Mark Chilton – LiveCricket.in
Chill discusses cricket
Posts Tagged ‘England’
17th
Although it was a disappointing end, Andrew Strauss and his men can hold their heads high after a successful tour of South Africa. To come away with a win in the 1-day series and a squared Test Series is a highly commendable effort. Despite there being areas for improvement i thought the England team showed a lot of bottle and unity against the no.1 rated team in the world. It seems that the Strauss/Flower combination is working really well and they have an exact idea of how they are going to become the best England outfit for many years.
I enjoyed the series and thought it was a fantastic advert for Test cricket, which has come under some pressure recently. The standard of quick bowling in the Final Test was something that hasn’t been seen for some time and even caught the imagination of the Sky commentators who had previously dealt with the likes of Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Donald, Pollock etc.
A little break now before England travel to Bangladesh where they will face completely different conditions and styles of cricket. I have to agree with David Gower who wrote that he thought it a shame that Strauss is not going to lead that tour. They had a great opportunity to keep the momentum going that they have created over the last 12 months.
Signing off now but more to follow.
5th
Firstly I must apologise for the absence of Blog material, we have been faced with a few technical difficulties that are hopefully now sorted.
The Ashes now move to Headingley where England have a great opportunity to secure the urn with one test left to play. The series has been evenly matched so far but I think we have just edged it and deserve the 1-0 lead. The England bowling attack has looked more potent than the Australians and I think they are more likely to take the 20 wickets required to win a test match.
Headingley can be an interesting place to play and games can change very quickly depending on the overhead conditions. However, it looks like wickets have been a bit flatter than normal this year with plenty of runs being scored there. It will be another battle of attrition and victory will come to the team that keeps the focus and intensity for the full five days. England will hope that Freddie is fit enough to impact the game, the last two tests have shown how valuable he can be with both bat and ball.
More to follow……….
18th
It has been a while since writing and much has happened. The Pieterson/Moores affair has finally been dealt with but not without consequences. I wanted to get some opinion on how influential a Captain should be, especially at the international level. Should the ECB have given Kevin Pieterson what he wanted or are they the ones that put everything in place and then people learn to work together for the best of the country/team.
Personally i think the Captain’s opinion clearly needs to be sought but too much power can be a dangerous thing and it is crucial when making appointments that these people are happy to work together. Clearly Pieterson had his problems with Moores from an early stage so why was he appointed as Captain? Surely to the people closely involved, the final outcome wasn’t overly surprising.
It is sad that it all happened the way it did and is clearly not ideal preparation for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. Andrew Strauss has a tough job on his hands harmonising, what could be, a difficult changing room. I am sure his aim will be to get the team to be open and honest and try to rebuild some team spirit.
I am backing Kevin Pieterson to score runs in the Caribbean but whether the team will gel together well enough to force some positive results remains to be seen.
14th
Looks like an exciting game ahead but i am still backing our boys. Fantastic effort my Andrew Strauss, i think he becomes only the seventh player in history to score a hundred in each innings on the sub continent and the first England player. He hasn’t played much recently and the preparation for this game was so disrupted that it makes the feat even more impressive.
Straussy has clearly thought long and hard about his gameplan, particularly against the spinners where he looked to sweep on a regular basis but he also played the reverse swinging ball extremely well, playing the ball late and not looking for too many big shots.
Sehwag has played a typically aggressive innings to put India in with a sniff but i reckon Englands attack is well equipped to finish the job off….Flintoff 4 wickets. This would be a huge result for us, India have been in good form and are full of confidence so lets hope the boys finish the job off.
16th
Not a great start! England have now suffered two humiliating defeats within a fortnight and are going to have to turn things around very quickly to try and regain some confidence. Losing is never fun…but getting whooped is dreadful. They face a stiff challenge, the Indian team look full of confidence in both forms of the game and are taking the game to the opposition by playing positive, aggressive cricket.
My feelings are that they England are going to have to match this and go all out to try and assert themselves from the start of the game. Whether they bat or bowl first tomorrow the first ten overs will be crucial and the game can be won and lost in that time. This puts alot of responsibility on the likes of Matt Prior and Ian Bell with the bat and Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad with the ball.
The injury to Yuvraj Singh would be a bonus after his phenomenal performance the other night!
2nd
So the bonanza comes to an end in disappointing fashion for the fans and a slightly embarassing one for the England players. Not only did they miss out on the biggest purse of their careers but they also failed to perform even close to their potential on the night. The money is obviously a huge factor but i also think they will be gutted to not have given a better performance.
Right from the start there seemed to be a funny feeling surrounding the whole event. Kevin Pieterson made no bones about the fact that he hadnt enjoyed the experience and there seems to be a cloud over how things will go forward from here. A performance like the one in the final often screams of some sort discontent or lack of focus and maybe the players were uncomfortable with how the whole event turned out. I certainly think Pieterson is on the ball when it comes to preparing and focusing for cricket matches so i find the whole thing quite bizarre.
Although England didnt come out of the whole affair covering themselves in glory i think KP has handled it all with a degree of dignity and that we have the right man in charge.
16th
Who would have thought it? Cricket hosts the most valuable game in sporting history. Much has been written and spoken on the forthcoming millionaires Twenty20 match between Allen Stanfords all-star West Indies XI and the current England team ,so where do I stand…….utterly gobsmacked is a good way of putting it!
It is quite hard to believe that such vast amounts of money will be riding on one shot, one ball, one catch, one mistake or one hero.
I am sure that when the players think about it even now, their hearts start to race and the butterflies begin to flutter. What an amazing event to be involved in though, even if the cricket becomes secondary to the money and razzmatazz this will be a great spectacle that I am sure millions will be tuning in for.
All I can say is good luck and make sure that catch is taken!
15th
The reign of Kevin Pietersen could not have started any better. England have out performed South Africa in all departments, with the Captain immediately stamping his authority on both his side, and the opposition. He has clearly made demand on certain players roles and in my view been very perceptive with his choices. I like the Bell/Prior opening partnership, Shah at number three and also the extra responsibility given to Andrew Flintoff who has been asked to bat at number five.
He has also led from the front with both his demeanor and his own play, looking ultra confident at the crease this will give confidence to those players around him and definitely looks like it has happened with players like Bell and Flintoff both who are playing with renewed confidence. Long may it continue, a whitewash against South Africa would be a fabulous start.