and Rashid 1 over for 25) it's shaping up to be a good competitive series.
Elsewhere there were hundreds for Rahul Dravid, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the match between India and Sri Lanka with Dravid playing a brilliant innings of 177 after his side had collapsed to 32-4.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Whingers, Whiners...oh and some cricket as well
I turned on the TV the other day to see that an interview with Stuart Broad was taking place and since he has always been someone that I have admired I figured that i'd check it out and see what he had to say, unfortunately he chose to use the interview as a place to moan, bitch and basically whinge about how much cricket they are playing and how much it was impacting on them.
Now usually I just turn the TV off if something like that happens to be on my screen but as Stuart Broad is someone that I admire I wanted to listen and see just what he was saying and it was along the lines of that if he was to continue playing the amount of cricket that they are playing now then in 5 years time (at the age of 28) he will be totally burnt out and his career will be over.
Now there are a few things that I don't agree with there, firstly he is currently 23 years old and between now and the time he reaches 30 he is supposed to be in peak condition and at the height of his fitness, throw in all of the money he makes from playing for England, including all of his sponsorship deals and various outings that earn him money then I don't see what he's whinging about.
Compare that and the amount of work he has to undertake compared to someone that works a full 40-50 hour week on minimum wage and we see exactly where the professional cricketers have it so hard (note the sarcasm). I mean i work a 45 hour week and I for one would give my right arm to be in the England Cricket Team no matter how much that meant I had to practise and play cricket and fulfill duties to the team and sponsors and stuff (I mean it might be hard for me to bat or bowl without my right arm but I'd still give it a go haha)
Elsewhere there was an Indian collapse of English proportions when they slipped to 170 all out in the 6th One Day International and ended up losing the game and the series as the Aussies took an unassailable 4-2 lead. In other action there was heartbreak for Pakistan players as chasing a total of 211 they slumped to 101-9 before a last wicket stand of 103 got them just 7 runs away from the New Zealand total before they lost their last wicket, and you have to wonder whether they would have rather lost by 100 runs than to get so close and then lose.
With the England vs South Africa series starting Friday with the first 20/20 Internationals there was wins for both teams in their warm up games with Andrew Strauss in particular looking in fantastic form with 189 runs under his belt in just the 2 warm up games. So lets hope that he carries that form on and gives the Saffers a taste of their own medicine in the upcoming battle.
Now usually I just turn the TV off if something like that happens to be on my screen but as Stuart Broad is someone that I admire I wanted to listen and see just what he was saying and it was along the lines of that if he was to continue playing the amount of cricket that they are playing now then in 5 years time (at the age of 28) he will be totally burnt out and his career will be over.
Now there are a few things that I don't agree with there, firstly he is currently 23 years old and between now and the time he reaches 30 he is supposed to be in peak condition and at the height of his fitness, throw in all of the money he makes from playing for England, including all of his sponsorship deals and various outings that earn him money then I don't see what he's whinging about.
Compare that and the amount of work he has to undertake compared to someone that works a full 40-50 hour week on minimum wage and we see exactly where the professional cricketers have it so hard (note the sarcasm). I mean i work a 45 hour week and I for one would give my right arm to be in the England Cricket Team no matter how much that meant I had to practise and play cricket and fulfill duties to the team and sponsors and stuff (I mean it might be hard for me to bat or bowl without my right arm but I'd still give it a go haha)
Elsewhere there was an Indian collapse of English proportions when they slipped to 170 all out in the 6th One Day International and ended up losing the game and the series as the Aussies took an unassailable 4-2 lead. In other action there was heartbreak for Pakistan players as chasing a total of 211 they slumped to 101-9 before a last wicket stand of 103 got them just 7 runs away from the New Zealand total before they lost their last wicket, and you have to wonder whether they would have rather lost by 100 runs than to get so close and then lose.
With the England vs South Africa series starting Friday with the first 20/20 Internationals there was wins for both teams in their warm up games with Andrew Strauss in particular looking in fantastic form with 189 runs under his belt in just the 2 warm up games. So lets hope that he carries that form on and gives the Saffers a taste of their own medicine in the upcoming battle.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
The squad has arrived in South Africa
The England squad has arrived in South Africa ahead of their winter tour and the days are now counting down before the first clash on the 13th November and with England taking 2 players that were born in South Africa along with them we could be in for a feisty series with all eyes on how Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott will handle themselves.
The talk has already started with former England Captain Michael Vaughan stating that he saw Jonathan Trott celebrating the South Africans win in their Test Series against England just last year despite the fact that the week before up at Headingley Trott had been the England 12th man, of course this prompted Mr Trott to come out and defend himself by saying that he only said well played to Paul Harris as they were old friends and at no point did he celebrate with the South African players but merely congratulated Paul Harris on his performance as he was leaving England after that game and Trott knew that he wouldn't see him again in a long time.
So with South Africa being the number 1 test side in the world (although they don't want to try to ram that down our throat too much, apart from all the advertisments on sky) and at home it seems that it will be a tough test for England but I believe that they do have a good chance and with odds of 7/2 at some bookmakers (for an England Test Series win) something that i've already put a £10 bet on because England are a good side and I think that we have the talent to go there and do well.
Elsewhere in the world of cricket a good One Day International Series is currently taking place in India between them and Australia and is currently deadlocked 2-2 after the first 4 games (a far cry from a few months ago when Australia were 4-0 up against England). The series has also produced one of the best Batting performances in a long time when Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored a brilliant 124 off just 107 balls as India posted a record total of 354 against Australia in the 3rd game of the series. So with all to play for in the last 3 games of the series i'm very much looking forward to the cricket still to be played in that one.
Finally, news just in that Zimbabwe have been bowled out for just 44 in their game vs Bangladesh and then proceeeded to take 4 wickets themselves before Bangladesh limped over the line to win by 6 wickets. With games of this magnitude going on you have to wonder why there aren't more games for the likes of The Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland who could certainly perform well enough against the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
The talk has already started with former England Captain Michael Vaughan stating that he saw Jonathan Trott celebrating the South Africans win in their Test Series against England just last year despite the fact that the week before up at Headingley Trott had been the England 12th man, of course this prompted Mr Trott to come out and defend himself by saying that he only said well played to Paul Harris as they were old friends and at no point did he celebrate with the South African players but merely congratulated Paul Harris on his performance as he was leaving England after that game and Trott knew that he wouldn't see him again in a long time.
So with South Africa being the number 1 test side in the world (although they don't want to try to ram that down our throat too much, apart from all the advertisments on sky) and at home it seems that it will be a tough test for England but I believe that they do have a good chance and with odds of 7/2 at some bookmakers (for an England Test Series win) something that i've already put a £10 bet on because England are a good side and I think that we have the talent to go there and do well.
Elsewhere in the world of cricket a good One Day International Series is currently taking place in India between them and Australia and is currently deadlocked 2-2 after the first 4 games (a far cry from a few months ago when Australia were 4-0 up against England). The series has also produced one of the best Batting performances in a long time when Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored a brilliant 124 off just 107 balls as India posted a record total of 354 against Australia in the 3rd game of the series. So with all to play for in the last 3 games of the series i'm very much looking forward to the cricket still to be played in that one.
Finally, news just in that Zimbabwe have been bowled out for just 44 in their game vs Bangladesh and then proceeeded to take 4 wickets themselves before Bangladesh limped over the line to win by 6 wickets. With games of this magnitude going on you have to wonder why there aren't more games for the likes of The Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland who could certainly perform well enough against the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
The Week in Cricket
Well this week has been quite a quiet one in the world of cricket with only a few things to talk about but they are exciting things that are to be talked about including the return home of Marcus Trescothick, the big question of who is going to sign Matthew Hoggard up for next Season and of course the Champions League Twenty/20 is reaching its conclusion.
Firstly it was no surprise when I turned on my TV and saw that Marcus Trescothick had succumbed to the same mental injury that had forced him to retire from International Cricket and unfortunately he has now said that he will never go abroad again to tour with cricket. This really was no surprise as if he couldn't do it for his Country why did they think he would be able to leave his family here and go back to India with his county? although in the end it didn't matter much as Somerset won just once and were soon knocked out of the competition as their batsmen failed game after game.
Next came the departure, from Yorkshire, of Matthew Hoggard (former Ashes winning England Bowler) and after a bitter battle of words between both the player and his former county all yes have now turned to see just which county is going to stump up the wages and the length of contract that Matthew wants, with Leicestershire already said to have offered him a 3 year deal. This is a shame for both Hoggard and Yorkshire though as he had previously played for only them throughout his whole career but it appears that they just did not have the financial means to offer him a good enough contract.
Finally the inaugural Twenty20 Cricket Champions League is beginning to draw to a close with one of the finalists already decided and the other one being decided today and then progressing to tomorrows final. Already in the final are the New South Wales Blues (who have the likes of Simon Katich, David Warner, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Phil Hughes in their side) and they will surely be favourites to win the title, but should face some stiff competition in the final where they will meet the winners of today's clash between Trinidad and Tobago Vs Cape Cobras.
So until next week lets hope that the Aussies don't win the Champions League and i know that I for one am hoping that Trinidad and Tobago can upset the odds :)
Firstly it was no surprise when I turned on my TV and saw that Marcus Trescothick had succumbed to the same mental injury that had forced him to retire from International Cricket and unfortunately he has now said that he will never go abroad again to tour with cricket. This really was no surprise as if he couldn't do it for his Country why did they think he would be able to leave his family here and go back to India with his county? although in the end it didn't matter much as Somerset won just once and were soon knocked out of the competition as their batsmen failed game after game.
Next came the departure, from Yorkshire, of Matthew Hoggard (former Ashes winning England Bowler) and after a bitter battle of words between both the player and his former county all yes have now turned to see just which county is going to stump up the wages and the length of contract that Matthew wants, with Leicestershire already said to have offered him a 3 year deal. This is a shame for both Hoggard and Yorkshire though as he had previously played for only them throughout his whole career but it appears that they just did not have the financial means to offer him a good enough contract.
Finally the inaugural Twenty20 Cricket Champions League is beginning to draw to a close with one of the finalists already decided and the other one being decided today and then progressing to tomorrows final. Already in the final are the New South Wales Blues (who have the likes of Simon Katich, David Warner, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Phil Hughes in their side) and they will surely be favourites to win the title, but should face some stiff competition in the final where they will meet the winners of today's clash between Trinidad and Tobago Vs Cape Cobras.
So until next week lets hope that the Aussies don't win the Champions League and i know that I for one am hoping that Trinidad and Tobago can upset the odds :)
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
England Tour to South Africa
So after a long summer of cricket that included the Ashes Test Series, the Hectic 7 match One Day Series between Australia and England and then the ICC Champions Trophy tournament England will be hopping on a plane and jetting off to South Africa for a long tour that will last from the 1st November to the 18th January.
The squads were announced back earlier this month and there were a few surprises in both squads with Liam Plunkett and Luke Wright being included in the Test Squad and also Sajid Mahmood and Alastair Cook being included again in the One Day format of the game, the full squads are below:
Test squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex - captain), Alastair Cook (Essex - vice captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Steven Davies (Surrey), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
One-day squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex - captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Joe Denly (Kent), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
So what i'm going to look at is my 2 sides that would play from these squads if they all remain fit and explain why I have chosen the 2 sides.
Test Team
1 - Andrew Strauss
2 - Alastair Cook
3 - Ian Bell
4 - Kevin Pietersen
5 - Jonathan Trott
6 - Matthew Prior
7 - Luke Wright
8 - Stuart Broad
9 - Graeme Swann
10 - Jimmy Anderson
11 - Graham Onions
The reason I have gone with the above team is because I think that Ian Bell although not always performed at his best is easily one of the technically best batsmen in the world and let us not forget the magical 199 he got last time he played the South Africans and for me Trott is a better pick than Paul collingwood who has barely scored any runs in the Ashes and can no longer do a good enough job at number 5. The only other place in dispute is the number 7 spot and I would go for Luke Wright as he is young, a good striker of the cricket ball and bowls at a brisk pace and can be a handy back up for the other 3 main seamers.
One Day Team
1 - Andrew Strauss
2 - Joe Denly
3 - Ian Bell
4 - Kevin Pietersen
5 - Paul Collingwood
6 - Eoin Morgan
7 - Matthew Prior
8 - Luke Wright
9 - Stuart Broad
10 - Graeme Swann
11 - Jimmy Anderson
I have gone for the above team as you have the longer batting order and if you were worried about the bowling you could exchange Luke Wright for Tim Bresnan however i think that in the One Day format then you should have enough bowlers especially if you were willing to use Kevin Pietersen as a part time spinner as he does turn the ball a lot.
I am sure that these above teams will not be the ones that walk out to the middle to start the series but in my opinion if the England management want to be seen to be making a go at competing in the One Day arena as well as the Test arena then they have to make changes from the past series that have gone and the above team could well do that.
The squads were announced back earlier this month and there were a few surprises in both squads with Liam Plunkett and Luke Wright being included in the Test Squad and also Sajid Mahmood and Alastair Cook being included again in the One Day format of the game, the full squads are below:
Test squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex - captain), Alastair Cook (Essex - vice captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Steven Davies (Surrey), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
One-day squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex - captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Joe Denly (Kent), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
So what i'm going to look at is my 2 sides that would play from these squads if they all remain fit and explain why I have chosen the 2 sides.
Test Team
1 - Andrew Strauss
2 - Alastair Cook
3 - Ian Bell
4 - Kevin Pietersen
5 - Jonathan Trott
6 - Matthew Prior
7 - Luke Wright
8 - Stuart Broad
9 - Graeme Swann
10 - Jimmy Anderson
11 - Graham Onions
The reason I have gone with the above team is because I think that Ian Bell although not always performed at his best is easily one of the technically best batsmen in the world and let us not forget the magical 199 he got last time he played the South Africans and for me Trott is a better pick than Paul collingwood who has barely scored any runs in the Ashes and can no longer do a good enough job at number 5. The only other place in dispute is the number 7 spot and I would go for Luke Wright as he is young, a good striker of the cricket ball and bowls at a brisk pace and can be a handy back up for the other 3 main seamers.
One Day Team
1 - Andrew Strauss
2 - Joe Denly
3 - Ian Bell
4 - Kevin Pietersen
5 - Paul Collingwood
6 - Eoin Morgan
7 - Matthew Prior
8 - Luke Wright
9 - Stuart Broad
10 - Graeme Swann
11 - Jimmy Anderson
I have gone for the above team as you have the longer batting order and if you were worried about the bowling you could exchange Luke Wright for Tim Bresnan however i think that in the One Day format then you should have enough bowlers especially if you were willing to use Kevin Pietersen as a part time spinner as he does turn the ball a lot.
I am sure that these above teams will not be the ones that walk out to the middle to start the series but in my opinion if the England management want to be seen to be making a go at competing in the One Day arena as well as the Test arena then they have to make changes from the past series that have gone and the above team could well do that.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Australia Retain their Trophy and England Fluff it Again
Well the England cricket team seems to enjoy making us think that they could actually become a good One Day team, just to then throw in a ridiculously poor performance and get knocked out of the competition despite beating both the pre-tournament favourites of Sri Lanka and South Africa.
It all started badly against New Zealand as we lost the last group game which meant that we would have to face the Winners of the other group and after Australia beat Pakistan in their last group match it meant that after a 7 match series, which we lost 6-1, again we had to face Australia.
On a pitch that was supposed to be the best batting pitch of the whole tournament England won the toss and batted first and after a poor start reached 100 for the loss of 6 wickets, only Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright managed to get any runs and in the end we could only muster a score of 257 All Out, Bresnan the highest scorer with a composed knock of 80 of 76 balls.
Hope was there as Graeme Onions removed Tim Paine in the first over but from then on it was all Australia as both Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting hit centuries as they chased down the target finishing on 258-1 with over 8 overs to spare. In the other Semi Final things were a lot closer as New Zealand edged out Pakistan by 5 wickets to progress through and meet Australia in the final.
The final again was a one sided affair with New Zealand posting a meagre 200-9 off their 50 overs with Australia chasing it down whilst losing only 4 wickets, with Shane Watson again the hero hitting 4 maximums in a brilliant innings of 105 Not Out off 129 balls, although he was dropped by Wicket Keeper Brendan McCullum when he was on just 15 which could have made all the difference.
So that brings us to a break in the Cricket Season with the next England game being the tour to South Africa which starts on the 20th November with the First One Day International, but I will still be blogging and next week we will be looking at the winners and losers of the County Cricket Season 2009.
It all started badly against New Zealand as we lost the last group game which meant that we would have to face the Winners of the other group and after Australia beat Pakistan in their last group match it meant that after a 7 match series, which we lost 6-1, again we had to face Australia.
On a pitch that was supposed to be the best batting pitch of the whole tournament England won the toss and batted first and after a poor start reached 100 for the loss of 6 wickets, only Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright managed to get any runs and in the end we could only muster a score of 257 All Out, Bresnan the highest scorer with a composed knock of 80 of 76 balls.
Hope was there as Graeme Onions removed Tim Paine in the first over but from then on it was all Australia as both Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting hit centuries as they chased down the target finishing on 258-1 with over 8 overs to spare. In the other Semi Final things were a lot closer as New Zealand edged out Pakistan by 5 wickets to progress through and meet Australia in the final.
The final again was a one sided affair with New Zealand posting a meagre 200-9 off their 50 overs with Australia chasing it down whilst losing only 4 wickets, with Shane Watson again the hero hitting 4 maximums in a brilliant innings of 105 Not Out off 129 balls, although he was dropped by Wicket Keeper Brendan McCullum when he was on just 15 which could have made all the difference.
So that brings us to a break in the Cricket Season with the next England game being the tour to South Africa which starts on the 20th November with the First One Day International, but I will still be blogging and next week we will be looking at the winners and losers of the County Cricket Season 2009.
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