The England Cricket thread

[mrboombarrakoomba]

hmm, 9 wickets down.

 

[paulspursman]

last 2 put on 40 and india refused to enforce follow on

joy for england at last india 30 for 3

 

[TrueYid]

Get India out for less than 150 by tea and we have a game on

 

[kishman]

Good partnership going for India between Dravid and Ganguly. India are 54-3. This partnership needs to be broken as soon as possible and like TrueYid says if India are bowled out for 150 or so there is definitely a game on.

 

[Tickers]

Credit to Kumble for getting a century. Prior is a very poor wicketkeeper, he has conceded a record number of byes this series. The selectors should seriously consider bringing back Reid for the test series in Sri Lanka.

It's tricky now. I'm honestly torn on the keeper now.

Obviously if I was in charge this mess wouldn't have happened because I wouldn't have dropped Read for a gobby bore who can't catch.

But England have, and after picking a keeper who they knew was going to drop catches and such, it would be harsh to drop him for dropping catches and such.

But he is almost certainly the worst wicketkeeper ever to play for a major Test nation.

 

[paulspursman]

england did pretty well to get the draw in the end

difficult to bat too well on a worn 5th day pitch

still the series was lost 1-0 but i didnt think india deserved to win it 2-0

 

[mrboombarrakoomba]

what kind of stupid wicket the groundsmen prepared?
they should have made a more sporting pitch rather than a flat one. india deserved the series overall. both teams are about even.

 

[TrueYid]

what kind of stupid wicket the groundsmen prepared?
they should have made a more sporting pitch rather than a flat one. india deserved the series overall. both teams are about even.

Spot on. Also a shame we didn't have 5 tests against them, was a hard fought series compared to the earlier series of the summer.

 

[mrboombarrakoomba]

yeah, windies are a joke now, sri lanka were ok, pakistan are a big joke. england are roughly on par with india which is why all the games were quality test matches. both sides really going for it. very impressed with both sets of young bowlers coming through including tremlett, sreesanth and rp singh.

 

[TrueYid]

We could really do with a long rest now, the Australians have not played any cricket since the world cup, alot are playing the the County Championship now staying fit, and finding (never really lost) form.

Instead we have a mamoth one days series followed by a 20twenty WC and then on tour again.

Just ruining our chances of ever becoming number 1, because players like Flintoff and Harmi can never get into any kind of form...

We now have some young bowlers coming through, but how long can they last before they are worn out.

 

[montylynch]

The good thing is that these young bowlers have shown there is life after Harmi, Hoggie and Simon Jones. It'll be a tough all when those three are fit again, a fit and raring simon jones can be a very potent weapon.

Tremlett has been a very good find and Anderson has been a revelation, not long ago he was a glorified Water Boy but he has really knuckled down and did the business.

Moores will have a poser when they are all fit, but it's a nice choice to have.

Can't see us doing anything in the one dayers, I strongly fancy India winning it to nil.

 

[kishman]

England 288-2 after their 50 overs. With Cook and Bell both getting centuries. Just what England were lacking during the world cup, centuries at the top of the order.

In reply India are 105-6 after 32 overs. England on their way to winning a ODI.

 

[Tickers]

Great win that. Close to perfect.

And they did it with the plan they used throughout the World Cup - the only difference was this time two of the top order went on to get the big scores that are required to make the scheme work.

The bowling was superb though. Anderson and Broad gave nowt away, and Freddie seemed to take it personally that the Sky caption downgraded him to "fast-medium" on his return from injury. There was nothing remotely medium about it.

 

[paulspursman]

i think the special praise needs to go to Bell and Cook who always seem to go unnoticed with the casual fans and the press

a lot kept sayin those 2 were undeserving of their places in ODI team but Bells innings was one KP would have been proud of

England have to keep this form goin though. one great performance means nothing if we dont back it up throughout the series

shame its the twenty20 world cup coming up and not the 50 overs one just as we hit a bit of form

 

[TrueYid]

288-2 is a very strange score for a ODI - with 2 wickets down you would expect a team to have 320+ on the board.

But still a great display, which will hopefully give the team some belief because there is no doubt that England have the quality!

 

[Tickers]

shame its the twenty20 world cup coming up and not the 50 overs one just as we hit a bit of form

We did hit a bit of form before that one. Going into the World Cup, Australia were the team who were out of form...

 

[paulspursman]

well yeah form is never long term for england is it

england looking ok in their chase of 330 at the moment

98/2 off 15 overs so far

 

[nidge]

127 -2 at the moment. Off 20 overs

 

[michael_jackson]

eng 320/8 final score. india won by 9 runs.........
what a run west!!

 

[paulspursman]

was a great match

england did very well to get so close to what would have been a record run chase