England story (Normal)

[seanm1991]

Having just finished 6 seasons with Warickshire on easy, I thought I would take the challenge onto normal in control of England.
First up is a Test match Vs New Zealand at Home.

[seanm1991]

Squad to face New Zealand.

A.Strauss
A.Cook
I.Bell
K.Pietersen
P.Collingwood
M.Prior
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid
S.Harmison
J.Anderson
S.Broad
M.Panesar

Will be interesting to see how A.Rashid will do on his debut!

[seanm1991]

New Zealand won the toss and have elected to Bowl first. Which is quite strange on a batting pitch with clear blue skies for all of the 5 days!

England:
A.Strauss (C)
A.Cook
I.Bell
K.Pietersen
P.Collingwood
M.Prior
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid (Debut)
S.Broad
S.Harmison
J.Anderson

New Zealand:
P.Fulton
J.How
R.Taylor
B.McCullum
J.Ryder
J.Oram
D.Vettori (C)
A.Redmond
M.Gillespie
I.O'Brien
C.Martin

[seanm1991]

England - 508 for 7
Bell 103
Ryder 3-71

New Zealand - 157 all out.
Oram 53
Anderson 5-47

New Zealand (following on) - 221 all out
Vettori 70
Flintoff 3-35

England win by an innings and 130 runs
Man of the match: James Anderson

1-0 to England. England looked convincing with the bat and exeptional with the ball, New Zealand didn't help themselves with lots of players getting in then getting out. Rashid performing handily on debut hitting a run a ball 51no and taking 1 wicket in the match didn't bowl much as the new ball bowlers of Anderson and Harmison opened up the fragile middle order on both occasions with Flintoff and Broad to mop up the tail. All in all a convincing win for England. Will New Zealand be able to pick themselves up for the 2nd test?

[seanm1991]

One change in the squad for the 2nd test, Chris Tremlett comes in to replace Monty Panesar. Unfortunately J.Anderson is out for 2 days so C.Tremlett will replace Anderson in the starting XI

Starting XI

England:
A.Strauss (C)
A.Cook
I.Bell
K.Pietersen
P.Collingwood
M.Prior
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid
S.Broad
S.Harmison
C.Tremlett

New Zealand:
P.Fulton
J.How
R.Taylor
B.McCullum
J.Ryder
J.Oram
D.Vettori (C)
A.Redmond
M.Gillespie
I.O'Brien
C.Martin

[seanm1991]

England 528 for 6 dec.
Flintoff 104no Bell 92
Gillespie 3-164 Ryder 1-73

New Zealand 371 all out
Ryder 123 Fulton 62
Rashid 3-81 Tremlett 3-83

England 436 all out
Strauss 77 Cook 74
Ryder 3-44 Oram 3-106

New Zealand 155 all out
Oram 38 McCullum 24
Harmison 4-35 Rashid 3-4

England win by 435 runs
Man of the Match: Andrew Flintoff

Another top class first innings from England with an unbeaten century from Flintoff. A decent New Zealand batting performance however there was no big 50 from any other batsman to support a fabulous innings from the young Ryder on just his second test match appearance. New Zealand were then able to bowl out England for the first time on tour. However England had already batted New Zealand out the game. Then England wrapped up the win in good style with a more than handy contribution from Rashid to wrap up the tail with 4 overs 2 maidens 4 runs 3 wickets. England now have an unassailable 2 nil lead in the test series. Can we expect an improved performance to restore some pride for the New Zealanders?

[matt5]

nice story keep continueing it

[seanm1991]

Cheers, I will carry it on when I get the time to play it, within the next few days

[seanm1991]

Just the one change to note, with England already series winners Paul Collingwood is been rested and young James Taylor at just 18 years of age is going to be given his chance to make a name for himself. Also James Anderson returns to the fold to replace Stuart Broad who is also been rested. New Zealand remain unchanged.
England have won the toss and are going to bat first, it is essential New Zealand make early inroads to stand any chance of winning.

Starting XI

England:
A.Strauss (C)
A.Cook
I.Bell
K.Pietersen
J.Taylor (debut)
M.Prior
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid
C.Tremlett
S.Harmison
J.Anderson

New Zealand:
P.Fulton
J.How
R.Taylor
B.McCullum
J.Ryder
J.Oram
D.Vettori (C)
A.Redmond
M.Gillespie
I.O'Brien
C.Martin

[seanm1991]

England - 432 all out
I.Bell 121 A.Cook 100 rtd ht.
J.Oram 3-88 M.Gillespie 3-120

New Zealand - 164 all out
R.Taylor 71 D.Vettori 38
A.Rashid 3-13 A.Flintoff 3-35

New Zealand - 328 all out (following on)
D.Vettori 62 J.Oram 49
J.Anderson 3-71 S.Harmison 2-67

England - 64 - 0
I.Bell 37no A.Strauss 26no

England win by 10 wickets
Man of the Match: Ian Bell

Another dismal performance by New Zealand, they just can not seem to get any kind of score in their first innings and from there England have dominated. James Taylor on debut hit a handy 21 while Adil Rashid is starting pick up wickets all be it against a poor opposition. A question is been raised over Cook's place within the squad, while he is hitting handy knocks his strike rate is appalling his 100 came of 280 whereas Bell's 121 came of just 200 balls. All in all another easy victory for England and a 3-0 whitewash.

[seanm1991]

T20 Squad to face New Zealand:

R.Key
K.Pietersen
I.Bell
R.Bopara
J.Taylor
P.Mustard
P.Collingwood (C)
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid
S.Patel
J.Anderson
S.Broad

A few interesting choices, James Taylor is given another chance at a new format, Ravi Bopara is given his chance after two hundreds at county level along with the perhaps surprise inclusions of Robert Key, Phil Mustard and the all-rounder Samit Patel providing the second spin option.

[seanm1991]

England have won the toss and will bat first. Just the one change from New Zealand. Southee replacing Martin, while England have made numerous changes still trying to find the right balance at one day cricket.

Starting XI

England:
R.Key
P.Mustard
K.Pietersen
P.Collingwood
J.Taylor
R.Bopara
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid
S.Patel
S.Broad
J.Anderson

New Zealand:
P.Fulton
J.How
R.Taylor
B.McCullum
J.Ryder
J.Oram
D.Vettori (C)
A.Redmond
T.Southee
M.Gillespie
I.O'Brien

[seanm1991]

England - 143 for 8 (20 overs)
K.Pietersen 40 P.Mustard 36
I.O'Brien 4-28 M.Gillespie 3- 25

New Zealand - 144 for 6 (18.4 overs)
J.Oram 66no D.Vettori 32
J.Anderson 2-27 A.Flintoff 1-8

Bitterly disappointing by England, after a solid start from the openers, Key and Mustard putting on 48 for the first wicket after just 4 overs a score in excess of 160 was the aim. However a typically English middle order collapse and some fine bowling restricted England to just 143 for 8. New Zealand in reply were stuttering slumping to 53 for 5. Arise Jacob Oram, blasting New Zealand to victory with a timely half-century and a well deserved win for the New Zealanders.

[seanm1991]

ODI squad to face New Zealand.

A.Strauss (C)
K.Pietersen
I.Bell
R.Bopara
J.Taylor
P.Mustard
P.Collingwood
A.Flintoff
A.Rashid
S.Patel
L.Wright
S.Broad
J.Anderson
T.Bresnan
C.Tremlett

[seanm1991]

New Zealand have won the toss and will bat first on a pitch that looks like it will do something for the quicks. No Samit Patel for England today as Luke Wright makes an appearance, Andrew Strauss returns as captain. New Zealand remain unchanged from the side that beat England in the T20 match.

Starting XI

England:
A.Strauss (C)
P.Mustard
K.Pietersen
I.Bell
P.Collingwood
A.Flintoff
L.Wright
A.Rashid
S.Broad
C.Tremlett
J.Anderson

New Zealand:
P.Fulton
J.How
R.Taylor
B.McCullum
J.Ryder
J.Oram
D.Vettori (C)
A.Redmond
T.Southee
M.Gillespie
I.O'Brien