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..
England’s Selectors Ignoring Me!
Well despite my stunning test XI team I said I would chose in my last post, it looks like the selectors have some common sense and ignored the armchair fan! Strauss bagged himself a ton in the warm up game so is now nailed on for the no 3 spot by the looks of things, which means Shah will miss out. You have to wonder if this century made a difference anyway as it seemed that Strauss was always going to play listening to the vibes from the camp – so at this point you find the decision of leaving him out of the Sri Lankan tour all the more bewildering. Why drop a guy if you are going to bring him back in no matter what?
Ambrose will get the keeper spot – and you really just think that they don’t know which keeper to play. I guess seeing as no one keeper has stamped his authority on the spot there will always be speculation about this spot, and I don’t expect that to change overnight. I have one concern with Ambrose, and its one which is looking to the future, and specifically the next Ashes series. Ambrose left Australia back in 2001 I think, and I just hope that he is mentally strong enough to cope with everything that will come his way if he is the keeper in charge at that point. Playing against your “home” country isn’t an easy thing, as KP will no doubt tell him, and it will be a real test of his character if he is in possession then. Ok, maybe I’m getting too ahead of myself now but anyway..
Luckily for England, Tremlett injured himself and will play no part in the tour. I don’t wish injury on any player, let lone an English one but this is a blessing and we’ll go in with Harmy, Hoggard and a fit Sidebottom.
So, bring on the test series and let see how much we can watch starting tomorrow night before we fall asleep!!
England in NZ
I’m glad to say that come Tuesday, England will be back in live action - its felt like ages since we last had a result to care about and I’ve been watching bits of Australian and South African series, but there is nothing quite like having an England result to talk about!
We start off with a Twenty20 game followed by some ODI’s, and for once our team is looking ok (yes I really did say that). There is a decent bit of competition for places and in the warm up games there are a few people scoring runs and taking wickets which bodes well. Its true to say that NZ are really struggling for players, with some out injured like Vettori - and their star bowler Shane Bond being unable to play due to signing up to the rebel Indian Cricket League. And when the test matches come around Styris won’t be playing either as he has decided to concentrate on the ODI’s.
I’m actually away this week for a bit so I’ll more than likely miss the first game and I won’t be able to post, but if I get the chance I will!
So all in all, its a tour we should come away from with some positive results, and if we don’t then there will be some people held accountable, but I’m not going to be too downbeat unless that happens!
I’ve signed up for a fantasy league thing at cricinfo based on the above series - its free to enter if you fancy your chances! I’ll let you know how well I get on!
P.S A couple of days ago on the 1st Feb, this blog became one year old! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it for however long you’ve been reading and I hope that it goes from strength to strengh!
