England under DaveK

[KGKOOLKAT777]

It's been fun guys, but I'm retiring this story, as I haven't got the time to play on it, and keep all you lovely people informed as well as my uni work. Likewise with my Notts story. However, should I ever get the time to start a new story I will.

Cheers folks!

Really disappointed but I could see it coming as everyone is now very busy including myself but it was a great story so good job!

[DaveK93]

It's been fun guys, but I'm retiring this story, as I haven't got the time to play on it, and keep all you lovely people informed as well as my uni work. Likewise with my Notts story. However, should I ever get the time to start a new story I will.

Cheers folks!

[DaveK93]

Squad:

Joe Root returns after some impressive OD form at county level. Dernbach returns for Harris to give him a break after a long Test Series.



First ODI:

Teams:



Toss: England lose the toss and bat.

Match Report:

Taylor and Buttler did well for England, but Watson took the game well away from us. A disappointing start to the series, and something tells me this could be a long, hard, difficult series.



Batting Award: Buttler, did his best to speed the run rate up.
Bowling Award: Dernbach, took 3 wickets, but they weren’t enough.

[DaveK93]

Test Stats:

England:



Australia:




Man of the Series: Stuart Broad, performed in every test match, the first series he's really looked impressive for me.

[DaveK93]

Fifth Test
Teams:



No change for England, Harris for Hilfenhaus and Clarke for Warner for Australia.

Toss: Aus win the toss and bowl.

Match Report:

Day 1:
It was a high scoring day as Australia reached 333-9 by the close of play. Hussey and Ponting frustrated the bowlers, but Broad took it as a personal offence and came back to take 4 wickets, inspiring the other bowlers to get their act together as well. It’s still anyone’s game at this stage.

Day 2:
We finished on 248-5, but that was testament to S Broad and KP, who produced a marvellous batting effort to recover our position as well collapsed early on. Pietersen got a century, and Broad reached 66* at the close, which was a great effort from both of them.

Day 3:
We hold a slight first innings lead after being bowled out for 379, mainly down to Broad and Harris, who hit some valuable runs in the opening session. The match is evenly poised.
Australia got 192/5 on the board before the close, leaving the match on a knife edge. Broad picked up 2 wickets, with Dawson, Swann and Finn all getting one each.

Day 4:
We set Finn loose in the early session, and he finished the Aussies off, as they holed out for 253. It leaves us only 200 odd to chase, which is a better position than I expected we’d be in at this stage.

We finished 6 runs short of winning at the close, but with only 3 wickets in hand. Bairstow led the charge despite wickets falling around him, and has probably won us the match with this innings here.

Day 5:
An England win. We therefore win the series 4-1.



Batting Award: S Broad, his knock may have been slightly less than Pietersen, but he stayed with Harris in order to get us past the Aussie score.
Bowling Award: S Broad, him again. A great spell in the first innings to put us back in the match, and bowled well in the second innings as well.

[DaveK93]

Fourth Test:

Prior drops out the squad, as does Taylor, I bring in Bairstow, and Liam Dawson.

Teams:



Strauss misses out, with Hales bumped up to opener.Australia make no change.

Toss: England lose the toss and bowl.

Match Report:

Day 1:

Australia got to 322-4, on a batsman’s pitch. They lost Warner to injury early on, but Hussey made up for it with another century. Something tells me this could be a very high scoring match.

Day 2:

We finally managed to bowl Australia out for 489. I’m disappointed, we should have done so much better in the field.
We worked our way to 151-2 at the close, losing Hales and Bell, but Cook was still in on 60* so there is hope yet.

Day 3:

We got to 434, with Cook reaching a century. Bairstow also did well, and all the tailenders had a go, as we did fairly well to match the Aussie total. We could, and should have got more though; our main batsmen keep throwing their wickets away this series. Australia reached 1-0 a the close.

Day 4:

Australia collapsed to 245 all out, after a five-fer for Anderson at the beginning of the last session of play stopped them in their tracks. Hughes and Paine did bat well, but lacked support, and we are left chasing 301 to win in a day and a bit.
We lost Hales before the close, reaching 53-1.

Day 5:

We finished the match easily enough, Cook getting a second century, and Bell and Pietersen both did well to get us there, only losing 3 wickets in total. We take the series, and get the chance to lift the urn once more!



Batting Award: Cook, a century in each innings, took the captaincy in his stride.
Bowling Award: J Anderson, 9 wickets, 5 of which came in a devastating spell of bowling to stop the Aussie second innings.

[DaveK93]

Third Test:
Teams:



No change for England, Bird comes back to replace Harris for Australia.

Toss: England win the toss and bat.

Match Report:

Day 1:
Well, that backfired. We were bowled out for 244, as the weather conditions didn’t help us at all. Only Cook and Pietersen really made any progress, and we look in a weak position after the first innings, we really should have got higher.

Australia reached 24-0 at the close.

Day 2:
Aus reached 374-8 by the close. We didn’t play badly, we just couldn’t get through the defences of Hussey and Warner. The match is getting away from us slightly, we need to hit back and fast.

Day 3:
We were left with a fight to save the match, after being left on 258-7. We’ve not looked good this match, only Bell providing resistance. Prior will lose his place for the next match as well, after some shocking performances this series.

Day 4:
Australia knocked off the deficit for the loss of only 2 wickets. A comfortable win.



Batting Award: Bell, fought valiantly.
Bowling Award: Broad, just about does enough to get it.

[DaveK93]

Second Test:

I make no changes to the 12 man squad I selected previously.

Teams:



Harris in for Taylor, as I play the fifth bowler. Bird is replaced by Harris for the Aussies.

Toss: Australia win the toss and bat.

Match Report:

Day 1:
The Aussies were bowled out for 122 mid-way through the day, after being unable to cope with some tight bowling. Conditions weren’t great either as the pace bowlers excelled, Broad, Anderson and Finn all doing well.
We lost Strauss and Cook early on, but Hales and Bell batted steadily and without risk, to get us to 116-2 by the close.

Day 2:
We finished our innings just after tea on 343. Hales and Pietersen both got half centuries as Ian Bell continued his fine test form to get another century. A good batting performance in testing conditions, it gives us a lead of over 200, which could well be enough.
Aus finished on 47-4, Broad getting 3 wickets in a good day for us.

Day 3:
Australia just had no answer to us. They holed out for 126 this time, after James Harris took 4 wickets in a blistering spell in the first session. We wrapped up an innings win and a 2-0 lead in the series comfortably, this series has gone well so far for me.



Batting Award: Ian Bell, He’s in great form, and demonstrated it here with another century.
Bowling Award: Hard to choose, but Broad gets it as he bowled well at the start of both innings, taking key wickets in each.

[DaveK93]

First Test:

Teams:



James Harris misses out as I elect to play the extra batsman for this match.

Toss:
England win the toss and bat first.

Match Report:

Day 1:
Honours even. We started well, Cook and Strauss leading off in style. But after the rain delay, we crumbled a bit, and only finished on 275-8 after some good work from Pietersen, Broad and Swann. So much for the extra batting…

Day 2:
Australia got through to 285-7, but only after some good work by the bowlers in the final session. Up until then, we’d been batted out of the game; Watson, Warner and Ponting being the perpetrators. Still, the late wickets we took put us in the tail, so this match is still very close.

Day 3:
It took us all of the first session to bowl out Australia for 336. A lead which we knocked off quickly before losing Strauss. Hales also got into the 30’s before departing, and Cook hit a solid 80, as the close of play saw us reach 226-3, so we need to up the run-rate a bit tomorrow.

Day 4:
Up until the final session, I thought this day was a lost cause. We collapsed to 331 all out, an alarmingly below par total, leaving Australia 296 to win it. They set off in pursuit comfortably, but once Finn removed Warner, the flood gates opened. By the close of play, Australia had fallen to 164-7, and were struggling. Some great work by the bowlers again, and sets a very entertaining last day of play up.

Day 5:
All the last day needed was one Graeme Swann over. He took the last 3 wickets in an over to finish the innings on 200, and give us a 96 run win. A winning start to the Ashes. It just couldn’t get any better.



Batting Award: Cook, batted well at the start of both innings.
Bowling Award: Finn, a great spell of bowling sparked the second innings collapse.

[DaveK93]

The Ashes

The moment I've been looking forward to has arrived - thrashing the Aussies at the home of cricket!

The first squads are in:

England:



Australia:

[DaveK93]

First T20I

Teams:



Toss: NZ win toss and bat.

Match Report:
And so a dismal tour of England comes to an end for NZ, not with a bang, but a whimper. I’m not going to bother with a match report, the scorecard just about tells the tale of this match.



Batting Award: Ian Bell, for top scoring and being not out.
Bowling Award: All the England bowlers, a well-polished performance.

[DaveK93]

As promised, the stats!

England:




New Zealand:



I'm keeping the same squad for the T20I's, as are NZ, so straight on with them.

[DaveK93]

Third ODI:

Teams:



Bairstow, Topley, and Harris all come in for Swann, Broad and Cook. De Boorder in for Guptill for NZ.

Toss: NZ win the toss and bat.

Match Report:
A dead rubber, I’m not going to read too much into it. Needless to say, we didn’t have enough depth in our batting to quite manage. Jesse Ryder finally showed up though, much to my disappointment.



Batting Award: Jonny Bairstow, valiantly battled against increasingly difficult odds.
Bowling Award: Steven Finn, another 4 wickets, he’s in marvellous form ahead of the Ashes.

Stats to follow!

[DaveK93]

Second ODI:

Teams:



England replace Anderson with Danny Briggs. NZ bring in Guptill for De Boorder.

Toss: NZ win the toss and bat.

Match Report:

Given we had NZ at 36-5, I’m slightly disappointed. Broad and Finn were unplayable, as we completely crippled the Kiwi batting line-up. Had it not been for De Grandhomme and Wagner, the total could have been really embarrassing.

We lost Cook and Davies cheaply, but Buttler took control, and Bell joined him to see the match safely through, and also confirm a series victory.



Batting Award: Jos Buttler, scored his 81 at over a run a ball.
Bowling Award: Steven Finn, a devastating opening spell of bowling yielding 4 wickets.

[DaveK93]

FIRST ODI:

Teams:



Toss: NZ win the toss and elect to bowl.

Match Report:
By all accounts, this was a fairly low scoring match. Neither team really managed to get going. England batted first, with Cook and Davies opening.It was a reasonably slow start, which set the tone for the rest of the innings. Only Cook managed to pass 50, and were it not for some late hitting by Broad and Woakes, we may not have even reached 200. Still, I had to hope that the pitch was just as difficult for them as it was for us.

Fortunately it was. The Kiwis struggled at the start as well, and despite some quick scoring by McCullum, especially off of Finn, it wasn’t anywhere near enough. Woakes and Swann tied the scoring rate down, in the middle of the order. The tail-enders had a crack, and started hitting out, but ultimately they couldn’t quite reach the target.



Batting Award: A Cook, only batsman to get a half century, and led from the front.
Bowling Award: C Woakes, as he was so much more economical in his 10 overs than Finn or Swann were.