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Hello, I am Duty281 and will be writing a story about my attempts to get England to Number 1 in the World. The story starts in that long summer of 2005.....
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The current state of English Cricket is, overall, quite good.
In Tests England are No.2 in the World - right on the tail of one of the most formidable teams that have ever played Test Cricket, Australia led by Ricky Ponting and spearheaded by Mcgrath and Warne. Here are the current Test Rankings (please note it's slight different to how ICC 2011 does it).
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And here are England's recent performances against Test Teams:
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2004 was a good year for England!
But with ODIs, not so good. England lie 7th in the rankings, well away from being a powerhouse.
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And here's the recent performances:
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So let's crack on... -
2005 English Summer Season
HOME to BANGLADESH (2 Tests, Tri Series)
2 Tests at Home against the minnows which equates to a waste of time. Then a Tri Series against them and the Aussies.
HOME to AUSTRALIA (T20, Tri Series, 3 ODIs, 5 Tests)
Our quest against the best team in the World begins with a T20, then the Tri Series with them and Bangladesh followed by 3 ODIs and then 5 tests for the Ashes. Which Australia have held since 1987!Comment
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Right 1st Test is at Lords against Bangladesh. With regards to the team, the top 3 and the bowling quartet pick themselves as does Freddie. Jones is the Wicket Keeper, while Bell and Key bolster the middle-order.
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We lost the toss and will BOWL first.
Day One
On the 1st morning, it was a flattish pitch but there was a heavy cloud about. Still only 1 wicket in the session by Freddie means we could (and should) do better. 86/1 at lunch.
Nevertheless, 2 wickets in one over for Hoggard shook up the Bangladeshi's and, despite a dropped catch from Freddie, we restricted them to 179/5 at tea. Top effort.
There was some stubborn resistance from Iqbal, the no.3 batsmen (yes the bowler!) who made 68 before Hoggard dismissed him. 259/9 at stumps, Hoggard with 4 wickets.
Day Two
264 all out - Harmison with the final wicket. Strauss was the only English casualty of the morning, bowled by Mortaza., 67/1 at lunch.
Vaughan and Tresco strolled past 50 in the afternoon in a sedate session. Very sedate although Vaughan was starting to loosen those shoulders. 149/1 at tea.
Only 1 wicket fell in the evening - Tresco out for 66 off of Rafique's slow left-arm. Vaughan got a century while Rob Key moved to 40 as England took the lead. 268/2 at stumps.
Day Three
Rafique managed to snare Key for 55 and Bell for a low sum in the morning. Freddie played a silly shot and was out for 2 against Baisya's seam. 363/5 - Vaughan marching on.
Geriant Jones was out after a decent start so Vaughan had to bat with the tail - not something he's very experienced at! It didn't deter him as he brought up his first double ton for England. 424/6 at tea - the King of Spain hanging around.
Vaughan was bowled for 239 - a tremendous innings at the home of Cricket. The tail frustrated Bangladesh as we crossed 500 - 511/9 at stumps.
Day Four
We were bowled out for 519, Gilo making a decent 40-odd. We then got stuck into Bangladesh and it was 54/3 at lunch.
Saleh mounted the resistance with an unbeaten half-century but Bangladesh were in deep trouble at 151/7.
I don't know what was crueller, you pick:
a) Saleh being out six runs short of a century at Lords
b) Bangladesh losing by a Innings and ONE run
c) Bangladesh losing in the last over of Day Four
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The 2nd and final test of the series against Bangladesh is to take place at the Riverside Ground. We name an unchanged side.
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I lost the toss and was stuck into bat.
Day One
Difficult conditions to bat in, there will be cloud all day. And it proved the undoing of Strauss and Tresco which left us floundering at 21/2. Key and the skipper had to rebuild the innings which left us 65/2 at lunch.
Nudging, nurdling and the odd four was the recipe for the afternoon as Key and Vaughan each brought up 50s. Not a lot of bother for them either - 135/2 at tea.
By now, the bounce was ridiculously uneven for a first day pitch (2 bars left!). We reached stumps at 205/2 because the Bangladesh bowling was poor. Key was on 99*!
Day Two
Key brought up his century but was out soon after for 109. Bell was out after getting a start but Vaughan's guiding hand was still there. He was 109* at lunch, England crawling to 279/4.Comment
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