England under UTBash

[UTBash]

2nd ODI vs India

Team News: Finn replaces Kerrigan.

We won the toss and chose to bat.

Despite losing Bell early, Cook and Trott rose to the occasion staying calm and putting on a huge partnership of 189 together from just 28 overs! Cook made a great century while Trott made 84 from 81. Nobody else quite managed to push on from their starts and our run rate suffered ever so slightly as we lost some wickets towards the end. We still finished on a very good 278-6.

India were going well, after targeting Finn in the early stages. They were 76-2 from 15, with Tendulkar set on 41. Chris Woakes had an immediate impact, taking 2 wickets in his first over, leaving them 82-4 from 16. However, Rohit Sharma, who was to get an unbeaten 98, was still in. If it wasn't for him, India would've suffered a heavy loss, instead, they took a second win from two games. Our bowlers struggled to keep the runs down throughout the innings. India were 205-6 at one point, but Pathan supported Sharma to take them almost over the line. They did so with 2 balls to spare.



Batting Award: Alastair Cook. Such a shame we lost after a brilliant century.

Bowling Award: Chris Woakes. He was one of 3 bowlers to go over 6 an over. The difference was, he bowled in the powerplays and picked up 3 wickets while he was at it.

Series State: India lead 2-0 with 3 games remaining.

[UTBash]

3rd ODI vs India

Team News: Anderson replaces Finn.

India won the toss and chose to bat.

We went back to opening the bowling with Samit and Broad after Finn's failure in the previous game, we started better with the ball this time. With India 78-5 from 20, spin was proving to be key, as Samit and Swann had 2 wickets a piece with a run out being the other. From this point, India struggled to cope with our excellent bowling, and only managed to reach 177-9 on the best pitch of the series so far. Swann was the pick of our bowlers, bowling 2 maidens and taking 2-31. Woakes picked up 1 wicket for the same amount of runs.

We were looking good at 80-1 from the first 10, an improvement on their start anyway, haha. From this point we took our foot off the gas significantly, and I wondered whether we should've just carried on having a go, as we ended up 6 down, with Hales, Morgan and Patel falling in single figures. Fortunately, Woakes and Bairstow picked up the pieces and we cruised to an easy victory with plenty of overs to spare.



Batting Award: Jonny Bairstow. He composed himself when others were falling to take us over the line. Bell got MOTM as he scored 35 from 28 in contrast to Jonny's 44 from 76, I imagine.

Bowling Award: Graeme Swann. Very well bowled in the early and latter stages.

Series State: India lead 2-1 with 2 games to go.

[UTBash]

UPDATE on rankings.

We currently stand 3rd in the ODI rankings.

1. Australia - 26 pts
2. South Africa - 26 pts
3. England - 25 pts

Last time in India we lost 5-0, so a win in this series would take us to the top of the tree, while a loss will leave us unmoved.

HOWEVER, if we do not win this series, we have New Zealand next. New Zealand beat us last time we were there playing ODI's, so we have a chance to get to the top in that series too.

I fully expect to be world number one by the end of this year/season.

[UTBash]

4th ODI vs India

Team News: Kieswetter for Hales.

India won the toss and will bat first.

The Indians got off to a good start, with pace in pitch and the ball coming off the bat well. They were 55-1 from their first ten. It wasn't until the 35th over that we took the second wicket, which was Sehwag for 114. This wicket followed a tight 10 overs by Woakes and Broad and was picked up by Swann. Two more important wickets fell in the powerplay, with Kohli going for 54. From this point we turned the screw, with Swann taking 4 wickets. We didn't allow them to push on to the late 200's or maybe even 300 which they deserved with the start they had. Woakes was our most economical, going for 40 runs from his allotted 10 overs.

We started well, 103-2 from 15. Kieswetter, who came in at 3, was flying on 31 from 20, and Trott was the new man in after Bell fell for 46. Kieswetter fell in the 21st after just passing 50, 51 from 37. We needed 121 runs at 4.1 an over. Trott and Morgan put on 71 before Morgan fell for 37, we now needed 50 runs at 3.9 runs per over. Bairstow and Trott decided to take no chances, pushing on extra early to make sure a win was the only result. Despite Bairstow falling with 12 needed, we got home easily to level the series.



Batting Award: Jonathan Trott. A well constructed innings to take us over the line.

Bowling Award: Graeme Swann. Excellent bit of bowling and he was easily our stand out man.

Series State: 2-2 with one game remaining. The comeback is on.

[UTBash]

5th ODI vs India

Team News: No changes in this series decider.

We won the toss and bowled first.

The first 10 overs were wicketless and India were 40-0. Part time bowlers were required for the first time after Anderson and Woakes were sent to all parts in the first spells. And it was Ian Bell who picked up the wicket of Tendulkar, The Little Master falling for 76 with the score on 155. Jimmy and Woakes returned for the powerplay but continued to struggle. From 40 overs India were 232-2. The Indian batsmen played with freedom til the end after the stage had been set by the openers, and finished 297-4, we had our work cut out.

We started well, despite losing a few wickets. After 20 we were 128-3, with Cook still in and going well. Winning was still a long way away but it was possible. Cook fell tragically in the 32nd for 99 from 89 balls. We now required 108 runs at 5.8 an over. Ashwin took full advantage of the turning wicket, taking 5 for himself as we slumped to 249 all out. A good effort, but not good enough. Oh well, bring on New Zealand.



Batting Award: Alastair Cook. A valiant effort by the opener.

Bowling Award: Samit Patel. He went for 40 from his 10. Broad went for 45, so imagine how bad the others actually did.....

Series Result: India win 3-2.

[UTBash]

ODI Series vs India (STATISTICS)

Top 5 English Batsmen (Runs & AVG)
1. A Cook - 290 runs @ 58.00
2. J Trott - 212 runs @ 53.00
3. I Bell - 144 runs @ 28.80
4. J Bairstow - 135 runs @ 33.75
5. C Kieswetter - 75 runs @ 37.50

Top 5 Indian Batsmen (Runs & AVG)
1. V Sehwag - 269 runs @ 53.80
2. R Sharma - 205 runs @ 68.33
3. S Tendulkar - 177 runs @ 35.40
4. V Kohli - 109 runs @ 21.80
5. G Gambhir - 100 runs @ 33.33

Top 5 English Bowlers (Wickets & AVG)
1. G Swann - 10 wickets @ 25.20
2. C Woakes - 8 wickets @ 30.25
3. S Broad - 7 wickets @ 34.29
4. J Anderson - 4 wickets @ 36.25
5. S Patel - 4 wickets @ 53.50

Top 5 Indian Bowlers (Wickets & AVG)
1. Z Khan - 12 wickets @ 22.25
2. R Ashwin - 11 wickets @ 19.45
3. P Kumar - 6 wickets @ 38.33
4. I Pathan - 3 wickets @ 71.00
5. V Kumar - 3 wickets @ 83.67


Series Awards

Batting Award: Alastair Cook. Who else but him? He stood out by a mile although Trott did bat very well in the series. Maybe Kieswetter should've played more.

Bowling Award: Chris Woakes. Swann is the obvious choice, but Woakes is still very young, and Swann was assisted by turning pitches. he bowled well in this series and I sense big things for the young man.

[UTBash]

England Test Squad for NZ Series.

An injury to Strauss results in the door opening for Hales at the top of the order. Morgan and Bopara return to the test match scene for the first time under my management. Hales, Kieswetter, Woakes and Meaker could make their debuts in this series!


England Squad

Opening Batsmen
Alastair Cook
Alex Hales

Other Batsmen
Ian Bell
Jonathan Trott
Eoin Morgan
Kevin Pietersen
James Taylor
Ravi Bopara

Wicket Keepers
Jonny Bairstow
Craig Kieswetter

All Rounders
Chris Woakes
Stuart Broad
Tim Bresnan

Bowlers
James Anderson
Steven Finn
Stuart Meaker
Simon Kerrigan
Graeme Swann

First up is a 3 day friendly against Central Districts.

[DaveK93]

Hales will be key for you I reckon, he's become a vital part of my ODI and T20I squads, and has just about replaced Strauss in the test squad as well. He's been decent on my tour of India so far.

[UTBash]

Hales will be key for you I reckon, he's become a vital part of my ODI and T20I squads, and has just about replaced Strauss in the test squad as well. He's been decent on my tour of India so far.

I hope so, he's been poor in the shorter format so far for me.

[UTBash]

England vs Central Districts friendly

We went with an experimental team, giving a few of the youngsters a go.

England XI
A Cook
A Hales
K Pietersen
J Taylor
J Bairstow
I Bell
C Woakes
S Broad
S Meaker
J Anderson
S Kerrigan



We destroyed them really.... Hales also score a fifty for us, everybody bowled and batted well except KP

[UTBash]

England vs New Zealand 1st test teams

This is the first time i have experimented so much! Wish me luck!

[UTBash]

1st Test vs New Zealand

We won the toss and bowled.

Day 1
In a day that was very much affected by rain, there isn't much to say, they finished the day 3 down with Watling on 66 not out.

Day 2
It was a day in which we struggled, no bowler fully stepped up to the mark and some good batting from Williamson and Brownlie, as well as a few of their bowlers chipping in, took them to 469 all out in the final session. We played out the final over of the day for just the one run.

Day 3
Quite frankly a horrendous day, our batting wasn't up to scratch under the atrocious weather. We managed 129-4 from another rain interrupted day with Hales scoring 1 and Bairstow scoring 0. Young Matt Henry had all 4 wickets.

Day 4
Henry took his 5th wicket early on in the day. He also went on to take his 6th, 7th and 8th on day 4 as we were bowled out for 277, with Alastair Cook scoring a century and nobody else passing 50. New Zealand declared at the end of the day after batting aggressively, finishing on 164-4. We now need 357 to win, not impossible by any means.

Day 5
Well, I don't know what to say, at 71-5 we never really had a chance. We were dismissed for 233, Matt Henry took 3 wickets to make his test match DEBUT a memorable one, it must be a record, 11-156.

A disappointing loss but I'm not too bothered about this series, I want to use it as a chance to look at the youngsters I've included, ready for next season.



Series State: New Zealand lead 1-0 with 2 games remaining.

Batting Award: Alastair Cook. The only man worth it with his first innings century.

Bowling Award: Chris Woakes. A decent start on debut, but I do expect more in future with the ball.

[UTBash]

2nd Test vs New Zealand

Team News: Meaker for Finn.

We won the toss and batted.

Day 1
Hales fell early once again for 1. New Zealand edged the first session, taking 3 wickets, our top 3 men. It was down to Bairstow and Bell to rebuild however Bairstow fell not long after. Bell and Taylor put on 96 before Bell unfortunately fell on 48. However, Taylor and Woakes set about their own partnership, putting on 82 before the close, with Taylor scoring his maiden test century in the final over of the day.

Day 2
When their partnership was finally broken, we were 360-6. Taylor went for 141 but Woakes was still unbeaten and past 50. He fell for 68 soon after and we were bowled out for 424. The day ended well for us and we had them 192-5, with Kerrigan taking 2 wickets and the others being shared out.

Day 3
We finished them off for 290 at the end of the first session, with everyone apart from Swann getting a share of the wickets. We ended the day 183-1 with Hales (33) being the only man back in the tent.

Day 4
We batted out 2 sessions on day 4, reaching 394-4, with a lead of 528, okay a bit too long maybe, but Taylor did score his second hundred of the game We had a session to get into their batsmen. It didn't work out how we wanted and they ended the day 114-0.

Day 5
Well, it all looked promising as we had them 6 down when the last session started in bad conditions, but the rain had to come down didn't it! Oh well, match drawn.



Series State: New Zealand lead 1-0 with one game left.

Batting Award: James Taylor! Titch finally shows he can compete at this level! Hales and Bairstow are yet to make a test match impression.

Bowling Award: James Anderson. It's hard when the wickets are shared but I think Jimmy deserves this one.

[UTBash]

3rd Test vs NZ

Team News: Kieswetter for Swann. This means we have a bowling attack of Anderson, Meaker, Woakes and Kerrigan.

We lost the toss and were asked to bat.

Day 1
It was a decent day for us after a few stumbles. Hales and Taylor struggled, making 7 each. But Cook was once again the mainstay of the innings, ending the day on 135, with Kieswetter unbeaten on 68 on debut.

Day 2
The two batsmen in passed 100 and 200 at similar times in the first session to put the pressure on New Zealand. Kieswetter fell for a very good 103 in the second session as he was bowled by Matt Henry. Nobody got past 13 after that and we were bowled out for 462. It was a poor effort if you took away Cook and Kieswetters scores. NZ ended the day 95-2, with Woakes and Meaker taking a wicket each.

Day 3
Our bowlers came together well to leave NZ 195-5 at the end of the first session. Dean Brownlie and Neil Wagner ended the day with an unbeaten partnership of 157 to save the Kiwi's innings as our bowlers struggled to get the breakthrough they needed. They ended the day on 420-6.

Day 4
Kerrigan came good early on on day 4, taking 3 of the remaining 4 wickets to take his first five wicket test match haul. We came out to bat with an attitude, and this gave Alex Hales some freedom and confidence as he raced to 50 from 40 balls. Trott scored a pretty quick 90 and Bell finished unbeaten on 76 and I declared leaving NZ needing 328 to win with a day left, it was either win or lose I would imagine.

Day 5
at 171-2, New Zealand were cruising. But a collapse to 276-6 left the game in the balance! It really was win or lose from now! Anderson pulled off an amazing spell to take him to 7 wickets for the innings, but he ran out of steam just in time for the Kiwi's and Williamson helped Henry through to the end. Another disappointing loss.



Series Result: New Zealand win 2-0

Batting Award: Alastair Cook. A fantastic double hundred in the first innings.

Bowling Award: James Anderson. Very nearly single-handedly won the game for us at the end, just nearly.

[UTBash]

Squad news for ODI Series

Ins: Reece Topley and Samit Patel.

Outs: Pietersen, Meaker, Bresnan, Finn, Bopara.

First up a One Day Friendly vs Wellington....



Decent game, not a decent batting performance on the whole, but we bowled well and we won!