Okay, so England won, but then they were expected to, weren’t they? England’s batting looks potentially strong, with Strauss, Pietersen and Vaughan all coming back into form. However, Collingwood and Bell didn’t justify inclusion for the South Africa series, which is a real pity. Should they be dropped for a while? England’s bowling looked good, but we have to note that the attack was directed against batsmen who often appeared technically inept. The most patient New Zealand batsman was How and that reflected in his figures. Anderson and Sidebottom are very effective in swinging conditions, but we all know what’s going to happen on the day it doesn’t swing. Broad looks to me like a good batsman who can also bowl a bit, when it should be the other way around. It’s all to easy to get the bat under his bowling and loft it, which South Africa are confident enough to try. Panesar will probably become the greatest spinner England has ever produced, but he’ll be assisted by modern umpires giving lbw decisions they simply would not have granted in the past. Panesar should do well at Cardiff. Can England beat South Africa? South Africa always have excellent batsmen, despite the loss of Gibbs, but they don’t play spin well (apart from Smith) and will have to come out of their crease against Panesar. South Africa are completely adapted to swing bowling as this is something SA cricket does best. Both sides have very strong batting, their bowling has teeth, Ntini has returned to form, but… the deciding factor will surely be Dale Steyn. I am not at all confident England can survive him. If they can’t, that’s an England collapse and if you collapse once against the Proteas…

If one doesn’t harbour concerns for England ahead of the South Africa series, then one should be classed as delusional (which should be enough for one to become a selector).

Strauss has done enough to secure his place, but the middle order (with the exception of KP) should really be looked at. It’s not a good position for the selectors to be in - if they change things, and the team fails, then they cop it. If they leave things as is and the team fails, then they cop it.

Some celebratory pics from the last day posted here http://www.flickr.com/photos/walea/sets/72157605521275742/
The ODI series will no doubt cloud the issue with the likes of Bopara staking a claim as well as Freddie’s side/ankle/back, rearing its ugly head (if that’s not a biological impossibility). Give Bell and Collingwood a rest and let the play themselves back into form on the county circuit and lets see what will happen over the rest of the summer.
PS say hi to Andrew Miller from me, it’s been a while but he should remember doing a bit of radio 10 years ago…small world