England under DaveK

[DaveK93]

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

Yeah I saw, madness! Fortunately I found my own performer in Chris Woakes, if the 3 ODIs I've just played are anything to go by!

[DaveK93]

Third ODI

England:
A Cook
A Hales
V Chopra
J Bairstow
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
P Forrest
B Hilfenhaus
M Johnson
B Lee
J Pattinson

Chopra and Bairstow in for Trott and Bell, both of which had been largely ineffective. Forrest returns in place of Smith for the tourists.

Toss: Aussies win it and bat first…

Match Report:
Well, at least the Aussies reached 200. I’ve seen and read about the great Aussie teams of old, but this one in comparison is very, very poor. They started a lot better than they have done previously, but when Swann came on, everything fell apart. At one point, Swann had figures of 6-2-4-2, and it completely crippled the run-rate. Bailey was once again the best of the batting, but he did receive a little support this time, albeit not anywhere near enough.

This was the first match that our batting looked under pressure. We did struggle a little early on, but Hales batted well, and managed to stay in. He fell shortly after reaching his half century, but it did bring in Jonny Bairstow, who played a great knock of 84* to get us home. He was ably supported by Swann, who soaked up the bowling, and let Bairstow score freely. We’ve won the series now, but I want the whitewash against the old enemy, so no let-up in pressure.



Batting Award: Jonny Bairstow, a magnificent knock, kept us in the game.
Bowling Award: Graeme Swann, halted the Aussie charge, when it started to threaten.

[DaveK93]

Fourth ODI

Teams:

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

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

Toss: Aussies win the toss and bowl first…

Match Report:
So it turns out that even when my batting doesn’t quite fall into place, the Aussies still can’t win. We didn’t particularly well this time, James Taylor getting the highest score out of the batsmen. On he and Bairstow really performed, before a good partnership from Woakes and Broad saw us to a respectable total, but certainly one that was chase-able.

Australia never looked in this match though. They were 71/3 at one point, before Woakes and Swann came on and did the damage again. Those two appear to be an integral part of my one day squad currently, although Swann will be fairly old when we get to the next World Cup, so Danny Briggs, Scott Borthwick, and maybe Simon Kerrigan, will get a chance to impress. Given I have a tour of New Zealand coming up eventually; they may get a chance to go. I digress though. Only Michael Clarke provided any major resisitance, but once again, they look nothing like the team that dominated cricket only a few years ago.



Batting and Bowling Award: Chris Woakes: A great all-round performance from the youngster. He’s really started to come of age in this series.

[UTBash]

Kerrigan is my going to be my 1st choice young spinner when i decide to bring another through, I may take him to the t20 world cup and India. Woakes is doing well! The Aussies are weak, but they can surprise at times as they have a few stars such as warner, watson, clarke.

[DaveK93]

Kerrigan is my going to be my 1st choice young spinner when i decide to bring another through, I may take him to the t20 world cup and India. Woakes is doing well! The Aussies are weak, but they can surprise at times as they have a few stars such as warner, watson, clarke.

I'll be honest, I was expecting more of a challenge from the Aussies. I didn't lose though, which is always nice I've got 4 or 5 spinners in mind, the three I previously mentioned,due to their skills, but Naik of Leicestershire has been fairly impressive in the shorter formats, so I may consider him if he continues that form. Exciting times for English spinners!

[UTBash]

I'll be honest, I was expecting more of a challenge from the Aussies. I didn't lose though, which is always nice I've got 4 or 5 spinners in mind, the three I previously mentioned,due to their skills, but Naik of Leicestershire has been fairly impressive in the shorter formats, so I may consider him if he continues that form. Exciting times for English spinners!

Their bowling was horrendous we destroyed them, they only had one bowler going under 6 an over and he was at 5.8, Hilfenhaus.... Can't wait for the South Africa series, may start that later on!

[DaveK93]

Their bowling was horrendous we destroyed them, they only had one bowler going under 6 an over and he was at 5.8, Hilfenhaus.... Can't wait for the South Africa series, may start that later on!

Yeah, I may make an attempt at starting the series later, I'm getting quite into this story at the moment. I found they weren't expensive as such, they just weren't able to take wickets.

[DaveK93]

Sorry, forgot to put the ODI stats in!

England:



Australia:

[DaveK93]

England vs South Africa

So we now play one of the most complete units on the international cricket circuit. This should be a good series.

The team that will be touring England is:

South Africa:
G Smith
H Amla
A B De Villiers
A Petersen
J Rudolph
J P Duminy
T Tsolekile
J Kallis
M De Lange
V Philander
I Tahir
M Morkel
R Peterson
D Steyn
L Tsotsobe

It’s worth noting Dale Steyn has a broken finger, and is out for two weeks, so he’ll definitely miss the first test. We need to take advantage of this.

England:
A Strauss
A Cook
J Trott
I Bell
R Bopara
K Pietersen
M Prior
S Broad
T Bresnan
G Swann
J Anderson
S Finn

A strong squad for the first test, with the team picking itself. Bresnan or Bopara will be picked once again based on the conditions. I will try and bring the youngsters through again, but for now, it will take injuries or very bad form for them to sneak in.

I will also be choosing my 30 man shortlist for the T20 World Cup after the first test. I may not need to, but it will be useful to have, for me at least.

[DaveK93]

First Test

Teams:

England:
A Strauss
A Cook
J Trott
I Bell
K Pietersen
M Prior
S Broad
T Bresnan
G Swann
J Anderson
S Finn

Bresnan gets the nod for us in overcast conditions.

S Africa:
G Smith
H Amla
J Kallis
A B De Villiers
A Peterson
J Rudolph
V Philander
T Tsolekile
M de Lange
M Morkel
L Tsotsobe

The South African team lacks Dale Steyn, but the bowlers selected are more than capable.

Toss: We won the toss! I decided to bat first, before the pitch deteriorated too much.

Day 1:
We finished the first day on 261/4, after a rain affected first session. Morkel took 3 wickets, those of Strauss, Cook and Trott, and Pietersen was removed by part-timer Rudolph. Prior and Bell consolidated though, and leaves the first day even. I can see the rain affecting this match more though, so we do need a good first innings to make sure we could win this.

Day 2:
We lost Prior to the first ball of the day, edging behind. However, Bell did get to his century, ably supported by a Broad half century. The tail collapsed with Broad’s departure though, as we finished on 380, which in my opinion is probably too low.
Steven Finn produced one of his best bowling performances in an England shirt, as he took 7 wickets to leave South Africa teetering on the edge of the follow on. Swann picked up the other wicket, as South Africa could not do anything about Finn. England are really in the driving seat in this test match.

Day 3:
Anderson picked up the last wicket early on in the day, and South Africa were made to follow on. The openers rediscovered their batting talent though, and were 195/4 by the end of the days play, having lost some of the last session to rain. Bresnan got a wicket, whilst Broad got 3. Still plenty of time to wrap this one up though.

Day 4:
We finished the South Africans off for 291, Bresnan getting a five wicket haul. Swann also came into play, getting a wicket. This compensated for the fact that Broad got injured, which is disappointing, but given that Chris Woakes was in good form against the Australians, I would think he would be ideal to replace Broad.I say this in confidence, as on my Nottinghamshire story, he would bat as high as five for them.
England were left with only 81 to chase, so fairly easy. Or so you would think. We very nearly threw it away! Only Trott and Cook provided any real resistance, and that just about took us over the line, but I was very, very worried throughout the innings.



Batting Award: Ian Bell: purely for his first innings century. Nobody really pushed him for it in the second innings.
Bowling Award: It has to be Steven Finn, lethal bowling in the first innings put us in a very strong position.

Second Test squad announcement following shortly.

[Imager36]

If you win the second test, are you going to drop/retire Pietersen? I'd enjoy the realism and it would be a good excuse to squeeze a youngster in... anyway, your call, just a small suggestion.

[Dutz]

Surely if its overcast conditions an extra batsmen is required?!

[DaveK93]

Second Test Squad Announcement

England:
A Hales
A Cook
J Trott
I Bell
J Taylor
K Pietersen
M Prior
C Woakes
T Bresnan
G Swann
J Anderson
S Finn

The captain is dropped! Strauss finally pays the price for his bad form, and will play no part in the second test. Ravi Bopara also misses out this time, as James Taylor is called up. Chris Woakes comes in for the injured Stuart Broad, and is likely to start against the South Africans in the next test.

Next up, the T20 preliminary squad for England will be announced.

[DaveK93]

If you win the second test, are you going to drop/retire Pietersen? I'd enjoy the realism and it would be a good excuse to squeeze a youngster in... anyway, your call, just a small suggestion.

I am considering it, I have made a couple of changes for the second test, so I may bring Strauss back in place of him. I think I may start to phase him out now as well, because I'd rather have Taylor, Hales and Bairstow in the squad.

[DaveK93]

Surely if its overcast conditions an extra batsmen is required?!

I thought about it, but because Bresnan and Broad can both bat, it covers the extra batsman. If I put Ravi in, then I lack a fourth pace option, which I like to have in conditions that may help swing. In this instance it worked, but it does depend on other things such as form as well.