England story!

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England vs Australia - First ODI

Regarding the squad, the only change we make to the previous OD squad is Mason Crane replacing Moeen Ali who hasn't been great in this format for us.

The Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to bat.

We had some luck in the first 10 with debutant Patterson and the dangerous David Warner departing. Signs were promising from out bowlers on a good batting track. Handscomb and Smith made progress for the Aussies as Rashid and Topley were ineffective in the middle overs. Topley returned for a second spell and helped us peg them back whilst Jake Ball also kept the runs down and took wickets to put them on the back foot. Woakes and Stokes rejoined the attack in the final ten overs and skittled their tail. Woakes claimed an all time record for the best ODI figures by an England bowler as they collapsed from 169-3.

Not much to say other than we gave them an absolute spanking! I would’ve like the openers to see us through but these things happen, what a win!



Batting Award: Ben Duckett for seeing us home!
Bowling Award: Chris Woakes, goes without saying! A new English record to go with his lucrative award
Series State: England lead 1-0 with 4 to play.

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England vs Australia - Second ODI

Both sides are unchanged for the second game!

The Toss: Australia win the toss again and decide to let us have a bat first.

Ben Duckett played brilliantly once again but Jason Roy looked out of touch and his inability to keep the score ticking inevitably led to his dismissal. We seemed very well set to get a big score at 170-2 but their attack pulled it back well. We still managed to make a defendable score but were we 20 or 30 short?

Chris Woakes continued his stellar form by dismissing Smith and Warner in the first 10 as Topley was handed the ball to support him from the other end. Handscomb launched a counter attack which saw Ball for for almost 9 an over but the counter attack was short lived and the batsman was running out of partners. This time it was Rashid's turn to take 5 as we came out clear winners again!



Batting Award: Ben Duckett again! What a year he's having!
Bowling Award: Adil Rashid, becoming the second man to take 5 and firmly holding onto his leading wicket taker status for now.
Series State: England lead 2-0 with 3 to play!

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England vs Australia - Third ODI

Team News: Willey comes into the side for Ball and I'm hoping he can provide us with more than he has done this year with the ball! No change for Australia.

The Toss: Australia win for the 3rd time in a row and choose to bat on what looks to be the best deck we've had.

A conservative opening ten saw the Aussies at 22-0. They needed to play catch up and lost quick wickets. Handscomb and Smith steadied the ship and fired up the engines with Smith batting until the final over with support around him. Woakes was once again the pick of the bowlers as they left us needing 5 an over to win!

It looked like it was going to be a day to forget and at 76-5 we might have been forgiven for laying down and dying. Stokes and Livingstone had other ideas though! They rebuilt magnificently and took us down to the last 5 overs needing 40 to win! In the 47th the pair broke the all time partnership record as it passed 150 and with 3 overs to go we needed 23 runs:

48th over: Stokes fell first ball, w 1 6 1 . 1
49th over: 1 4 2 . 1 .
50th over: 6 required from 6 balls. Livingstone smashes consecutive boundaries to win the game and the series on 98*!



Batting Award: Liam Livingstone. Perfect innings and Ben Stokes wasn't too far behind here! Would love to see something like this in real life haha! Proving to be a great player.
Bowling Award: Chris Woakes, steady away once again!
Series State: England lead 3-0 with 2 to play and win the series early!

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England vs Australia - Fourth ODI

Team News: With the series done and dusted it was time for some changes, Hales replaced Buttler and Crane was handed a debut in place of Topley. Australia brought in Mcdermott for Hastings.

The Toss: We finally won one this series and chose to bat!

It looked like our top order might fail us again when Duckett fell early and Root didn’t get too many. Roy looked good but chipped one in the air on 48. It was another big partnership which got us out of our hole as Bairstow hit a century and Hales put the bad form of the domestic season behind him with 79 from 68 balls and with a few more knocks in the middle order like that he will be giving me a selection headache! The partnership was broken at 150 as we looked to rub salt into their wounds and Livingstone had a late cameo appearance at the crease with Bairstow.

Warner put us to the sword with an early blitz but Woakes won the battle and more, taking 3 wickets in the 7^th over! This allowed us to get our leg spinners bowling together and although they kept the runs down they weren’t able to pick up wickets in their initial spells. Kurtis Patterson held the innings together but when he was the 9^th man out needing 36 it was always going to be tough for them to get the win and Stokes finished them off the next over.



Batting Award: Jonny Bairstow. The obvious choice with the highest ODI score by any of my players this season.
Bowling Award: Ben Stokes. Nothing special but bowled well.
Series State: We lead 4-0 with one to play, can we make it a whitewash?

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England vs Australia - Fifth ODI

Team News: No changes were made from the previous game meaning Anderson didn’t get a run out in this series!

The Toss: We lost the toss and were asked to bat!

We ended the series with a modest total and struggled to push on at the end of the innings. Ben Duckett was in the runs once again as Joe Root’s indifferent form continued.

Handscomb and Smith led them to the win but it all too late for the men in yellow!



Batting Award: Ben Duckett. A fine knock.
Bowling Award: Who else but Chris Woakes?!
Series Result: England win 4-1

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Eng/Aus/NZ Tri Series (T20i)

We take a break from the normal schedule to play in a triangular series with Australia and New Zealand. Each team plays each other twice with the top 2 playing the final!

Game 1 vs Australia

We included Ben Coad in our squad and he made his debut straight away. Liam Livingstone led the way with a top knock of 70* and Coad broke the English T20 all time bowling figures record, what a debut!



Game 2 vs Australia

It was the Livingstone and Coad show once again as we beat the hosts well again.



Game 3 vs New Zealand

New Zealand hadn't won a game against Australia but they came close in the tightest of games, the win secured our place in the final!



Game 4 vs New Zealand

Another tight game led to a NZ win this time around as we made some changes to the side.



Tri Series Final vs Australia

The NZ win against us was to be their only win of the tournament and we took on Australia once again. Roy, Root, Morgan and Bairstow smashed them to all parts in the first innings and they came up short in their innings meaning we took the trophy! This tour has been a big turnaround for us on a whole, Australia are amongst the top ranked sides in all formats!

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England in New Zealand - T20i

We play a lone T20 game before going on to play some ODI's and Tests!

The Toss: We won the toss and chose to bowl, shock!

Despite the favourable bowling conditions they got off to a flyer! My two gem finds Howell and Coad pulled us back into it in the middle though! We managed to restrict them to 158 when it seemed they were going to get 200 until the middle overs!

Our start was a lot different, a wicket maiden from Boult had us under pressure straight away with Roy going for a golden! The left armer threatened to tear us apart and had 3-3 from 3 overs. We managed to take advantage of his last over but we were falling behind! We never recovered and were beaten comprehensively.



Batting Award: Ben Stokes.
Bowling Award: Benny Howell

New Zealand win 1-0

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England in New Zealand - First ODI

Ben Coad joins up with the One Day squad for the first time and Ali also comes in. Anderson and Crane are not taken on the tour.

The Toss: We win it and choose to bat!

Duckett and Roy continued to impress in the 50 over format, putting on 126 in the first 30 overs and giving limited chances. This was great for us as we could now play a T20 innings basically! Anderson came into the attack and picked up 5 wickets in his first 5 overs but Duckett was still there! He made his way to a huge score which was pleasing, as those around him gave him some support. The innings ended with a hattrick from Henry!

Golden arm Woakes took the only wicket of the first 10 overs and the score was 28-1 from the 10. Ben Coad started his spell with a wicket, at the moment he can do no wrong! It was Ben Stokes who stole the headlines though, claiming 6 wickets and an all time bowling record for England! We've had a few of those... An easy win!



Batting Award: Ben Duckett. What a knock!
Bowling Award: Ben Stokes. WHAT A SPELL!
Series State: We lead 1-0 with 4 to play!

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England in New Zealand - Second ODI

Team News: We make no changes. Ronchi replaces Munro for NZ

The Toss: New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl.

A solid team bowling display saw New Zealand struggle to get away from us and despite Kane Williamson getting himself well set, it was Stokes who toppled him (Who else?!). Wickets were taken regularly and we restricted them to a below par score!

We made the chase look a lot harder than it should have been! Duckett was unable to continue his run but Roy did! Joe Root then bored us to death and wouldn't get out eventually scoring 14 from 52! Livingstone took it upon himself to finish the game off as he has done a few times!



Batting Award: Jason Roy, finishing the year strong!
Bowling Award: Chris Woakes, normality resumes!
Series State: England lead 2-0 with 3 to play.

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England in New Zealand – Third ODI

Team News: Munro comes back in for Ronchi and we remain the same
The Toss: We won the toss and chose to bat!

Duckett continued to struggle, it seemed he’d scored all his runs in the first game! Jason Roy’s purple patch continued and a big partnership with Root at a solid rate took us to 160-1 before the opener was finally caught. A mini collapse brought Bairstow to the crease who assisted Root in taking us up to a good total. Henry was the main victim of our batting, going for 92 runs from his 10.

A partnership of 50 from their openers meant a decent start on their way to a tough target. They were always staying ahead of the required rate but wickets were falling. Taylor was the last wicket to fall on 108 and if he had some help from his team they would have won the game! They didn’t though and we took another ODI series early!



Batting Award: Joe Root!
Bowling Award: Ben Coad. Doing well early in his England career!
Series State: England lead 3-0 with 2 to play.

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England in New Zealand - Fourth ODI

Team News: No changes for either side!
The Toss: New Zealand won and put us in.

Everybody chipped in for us but it was Stokes's innings that really caught the eye, hitting 91 at just over a run a ball. A late partnership of 90 between him and Rashid pulled us out of the mud after struggling at 160-7.

The New Zealand line up made it look easy, at least at 210-2. From there they had to dig in and almost undid all their hard work. In the end they just got over the line to take their first win of the series.

England

275-8 (Stokes 91, Rashid 49, Henry 3-46, Boult 3-83)

New Zealand

276-8 (Williamson 79, Taylor 58, Topley 3-43, Stokes 3-55)

New Zealand win by 2 wickets.

Batting Award: Ben Stokes, fantastic knock.
Bowling Award: Reece Topley.
Series State: 3-1 to England with one to play

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England in New Zealand - Fifth ODI

Team News: Hales, Ali and Willey replace Topley, Coad and Buttler. Ronchi replaces Munro for NZ
The Toss: England won the toss and batted.

The shackles were loose and freedom was the order of the day and it certainly paid off. A cracking batting performance saw Roy, Root, Stokes and Livingstone all hit powerful half centuries whilst the rest of the side provided some entertaining cameos in our best ODI score yet!

New Zealand had to have a go and it was our spinners that finished them off well before they could mount any sort of challenge. What a way to end the season for ODI's



Batting Award: Jason Roy. Ended a great year with a great innings.
Bowling Award: Chris Woakes. Ditto.
Series Result: England win 4-1!

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England in New Zealand – First Test

The Toss: New Zealand won and chose to bat

We end the season with this two match test series against New Zealand and look to carry on the form we showed in Australia. We’re without Jimmy Anderson which is a blow but hopefully we can do well without him!

New Zealand had a decent start and despite creating a few chances, the only wicket we picked up in the first session was the run out of Latham. Cruising at 226-1, we managed another run out as our bowlers struggled to take wickets. However, the conditions were becoming better for bowling so we hoped for a few more before the day ended. It wasn’t to be as bad light stopped play and they ended 250-2. The start to the second day was just as frustrating as the whole first day as New Zealand rode their luck, led by the class of Williamson. We did manage to bowl them out with 3 overs left on day 2 and it was looking like a draw or nothing from there.

The aim was to avoid the follow on, with the conditions on day 4 looking awful for batting. It didn’t start well when both openers and Root went cheaply. Bairstow and Ali started to rebuild but couldn’t do enough to make us comfortable, a few more fell and we were struggling. Day 4 started with us needed 86 to avoid the follow on. We failed to avoid it and were asked to bat again

Follow on. Cook provided the backbone we needed but when he fell it seemed we were going to fall! However, Woakes and Stokes batted well late on to give us a bit of a lead, but with New Zealand needing just 113 off the last session I couldn’t see us saving the game!

WE DID IT! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a test match finish with the scores tied but it’s happened! We restricted them well with our one day fields and they failed to get 5 off the last over to take the win, thank god for that!



Batting Award: Chris Woakes. Match saving innings!
Bowling Award: Stuart Broad. Speaks for itself really.
Series State: 0-0 with one to play.

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England in New Zealand - Second Test

Team News: Stoneman and Curran replace Hameed and Wood. New Zealand unchanged.
The Toss: We won it and batted!

It looked like it was going to be New Zealand's day when we were reduced to 10-2 by Southee. We readjusted and began to rebuild on what was a road. The composure paid off as Root passed his 50 in a big partnership with Bairstow. When Root fell, that's when we really killed them, with Bairstow and Livingstone taking us to 391-3 before Bairstow fell for a monster ton. Livingstone went one better and after reaching his first century in Test cricket, converted it into a big double. Ballance will have been disappointed to fall on 99 but all in all, a huge score.

We bowled well to begin with, NZ 120-4. Williamson played well and Watling and Nicholls continued the work but Woakes was ripping through the rest. Their score wasn't enough to avoid the follow on, which I enforced for the first time.

NZ follow on. They were on the back foot from the start again. With Woakes having a rest, Stokes took the new ball and used it to full effect. The rest of our lads chipped in with wickets and we finished them off easily.



Batting Award: Liam Livingstone
Bowling Award: Chris Woakes
Series Result: England win 1-0

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2017/18 Season – Test Review

Matches Played – 14
Won – 7
Drawn - 3
Lost - 4

Results

SA
Lost 2-1
A series that started better than it ended as we were finding our feet.

WI
Drew 1-1
The biggest disappointment of the year as we struggled to overcome a weak West Indies.

Aus
Won 4-1
The highlight of the year was dominating the Ashes down under and finally starting to find test form.

NZ
Won 1-0
A series which could’ve easily been drawn if we didn’t manage to save ourselves in the first game. A good win nevertheless.

World Ranking Progress
We gained 2 ranking points but still sit in 4^th place. Something to improve on next year!

Top 5 Batsman

1. Jonny Bairstow – World Ranking: 2 – 1235 runs @ 49.4
2. Alastair Cook – World Ranking: 4 – 1289 runs @ 49.6
3. Liam Livingstone – World Ranking: 11 – 653 runs @ 46.6
4. Gary Balance – World Ranking: 18 – 1080 runs @ 43.2
5. Joe Root – World Ranking: 19 – 770 runs @ 38.5

Top 5 Bowlers

1. Chris Woakes – World Ranking: 12 – 47 wickets @ 30.1
2. Stuart Broad – World Ranking: 13 – 39 wickets @ 32.3
3. James Anderson – World Ranking: 20 – 35 wickets @ 33.0
4. Adil Rashid – World Ranking: 21 – 23 wickets @ 22.4
5. Ben Stokes – World Ranking: 25 – 28 wickets @ 31.6

Awards
Best score – 226 (Liam Livingstone)
Best Bowling Innings – 6-57 (Chris Woakes)
Best Bowling Match – 11-234 (Adil Rashid)