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Loading ...Great match. Excellent performance by England with bat and in the field, and they could have won quite readily if the bowling hadn’t been so erratic, particularly Clarke and Mahmood. Jon Lewis is just fabulous, and clearly also has the best hair.
England finally compete
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of September Leave a comment on this post
At last. After seven one-day thrashings this summer, England finally evaded another whipping with a far improved performance against Pakistan.
They still lost, though.
But nevermind. Crack open the champagne and celebrate for England managed to take Pakistan close. Andrew Strauss batted with great intent - it was a relief to see him leading from the front, in particular skipping down the pitch to disrupt Mohammad Asif’s length. And ol’ Asif really does hate batsmen doing that! Strauss won that particular battle. A pretty good innings, then, helped by some Pakistani fielding at its most hilarious.
I don’t know if they took their eye off the ball, figuratively speaking (considering their series lead, and England’s general uselessness), or if The Rose Bowl is a particularly difficult ground on which to field…but they were hapless. The stand-out performer, and I use that word sparingly and, in this case cautiously, was Inzamam! His elephantine tumbles sent shockwaves…sorry, couldn’t resist. He was really good, Inzy, and batted quite brilliantly to close the game out at the end.
Good things:
- Younis Khan’s batting. He is a terrific cricketer, and character
- Younis smashing a four and immediately marching towards the point fielder, shouting and waving
- Shahid Afridi’s misfield which made him look like a real wally
- Andrew Strauss’s batting and intent in the field. His relaxed demeanour and wry smile have gone. Mind you, losing that many one-day games is enough to break even the most fierce Cherie Blair grin
- Watching Ian Bell get hit in the family jewels, via Strauss’s flat-batted pull shot. Corrrrr.
- Watching Billy Doctrove nearly get hit in the family jewels, star-jumping out of the way like a ballet dancer on acid
Bad things:
- Rikki Clarke. A first-ball duck, and a very poor and at times clueless spell of bowling. Young and inexperienced, but this was a very special effort
- Sajid Mahmood. Clearly a gifted bowler, he desperately needs Flintoff or Harmison at mid-off to advise him. He’s going from wayward to waywarder in each match
- Pakistan’s fielding. It will cost them the World Cup.
The bandwagon continues at Nottingham. Rock on.
Tags: andrew-strauss, england, inzamam-ul-haq, pakistan, pakistan-in-england, rikki-clarke, sajid-mahmood, the-rose-bowl, Younis-Khan |
6 Responses to “England finally compete”
September 6th, 2006 at 10.18 am
September 6th, 2006 at 10.52 am
Agreed on Lewis, a very good performance. Clearly, it needs to be Hoggy-the-Mop for the tests and Lewis-the-Mop for the ODIs.
Replace Mahmood with Harmison, Clarke with Flintoff and (controversy time!) Trescothick with Cook, and you’ve got a side that could put up a good fight for the Champion’s Trophy.
Mixed captaincy bag from Strauss; good field placings on the whole, but he could have bowled Clarke more intelligently. Or perhaps not at all.
September 6th, 2006 at 11.28 am
Apparently less controversy now, Alex, seeing as Tresco wont be there to be dropped properly.
For the Champion’s trophy, I’m pretty much with you on that side. Though, I do harbour a slight hope that they’ll take Mal Loye. He’s the nearest like for like opener to Tresco.
On another not, what is most worrying about Mahmood is the fact that, not only is he lacking a senior figure, but he is having to play one. He is the bowler with the most ODI caps, and matched alongside a fledgling Stuart Broad, there have been a few times that Saj has had to come and have a word.
September 6th, 2006 at 7.16 pm
You can’t put Cook in - he’s far too ‘one paced’. Loye would be a good bet, or Darren Maddy.
Not sure about Rikki Clarke being ‘young and inexperienced’ - he used that excuse four years ago when first picked. It might just be the case that he’s not as good as he thinks he is.
September 7th, 2006 at 1.41 am
Why does Hoggard never fire in one-dayers?
And is it because he doesn’t play the one-dayers that he’s never injured (except when someone stands on him)?
September 7th, 2006 at 4.48 pm
Agreed. Rikki Clarke is a bad thing. I have never, nor has anyone else in Surrey, booed one of our own players at the Oval, until this season when hoots of derision have become common whenever he is handed the ball.
I doesn’t really matter if he is occasionally ok with the bat. We have quality batsmen galore, it’s bowlers we need.
Flintoff’s understudy? Get serious, try a 6th rate Collingwood.
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