Cricket: Ashes 4th Test Scorecard and Review

England 1st Innings – All out

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Strauss	c North	b Siddle	3	17	0	0
Cook	c M Clarke	b Clark	30	65	3	0
Bopara	c M Hussey	b Hilfenhaus	1	6	0	0
Bell	c Haddin	b M Johnson	8	26	2	0
Collingwood	c Ponting	b Clark	0	5	0	0
Prior	not out		37	43	5	0
Broad	c Katich	b Clark	3	12	0	0
Swann	c M Clarke	b Siddle	0	15	0	0
S Harmison	c Haddin	b Siddle	0	6	0	0
Anderson	c Haddin	b Siddle	3	10	0	0
Onions	c Katich	b Siddle	0	1	0	0
Extras		3nb 1w 5b 8lb	17
Total		all out	102	(33.5 ovs)
Bowler	O	M	R	W
Hilfenhaus	7.0	0	20	1
Siddle	9.5	0	21	5
M Johnson	7.0	0	30	1
Clark	10.0	4	18	3

Australia 1st Innings – All out

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	lbw	b Onions	51	67	9	0
Katich	c Bopara	b S Harmison	0	4	0	0
Ponting	lbw	b Broad	78	101	12	1
M Hussey	lbw	b Broad	10	10	2	0
M Clarke	lbw	b Onions	93	138	13	0
North	c Anderson	b Broad	110	206	13	1
Haddin	c Bell	b S Harmison	14	23	1	0
M Johnson	c Bopara	b Broad	27	53	5	0
Siddle		b Broad	0	1	0	0
Clark		b Broad	32	22	1	3
Hilfenhaus	not out		0	3	0	0
Extras		3nb 4w 9b 14lb	30
Total		all out	445	(104.1 ovs)
Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	18.0	3	89	0
S Harmison	23.0	4	98	2
Onions	22.0	5	80	2
Broad	25.1	6	91	6
Swann	16.0	4	64	0

England 2nd Innings – All out

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Strauss	lbw	b Hilfenhaus	32	78	4	0
Cook	c Haddin	b M Johnson	30	84	4	0
Bopara	lbw	b Hilfenhaus	0	1	0	0
Bell	c Ponting	b M Johnson	3	12	0	0
Collingwood	lbw	b M Johnson	4	10	0	0
Anderson	c Ponting	b Hilfenhaus	4	10	1	0
Prior	c Haddin	b Hilfenhaus	22	29	3	0
Broad	c S Watson	b Siddle	61	49	10	0
Swann	c Haddin	b M Johnson	62	72	7	1
S Harmison	not out		19	28	4	0
Onions		b M Johnson	0	7	0	0
Extras		11nb 5w 5b 5lb	26
Total		all out	263	(61.3 ovs)
Bowler	O	M	R	W
Hilfenhaus	19.0	2	60	4
Siddle	12.0	2	50	1
Clark	11.0	1	74	0
M Johnson	19.3	3	69	5

Well how do Australia fans review fourth test, two words, Kicked Ass! That’s exactly what happened, it was a great effort for the baggy green’s to get 20 wickets leaving England trailing an innings and 80 runs.

There wasn’t much secret to this victory but just to say England players played poorly, looked awfully weak in all areas of their game, and lacked some serious backbone without Freddie and KP. You could see the wheels turning in the heads of the middle order batsman over thinking too much, it showed on the faces of players like Bell and Bopara who had to prove their worth with their test life hanging in the balance, and the Australian players were just licking their lips after the first inning demolition knowing that it would take a major thunderstorm for them to lose this one.

If we look back at the bowling its hard to really point out a star, Broad’s 6 wickets is probably the only thing to be proud of, but his figures 6-91 probably doesn’t show the real picture of his bowling but impressive none the less.

There were many stars in Australia’s bowling line up, Stuart Clark with figures of 3-18 in the first innings was just half the story for how he bowled that day, jaffer after jaffer catching the batsman in two minds nearly every ball, I don’t know if this is a credit to him or how bad England were with the bat, but it was some beautiful swing bowling. Peter Siddle mopped up the tail in that first innings with his own 5 wicket haul.

The second innings of bowling for the Aussies looked like this, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Johnson, Johnson etc… This was the two bowlers show along with some brilliant catching in the slips and by Brad Haddin, just too good, I had a discussion with my mates that when Mitchell Johnson will get stuck in and find form he will be a power house, and along with his performances with the bat, he was one of the outstanding players of that match, he also may be the difference in the 5^th.

As with the bat for Australia, Marcus North showed how you don’t have to show off like Matt Prior to get runs, whilst Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting played some elegant strokes to get their runs for this match Marcus North showed a Steve Waugh or a Rahul Dravid like innings with some classy shots and some discipline play, with 3 centuries under his belt after 6 tests, this is the type of player England need for their middle order. Maybe time to see him move up the order?

Overall this game leaves an interesting and exciting final, Australia will go for the win its in their nature, and if Justin Langer’s dossier is anything to go by England will act hard on the first day and clam up like little girls for the rest of the match. My Predictions, Australia!

Cricket: England vs Australia – 3rd Test Ashes Preview

After a nail-biting first two tests we are in for some contest for the last three tests. England’s nervous start to the campaign let the Aussies dominate in the first test, and their was big talk on how after that Australia will sail through 4-0 to win the Ashes, most notably from Glen McGrath who did say he found laughable England’s claims that they were the better and more complete side of the two before the contest. But now England have shown they are big contenders and maybe favourites we are in for a mouth watering 3 tests.

Team News

England have just received the shocking blow that the KP will miss the rest of the Ashes, Ian Bell is set to replace him in the team. This is quite bad news as he is one of very few players in the team who is a match winner. As proved in the last test Freddie Flintoff is the other. In other news Andrew Strauss has confirmed England won’t be using Monty Panesar for this test and he has been sent home to do his First Class cricket duties.

Apart from that one replacement it looks as though England will be unchanged from their win at Lords, Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad will be under the spotlight for not performing so well in the previous tests, but to be fair their really is no great replacement for them at this time, so the pressure will be off for now and hopefully this will give them freedom to perform better.

Australia will most likely keep the same team, in the first innings of the 2^nd test their whole team collapsed so no individual can be blamed, this happens to every team once in a while. Mitchell Johnson has been in the spot light since the first test and their recent game against Worcestershire still causing problems for the Australian pace man, there are talks about Stuart Clark replacing him, so we will have to wait near to the end who will be Australia’s bowling line up. Brett Lee has been ruled out for the third test officially which is a shame as when it comes to pace he matches right up their with Flintoff. With Lee you can’t always guarantee wickets but you can guarantee pressure and a hitting the rib cage of the batsman at 95mph, lets hope to see him on the fourth.

Predictions

It is easy to get excited over England’s win in the last test, but people seem to forget the first test when Australia looked their usual dominating selves. This is a mistake England make all the time, they get hyped up over a win, the media go crazy and the fans start rejoicing in the view that they will be the best team in the world. Australia have a completely different view on winning, its normal to them, and this is why they do better.

England do look strong as a team, but this match will be the biggest test from them, because Australia will bounce back, they don’t like to lose, and people like Mitchell Johnson will be looking for revenge so this is key for him.

As a prediction to the way the pitch looks like its defiantly going to be a lot for batters and not much for the bowlers to work on, the pitch has dried over the last few weeks and their won’t be much for both spinners to work on.

Its hard to say overall but I say Australia should win this if not then the rain will take the game to a draw.

Wayne Rooney: Where to Play him?

There’s been a lot of dispute and controversy about the utilisation of Wayne Rooney. Sir Alex Ferguson likes to play Rooney as a front man with Carlos Tevez playing off of him, creating the play. However, England boss Fabio Capello attempts to get Rooney more involved in the game but playing off of a striker. Many would argue that this is the best position for Wayne, and I am one of them.

Rooney wants to be involved in everything that happens in the game, and he doesn’t care where on the pitch that is. But many say this effects his fatigue and when a chance comes, he’s too tired to take it. This is the reasoning behind playing him where he’s not creating but meant to be scoring. Even Capello said that sometimes Rooney tracking back to help the defence doesn’t help him in attack.

This being said, Wayne has always known to drop off the striker, create play, open up players and he does so very well. This also gives him more room to take some long distance shots which he can bury into the top corner. I reckon this is Rooney’s position. It always has been and always will be.

The partnership of Owen and Rooney was great as Owen would stay in the box for opportunities while Rooney would knit things together. For Man Utd, the partnership is now Berbatov and Rooney in which I have no doubt will work extremely well. For England, it could be Owen and Rooney but I think that Capello will use Ashton instead of Michael.

Overall, the basic message is: play Rooney off of the striker and let someone else score the goals!!!

The Beginning of the Pietersen Era

Pietersen's First ODI in charge of England

I wrote a previous article questioning the decesion to make KP England’s new captain for both Test Matches and ODI’s. All I can say now is: so far, so good! He’s really bought energy and life to the team and seems to have re-lit the spark that blew out after losing the Ashes 5-0 down under.

Their previous victory was most convincing as they won by 10 wickets against an average looking South African side. I may be jumping the gun a little by saying he’s an excellent captain as some questions still need to be answered by KP (e.g. tactics), but he has seemed to keep his game where it was.

We see a lot of captains fail in their area of expertise after being appointed and the biggest fear by putting Pietersen as capitano was a possible dip in batting form. But now we see better bowling figures from him as well as maintaining good form whilst batting.

It may just be that Pietersen knows how to play against South Africa, or that they were just playing well below par when England were at their best. But as an England fan I hope it’s just that KP knows how to lift his team and with his figure can intimidate other nations. Let’s hope he can carry this form no matter what team he plays and regains the Ashes.

Come on England!!!!

John Terry – The Right Choice?

So Fabio Capello decided that John Terry will be England captain under his era. Terry was chosen ahead of other great names such as Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand who was made vice-captain. There’s no doubt that Terry will lead the England team with both pride and passion with his natural ability to lead and command. He will do everything he can to bring the best out of all the players in the team as well as mostly be available for selection as it is John Terry!

However, Terry has been picked as captain before under Steve McDoughnut and the two together weren’t successful as you probably know. I’ve always thought that Terry is one of those players that will play his heart out no matter what colour shirt he’s wearing and whether he has an armband on or not. Comparitively to someone like Gerrard who’s game is effected by minor details such as armbands and coloured t-shirts.

By all means don’t get me wrong, Terry will be a fantastic leader and hopefully will lead England to win a major tournament. However, as said before, Terry will be the same player with or without the captaincy. Steven Gerrard on the other hand, doesn’t play amazingly well for England compared to club performances and given the armband, he may realise that he has to lift his performances which could get the best out of him.

As for Rio, I was always unsure. He’s not captain for his club and is generally a solid defender. His performances may not differ from having the captaincy and not but may only be hindered by confidence which can be regained. But as said before, I’m sure Terry will do a fantastic job!

I wish both Terry and Capello the best of luck in their reign over the nations football team. There will be times like the Czech game in which there are boos and jeers and maybe a comment will be made by Capello that is blown out of proportion by him being mis-quoted but he’s one of the best managers in the world so will definately come through it.

Debate: Terry the right man for the job?

Pietersen Right for Captain?

There’s no doubt that Kevin Pietersen is one of the best batsmen in the world. He took Flintoff’s place as the “Beckham of the cricket world” but does he have all the makings of a good captain. Michael Vaughan was an amazing tactician and one of the best I’ve ever seen. As well as filling his shoes, KP must bring something new to the England setup. So does he have the makings of a good captain?

All the players will respect KP from the off-set as he has the presence and command that a captain needs. This is vital as if the players don’t follow him then he will never be successful. In addition to this, he has the other key factor of ‘inspirational’. When England look down, Pietersen can change a game and lift the teams spirits. We also know that he won’t be afraid to take risks and try new things. Although this could work against him and the team, it could pay dividends.

So Pietersen has respect, authority, inspiration and risk taking. Is this enough? Well tactics are a major part in all three forms of cricket but in test matches it is pivotal. As KP hasn’t got much captaincy experience, we don’t know if he has this. If he does, then England have a perfect captain. If he doesn’t, England will either get away with it or shoot themselves in the foot.

As The Doc mentioned in a previous post, KP may be a ‘David Beckham’ style captain in that he’ll be all about presence and leading by example. One thing is for sure. Kevin Pietersen is not Michael Vaughan. He will bring fresh ideas with his decent cricketing brain as well as enthusiasm and energy. Maybe he can spark some life into the England squad.

Thursday will be an interesting encounter between England and South Africa in the fourth test of the series. KP will want to get off to a winning start and South Africa will probably stop at nothing to prevent that. England have nothing to lose in this match so you may see some new ideas thrown in already.