Try DVD rental for £3.99 per month!
Posts Comments
Loading ...
By Will 3 years ago, mid-June Leave a comment on this post
OK - firstly, let me apologise. It’s not often a fervent cricket fan can celebrate a victory against Australia. Furthermore, it’s not often any such victory against them is ever described as “crushing.” So you’ll forgive my tabloid-style headline, for it is actually true.
After Michael Clarke lost his kit, and Michael Kasprowicz had some cash stolen - both in Leicester, reportedly - this loss against their oldest enemy will hurt (and surprise) them the most. As “Boof” Lehmann said on commentary, “Man, they’ll be hurting big style right now.”
As is 20/20’s very nature, everything happened very quickly. England eventually compiled a reasonable score, but were clearly edgy - several players indicating in post-innings interviews that the pitch was a belter (and it looked as such). Trescothick’s pedestrian 40 (from 37 balls!) was a vital cornerstone, and he looked in very good nick. Kevin Pietersen, man of the match, made a brutal, vital and telling 34 - from just 18 balls. As I’ve said before, it will only take a few innings of brutality/brilliance by Pietersen to oust Thorpe for the first Test at Lord’s and, today, he made another mark in the selector’s heads. 3 comfortable catches and a good innings, in his first game against possibly the best side in history. Nicely done.
Then carnage insued. Pensioner Darren Gough and debutant Jon Lewis (”never knowingly undersold” as David Lloyd said!) ripped out Australia’s top order. By the time Martin had edged Lewis to Trescothick, standing alone in the slips, Australia had crumbled to 31-7. Some key points:
Yes it’s a 20/20. Yes it’s not a 50 over game, or a Test match. But, had Australia won, you can bet most of the Australian media asking: “What’s all the fuss about this so-called New England? Same old, same old.” They’ve lost their first game against England on tour; Australia don’t do things like that, and will be licking their wounds.
I’m not making any more comment about how brilliant England were, or whether Australia were jet-lagged: England had a great day, and Australia had a shocker. But although many will say “Mate, it’s just a warm-up - you wait ’til the Tests”, England have just issued the strongest signal yet that they are well up for this series.
Tags: 2020, australia, england, the-ashes, twenty20, twentytwenty |
“England held all their catches (read that again if you’ve just fallen off your chair)”
I was listening on the radio, and thought I heard a description of one catch chance being missed by an England fielder very early on, when the ball was hit high into the air and a fielder misjudged it. But I don’t remember who either the batsman or the fielder was, and I may be confused.
Ah, you’re right Chris. I think it may have been Strauss, mis-judging a Gilchrist-hook. He came in 3 metres from the boundary, and watched it sail just past his hands. That aside, a good fielding performance.
A very fair account from an understandably excited English supported - and good luck to you!
And you’re right, while it is “only 20/20″ and the Aussie press will make a number of statements about why it doesn’t matter, I for one would still rather have won it, and on past tours, against lesser English sides, the result would’ve been reversed - so enjoy…
…you’re also right on another point, I still say wait for the tests… 
Good for Flintoff. Play hard England and give as good as you get…
whoa! enjoy it while it lasts, will! Though Icertainly hope, for the sake of excitement, you have more opportunity to celebrate thus!
Yeah the game was real fun. 21/1 to 31/7, for a moment I thought I am seeing the Bangladeshi batsmen doing the hara-kiri playing too many mis-qued shots just from the word go.
England looks very compact in all the departments. I liked Pietersen’s hairstyle besides his gutsy performance. This ashes bout will be very very interesting.
Very nicely put. Yes the aussies do like to win all of the matches they play against England, be it a ODI, Test, 20/20 or a festival match. The media downunder glorify any of their wins agaist England. But now they just say it was a joke of a Cricket. But England has dealt a blow, hope the Aussies wake up, to this English Side. Ricky Ponting will have to come up with some solid Cricketing Strategy (and of course solid batting) to make his mark. And he will have to ponder that Aussies have lost the all last outings of any type of cricket(Test,ODI,20/20) against England. Waiting to the Ashes To Start
It may have been little more than a skirmish before the real battles ahead but England have drawn a line in the sand and with an emphatic victory demonstrated to the Aussies that they’re not going to just roll over and get beat.
This is exactly what the Ashes tour needed and I’m looking forward to the exciting times ahead.
There was a calmness about England’s batting which clearly demonstrates the confidence everyone has in each others ability. The togetherness was equally evident when they took to the field and it was a fantastic team display.
My match highlight was seeing Gough screaming at Symonds when he kept out his hat-trick ball. Relishing one of his few remaining games against Australia he was simply fantastic.
Couple of thoughts…
Sky’s method of picking the man of the match clearly doesn’t have the players’ respect… it’s just “local hero” time…
As for the Pietersen issue, I’d play him instead of the King of Spain if the latter isn’t match-fit… and with that in view Vaughan, Bell and KP himself should bowl as much as possible in the one-dayers (i.e. play an extra batsman)…
Lehmann is quite right- the Australians will be hurting after this. My hope, as an Australian, is that it will merely inspire the Australians to lift their game and produce better cricket; all the indications are that we are in for a great season and it is overdue, might I add.
As I mentioned at my blog, this English win will add to the hype, but we must remember that Australia has a history of struggling in early matches in one-day tournaments (anyone remember World Cup ‘99?), only to finish strongly as they become acclimatised. Let’s see how things are going in a couple of weeks.
Oi ass hole,
Being an Australian, I can handle it when a team can finally challenge us. It’s good for cricket, but when an Englishman like yourself does a thing like spell an Australian team member’s name wrong (Damien MartYn, not Martin), that’s just a whole new level. I’m sick of you cocky English, you think you’re so great, praising everything about your country’s performance in sport, and then absolutely refusing to acknowledge whenever the opposing team does something amazing (and usually more impressive then anything the English can do)! For example, in the recent Rugby League Test Match between New Zealand and Britain, you were crushed 42-26, yet you had the nerve to award man of the match to a Brit! I mean, come on. Stop praising yourselves, get over the fact that you suck and are outdone in almost every sport, and give some credit where it’s due.
P.S. I just looooooved Flintoff and Pietersen’s performances in the Australia vs ROW series! Jeez, Australia really has gone down the shithole. I think the English tabloids made those wild accusations a little too prematurely, don’t you?
P.S.S. I’m pretty sure Brett Lee would have forgotten about his stoush with Flintoff pretty quickly, he is one tough bastard and a better bowler than Flintoff could ever hope to be!
P.S.S.S. Pietersen is just the flavour of the month, much like Michael Clarke, and will be ousted as the flukey slogger that he really is soon enough.
WARNEY IS THE GREATEST
EVER.
So you waited until November to post that pile of tosh? Big Willie? Clearly Inadequate, more like…
The Corridor (a cricket blog) is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)
The Corridor (a cricket blog) All content © 2004-2008 Will Luke. All Rights Reserved.
None of the views or opinions offered on this site reflect those of my employers, Cricinfo Ltd and ESPN International
