Life is a Rollercoaster - England Story

[Chasjs]

Their keeping stats half way through the season, 14 games in I think.

Hodd - 14 games, 64 Catches, 9 Stumpings, 5.29 CpM
Prior - 10 games, 57 Catches, 5 Stumpings, 6.20 CpM

[Imager36]

Probably just a bug then. As counties don't really exist when you play an international career game, I'd guess it just presumes that all of the keepers who are good enough to play, keep.

[Chasjs]

Yeah, that's my thinking.

[Chasjs]

Fifth Test

So this game is a bit of a dead rubber since the series is already lost. Therefore Davies, Morgan and Wright have been brought into the squad to give them the opportunity to show they can cut it at Test match level, with Morgan and Wright making their debuts. They have both been in good form in the domestic competitions and could push for a place in the side. Trott is also brought into the squad in response to the poor form of Vaughan and Collingwood who face a fight to regain their Ashes squad places with very little opportunity to do so left.

England win the toss and elect to bat.
England pass 100 for no loss. Nelson strikes as Cook is clean bowled for 59 with England on 111. It stikes again two balls later with Trott retiring hurt. Pietersen blocks his first two balls before sprinting through for a quick single with England fans breathing a sigh of relief with the scoreboard ticking over to 112. Strauss raises his half-century. Pietersen looked in fine form before being bowled for 22. Strauss brings his second century of the summer but is out for 138 shortly before the close of the first day.

Flintoff survives the last few overs but departs for 18 the next morning. Morgan, after playing well the previous evening follows Flintoff after edging one to the slips for 72. England lose their last few wickets quickly and are all out for 397.
England take wickets consitently with only Gayle(59), Barath(51) and Ramdin(70) scoring more than 25. The ne ball cleans up the tail giving England an 88 run lead with Anderson, Broad and Rashid taking 3 wickets each and flintoff getting the other. England make a decent start but lose Cook(19), Strauss(33) and Pietersen(9) in quick succession leaving England in trouble with Trott not being able to bat. Morgan and Davies don't last long either as England lose 6 wickets for 28 runs. Wright, meanwhile, bats well but loses partners Rashid and Broad for 13 and 23 repectively. Wright goes on the offensive adding 64 runs with Anderson before he's bowled leaving England all out for 214, a 303 run lead with plenty of time left in the game.
Again the West Indies openers start well, adding 85 before Flintoff gets Gayle for 50. As the clouds roll in Wright takes the other opener, Smith for 32. He then bowls Barath before forcing Sarwan to retire hirt.

Chanderpaul edges Anderson to the slips where Pietersen takes a great diving catch. Flintoff picks up his second wicket, Ramdin for 36 leaving the West Indies 87 runs from victory with 4 wickets remaining. Hinds then top edges Rashid for 6. The next ball goes over the covers for 6 leaving 55 runs remaining. Rashid gets his revenge though trapping him lbw next ball. The West Indies start the next day requiring 44 runs with 3 wickets in hand. England take the new ball shortly after with 30 more runs left for victory. It stikes early, Anderson getting McClean for 14. Anderson strikes again in his next over as Sammy edges him to the keeper for 20, the West Indies 25 runs from victory but now with only 1 wicket left. It doesn't take long for England to pick up that wicket either, Anderson bowling Tonge next ball. England win by 24 runs.

England Man of the Match - Strauss, he scored a big hundred in the first innings and added more than most in the second.
Other Notable Mentions - Wright, Morgan, Anderson
Poor Game - Davies, Pietersen

[Imager36]

That bit about Sarwan retiring hurt was strangely prophetic.

[Chasjs]

That bit about Sarwan retiring hurt was strangely prophetic.

Nice... now I'll have a picture for when he gets killed in the ODs.

[Chasjs]

Series Reaction
West Indies win the Series 3-2

Man of the Series - Alistair Cook. Did well opening the batting and although he had a third Test to forget he made a good score in each game with two fifties and two really big centuries. He scored around 450 runs in the series with a very good average that wasn't inflated by any not outs. His 150 in the frist Test, scored when most other England batsmen fail to make much of a score was probably the main reason for England winning the opening Test.


Very disappointed with this Series loss. At times we were far better than the opposition but a batting collapse chasing a fairly modest total in the third Test plus poor, poor bowling performances in the second and fourth Tests really cost us. There were other low points, there was a possibility of closing out a draw in the fourth Test and looked likely at one stage to do so. But a few quick wickets in the lunch session scuppered any chance of that happening. In the first Test the batting was poor, only saved from humiliation by an exceptional innings by Alistair Cook. The final Test, aswell, would surely have been lost if Jimmy Anderson hadn't hung in there while Luke Wright added the runs required to push us up to a defendable total. Any repeat of anything like the performances in some of the innings in these Test and we'll have no hope against an Aussie side again bent on revenge.
Some players are already on the plane to Australia but others, like Collingwood and Vaughan, have put their places in serious doubt after this Series. They should bother be in the ODI squad and will have to hope their performances in that and in the latter part of the season will be good enough to help keep their places because there are plenty of batsmen waiting in the wings who now have a greater chance after the slip-ups by these two.

[Chasjs]

The ECB Selection Committee announced the 15 man squad for the T20 and ODI Series' at home to the West Indies:

ECB Selection Committee
A Strauss*
J Anderson
R Bopara
S Broad
P Collingwood
J Denly
A Flintoff
E Morgan
K Pietersen
M Prior
A Rashid
G Swann
M Vaughan
C Woakes
L Wright

The squad was picked mainly with the World Cup in mind which comes shortly after the Ashes. There are a few surprises like the omissions of Bell and Harmison. Clare, Bresnan and Patel have also not been picked but could yet force their way into contention. Prior reclaims his place in the ODI squad after a reasonably successful time last year. He'll hope to put in some good performances as Davies, despite his poor performances vs Bangladesh, could force his way into contention if Prior doesn't cement his place. On the batting front Collingwood and Vaughan hope to show they've turned their form around and stake a claim for not only a World Cup slot but only an Ashes place aswell. Morgan an Wright fresh from decent scores in the last Test will also be hoping they get a chance to show what they can do. Wright has opened in the last few ODIs but their is doubt in whether he will keep that spot. Finally Woakes has been brought into the squad and will hope he gets his chance to stake a claim to be included in future squads.

[Chasjs]

First T20

Morgan and Wright don't open for the first time for over a year in a T20 game where they've both been fit. Both keep their place in the side but this time Denly and Bopara have been chosen to open the batting. Woakes is given his England debut and Rashid gets a go in front of Swann.

England win the toss an decide to make first use of the wicket.
England make a poor start and reach the end of the powerplay at 38/4 with Wright and Pietersen at the crease. Wright is out next over after Bravo bowels a wicket madien to finish his spell with career best figures of 5-18. Pietersen, however, looks to be in commanding form smashing the next over for 16.

But England lose further wickets in the 10th over, Prior departing followed next ball by Rashid. Broad survives the hat-trick ball and then finishes the over with a four, England 68/7 at the half way stage. England stumble to 127/9 with Pietersen out on the penultimate ball.

A good start by the West Indies leads them to 36 before the loss of their first wicket. The Broad picks up 2 in 2 balls in the fifth over. Broad finishes off his spell with figures of 3-20. Rashid takes a wicket the wicket of Hinds. He's followed by Gayle, Woakes' first wicket for England. The West Indies go into the final 3 overs 10 from victory with 5 wickets remaining. Flintoff gets Ramdin first ball. He goes on to concede 7 runs though with Bravo hitting the last ball for 4. The West Inides finish the job in the first 4 balls of Woakes' final over to win by 4 wickets.

West Indies win by 4 wickets
Man of the Match - Bravo
England Man of the Match - Pietersen, the only reason England got anywhere near something competitive.
Other Notable Mentions - Broad, Woakes
Poor Game - Denly, Bopara, Morgan, Prior, Wright

[Chasjs]

Second T20

The batting was bolstered for the second ODI with Collingwood coming into the side. He bats at 4 with Morgan dropping to 6. Anderson drops out after a very average bowling display but should make the ODIs.

England again win the toss and again choose to bat hoping to set a better total this time around.
They get off to a better start scoring 40 without loss in the powerplay. Denly falls in the 8th over after making 31. England go on to pass the 100 mark in the 13th over with Bopara scoring 35 off 35 and Pietersen looking to overtake him by smashing 35 of 18. Bopara eventually falls in the 15th over leaving England 119/2 with 5 overs to go. Pietersen is bowled next over for 41. England lose 3 further wickets and end their 20 overs 150/6 with Morgan hitting a 4 and a 6 off the last two balls.

West Inides start well, 47/1 after the powerplay. They look to be on target for a win until Broad takes the valuable wickets of Gayle and Barath in the 14th over leaving the West Indies to 43 runs to get in 6 overs. Broad then takes a further 3 wickets in his first 4 balls of his next and final over with the last 2 balls going for 3 runs.

Woakes concedes 10 off the next over and Flintoff gets a wicket for the cost of 6 runs in the 18th over. The West Indies have 2 wickets remaining and need 15 from 12. Woakes bowles the penultimate over from which he concedes only 4 singles. 11 needed off the last over. A good stop from Pietersen limits the first ball to a single. McClean gets 2 off the next ball but edges one to the keeper next ball. Flintoff bowls a wide which is followed up by the number 11 Jaggernauth squeezing the next ball for 2. 5 runs needed off 2 balls now. Next ball goes straight to Pietersen at backward point for no run. A boundary needed for a draw but a maximum will win it off the last ball but they can only manage a single as England win by 3 runs.

England win by 3 runs
Man of the Match - Broad
England Man of the Match - Broad, in 2 overs he completly changed the game and set England on course for a win.
Other Notable Mentions - Denly, Bopara, Pietersen, Flintoff, Woakes
Poor Game - Collingwood, Wright

[Chasjs]

First ODI

After playing very well in the T20s Woakes was unfortunate to not make the side for this first ODI. Despite the pitch looking like it might spin a bit, Swann was picked as the only spinner. Collingwood and Vaughan get a chance in this match at the expense of Denly and Bopara. The side bats very deep and will be hoping to get off to a solid start.

England win the toss and choose to bat
Strauss starts well but is the first wicket to fall in the 14th over for 30. Vaughan then looks to accelerate the scoring by hitting Jaggernauth for 12 in an over but is out lbw for 24. Pietersen follows next over for 1. Flintoff and Morgan both make 4. Collingwood reaches his 50 off 30 balls with Wright going at a run a ball aswell. He brings up his 50 off 49 balls as the partnership reaches 100. Collingwood is eventually out in the 46th over for 82 and Wright falls in the 48th for 69. England enjoy a good last few overs and end their innings on 246/8.

The West Indies get off to a good start making 52 from the first powerplay. Flintoff takes the important wicket of Gayle in the next over. Chanderpaul edges Anderson to the slips next over. Smith bats well at the other end but 2 more wickets fall before the half way mark. Broad takes his wicket soon after though, bowled for 64. Bravo and Ramdin bat well and choose to take the batting powerplay but lose Ramdin in the first over to Broad. Broad takes the wicket of Sammy next ball. The West Indies have a good couple of overs with Bravo raching his 50 but Anderson takes his wicket in the 4th powerplay over leaving the West Indies needed 28 from 7 overs. Broad's last over goes for 4 runs finishing with figures of 4-76, expensive but he took a few wickets.

Anderson concedes 11 off his over to swing the pendulum in the favour of the West Indies. Flintoff puts the pressue back on giving away only 1 run in the first over of his new spell. Anderson bowls Jaggernauth in the first ball of his next over leaving the West Inides with only 1 wicket remaining. But his remaining over goes for 11 and the West Indies tie the scores. They go on to score the winning runs off the next ball to take a 1 wicket win.

West Indies win by 1 wicket
Man of the Match - Wallace
England Man of the Match - Wright, came in at a tough time and batted well with a good strike rate. Also bowled a couple of decent overs.
Other Notable Mentions - Collingwood, Swann
Poor Game - Pietersen, Morgan

[Chasjs]

Second ODI

The same team was picked again with Morgan given another chance.

West Indies win the toss and choose to bat.
England pick up the wickets of both openers fairly cheaply, Anderson and Flintoff striking. Wright joins in in the 11th over removing Barath. Broad takes the wicket of Hinds next over. Wright gets his second wicket in two overs dismissing Bravo for a duck. Not to be outdone Broad does the same trapping Ramdin lbw for 1 as he bwols a wicket madien. This leaves the West Indies 57/6 after 15 overs with Chanderpaul on 34 off 33 balls watching wickets tumble at the other end.

The West Indies scoring rate slows dramatically with Sammy taking 47 balls to reach double figures. He eventually makes 24 from 90 before he is caught in the slips off Flintoff with the West Indies stumbling to a very low total taking the batting powerplay in the 40th over on 117/7. They make 30 runs from these over for the loss of no wickets. They do lose a wicket shortly after though, Sebastian run out for 16. Broad takes his 3rd wicket in his final over, McClean for 13. Flintoff bowls the last over and concedes 14 runs with Chanderpaul reaching his century off the last ball to set a target of 179 for England to chase.

England start well, only losing the wicket of Strauss for 5 in the first 15 overs. Pietersen and Vaughan cruise to victory with a patnership of 173.

England win by 9 wickets
Man of the Match - Chanderpaul
England Man of the Match - Anderson, only took 1 wicket but it was the crucial wicket of Gayle. Bowling 10 overs and only conceding 16 runs is also pretty good going.
Other Notable Mentions - Pietersen, Vaughan, Wright, Swann, Broad
Poor Game - Strauss

[Imager36]

Hmm. Tough luck in the first ODI. Just as a question, how many are there in the series?

[Chasjs]

It's a five match Series. Not a decider just yet.

[dan3634]

An excellent story, read the whole thing through with great interest.

Keep it up, want to see your pomms get smashed in the Ashes