England under DaveK

[Imager36]

Imager36's story seems to be very good for formatting on an international level, so something half as good as that would suit me.

Everyone's far too nice to me on here. You're doing it well. I only do it with innings paragraphs instead of days because with days there is a chance I'll have to write 5. I hope you have great success with England - Based on your Notts performances, we're looking at beating South Africa, right?

[DaveK93]

Everyone's far too nice to me on here. You're doing it well. I only do it with innings paragraphs instead of days because with days there is a chance I'll have to write 5. I hope you have great success with England - Based on your Notts performances, we're looking at beating South Africa, right?

I found days to be slightly easier, because I could stop at the end of the day. I intitially thought that I would be struggling, by finishing at the end of the day, I could leave it for a bit, and have a think.

And thanks, I fully intend to beat SAfrica, a lot of the players I'm considering I know from Nottinghamshire, so that may be helpful!

[DaveK93]

England vs West Indies One Day Series

A weakened squad has been selected here, to rest players for the upcoming matches against the Aussies. It also gives us a chance to look at some newcomers in preparation for the next World Cup, as I mentioned previously. There’s no point in selecting someone who may not be available for it, so I may as well start looking now.

England:
A Hales
V Chopra
J Roy
J Taylor
J Bairstow
S Patel
C Woakes
R Topley
D Briggs
J Harris
J Dernbach
L Fletcher
J Root
C Kieswetter
R Hamilton-Brown

It’s a good squad, with a couple of experienced players at this level, but the players selected are more than capable otherwise I wouldn’t have picked them. There is also a wide range of different batting styles in the squad, with Patel, Kieswetter and H-Brown all very quick, powerful hitters, and will be useful during the powerplays.

For reference, the WIndies have picked the same squad as the tests, but are still without a keeper, at least for the first match, as Ramdin is still out for a day. Bravo is likely to take his place,but this is unconfirmed.

[Imager36]

I found days to be slightly easier, because I could stop at the end of the day. I intitially thought that I would be struggling, by finishing at the end of the day, I could leave it for a bit, and have a think.

That's maybe why I'm struggling so much in the long format compared to the short ones - I just play the games straight through, without the pauses, and write up after. Maybe I get stuck in the game a little bit. Or maybe the players are all Shahid Afridi.

[DaveK93]

That's maybe why I'm struggling so much in the long format compared to the short ones - I just play the games straight through, without the pauses, and write up after. Maybe I get stuck in the game a little bit. Or maybe the players are all Shahid Afridi.

I usually find the shorter games harder, because I have less room for manouevre - at least with the Tests, if I do something wrong, I have 4 days left to cover it, as opposed to 50 overs I don't always break in the middle - I haven't had to yet - but it is a useful option to have. And perhaps, Shahid isn't exactly getting rave reviews on here

[DaveK93]

1st ODI

England:
A Hales
V Chopra
J Taylor
J Bairstow
R Hamilton-Brown
C Kieswetter
S Patel
C Woakes
J Harris
J Dernbach
L Fletcher

WIndies:
A Barath
K Powell
S Chanderpaul
D Bravo
K Edwards
M Samuels
N Deonarine
D Sammy
R Rampaul
S Shillingford
K Roach

Toss: England loss the toss, and bowl first. I won’t complain, it was what I planned to do anyway.

Match Report:

A comfortable victory for the youngsters. We bowled well, as none of the batsmen were allowed to get settled. A great spell by Woakes saw three of the middle order fall, as only Kirk Edwards really managed to make the most of his start. Dernbach worked his way through the tail late on in the innings, but we bowled them out for a chaseable total.

Knowing that we didn’t have to chase particularly quickly, we leisurely made our way towards the target. All the batsmen contributed, the best of those being from Varun Chopra, the youngster playing a sensible innings of 68, falling just before we reached victory. The chase was perhaps a little slow in places, but we were under no major pressure, so I’m happy with the game as a whole.



Batting Award: Varun Chopra, a good one day innings for the opener

Bowling Award: Chris Woakes, a devastating spell in the middle of the order crippled the WIndies innings.

[KGKOOLKAT777]

1st ODI

England:
A Hales
V Chopra
J Taylor
J Bairstow
R Hamilton-Brown
C Kieswetter
S Patel
C Woakes
J Harris
J Dernbach
L Fletcher

WIndies:
A Barath
K Powell
S Chanderpaul
D Bravo
K Edwards
M Samuels
N Deonarine
D Sammy
R Rampaul
S Shillingford
K Roach

Toss: England loss the toss, and bowl first. I won’t complain, it was what I planned to do anyway.

Match Report:

A comfortable victory for the youngsters. We bowled well, as none of the batsmen were allowed to get settled. A great spell by Woakes saw three of the middle order fall, as only Kirk Edwards really managed to make the most of his start. Dernbach worked his way through the tail late on in the innings, but we bowled them out for a chaseable total.

Knowing that we didn’t have to chase particularly quickly, we leisurely made our way towards the target. All the batsmen contributed, the best of those being from Varun Chopra, the youngster playing a sensible innings of 68, falling just before we reached victory. The chase was perhaps a little slow in places, but we were under no major pressure, so I’m happy with the game as a whole.



Batting Award: Varun Chopra, a good one day innings for the opener

Bowling Award: Chris Woakes, a devastating spell in the middle of the order crippled the WIndies innings.

You are playing some interesting XIs but it seems to be working for you so keep it up!

[DaveK93]

You are playing some interesting XIs but it seems to be working for you so keep it up!

It was against a weaker side so I decided I could get away with it! It did work fairly well, so I'm quite happy with that, and I have a few new players tested. It makes my selection job a little easier

[DaveK93]

Second ODI

Teams: No changes for England, Ramdin in for Samuels for the WIndies.
Toss: England lose and bowl first…

Match Report:

Another comfortable victory for us. Dernbach and Woakes did some major damage to the WIndies batting order again, limiting them to 217-9. It was never going to be a big enough total, as all the bowlers were economical. Fletcher was unlucky not to take a wicket, but bowled well against the openers. He would probably have been better bowling as first change, but he is unlikely to play the next match as I look to rotate players.

We batted sensibly again. This time it was Alex Hales out of the openers to get the half century, a player I know well from my Nottinghamshire story. Rory Hamilton-Brown also chipped in a brisk 48, suggesting he may be worth a look at for the upcoming T20 World Cup later this season.



Batting Award: Alex Hales, a good half century, and provided stability to the innings

Bowling Award: Jade Dernbach, an opening spell of 5-2-5-2, and then a couple of wickets late on, for a good performance.

[DaveK93]

Third ODI:

Teams: Roy, Root, Briggs and Topley all come in for this dead rubber, Taylor, Kieswetter, Harris and Fletcher miss out. Windies remain unchanged.

Toss: England lose it and bowl first, for the third time this series.

Match Report:
It’s a dead rubber, so only a quick report. West Indies were skittled out for a low score, with some good bowling from the attack. Reece Topley dismissed Chanderpaul for the 3rd time in 3 innings, a great achievement for the 18 year old Essex bowling.

Our batting was again effective. Hales and Chopra played well, and a half century for Joe Root on debut, meant that we reached the target safely.



Batting Award: Joe Root, a good performance on debut.
Bowling Award: Danny Briggs, took the wickets of 4 batsmen, despite being a little expensive.

England Stats:



Topley's average should read as 8.50, apologies for it not showing up.

WIndies Stats:

[DaveK93]

England vs West Indies First T20 International

Team selection:
I chose the same 15 as the ODI series, for a bit of continuity, and looking at players that could make the 30 man shortlist for the T20 World Cup, to be announced after the first test against South Africa.

The eleven that actually play are:
A Hales
J Roy
J Taylor
J Bairstow
R Hamilton-Brown
C Kieswetter
S Patel
C Woakes
J Harris
J Dernbach
D Briggs

The WIndies XI is the same as the one that played the last ODI.

Toss: England lose the toss and bowl. Again…

Match Report:

I apologise in advance for the quality of this report, I played the match last night, and didn’t manage to stay awake long enough to type up the report!

A good match for the youngsters. The bowlers did struggle to start with, but a flurry of late wickets saw us get back into the match, but 181 was always going to be a tough task, for some young debutants.
In the end, it was easier than it looked. Kieswetter and Hales put a few runs on the board before Hales went. Rory H-Brown fell cheaply, before Taylor stepped up to get a good 24. When Jason Roy came in though, that’s when the major damage was done. A good, strong innings from him saw the Surrey youngster reach 61, ably supported by Jonny Bairstow, who hit a quick 44, as we reached the target with ease.



Not going to bother with the series stats for this, there was only one game after all. So onwards to the ODI series against the Aussies!

[DaveK93]

England vs Australia ODI Squad Announcement

The teams are in ready for the 5 match series between two of crickets greatest rivals.

England:
A Cook
I Bell
J Trott
A Hales
J Taylor
V Chopra
J Bairstow
M Prior
S Patel
S Broad
C Woakes
C Tremlett
S Finn
G Swann
J Anderson

A blend of youth and experience for England then. The surprise exclusion is that of Tim Bresnan, but it was felt by all parties that it would be more beneficial for him to be playing for Yorkshire. Not having Pietersen also leaves a hole in the batting line-up, and this is the first series I’ve really had to deal with it. The chances are it will be either Taylor or Bairstow competing for that position. I include both Chopra and Hales, despite the fact Trott and Bell can both open, as I see Bell at 3, to anchor the innings, and Trott in much the same role, so they will probably take 3 and 4. Hales and Chopra impressed against the WIndies, and are doing so at county level as well, so it will be a case of decide on the day for them. The other surprise omission is that of Ravi Bopara, due to an oversight on my part, I forgot him! He is in my plans though, and being considered for the T20 series.

Australia:
M Clarke
P Forrest
D Hussey
G Bailey
S Watson
D Warner
M Wade
S Smith
X Doherty
B Hilfenhaus
M Johnson
B Lee
A McKay
J Pattinson
P Cummins

A fairly strong squad from the Aussies, despite including the Kiwi Andy McKay (This has been raised by UTBash on the forums I believe). I’m not going to read too much into the squad as yet, I will have to wait and see who lines up on the day.

[DaveK93]

England vs Australia First ODI

Teams:

England:
A Cook
A Hales
J Trott
I Bell
J Taylor
M Prior
C Woakes
S Broad
G Swann
J Anderson
S Finn

A fairly straight forward squad this, Taylor gets the nod over Bairstow, with Woakes being chosen over Patel on the basis of form and pitch condition.

Australia:
D Warner
S Watson
D Hussey
M Clarke
P Forrest
M Wade
S Smith
B Hilfenhaus
M Johnson
B Lee
J Pattinson

A good team, also only one spinner selected. It’s going to be a good contest.

Toss: The Aussies won the toss and batted first

Match Report:

Well, if all the matches are like this in this series, this should be easy. We completely humiliated the Aussies. There was strong bowling throughout, each bowler getting two wickets to their name. We fielded well, bowled tightly, and to limit them to 127 was a major achievement, for what I would argue is a relatively inexperienced squad. The team has never played together before, so I’m happy.

When it came to batting, we were just as impressive. Hales, Trott and Bell did depart relatively quickly, but Cook and Taylor took their time and got to the target with ease. A comfortable win all-round I would argue.



Batting Award: Cook, stayed in through the innings.
Bowling Award: Woakes, picked up two very important wickets. The rest fell into place from there.

[DaveK93]

Second ODI

England:
A Cook
A Hales
J Trott
I Bell
J Taylor
M Prior
C Woakes
S Broad
G Swann
J Anderson
S Finn

Australia:
D Warner
S Watson
D Hussey
M Clarke
G Bailey
M Wade
S Smith
B Hilfenhaus
M Johnson
B Lee
J Pattinson

No change for England, I see no need. Australia drop Forrest, in favour of George Bailey. Anything to improve the batting would be useful.

Toss: Australia win the toss and bowl first…

Match Report:
The Aussies really didn’t show much signs of improvement. They put us into bat, which to start with paid off, as we lost a couple of early wickets. In fact, I would go so far as to say we were struggling up until the arrivals of James Taylor and Matt Prior at the crease. They stuck at it, and both got themselves half centuries, and put us into a fairly good position, in what was very overcast conditions; certainly much better for bowling.

This was evident when it did come to our turn to bowl. The Aussies had very little answer to Stuart Broad in the first few overs, as he took key wickets. Once Warner departed, it was pretty much game over. To be fair, their team change did work, George Bailey reached 75 not out, but was not helped by the fact that no other batsmen helped him.



Batting Award: Matt Prior: A quick display of hitting, and increased the run-rate quickly, leaving Taylor to consolidate, taking the pressure off of him.

Bowling Award: Stuart Broad: He knocked over 3 of the top four, and left us in a really strong position.

[UTBash]

Maybe Tim Bresnan should've been included, check my story and the 2 ODI's vs Australia at how he did!