I put together a post the other day about how England were being taught a lesson in one day cricket by an Indian side at the top of their game, but before I could post it we had the horrific news about terrorist attacks in Mumbai.So the England team head home for now, which is probably the best thing since the final one-dayers were cancelled. I would imagine that the players would be climbing up the walls in their hotel rooms with increased security around them probably not giving them much space to do anything. It is better to come home, and either relax and recharge, or get in the nets. What happens to the test series is currently up in the air (since one of the tests was supposed to be in Mumbai), so hanging around in a foreign country when you might not even have any cricket to play at the end makes little sense.It is a shame for the Indian crowds that had gathered to watch us get beaten in the first five one-dayers they were probably enjoying it! However, security is obviously number one in these situations and you can’t blame the players for jumping on the plane whilst the heat is still on.Lets hope that a certain sense of normality returns to the streets soon and we can get back out there and regain some pride in a test series!

There has been a lot of interest in news and images surrounding the new Adidas cricket bats and equipment, and we are now in a position to show a little bit more. Ok, the images below aren’t exactly groundbreaking but hopefully you’ll like them nonetheless.

The image above shows from top to bottom the Adidas Incurza Cricket Bat, Adidas Libro Cricket Bat and the Adidas Pellara Cricket Bat. The Adidas Incurza is said to be for aggressive players, the Adidas Libro for back foot batsmen and the Adidas Pellara for the front foot player (including Kevin Pietersen).

I ‘ve got to be honest when I say I’m not that taken on the looks of these bats, and if you take that away what have you got left? An overpriced bat selling on the basis of sponsorship. Having said that, the interest created in these bats already is nothing short of phenomenal considering Adidas have done little to no PR, they’ve let people like me do that for them for free!!

I’d like to have a look at the bats and the soft goods in greater detail before casting too much judgement though on the feeling of quality of the whole range as a whole. There are a few places offering pre-orders on the range of Adidas bats, gloves, pads etc now, along with the new Adidas cricket spikes they have released (which I think they’ve ruined – but thats a post for another day!)

Read my previous post on Adidas Cricket Equipment

A top of the range cricket bat nowadays can cost up to 300 quid, a not insignificant sum of money. However it can be worth it if you have the money to spend and want the best bat available. When you are spending that kind of money how can you be sure that you are getting exactly the right bat for you?

By choosing a custom cricket bat experience, that’s how! For £275 pounds, you can have the opportunity to have a bat completely custom created for you at Somerset’s county ground by the master craftsmen that are Millichamp & Hall. This is normally the preserve of the professional cricketer, but you will get to choose the exact cleft of willow before speaking with the batmakers who will then shape it to suit your game.

So if you are after a present for a loved one or just want to treat yourself before next season, then think about a custom cricket bat as the best way to get the best possible cricket bat for you!

Order the cricket bat experience here!

The latest England one day series has crept up on us a bit with all the fuss surrounding the recent Stanford Twenty20 and despite being in India only a few days England have already played two warm up games. The first they won quite convincingly, the second they lost in a similar fashion. That doesn’t surprise me at all or anyone who reads my ramblings here, England are consistently inconsistent!

The 7 one dayers are going to be really tough against a very good Indian side who are also riding high on confidence having just beaten the Aussies 2-0 in a test series. I don’t expect us to win the series, but a couple of wins and some good showings would probably be an achievable target.

Starting at 3.30am on Friday morning it isn’t exactly a recipe to high live viewing figures, and I won’t be that bothered about missing a fair bit of the live action – highlights is good enough when there are so many ODI’s. Its a shame that there are only 2 test matches, but the Indian way at the moment is getting people and advertising in, and test matches just do that for the moment.

So I think we’ll lose the series, yes. Maybe that is defeatist of me or maybe its realistic. I have no real expectations so the England players will do well to let me down (but I bet they find a way of doing it!).

I received an e-mail from Carly Baldwin this week who is studying a journalism course at Uni and recently interviewed England women’s cricketer Sarah Taylor. Below is the article as written by Carly.

As England’s male cricketers are left to reflect on their Stanford Twenty20 humiliation, one of their female counterparts has made a plea for her team not to be ignored as they prepare for a crucial year.

Sarah Taylor, the world’s fourth best batter in the ICC rankings, says that next year’s World Cup and Ashes series, along with the Twenty20 World Cup, could signal the start of a successful run for England’s women.

“Realistically we have a great chance to win the World Cup,” she says. ” We have a strong side full of enthusiasm and belief, and though we are a young side we have a lot of experience.”

England travel to Australia in March to compete in the tournament, and Taylor believes they will encounter some familiar foes: “New Zealand and Australia are definately the teams to beat, and home advantage will help them.”

Australia will then head for English soil to compete in the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes, which, after a period of Australian dominance, have been in English hands since 2005.

Taylor says that home advantage for both competitions should benefit her side: “Having the Twenty20 World Cup on home soil should be a definite advantage, yet there will be that added pressure of high expectations,” she admits. “I am confident that we can deal with it and that our supporters will be behind us.”

With the three biggest prizes in cricket up for grabs in such a short space of time, Taylor believes that the women’s team have never had such an opportunity to gain recognition.

“To have three major events in one year can only be good for the women’s game. I’m sure it will raise the profile of women’s cricket and we hope that there will be bigger crowds for all the games.”

The Sussex wicketkeeper, first called into the international fold in 2006 aged just 17, says that the team are hoping the Twenty20 tournament, where the women’s matches will be curtain raisers to the men’s games, will provide a platform to showcase their talents. “Playing before the men’s games will make people aware of us and we hope to impress,” she says. ” Recognition is important for the women’s game and success is what we are working hard to achieve.”

Well well, where do I start when I try and round up the Stanford Twenty20 for $20m competition?! As you all know, we looked like a bunch of amateurs when trying to bat, and I don’t think any of the players would get into local club cricket batting like that! After everything that happened during the week, all the players had to think about when going out to bat was that – bat – and they failed miserably.

I mentioned to the people I was watching it with that on a slow pitch like that, I would have preferred to chase a target – it wouldn’t have made a difference to the outcome on the day such was the lack of quality from England, but when you don’t know what a good target to set is, you have no idea knowing how to come out batting. Still, almost everyone made a mistake getting out and it just wasn’t the spectacle that everyone wanted in such a high profile game. It wasn’t the superstars fault – they showed that they wanted the victory which the England players didn’t (how you don’t show it when there is $1m per person up for grabs I don’t know!), and I’m glad they won it in the end and celebrated in the right fashion.

Who knows what the future will hold for England and this competition, I hope they go back as there is no doubt that it creates a bit of interest, I just hope the media stop complaining about and embrace it if it does happen. Take me along ECB and I’ll create some positivity (and have a nice holiday in the sun!).