My England Story.

[Macgeeze]

So with Pietersen out injured with his nagging knee, and Bell also injured with a hamstring for one day, these were the selected teams for the first test.

England XI

Cook*
Root
Trott
Compton
Taylor
Bopara
Prior +
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Finn

New Zealand XI

Rutherford
Fulton #
Taylor
Williamson
McCullum*
Guptill
Watling +
Bracewell
Southee
Gillespie
Boult

Day 1 - So Cook lost the first toss of the test match series, and we were asked to bowl. Anderson bowled 3 consecutive maidens at Rutherford before conceding his first run of the day. Broad was proving a tad expensive, so I introduced Finn into the attack, his first ball bowled Rutherford for a very slow 5. After Taylor was dismissed, Fulton and Williamson steadied the ship adding 53 for the third wicket. At tea they were 172-3 with Fulton 72* and McCullum 35*. First ball after tea Fulton was trapped lbw off Finn after a well compiled knock. A couple a quick wickets before the new ball left them 250-6 with honours even. Watling and Bracewell batted until stumps with NZ finishing the day 285-6.


Day 2 - The last 4 wickets yielded 126 runs something we will need to alter during this series, with Bracewell hitting a gutsy 58 with the rest of the lower order chipping in. With 1 over left to negotiate there were no dramas as we went to lunch at 2-0. A good new ball spell left us 13-1 after 9.4 with Cook back in the hut. Root got to his 50 on the stroke of tea, Compton made a golden and we were 104-3. Root and Taylor put on a good partnership of 127 before the latter fell for 56, Bopara was dropped on 8 but couldn't make it count as he was lbw to Southee for 15. We closed on 224-5 with Root 110* batting superbly.


Day 3 - The third ball of the day saw Prior depart with NZ still leading by 131. Root and Swann put on a swift 62 before lunch with them both not out. The 136 run partnership ended 67 minutes after tea with Swann run out for a quick 67 with 46 coming in boundaries. Anderson edged his first ball for 4. Root brought up his maiden test double ton off 344 balls with a six over wide mid on. Root was eventually bowled for a magnificent 250 putting on a partnership of 70 with Anderson whilst the latter contributed 8 off 37. At the fall of the 9th wicket we declared 113 runs ahead with a hour and a half left in the day. Anderson again started with a maiden but after the first 19 overs they were 85 without loss.


Day 4 - Rutherford and Fulton batted fluently until Fulton was caught behind off Swann the ball after he brought up his hundred to end the mammoth opening stand of 195. We couldn't seem to stem the flow of runs but the 2 key wickets of Rutherford and Taylor for 175 and 72 respectively meant we went into tea 255 runs behind with the new ball available. A late flurry of wickets and a middle and lower order collapse saw Finn take a 5 fer but he was extremely expensive in his first spell. They were bowled out for 433 setting us 321 to win with a tricky 15 minute session left, we ended the day 13-0 needing 308 from the last day to win with all 3 results still possible.


Day 5 - Cook and Root batted slowly during the first session to set us a platform of 90-0 needing mother 231 to win. When Cook was bowled for 77 a quarter of an hour before tea we were 167-1 needing 154 left to win, the very overcast conditions making it hard for either player to be fluent. When Root fell for 108 we still needed 112 to win with 7 wickets in hand. With 69 left to win with 56 minutes left it was game on. Compton and Taylor both batting fluently, the first ball with the new cherry bowled Taylor for an unselfish 41. Compton was looking like he was cruising towards victory, with 60 off 61 but he was caught behind next ball with 15 left to get. A couple of late wickets fell but Prior finished it off with a pull shot with 2 wickets left. Great chase of 323.

Batting award.

Joe Root with a double and a ton aggregating 358 runs for the match.

Bowling award.

Finn, took 9-155 in the game.

Key man watch.

Fulton made a gritty 72 in the first and followed up with a much more dominant innings of 101.

[Macgeeze]

Changes, Bell comes in for Bopara. Moving up to 4, NZ have brought in Brownlie for Guptill and he'll bat below Watling.

Day 1 - Cook lost another toss, and we were asked to bowled on a blistering sunny day, this doesn't look good. Anderson provided an early inroad by removing Rutherford in the 7th over, but another aggressive knock from Taylor sent them to lunch 122-1.the defensive ploy of bowling Swann around the wicket worked as the pressure built and he snicked off to Anderson down the other end charging the seamer looking to hit over cover after his strike rate began to steadily fall. Before tea the 19 over 3rd wicket partnership crawled to 34. As the pressure mounted Fulton lost his concentration and chipped a simple catch back to Finn on 82. McCullum attacked the new ball as they ended the day 303-3.


Day 2 - 50 was added before Broad trapped McCullum lbw just after Williamson reached his ton. Finn wrapped up the tail again but Williamson batted exceptionally for 162 and was unlucky to not get a red inker. They amassed 490 inside 4 and a half sessions. Our opening pair nervelessly saw us to tea for 10. With 3 overs left Root fell for 33 after Watling dropped a sitter from Cook the previous over. I decided not to send in a nightwatchman which nearly backfired as a huge caught behind shout was turned down first ball to Trott, Cook brought up his 50 off 105 balls 7 balls before stumps.


Day 3 - Cook and Trott saw us through to lunch without much drama as we went in 178-1. Cook fell 7 runs short of his hundred an over before the 2nd new ball with Trott 67*. Trott and Bell took us to tea 275-2 with both looking extremely solid. Bell fell soon after tea for 55 bringing Compton to the crease. A flurry of wickets late in the day left us reeling as we were 369-6 still trailing by 121 runs but with the solace that Trott is going strong with 135*.


Day 4 - Trott started the day how he ended day 3 with a few boundaries, at lunch Trott and Broads partnership had risen to 90 with us still 37 in arrears but all looking even and shaping up for a tense finish already. Trott fell after reaching his double hundred with us leading by 3 with only 2 wickets left. We added 25 for the last two wickets predominately with Swanns late hitting. We took regular wickets in the final session leaving them 125-3 at the end of the day.


Day 5 - McCullum fell for a quick 101 off 119 just before lunch as they look for a declaration. NZ declared 280 in front with an hour and a half left before tea, the draw looking the likely option as we won't really be looking for the win with no more than a draw needed to clinch the series. Fairly boring chase, Cook falling relatively early with Root and Trott batting out a draw with them on 55* and 56* respectively.

Batting award.

Trott for making our 2nd double of the series and a tepid half century in the 2nd.

Bowling award.

No one was exceptional, but Swann kept it tight when needed.

Key man watch.

Fulton made another 80 odd and failed in the second, batted well again and an overall good tour.

Batting stats.
Root 446 @ 148.67 (2/1)
Trott 284 @ 94.67 (1/1)
Bell 55 @ 55 (0/1)
Cook 196 @ 49 (0/2)
Taylor 119 @ 39.67 (0/1)
Swann 112 @ 37.33 (0/1)
Compton 64 @ 21.33 (0/1)
Prior 35 @ 17.5
Broad 51 @ 17
Anderson 10 @ 10
Bopara 17 @ 8.5
Finn 1 @ 1

Bowling stats.

Finn 13 @ 26.92 (1)
Anderson 9 @ 48.44
Bopara 1 @ 52
Broad 5 @ 63.8
Swann 6 @ 66.67

New Zealand 356 all out.

Fulton 72
McCullum 69
Finn 4-87
Anderson 2-80

England 469-9 dec.

Root 250
Swann 67
Gillespie 3-106
Southee 3-125

New Zealand 433 all out.

Rutherford 175
Fulton 101
Finn 5-68
Anderson 3-106

England 323-8

Root 108
Compton 60
Boult 5-99
Southee 2-76

New Zealand 490 all out.

Williamson 162
Fulton 82
Finn 4-108
Anderson 3-152

England 518 all out.

Trott 203
Cook 93
Southee 4-117
Williamson 2-39

New Zealand 308-4 dec.

McCullum 101
Williamson 81*
Broad 2-62
Swann 1-58

England 132-1.

Trott 56*
Root 55*
Southee 1-32

[Macgeeze]

ODI Series vs NZ.

England XI

Cook
Bell
Trott
Morgan
Root
Bopara
Buttler
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Finn

New Zealand XI

Guptill
Ronchi
Taylor
Williamson
Munro
McCullum
Franklin
Vettori
Mills
Southee
Boult

So Cook won his first toss since the series began and he inserted NZ on an overcast morning, with the weather set to over better throughout the day. First ball of the game after being recalled Guptill tries to smash Anderson over mid on and is caught by Bopara. Anderson struck in the exact same fashion to dismiss Ronchi. Regular wickets fell, but with a gritty 50 from Williamson, a near run a ball 60 from McCullum and some late strikes from the lower order saw then make 247.

We just couldn't get going as we were 60-2 after 22 with no batsmen striking over 50, really missing Pietersen. When Cook was run out for 50 we were 95-4 after 28 needing 153 at over 7 an over. Nobody really got going, with everybody getting into double figures and getting out, really missed an aggressor in the middle. The innings just petered out as we were convincingly short.

New Zealand 247 all out.

McCullum 63
Williamson 56
Broard 3/46
Swann 3/50

England 180 all out.

Cook 50
Broad 21
Franklin 3/42
Mills 2/34

Batting award - Cook, a slow 50 but struck around as wickets fell around him at regular intervals.
Bowling award - Swann, he and Broad both took 3 but Swanns were more vital and Broad wrapped up a weak tail.

We went in with an unchanged line up as we lost the toss and we were inserted to bat on a scorching day. Bell fell third ball of the innings for a golden. Things looked to have began just how they left off. We were 22-2 when Cook was bowled off a no ball. After Root fell, Cook and Bopara struck an aggressive 57 partnership together before Cook was run out after reaching a hundred, leaving Buttler 8 overs to make a contribution. When Bopara was trapped lbw at a tad over a run a ball 41 which looked to be going down we were 212-6 with 27 balls left. Broad and Buttler put on 18 runs off 7 balls before the former fell. A Buttler cameo saw us up to 255-8.

Regular wickets fell in the first 32 overs, with Bopara being chief destroyer with a dropped catch in his last over which would have given him a well deserved 5 wicket haul. An aggressive knock from McCullum again along with Franklin again made us weary, but Swann and Broad mopped up the tail to give us a 61 run win.

England 255-8

Cook 103
Bopara 41
Boult 2/42
Mills 2/49

New Zealand 194 all out.

McCullum 47
Franklin 40
Bopara 4/51
Swann 3/55

Batting award - Cook with a ton says it all.
Bowling award - Boparas 4 taking up the top order.

On to the last game and we were asked to bowl, on a deck with a bit in it for the steamers and spinners, loos like it could be a thriller of a decider. The openers were aggressive in the first ten taking them to 53-0 after the mandatory power play. Bopara bowled a wicket maiden in his first over, but was then taken too by Taylor. McCullum was very cautious in his first 15 balls, but took the attack in the last ten to take NZ to 310-7.

We made a good start with 47 coming off our power play but we were nought down. After Bell went the run rate shot up to 9s, and after 33 overs Cook was lbw for a run a ball 85. Needing 151 off 17 we promoted Buttler as a pinch hitter. That didn't work as he nicked off first up. We tried valiantly but regular wickets meant we couldn't really get close, we mounted a chase of 279 but fell short, Morgan striking 67* at a strike rate of 120.

New Zealand 310-7

Taylor 86
McCullum 55
Swann 2/54
Bopara 2/63

England 279-7

Cook 85
Morgan 67*
Mills 3/33
Southee 2/63

Batting award - Cook with an out of character run a ball 85.
Bowling award - Broad, wicketless but was economical.

Batting stats.

Cook 238 @ 79.33 (1/2)
Morgan 102 @ 51 (0/1)
Trott 70 @ 23.33 (0/1)
Bopara 69 @ 23
Buttler 44 @ 22
Swann 19 @ 19
Broad 52 @ 17.33
Root 52 @ 17.33
Bell 34 @ 11.33
Anderson 9 @ 9
Finn 6 @ 6

Bowling stats.

Swann 8 @ 19.87
Bopara 7 @ 21.57
Broad 6 @ 24.50
Anderson 4 @ 34
Finn 2 @ 76

Key man watch - NZ Captain McCullum topped their batting averages with the most runs 165 @ 55 with two half centuries. He struck at a strike rate of 97.63 with all 3 of his knocks changing the context of the game.

Both teams stayed unchanged for all 3 games, the weirdest thing being that Vettori didn't bowl a solitary over, and batted at 8 as a batsmen in essence.

[Macgeeze]

Champions Trophy.

England squad

Batsmen

Cook
Bell
Trott
Morgan
Root
Ballance

Wicket keepers

Buttler
Kieswetter

All rounders

Bopara
Broad
Wright
Bresnan

Bowlers

Swann
Anderson
Finn

Key men

Cook
Anderson

Australia squad

Batsmen

Clarke
Bailey
Hughes
Voges
Warner

Wicket keepers

Wade

All rounders

Watson
Faulkner
Marsh
Maxwell

Bowlers

Coulter-Nile
Doherty
McKay
Johnson
Starc

Key men

Clarke
McKay

India squad

Batsmen

Dhawan
R.Sharma
Raina
Kohli
Vijay

Wicket keepers

Dhoni
Karthik

All rounders

Jadeja
Ashwin
Pathan

Bowlers

B.Kumar
Mishra
I.Sharma
V.Kumar
Yadav

Key men

Dhawan
Jadeja

New Zealand

Batsmen

Guptill
Taylor

Wicket keepers

B.McCullum
Ronchi

All rounders

Vettori
Franklin
Elliot
Ellis
Munro
Williamson

Bowlers

Boult
N.McCullum
Mills
Southee

Key men

B.McCullum
Mills

Pakistan squad

Batsmen

Ul-Haq
Shafiq
Farhat
Jamshed
Hafeez
Umin

Wicket keepers

K.Akmal

All rounders

Malik

Bowlers

Ali
Riaz
Adil
Ajmal
Irfan
Rehman
Khan

Key men

Hafeez
Ajmal

South Africa squad

Batsmen

Smith
Behardien
Amla

Du plessis
Duminy
Ingram
Miller

Wicket keepers

De Villiers

All rounders

McLaren
Peterson

Bowlers

Kleinveldt
Morkel
Tsotsobe
Steyn
Phangiso

Key men

Amla
Steyn

Sri Lanka squad

Batsmen

Dishan
Jayawardene
Thirimanne

Wicket keepers

Sangakkara
Chandimal
K.Perera

All rounders

Mathews
T.Perera
Mendis

Bowlers

Herath
Kulasekara
Eranga
Malinga
Senanayake
Welagedara

Key men

Sangakkara
Malinga

West Indies squad

Batsmen

Gayle
D.Bravo
Sarwan
Smith

Wicket keepers

Ramdin
Charles

All rounders

D.Bravo
Samuels
Pollard
Sammy

Bowlers

Best
Holder
Narine
Rampaul
Roach

Key men

Gayle
Narine

So, our first game was against the old enemy. Clarke won the toss and put us in to bat. 2 quick wickets saw both our openers depart with the score on 13 both to Coulter-Nile, Johnson then had Trott caught behind to leave us stuttering on 15-3. A stupid run out to Bopara left us 63-5. Root fell the ball before the power play after putting on 59with Buttler. A mature knock of 48 to Buttler made it look like we could make it to 230 but after he fell we departed for 187.

Our first wicket came at the half way stage, with Watson departing for 40. Anderson then also accounted for Clarke in his next over. Anderson put up a great effort by knocking over the top 6 Australian wickets. Broad took another but Starc knocked a single into the leg side to give them a 3 wicket win.

England 187 all out.

Root 54
Buttler 48
Coulter-Nile 3-47
McKay 2-27

Australia 188-7

Warner 94
Watson 40
Anderson 6-38
Broad 1-34

Batting award - Buttler, although Root scored more Buttlers mature knock under pressure proved he's not just a slogger.
Bowling award - Anderson, sole effort and a great 6 fer.

- India beat SA by 8 wickets (De Villiers 72, Smith 71) (Kohli 101*, Dhawan 82)
- WI beat Pakistan by 4 wickets (Sammy 5/19)

Our next match was against SL, we again lost the toss and were invited to bowl. Anderson struck in the first over removing Perera for a 3rd ball duck. Dishan and Mathews studied the ship before Dilshan fell for 47 plumb to Swann from around the wicket pitched on middle and off and straightened. Mathews finally fell for 80 nicking off to Finn. During the power play Jayawardene and Chandimal took the attack and after the power play were 205-5. A few wickets late on saw SL finish on 278-9.

We made a good start, after 16 overs Cook fell for 29 and we were 65-1. Bell and Trott made 89 before the latter fell for 39. We still need 125 at 8 an over. Morgan comes out with an aggressive mentality, the last ball of the first over in the power play saw Bell caught for 79. Buttler ran past one off the leggie and was stumped. When Morgan was bowled the game had gone needing 106. A late flurry of wickets saw us lose by 84 and basically out of our home tournament, let's put this one down to experience.

SL 278-9

Mathews 80
Dilshan 47
Anderson 4/56
Finn 3/61

England 194 all out.

Bell 79
Trott 39
Mendis 5/49
Kulasekara 3/35

Batting award - Bell a well made 79.
Bowling award - Another spirited bowling effort, big appeal in the last over for a caught behind but alas no 5th.

- NZ beat SL by 35 runs (Williamson 95)
- SA beat Pakistan by 118 runs (De Villiers 99, Duminy 57) (Farhat 50)
- WI beat India by 57 runs (Gayle 122, D.Bravo 100)
- NZ beat Australia by 6 wickets (Warner 101, Clarke 69, Southee 5/41) (Guptill 92, Munro 52*)
- WI beat SA by 94 runs (Samuels 83*, Pollard 56) (De Villiers 74, Du Plessis 56)
- India beat Pakistan by 94 runs (Kohli 63, Karthik 58) (Jamshed 72*)

Our last game I thought I may as well make some changes as we're already out with Ballance in for Morgan, Kieswetter in for Buttler and Bresnan in for Broad. We won the toss and chose to bat in the sunshine. Bell again fell early, Ballance clipped one off his legs and shouted yes but it went straight to the fielder and on debut Ballance ran out Trott for 47. He kind of made up for it by making a half century on debut at a run a ball but was trapped in front. A late 50 from Bopara and some hitting from Kieswetter and Bresnan saw us amount 238-6.

The first ball Bopara bowled took a wicket, looks like his batting has brought confidence in his bowling. Finn was extremely expensive wit ph his bowling going at 10s so he was replaced by Root who was also expensive, some late wickets from Swann were a little too late for us to mount a real challenge. The won with 15 balls to spare.

England 238-6

Ballance 56
Bopara 51*
Southee 2/35
Boult 1/28

New Zealand

Williamson 81
Munro 52*
Swann 4/36
Bopara 1/58

Batting award - Ballance for an aggressive 50 on debut.
Bowling award - Swann bowled well at under 4s.

- Australia beat NZ by 8 wickets (Watson 66*)

Semi Finals

- India beat NZ by 21 runs (Dhawan 111, Dhoni 56) (Munro 61)
- WI beat Australia by 10 wickets (Clarke 74) (Gayle 123*, Sarwan 67*)

Final

- WI beat India by 6 wickets (Gayle 63)

Batting stats

Bopara 63 @ 63 (1)
Ballance 56 @ 56 (1)
Trott 89 @ 29.67
Bell 87 @ 29 (1)
Root 83 @ 27.67 (1)
Buttler 49 @ 24.5
Kieswetter 23 @ 23
Morgan 36 @ 18
Cook 46 @ 15.33
Broad 29 @ 14.5
Bresnan 10 @ 10
Swann 12 @ 6
Finn 2 @ 2
Anderson 1 @ 1

Bowling stats

Anderson 10 @ 13.1
Swann 5 @ 29.2
Broad 2 @ 37.5
Finn 3 @ 46.67
Bopara 1 @ 149

Key men watch

England

Cook - had a really lean patch after a good NZ series scoring only 46 runs @ 15.33. The captaincy in a major tournament may have been a factor.
Anderson - took 10 wickets at 18s with a 6 fer at a good economy, overall a good tournament for the spearhead.

Australia

Clarke - Hit 182 @ 45.5 with 2 half centuries in 4 games, batted well at a decent strike rate. Captained his side to the semis where they were thumped.
McKay - Didn't fair how I thought in English conditions, just 4 wickets @ 32.75 economy just over 4.

India

Dhawan - Scored 232 @ 46.4, scored 80 odd in the first game, failed twice in the other group games until a match winning ton in the semis.
Jadeja - Didn't shape up too well averaging 11.75 with the bat and 30.5 with the ball.

NZ

McCullum - Didn't really do as expected with the bat but led them to the semis.
Mills - Like McCullum went off the boil after the England series, going at nearly a run a ball and an average near 50 not great from the experienced head in the pack.

Pakistan

Hafeez - Poor showing, 15 with the bat and 30.5 with the ball.
Ajmal - 2 wickets at nearly 60 big disappointment.

SA

De Villiers - 245 @ 81.67, great performance by the keeper batsmen a 50 in each innings and agonisingly missed out on a hundred in one game. Only 1 catch though and his captaincy left something to be desired.
Steyn - 5 wickets at 25.2, but a match winning 4 fer. When he stood up SA won.

SL

Sangakkara - Very poor averaging under 20.
Malinga - 3 wickets at nearly 40.

WI

Gayle - 360 @ 90, 2 hundreds and a 50. Match winning knocks in the semis and final, also scored his runs at a rate of 101.39.
Narine - 7 wickets at under 23, the two key men stepped up and thus the WI won the tournament.

[Macgeeze]

T20s vs NZ.

So after an extremely poor Champions trophy, NZ stuck around for some T20is. I picked a decent enough squad to try and rectify the disappointment of an ODI series loss and a poor showing in the CT. Hopefully Pietersen can help give us the boost we need, I'm looking for everyone in the squad to get a game in the 2 match series.

Squad

Pietersen
Hales
Morgan
Lumb
Root
Buttler
Bairstow
Bopara
Broad
Wright
Borthwick
Swann
Finn
Dernbach
Rankin

Pietersen won the toss and decided to bowl with some slight cloud cover. We didn't seem to bowl well, Borthwick got a couple trapped in front but Munro struck 63 off 25 and McCullum hit 40 off 25 to see the, to 199.

Hales fell first ball. Pietersen got off the mark with 6 followed by a drive for 4 next ball. Pietersen added the spark we were missing but was lbw for 34 off 16. After Pietersen was out the chase petered out and we lost by 44.

NZ 199-5

Munro 63*
McCullum 40
Borthwick 2/37
Bopara 1/28

England 155-8

Lumb 55
Bopara 41
Southee 4/26
Franklin 1/30

Batting award - Pietersen although he was 3rd top scorer got us off to a flier and set a platform.
Bowling award - Borthwick best of a poor bunch.

So as I said, we brought in Wright, Bairstow, Swann and Finn for Lumb, Root, Broad and Dernbach. So again we won the toss, and on a bright day we decided to bat. After 8and a half overs we were 75-3 and Pietersen had just departed for 27 off 17. After smashing a towering 6 second ball and 3 consecutive 4s he got out next ball for 41 off 25. We finished 166-6.

First ball Finn nicked off the dangerous Rutherford to slip. After Finn and Swann bowled out their overs, they were 57-5. Borthwick took 2 in 2 to finish the game, with us winning by 47.

England 166-5

Morgan 44
Buttler 41
Southee 2/41
Franklin 1/24

NZ 119 all out.

Guptill 30
Franklin 27*
Borthwick 4/26
Finn 3/27

Batting award - Buttler, destructive innings.
Bowling award - Finn, took key wickets.

(For some reason it let this one post but said the others needed authorisation from administrators.)

[Macgeeze]

So Cook won his first toss since the series began and he inserted NZ on an overcast morning, with the weather set to over better throughout the day. First ball of the game after being recalled Guptill tries to smash Anderson over mid on and is caught by Bopara. Anderson struck in the exact same fashion to dismiss Ronchi. Regular wickets fell, but with a gritty 50 from Williamson, a near run a ball 60 from McCullum and some late strikes from the lower order saw then make 247.

We just couldn't get going as we were 60-2 after 22 with no batsmen striking over 50, really missing Pietersen. When Cook was run out for 50 we were 95-4 after 28 needing 153 at over 7an over. Nobody really got going, with everybody getting into double figures and getting out, really missed an aggressor in the middle. The innings just petered out as we were convincingly short.

Batting award - Cook, a slow 50 but struck around as wickets fell around him at regular intervals.
Bowling award - Swann, he and Broad both took 3 but Swanns were more vital and Broad wrapped up a weak tail.

We went in with an unchanged line up as we lost the toss and we were inserted to bat on a scorching day. Bell fell third ball of the innings for a golden. Things looked to have began just how they left off. We were 22-2 when Cook was bowled off a no ball. After Root fell, Cook and Bopara struck an aggressive 57 partnership together before Cook was run out after reaching a hundred, leaving Buttler 8 overs to make a contribution. When Bopara was trapped lbw at a tad over a run a ball 41 which looked to be going down we were 212-6 with 27 balls left. Broad and Buttler put on 18 runs off 7 balls before the former fell. A Buttler cameo saw us up to 255-8.

Regular wickets fell in the first 32 overs, with Bopara being chief destroyer with a dropped catch in his last over which would have given him a well deserved 5 wicket haul. An aggressive knock from McCullum again along with Franklin again made us weary, but Swann and Broad mopped up the tail to give us a 61 run win.

Batting award - Cook with a ton says it all.
Bowling award - Boparas 4 taking up the top order.

On to the last game and we were asked to bowl, on a deck with a bit in it for the steamers and spinners, loos like it could be a thriller of a decider. The openers were aggressive in the first ten taking them to 53-0 after the mandatory power play. Bopara bowled a wicket maiden in his first over, but was then taken too by Taylor. McCullum was very cautious in his first 15 balls, but took the attack in the last ten to take NZ to 310-7.

We made a good start with 47 coming off our power play but we were nought down. After Bell went the run rate shot up to 9s, and after 33 overs Cook was lbw for a run a ball 85. Needing 151 off 17 we promoted Buttler as a pinch hitter. That didn't work as he nicked off first up. We tried valiantly but regular wickets meant we couldn't really get close, we mounted a chase of 279 but fell short, Morgan striking 67* at a strike rate of 120.

Batting award - Cook with an out of character run a ball 85.
Bowling award - Broad, wicketless but was economical.

Batting stats.

Cook 238 @ 79.33 (1/2)
Morgan 102 @ 51 (0/1)
Trott 70 @ 23.33 (0/1)
Bopara 69 @ 23
Buttler 44 @ 22
Swann 19 @ 19
Broad 52 @ 17.33
Root 52 @ 17.33
Bell 34 @ 11.33
Anderson 9 @ 9
Finn 6 @ 6

Bowling stats.

Swann 8 @ 19.87
Bopara 7 @ 21.57
Broad 6 @ 24.50
Anderson 4 @ 34
Finn 2 @ 76

Key man watch - NZ Captain McCullum topped their batting averages with the most runs 165 @ 55 with two half centuries. He struck at a strike rate of 97.63 with all 3 of his knocks changing the context of the game.

[Macgeeze]

1st Ashes test.

Here comes the main event of the summer, The Ashes. Hopefully I can keep my squad going with my key players staying fit throughout the 5 test series. The big question was who was going to bat at 6.

England XI

Cook
Root
Trott
Pietersen
Bell
Compton
Prior
Broad
Swann
Finn
Anderson

Australia XI

Watson
Rogers
Clarke #
Hughes
Warner
Cowan
Haddin
Pattinson
Harris
Siddle
Bird

Day 1 - Cook still hasn't won a test toss this summer, we were asked to bowl. The first session was just a bit lack lustre conceding 15 boundaries and both openers making 50s. Both looking untroubled until the last over when Swann brought about 2 plays and misses from Watson, 116-0. 45 minutes after lunch we got the breakthrough curtesy of Swann getting Watson to drive to slip. The runs started to dry up before tea after the wicket fell, 194-1. After a Finn short barrage at Clarke to no avail, we took the new nut and Broad brought about an edge for Rogers after he made his maiden test ton. They ended the day 334-3 with Clarke still there 2 shy of another test ton.

Day 2 - Clarke was out just after the restart for 106. Finns first ball of the day induced an edge from Warner 5 down for 394. Another Finn wicket just before the break sent them in at 434-6. A late lower order surge saw them bowled out for 554. Cook fell early to a great catch by Haddin, we were 13-1. Root brought up his 50, 2 overs before the end of the day off 88 balls, he and Pietersen saw us to the close at 110-2.

Day 3 - Early in the morning Pietersen showed some good form with some boundaries getting to 66 off 94. Root was then lbw to Pattinson for 59 to end the 114 run stand. Interest struck 2 sixes between 75 and 90 and slowed in the nervous 90s before pulling Harris through square leg to bring up his ton off 132 balls. He added just 1 before he fell 5 minutes before lunch 226-4. Just after lunch Bell nicked off for 45. Prior offered a sitter to mid off but it was shelled. But he played a loose shot to slip. Compton grounded out a slow 70 to get us to the follow on mark but nicked off 2 runs short 20 minutes before the close, we were asked to follow on. Cook fell early again 7 balls from stumps so we brought in Finn as night watchmen. We ended 11-1.

Day 4 - Finn fell early to Siddle and Trott followed next ball to leave us under pressure at 29-3 still trailing by 172 on a dark morning. Root followed next over to Pattinson, hoping for rain now! We crawled to lunch losing 2 more wickets as the weather basically ended our chance of even getting a draw, 66-6. Bell brought up his fifty off 135 balls, still 69 behind, he fell an over later, 8 down now. 9 down at tea, on the verge! A few edges into strange areas and some good cricket shots saw us finish the day 6 behind with a wicket left. Agar and Hughes last stand to set up a win perhaps?!

Day 5 - A toe crunching yorker saw Anderson lbw and we led by 21. Good batting from Broad to be 58*. Rogers drove to slip to be our only solace, as it was all a formality as Watson struck 20*.

Australia 554 all out.

Rogers 129
Clarke 106
Broad 4/138
Finn 3/111

England 353 all out.

Pietersen 104
Compton 74
Pattinson 4/93
Harris 3/76

England 222 all out.

Broad 58*
Bell 53
Harris 3/58
Siddle 3/60

Australia 25-1

Watson 20*
Rogers 5
Broad 1/16

Batting award - Pietersen, proving he's a big stage man. Dominant ton.
Bowling award - Broad, most wickets.

[Macgeeze]

2nd Ashes Test.

Day 1 - So we are both unchanged going into the 2nd test, again we lose the toss and are invited to bowl. Broad nicked off Rogers again quickly, just like the 2nd innings. Watson and Clarke both took control and took the attack to Anderson in particular, they both brought up 50s ending on 64 (89) and 71 (80) respectively. With 13 fours between them and Clarke striking 3 maximums. 141-1 at lunch. Clarke missed a straight one off Swann and was plumb in front. Hughes clubbing him twice down the ground to end the over. Swann them got one to grip and bowl Watson, 173-3 and it all seems even with 2 new bats in. Finn bowled a good spell in which he accounted for Hughes, Cowan and Haddin, as the new ball was taken they were 334-6. A spectacular diving catch at slip which brings back memories of Strauss' take off Gilly saw Warner out for 99. They ended the day 382-7.

Day 2 - 3rd ball of the day saw Pattinson depart, hopefully not many more added. 2 in 2 ended the Australian innings at 383, just 12 minutes into the day. Anderson 0-243 off 58 overs for the series. Both openers were cautious, trying to play as compact and as straight as possible until lunch, it seemed to prevail as we were 51-0. Root was dropped shortly after lunch on 19. But that didn't matter as he was lbw to Pattinson 6 runs later. Trott nicked off for 7 as he fails for the 3rd innings in a row. Pietersen and Cook both edged behind in quick succession to leave us 120-4. The Bell and Compton partnership started off slowly until the latter hit 2 successive balls to the cover fence before Bell gave Haddin his 4th catch of the innings. Australia took the new ball 2 overs before the end and struck 2nd ball as prior edged to slip. 218-6 at the end.

Day 3 - The day started with Compton looking to grind out a score with the tail again, Broad pulled 3 balls away to the boundary but was stuck on the crease as he was trapped lbw off Siddle. Compton and Swann batted steadily to lunch hitting the odd boundary, 300-7. As Finn came in Compton decided to have a dart at his hundred hitting 3 boundaries off a Bird over which made Clarke go to his experienced campaigner in Siddle who dismissed Finn and next ball had Anderson edge behind to give Haddin his 5th catch which left Compton stranded on 87*. 334 all out 49 behind. Watson hit 2 sixes and found himself lbw to Anderson. Broad got Rogers out for the 3rd innings in a row. Hughes hit 2 sixes in the leaded up to tea and he and Clarke went about their business at a rate. 81-2. Finns 2nd over went for 16 as Clarke started to canter. Finns bowled 10 overs for 58 before being taken off injured. The 169 run rebuild came to an end at the hands of Swann. With 3 bowlers they'll be hoping a declaration comes soon 209-3.

Day 4 - Clarke went on to record another hundred, just don't know where to bowl to him. Pietersens first ball of the series 13 minutes before tea ended Warners stayed in where he hit a 78 ball 87, edged to slip playing a block, the pair added 149 very quickly to stretch the lead to 407. Lunch came as soon as the new ball was available, which was swiftly taken by Cook as he placed his hopes into the hands of Jimmy Anderson to produce something special. But it wasn't Anderson who made the breakthrough as it was Broad who got Cowan and Trott bounced out Haddin. Australia made a strange declaration as the lead passed 500 with Clarke 198*. Safely went through to tea at 16-0 requiring another 488. A close shout for leg before to Root was turned down as the youngster got outside the line. Root fell to a stunning catch by Warner at 2nd slip with just over half an hour left in the day. Trott nicked off again as his poor run continues. Pietersen belted the last ball of the day back over Birds head for 4.

Day 5 - we started the day needing 132 per session to win with 7 wickets in hand as Finn won't bat. Cook and Pietersen batted the entire 2 hours to take us to lunch on 201-2 they took their partnership to 119, still 303 left to win. More defensive fields were set after lunch as they looked at us to create our own mistakes. Cook duly obliged shortly after reaching 3 figures. 248-3. Pietersen too went to a hundred just before the new ball was due with Bell hitting a couple of lovely cover drives off the back front. Pietersen joined Cook by getting out for the same score leaving the rest of the order 225 runs to win in 2 and a half hours. Warner dropped a hard chance off Compton on 26. Comptons 50 came off 97 balls at the other end Bell had faced the same amount of balls and was on 95. Pattinson knocked over Compton, Prior and Broad in the space of 5 balls to leave us needing 94 in 35 minutes. As the draw looked like the most likely option. Pattinson bowled Swann with a Yorker and then had Anderson caught in the gully 3 balls later to end the game.

Australia 383 all out.

Warner 99
Clarke 76
Broad 5/88
Finn 3/83

England 334 all out.

Compton 87*
Cook 61
Siddle 4/72
Pattinson 3/88

Australia 454-6 dec.

Clarke 198*
Warner 87
Broad 2/116
Pietersen 1/7

England 412 all out.

Cook 103
Pietersen 103
Pattinson 7-126
Siddle 2/95

Batting award - Cook 50 and a hundred set up the chase.
Bowling award - Broad, bowled well first time around.

[Macgeeze]

3rd Ashes Test.

Day 1 - With Finn fit in time to play I went in with an unchanged line up for the third game running.we have won a toss at last! Extremely poor weather forecast so we'll have a bowl. Anderson bowled Watson to claim his 2nd wicket of the series, both being Watson. After the wicket fell it was slow progress from the Aussies, crawling towards 60-1 at the lunch break. Cook took a sublime catch to remove Clarke, now the talesman is out we'll see how they fair. Two left handers in against Swann. Rain stopped play to force an early tea, 112-2. Play didn't recommence until there was only time for 21overs to be bowled in the evening session. Anderson removed Rogers and Warner in the space of 3 balls with a great show of swing bowling, moving one away from Rogers to get the edge and one back in to Warner to trap him lbw. Swann and Anderson bowled the whole session to reduce them to 173-5 at stumps.

Day 2 - the day started with an hour lost due to weather, Swann accounted for Hughes before the new ball was taken to leave the, 197-6 when it were taken. Broad picked up a wicket and at lunch they were 226-7. 2nd ball after lunch Anderson struck knocking over Harris, Anderson then also trapped Haddin in front to claim 5! And next ball had Bird caught behind to wrap up e innings for 258. Cook was dropped on 5 by Warner, and then again on 7 by the same man. The two openers saw off the hour before tea 23-0. There was then a passage of play where no runs we're scored for 4 overs. Root fell after a stonewalled innings of 21 bringing out of form Trott to the middle. Rain brought the day to an early finish with us 87-1.

Day 3 - The morning was the same, very overcast and we're expecting rain sooner or later. Trott was dropped on 33 by Haddin, let's see if these 2 can make the most of their reprieves. Cook was bowled by Harris on 59, the next ball whizzed past Pietersens nose for 4 byes but was a rapid bouncer. Pietersen was then dropped by first slip, that cordon must be frozen to keep dropping. Although he was bowled soon after. At lunch it was 160-3. Clarke snuffed one at first slip, Trott removed for 66. We saw the best and worst of Bell here, superb cover drive for 4 to reach 50 then a stupid shot next ball and that was tea. Rain then left 19 overs in the day, Siddle and Pattinson then wrapped up the tail, we lead by 7. Anderson removed Watson again in the last over before stumps, 31-1.

Day 4 - The whole first session was washed out, and then the whole second session was washed out, and thus play commenced with 9 overs left. No dramas 41-1.

Day 5 - Prior took an exceptional catch to remove Clarke down the leg side off an inside edge. Broad still has Rogers in his pocket as he fends off a short ball to short leg. Finn then nicked off Hughes and Warner in quick succession to leave them 119-5 just before lunch. Once Swann removed Haddin and Khawaja we just needed to sweep through the tail. Swann then removed Harris, a stupid run out and Broad nicking off Bird left us chasing 177. Cook was out first ball to Harris. 28-2 off 4 overs, leaving us needing 149 from a session. Root was dropped before passing 50 off 53 balls. Pietersen then hit an over for 14 passing 50 in the process. 57 needed in 38 minutes. Pietersen followed that up with a massive 6 next over. He was then adjudged lbw for 67 off 78. One over then went for 17 leaving us needing 8 off the last 4 overs. It was only fitting that Root hit the winning runs finishing on 76 off 85. Bell put in a good cameo 27 off 18. Winning a test after losing over 8 hours, Anderson bowling 38 overs for 81. Astonishing.

Australia 258 all out.

Haddin 78
Rogers 50
Anderson 6/81
Swann 3-53

England 263 all out.

Trott 66
Cook 59
Siddle 5/62
Pattinson 3/106

Australia 183 all out.

Warner 28
Khawaja 28
Swann 3/42
Finn 2/41

England 178-3

Root 76*
Pietersen 67
Pattinson 1/35
Siddle 1/40

Batting award - Root, great match winning knock.
Bowling award - Anderson, return to form in favourable conditions.

[Macgeeze]

4th Ashes Test.

Both teams went in unchanged, we won the toss and elected to bat, hopefully Cook and Root bat the whole day!

Day 1 - Root was bowled by Pattinson, couldn't follow up that great knock last time out. 5-1. Very slow, cautious and boring rebuild job from the two Mr reliables, taking us to lunch 62-1. Clarke snaffled a great catch off Trott, 87-2. Pietersen was beaten outside the off stump early on but seemed to be growing in confidence when he pulled Harris away for four. An inside edge from Cook and on drive both resulting in boundaries too him to his second fifty of the series. Another couple of pull shots saw Pietersen to change the bowlers plans, they overpitched and were duels driven for 4 twice. Cook also p,aued some cracking drives as we went to tea 176-2. Pietersen started the evening how he ended the afternoon, with two cover drives taking him to fifty. Cook was unlucky not to convert to three figures as his faultless innings ended on 95. Pietersen then uppercut twice to hit Pattinson out of the attack. A few more boundaries saw Pietersen bring up his third hundred of the series and 25th overall off 142 balls. Bell nicked off five overs before the end and we closed at 273-4.

Day 2 - Pietersen got a rearing short ball off Bird to be dismissed for118 adding only one boundary to his overnight tally. Prior drove his first ball back past the bowler for four. Very uneventful after the Pietersen dismissal as lunch is taken 341-5. Compton narrowly missed out on another fifty by chasing a wide one as Haddin drives in front of Clarke to take a good catch. Prior then moos one straight down cow corners throat leaving us 363-7. Broad and Swann then took the attack to the Aussies as they hit six quick boundaries then Broad was bowled by Bird. Swann then added 26 with Anderson before the latter fell leg before. Swann was out for 39 with 32 in fours as tea is taken. 425 all out. Anderson then trapped Watson lbw to leave them 35-1 with an hour left. Rogers and zclarke saw them to stumps 86-1.

Day 3 - After 45 minutes Rogers finally fell to Anderson third ball after he came around the wicket. Finn then had Hughes lbw after cramping him for room, Clarke then hit Swann for six followed by four. Warner had a tough experimentation from a fiery Finn over before lunch but overcame it. 184-3. Clarke feathered one through to Prior after an hour in the session not before he notched up another hundred, his third for the series. Warner past his fifty on the stroke of tea, 277-4. Another 48 minutes past before Anderson grabbed another breakthrough, then had Haddin caught behind first ball to be on a hat trick, which Pattinson played well for a single. Pattinson charged Broad only to edge to Swann at slip. Which was followed up by Cowan edging to Prior. Anderson bowled Siddle just before the end to leave them 348-9, with Anderson taking seven.

Day 4 - The first ball of the day saw Swann wrap up the innings, we led by 77. Another slow but solid start by our openers, although Cook hit a straight six and Root hit six fours, we were 72-0 at lunch after 25 overs. Root was first to fall with the score on 88, fierce in swinger from Pattinson. Cook brought up his fifty with his second four, Trott had already hit three, 119-1. Cook was lbw on the stroke of tea, 140-2 with a lead of 217. Get to a lead of 350 and declare overnight? Pushing up the rate proved rather testing as the weather was hampering us, Pietersen fell for 22. Bell fell helping the cause. A clatter of late wickets saw us falter to 262-9 declared overnight with Anderson making a golden last ball of the day. We'd set them 340 off the final day.

Day 5 - We needed quick wickets and we couldn't find one until the 16th over, curtesy of Rogers running himself out. Clarke hit three boundaries before falling to Swann, Watson was 66* with 40 in boundaries. Watson hit his first ball after lunch for four before falling to the next. Finn then slid one across Warner who duly obliged with a nick. 127-4, they need 213, we need 6. Cowan made a swift 36 but was bowled by Jimmy. At tea they were 233-5, needing 107 more. Second ball after tea Swann got Hughes. With an hour left we needed two wickets and they needed 58. Anderson then trapped Haddin lbw with the new ball available at the end of the over, as the new ball is taken, we need one good ball eh need 48 with just Siddle and Bird left. Anderson had Siddle trapped in front to pick up 5 and his twelfth of the test.

England 425 all out.

Pietersen 118
Cook 95
Bird 3/67
Harris 3/106

Australia 348 all out.

Clarke 109
Warner 72
Anderson 7/106
Broad 1/36

England 262-9 dec.

Trott 73
Cook 59
Pattinson 6/71
Bird 2/55

Australia 292 all out.

Watson 70
Haddin 55
Anderson 5/59
Finn 2/65

Batting award - Pietersen for his third ashes hundred this term.
Bowling award - Anderson 12 in the match.

[Macgeeze]

5th Ashes Test.

Again, both teams go in unchanged. We lost the toss and had a bowl.

Day 1 - Watson nicked off early off Broad after hitting a lovely drive through cover. Broad kept it tight, but Anderson was going at five an over down the other end, Finn came on to replace him, bowled three consecutive maidens before bowling a loose ball to Rogers who clattered in to the fence. The pressure down Finns end proving to much for Clarke as Finns bowled 32 dots out of 33 balls bowled. Anderson hit back by bowling Rogers, the set man for 44. They ended the session 84-3. Hughes chipped Swann to Trott for 39, as he was the only man to fall between lunch and tea, Finn has bowled 15 overs for 26. Cowan hit the first three balls after tea for four. As the new ball was taken they were 256-4. Anderson slanted one away which nipped back off the seam to bowl Warner who made a pile did 105 off 174. They ended the day 296-6.

Day 2 - Anderson built some pressure by bowling a few maidens and then got Harris plumb in front. Anderson then bowled Siddle to claim another five fer, imagine he was nought for over 250 a few games ago. Anderson wrapped up the innings for 355. Eight overs left before lunch, four of them maidens as we're 7-0. These two slowly went about their business throughout the afternoon adding another 75 in the session, including 10 boundaries. Root brought up his fifty in the second over after tea with a six. He then hit three more fours before succumbing leg before on 65. Cook brought up another slow fifty off 125 balls, he does grind them out. After he was dismissed, Pietersen came and went quickly for us to go from 116-0 to 139-3. Bell also fell before the end by blocking himself into a hole. Stumps came and we were 175-4.

Day 3 - 10 byes in the first four overs eased the pressure of scoring a little, before the new ball was taken. Trott fell for fifty, another one not converting. Prior went for another abysmal score. Broad fell 39 with us still 65 behind. Swann was lbw off a no ball. With us trailing by 20 Compton fell for 66. Last ball before tea Swann hooked Siddle for six. Swann hit us into the lead before hauling out, we lead by 7 with an hour to get at them. After a few early boundaries Anderson made Watson chip one back at him. Broad then slanted one past Rogers where he nicked off, found a weakness here. The day ended with them 77-2.

Day 4 - Three hours were lost due to the English weather. Anderson got Clarke early on, big wicket. Broad got Warner in replay fashion as he did Rogers. 142-4 at tea. After tea Hughes started his quest for a hundred, and he got there with 14 overs left, next ball Cowan took a thunderous blow off Finn but stayed out there. Rain then came to wash out the rest of proceedings.

Day 5 - Anderson had Hughes lbw early on, they lead by 202. Broad then got Haddin before Anderson took one across Cowan. Pattinson then had one nip back during a great spell of seam bowling from Broad. Anderson then removed Harris for another five. Finn wrapped it up with a Yorker to Siddle. We need 231. No dramas negotiating the 20 ,I uses before lunch, we still need 208. We had progressed slowly, and we're beginning to step on the gas when Root retired hurt. We ended the session needing 139 to win. Cook fell after making another 50. Pietersen fell to a great catch at slip we need 116. Fer a few nervy moments when wickets fell, Compton hit a near run a ball 60 odd with Prior 31 from the same number of balls. We had come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

Australia 355 all out.

Warner 105
Cowan 62
Anderson 6/100
Finn 2/87

England 362 all out.

Compton 66
Root 65
Harris 4/82
Siddle 3/75

Australia 238 all out.

Hughes 115
Clarke 28
Anderson 5/102
Broad 4/82

England 233-4

Compton 64*
Cook 54
Harris 3/51
Bird 1/62

Batting award - Compton, two fifties plus a match winning 60 odd.
Bowling award - Anderson 11 wicket match, superb again. Lost the games when he bowled poorly.

[Macgeeze]

Ashes Stats.

Batting stats

Compton 421 @ 60.14 (5)
Cook 498 @ 49.8 (1/6)
Bell 379 @ 47.37 (3)
Root 370 @ 46.25 (3)
Pietersen 454 @ (3/1)
Trott 275 @ 27.5 (3)
Swann 154 @ 22
Broad 149 @ 21.29 (1)
Prior 131 @ 16.37
Finn 25 @ 8.3
Anderson 37 @ 5.29

Bowling stats

Pietersen 1 @ 25
Anderson 32 @ 27.22 (5/2)
Broad 21 @ 33.43 (1)
Finn 14 @ 39.64
Swann 16 @ 51.44
Trott 1 @ 83

Key man watch

Clarke was extraordinary during this series, led from the front with the bat and won his first two Ashes tests as captain of a weak batting line up who did show glimpses of form. Clarke scored the most runs out of anybody in the series at the highest average between the two sides. (619 @ 77.37) scored three hundreds and one fifty, went big with a 198* before declaring on himself, he also scored 50% of the teams hundreds.

[Macgeeze]

1st T20i vs Aus

After retaining The Ashes, we go straight into a two game T20i series with the old enemy. We have named a squad of fifth teen to tackle the men in yellow, the squad comprises of a few established England regulars with some fringe players.

Squad

Pietersen
Hales
Bell
Morgan
Lumb
Wright
Buttler
Borthwick
Broad
Woakes
Swann
Finn
Rankin
Dernbach

We go in leaving out Lumb, Woakes, Rankin and Dernbach, the Australia eleven consists of:

Watson
Warner
Bailey
Burns
Haddin
Rohrer
Marsh
Cutting
McKay
Coulter-Nile
Hazelwood

On a gloriously sunny day, we won the toss and decided to take first dog on a belter of a track. Cutting bowled the second over of the day where his first two balls were driven by the man in form in county cricket Hales, the third was a close leg before shout sliding down leg and next ball Hales played around one and was given. Bell was then dropped on nought to end an eventful over. Cutting backed that over up by removing Pietersen, after the power play England were 49-2 having hit six fours and two maximums curtesy of Bell. He was in fine fettle despite being dropped on zero he brought up a sublime fifty off 33 balls. Haddin took his second remarkable catch of the day to remove Morgan, next ball Buttler was beaten for pace, England were 141-4 with 7 balls left. They finished on 157-5.

Broad started off the innings perfectly bowling Watson first ball, although he was clattered for three boundaries off the blade off Bailey. Bailey then got a good ball which angled in and nipped away off Finn to end his cameo, which brought Burns to the crease and produced the exact same nut to remove him in identical fashion. The runs dried up as Bopara and Borthwick cranked up the pressure with the former contributing three quick wickets which sucked the life of any comeback. Marsh and Cutting tried to rebuild but it all came too slowly as they combined to produce 42 off 47 balls, after they were dismissed Broad took the out the tail as they tried to hack their way to victory.

England 157-5

Bell 73
Morgan 48
Cutting 3/38
Coulter-Nile 2/36

Australia 125 all out.

Rohrer 27
Marsh 25
Broad 4/32
Bopara 3/27

Batting award - Bell, despite being dropped second ball played a great, well timed innings.
Bowling award - Bopara, kept it tight and took crucial wickets.