Pre-order the new England Adidas Kit!
As you may notice when visiting the blog, I’ve started the countdown to the new England Adidas kit being revealed and released with a few images and the like! Remember that this is the best place to come for all the info in the lead up to the big day!
In fact, “the big day” is two days - the reveal date that we first see the kit, and then a week later it will be available to buy. If you want to get in there early though, you can pre-order your kit straight from kitbag right now to ensure you are one of the first to receive the latest kit when it is available for sale.
When is it revealed? 18th April
When is it released? 23rd April
There you go, the two most important days in April right there! Keep checking back for more info as I get it!
Update - I have revealed what the kit looks like here, take a look!
When We’re Good..
I don’t know what is going on with the England team at the moment - it seems that when we’re good we’re very very good and when we’re bad we’re just bloody awful! The third test got off to a shocking start, but we recovered thanks mainly to KP, although Colly and Broad also helped out. Then with the ball we take an early wicket before giving them a chance, before Sideshow Ryan leaps into action and ends up with 7-47! The pitch looks a good one so there isn’t really a reason as to why both teams have relatively struggled with the bat in the first innings.
Fast forward to the second innings and watching Andrew Strauss possibly saving his international career with a not particularly fast, but telling big century. Quite why, when he got out, we continued batting baffled the commentators but I don’t see it as that big an issue, we’ve got plenty of time to bowl them out on the last day that if we don’t do so we won’t have deserved to win the series.
With Freddie talking a good game with his recovery though and aiming to be ready for the first test of the English summer, one of the current batsmen may have to miss out, so Strauss may not have completely saved himself just yet. It’s not clear cut though that he’ll walk straight back into the team, he’ll have to prove that he is ready before he waltzes back into the side..
Also, there is now just one day of test cricket left before we start wearing new Adidas England cricket shirts! As soon as there is some info/pictures and somewhere to buy these I’ll let you know so keep an eye out for that!
Can Something Interesting Happen Please?
Not much interesting has happened this week – plenty of news just none of it really that interesting:
Freddie is on the comeback trail (again)
Darryl Hair and the infamous test match between England and Pakistan is brought up (again)
Eng vs SA this summer might use third umpire referrals (rubbish, whats the point)
Final NZ vs Eng test match (not been the most inspiring series)
Still, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend so at least we have that to be thankful for! If England don’t win I’ll be disapointed, as NZ are without Oram and Mills, so their bowling attack will be a lot weaker. Oram hasn’t really got going with the bat yet so they won’t miss him there so much, but his control with the ball has been useful, and Mills has been taking wickets so that’ll be a loss for them. Tim Southee who is replacing Mills is a decent young bowler, I remember first seeing him in a Twenty20 game against Aus I think and he showed he is one for the future. I’m not sure they would have planned to bring him in this early, but he has a chance now to stake a claim for a place in their side when they come over here in the summer.
England might be without Colly, and Anderson is apparently still feeling his ankle which he went over on last week. They should both be ok, if not then Shah will come in for Colly, which would be a bit of loss as Colly has been doing a fair bit of bowling for us so far in the series, but we shall see.. If the wicket turns (and NZ will probably play two spinners), we may well see KP turning his arm over for a few overs.
It’s also the last test match England will play in Admiral kit, as from the beginning of April the Adidas contract will have kicked in! Lets hope we see some exciting new shirts soon!
England to Win..?
As I begin writing this NZ are 288-8 in the first session of the final day of the test and in all likelihood England will go on and win this game in the next couple of hours. Getting Vettori out cheaply was a big wicket, and after the disasterous fielding performance last night it was a good catch which got him out.
We have played much better in this match; we put some good runs on the board in the first innings and the change of bowlers in the side seems to have freshened things up. Anderson took 5 wickets in the first innings, and Broad has looked a really useful player as well.
If Anderson is fit for the final test after his warm down injury, I don’t see any changes being made to this team for the final test which is going to be played on a belter of a batting track, so a drawn series might well be favourite, but we shall see as until they get out there and start playing, anything could happen.
Speaking of the Anderson injury, I can’t believe how much fuss is being made about the football warm down which injured him (although luckily not too bad). All teams warm down at the end of the day and a light game of football is played by cricketers up and down the country. You have to keep exercise fun at the end of a day of cricket, and I don’t see how playing football is a risk. Anyway, hopefully the Sky Sports team will shut up about it! Speaking of the sky sports team, where has Nasser Hussain gone? He was out there for the first test but has been replaced by Paul Allot for the 2nd test. Lets start a “Nasser Watch” and if you know where he is let me know!
Right, 295-8 now - lets hope the England team don’t make me look a complete fool for posting this before the game is over!
England Continue to Disappoint
I held off writing about the first test for a day in the hope that my disgust at England’s ineptitude would subside, and I think it has a bit. I already don’t care that much as it is gone and there is nothing we can do about it but accept the fact that we are rubbish!
After four days it looked like the test was finely poised thanks to Sideshow Ryan, but a draw was still the favourite outcome. However, as we sat in the pub on Saturday night and we looked at the latest score to see us 13-1, we all had that sinking feeling that we were about to get rolled over. And not wanting to disappoint, the team did just that. 110 was an embarrassment on a pitch that was still batsman friendly, with only Ian Bell coming out with any sense of satisfaction with an unbeaten half century. The rest of the batsman got out playing soft shots (or not playing a shot at all in KP’s case), and watching the highlights last night there was never any sense that we were going to battle it out.
The most worrying thing is that I’m not surprised. We’ve done this before and we’ll do it again, it must be in the English mentality. The commentators out there were pretty damning, but had different views on what to do for the next match, which starts this week, luckily I think. Broad MUST come in for Harmison, who was given just four overs in the second innings, and Botham said he would shake things up in the batting order to give everyone something to think about instead of dwelling on a horrible defeat.
Following England is never dull…
Stop Disapointing Us
I nearly wrote this post last night but I thought I’d give him another night to prove his worth, for something in me thought it couldn’t be quite so bad. But it was, so here it is:
I said last week that I would have chosen Harmison for the team, but I reserved the right to change my mind – and here is that change of mind… Harmison… get out of the England side and back on a plane to England. You arrive un-prepared because you don’t “like” playing one-day cricket, and then when you are thrown the ball, you bowl slower than Collingwood and with about as much penetration as a blunt spoon.
“Fast” bowlers prepare well, warm up and are ready to hit their straps from the off. Sidebottom nearly got an LBW with the first ball of the test match as he was ready - Harmy threw down a medium paced dobbler which bounced a couple of times on the way through to the keeper. Over the two days so far he has been seen rehearsing bits of his action when walking back to his mark like a junior might, as the best players are prepared and know their action when the game comes around. I know the pitch is slow, but does that excuse the ball coming out of the hand at under 80mph regularly? Not for someone who is supposed to be the fast strike bowler.
Get Stuart Broad in the side for the next game, and don’t play Harmy again until he has played multiple games for Durham in the summer and shown that he is bowling well, and quick. So that may not be for a long time..
