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Loading ...I’ve just seen read that this is a blog about UK Cricket! Sorry, old chaps, I’ll just get off and let you back-scratch amongst yourselves……
England can smash and grab a trophy today
By Scott last year, mid-February Leave a comment on this post
Barely three weeks ago, England had plunged to awful depths with consecutive humiliating losses in Adelaide; now they are on the cusp of winning the Commonwealth Bank Series. If they do it, it will be a massive form reversal. And even if they don’t win today, they still have a chance in Adelaide on Tuesday.
But England’s best chance is in Sydney. England’s record in ODI’s vs Australia is much better at Sydney then it is at any other ground in Australia.
England’s much maligned coach, Duncan Fletcher, has stayed in the background, and I wonder how much of the form uptick is his doing?
Tags: australia, commonwealth-bank-series, duncan-fletcher, england, sydney |
20 Responses to “England can smash and grab a trophy today”
February 11th, 2007 at 1.08 am
February 11th, 2007 at 2.29 am
Here we go here we go here we go . . . is it possible that it could happen just once more????? And could we make it a bit more decisive this time please - I haven’t the stomach for the close ones (you probably guessed, Caro . . . ) It’s hard to strike a balance between embarrassing optimism, and traditional pessimism. How I long for the good old days when I could just shut up, relax and enjoy the cricket for the sake of it. Is it a lost art for anyone else?
February 11th, 2007 at 8.12 am
I’m talking to myself here, aren’t I?
Well, never really took off as much as it could have, but it may yet prove to be a defendable total. But we can’t afford any excessive overs, Plunkett, Mahmood etc. Probably unlikely that England will win, but you never know . . .
February 11th, 2007 at 10.02 am
I’ve been saying for awhile that while Australia are almost unbeatable once in front (front runners) once preasure is applied they are VERY susceptible. Batting especially - it’s showing now…
February 11th, 2007 at 10.19 am
it always helps when you get a competitive total batting first, it’s a different game for the team (australia) chasing when faced with a decent target.
Simple as that - our bowling still isn’t great apart from flintoff/panesar, but the last few games we’ve got some runs first up.
February 11th, 2007 at 10.41 am
England.Nottingham…Sunday morning…10:15 am.
I do not Believe It?????…..Australia 79-5 / England246-8 !……Rain stopped play!…where on earth do these Aussies think they are….Old Trafford..Manchester???
Have they a arranged for the clouds to be seeded?
Is somebody doing a rain dance in the outback?
Are your churches packed with people praying for rain ?
Excuse me …I going to make a cup of tea….please excuse my laughter……CU later.
February 11th, 2007 at 11.54 am
11:48….the ground is emptying……they think it’s all over……we’re waiting for the umpires decision?
It is now! Well done England…..tough luck you lot down under.
……………….What are we going to Blog about now???????
February 11th, 2007 at 11.54 am
No further play. Wow, we actually won it!
February 11th, 2007 at 12.14 pm
Oh you guys are going to wake up happy over there!!!!!!! YAY team!!!
Of course, it would have been better if channel 9 Perth had actually shown the presentations, not just pulled the plug on it . . .
February 11th, 2007 at 12.28 pm
Burgled, that’s the only word for it.
*snigger*
February 11th, 2007 at 2.18 pm
This is hilarious! I’m a Brit who follows cricket a bit but not that much. But I’m always amused at how important it seems to be to the Aussies to beat England. Reminds me a bit of a teenage boy obsessed with beating his dad! How on earth can England really compete in the cricket world when we only play the game for about 3 months a year? So I found it very funny that we took the Ashes off you guys as well as the rugby world cup. The difference was stark though - the England rugby team were the best in the world for 3 years. The England cricket team were and are not. We won the Ashes playing out of our skins and you guys were a bit arrogant. The same thing happened today. But don’t worry - Australia will probably win the cricket World Cup. This kick up the backside will do Ponting’s men good.
February 12th, 2007 at 12.52 am
aaah, give us a break! England won. Yahoo! Managed to catch most of the play in the UK, then had a journey to hell and back thanks to British Rail, finally reaching Gatwick on time for a delayed flight home to the Continent and now I’m too tired to care.
February 12th, 2007 at 1.20 am
I’d say I didn’t care about the result, but I would’ve gloated about Australia’s win had it eventuated.
Nevertheless England have played like the world’s best team for the last week and a bit, and deserve something from their tour. Flintoff at one stage branded the worse captain ever to tour the country now has a very rare feather in his cap: A ODI series over Australia in Australia. Collingwood has played remarkably well in the last three or four games, Plunkett has found astounding form with the ball, and numerous players are firing for England including Panesar, Bell and Dalrymple.
Watson and Hogg both were a rather strange inclusions on Friday, and I think the upset the balance of the team to some extent. While Watson batted well and Hogg bowled well, with moments of a batting crisis in both games over the weekend, a solid batsman like White would’ve made the world of difference.
All this makes you wish it were Novemeber again…
February 12th, 2007 at 1.24 am
Yes, Channel 9 pulling the plug on the final presentation was a bit tacky, it wasn’t that late in the evening. But I’m ooking forward to all the soul-searching and analysis tonight by Border and Mark Waugh as to what went wrong with us and right with England. Was glad to see Plunkett finish well after sitting around with the drinks for 3 months.
Graham E Smith, well, we’re going to blog about the Chappell-Hadlee tour starting next Friday but probably on some other blog. You’re all going to sit back and feel good.
February 12th, 2007 at 1.57 am
Tom, I don’t wish it were November again! I’m sick of the sight of these two teams. It’s dragged on for ever. I want to get on to the World Cup and see someone other than OZ and England for a change. See how we both perform in the melting pot. And I want to see teams like Kenya come and throw their weight around and upset the heavyweights because they haven’t played them for 4 years! England and Oz have been in a fishbowl for so long they’ve forgotten what other cricketers’ look like! And so have we.
On Hogg: he has a very good ODI record and was still confusing Flintoff last night. And he’s been in the team ever since last World Cup and been 12th man for weeks, so I don’t think he was much of a disturbance. And we had 6 solid batsmen! Look what they did…..
February 12th, 2007 at 2.11 am
Quickly on Hogg: I’ve always liked him apart of the team, and his wrong’un arguably is the best in the world. H is fit, energetic, and if needed can hit 20 or so runs at the end of an innings. However, how will his spin be treated on the small, flat and slow grounds of the West Indies. On one hand, it’s tailor made for him, the other its a spinner’s graveyard.
The main reason I prefer White is he is complimented quite well IF a player like Symonds or even Watson is in the side. As a batsman, he’s probably just a little short of being there on merit, but as an all-rounder he is potentially priceless.
I agree that the tour was too long and I have had enough of reading tales of English misery and woe, but the last three games have produced losses to Australia! Variety is the spice of life, and at many points of this tournament I switched out of pure annoyance that the game was trancending into a farce. This last week of a three month trashing of England has reignited some interest in the World Cup result, for me at any rate.
After Adelaide two weeks ago, Australia were odds on to win in April. The team was balanced well with power and finesse in the batting department, we even had the new ‘Bevan’, plenty of world-class seaming options in the sheds waiting. The 15 was worked out and seemingly set in stone, with minor alterations possibily emerging over the next few weeks.
Fast forward, Australia have real problems. How on earth do you replace Symonds? Is Watson just down on match practise? Who will lead, or more importantly be apart of the pace quartet? Will Australia take in a full time spinner, or share responsibilities?
February 12th, 2007 at 2.31 am
I’ll be interested to see how Oz go in NZ later this week - are they worn out with this excessively intenisve summer and heavy training, they’ve been doing or are we seeing a what happens when the old reliables like McGrath and Gilchrist just aren’t reliable anymore? I thought Clark was the answer to McGrath’s decline but the selectors are mysteriously taken with the relatively unproved Watson. Can Australia mange without a specialist spinner? Everyone else will have on, I’m sure. And white hasn’t yet produced with the ball. Unfortunately the sqquad sill be chosen tomorrow, before we get to see what they can do in NZ.
February 12th, 2007 at 2.47 am
I thought the squad was picked already?
At any rate, we’ll probably be given a shake in a few of the games. New Zealand playing in New Zealand tend to be harder to beat, and the crowd is always particularly hostile to Australian teams.
February 12th, 2007 at 2.55 am
As I understand it, the final 15 out the 30 initially chosen, will be named. Yes, NZ will be a good testing ground, I think. I’m looking forward to it, seeing how they go wihtout Punter adn Gilly - like a whole new team! but I”ll miss Roy.
February 12th, 2007 at 11.58 pm
Andrew Symonds’ presence shouldn’t make the difference between Australia winning and losing. It takes more than one player to win or lose. It’s possible to say in hindsight that a team wouldn’t have won without one contribution, eg England without Collingwood, but you can’t say that if they never played. It’s just like England and Monty — sure he should have been picked from the start but I’m not convinced he would have made the difference between winning and losing in any of the Tests.
Roll on a fiercely fought and interesting World Cup.
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