After being white-washed in the Test series, England have managed to bounce back. And in what exhilarating fashion. England began the series with the new opening partnership of Captain Cook and Kevin Pietersen. The first two one-dayers had a striking similarity - a century by Cook and 4 wickets by Finn. Yet, they were extremely different. While England won the first with no struggle, the second tested them. They would be proud of winning the first, especially since it followed their drubbing in Tests, but it's the battles like the second, which give you a rush. From the spectators point of view, all three had something interesting to offer. The first made sure that this tour isn't going to be one-sided. The second was a close contest. And the third? The third had Kevin Pietersen. When KP is on song, he takes cricket to a higher level. The transition from other cricket to Kevin Pietersen's batting is the same as the one from school books to erotic fiction. Not to forget, I predicted an entertaining show from him in my last post, England at a loss in victory as Lions crushed before one-day against Pak.


These 3 matches couldn't have been better for me. Two centuries by Cook, success for Finn and KP, it just couldn't get better than that. Before this series, Finn had expressed a desire to play in Tests, and again, he has said that Tests is where he wants to be, for the rest of his career. Performing in all the three one-days means that he is pushing harder for a place in Tests. England next head to Sri Lanka for 2 Tests, the squad for which will be announced after the 3rd Twenty20 in Abu Dhabi.
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England go into the one-day series with an aim to take revenge. But, actually it's more about salvaging pride. England's batting might have shocked Geoffrey Boycott, but this was long overdue. If you leave the Twenty20 International against India, England have lost their last 9 International matches.

Positives can always be taken. The England staff should be proud of Stuart Broad. After all, he is their well crafted weapon. He wasn't a Test bowler when they decided to make him a part of England side in all formats. Earlier, his success came in bouts. But, he was not only the bowler of the series for England, but also batted positively. I have one complaint in the bowling department though. Monty Panesar bowled 141 overs in 2 matches, while Graeme Swann bowled 115 in 3 matches. Swann had a strike rate of 53 while Monty, 60. Also, in Pakistan's first innings in the 3rd Test, he bowled a wicket maiden, but was removed after that. Monty has been in and out of the side, while Swann is here to stay, he has performed consistently. England should be careful to retain his shine and not rust him.

The Test series may have been horrendous for England, but it will help in boosting the popularity of Test cricket. 2nd Test was the most exciting one, as the advantage flipped from one side to the other. It carried to the 3rd Test as England bowled Pakistan out for 99. And then managed only 141 themselves. We had a contest on hand until Azhar Ali and Younis Khan shared a partnership of 216. The series also revived the art of spin bowling as spinners of both teams prospered.

On Friday, England XI swept past England Lions with ease. Steven Finn had referred to this match as important for both sides, since he remembers Kieswetter and Lumb made their way to World Twenty20 and he, himself got into Tests a month after such a game. This match, however, turned out be a battering of the Lions, and thus didn't benefit either side much. England bowled the Lions out for 99, and although a revised target of 230 was set, England chased without any struggle. Dernbach, Swann, Trott, Cook and Pietersen flourished while Finn grabbed 3 wickets, including two tail-enders and Bopara chipped in 36. Pietersen may not have scored that many runs in the Test series, but he looked in good touch in both the Tests and the Lions game. I'm telling you, a splendid knock by him is just around the corner. Haha, got to take my chances, no harm in predicting. Great if I prove to be right!

This is Sanya, signing off. Cheers.

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England blistered by Pakistan 3-0; Kevin Pietersen...

Well, this is hilarious. The team which beat Pakistan (at home) by 3-1, Australia (away) by 3-1 and India (at home) by 4-0 has been whitewashed by Pakistan. England are still No.1 on ICC Test rankings though.

Batting has long been a concern for England, but Cook's and Trott's success let other batsmen get away with it. When the whole team fumbles, no one goes ignored. Apparently, England's lower order fights till they can, but the batsmen don't. Prior's average in this series was 37.50, the highest among England players. The second highest was Trott's - 26.83, which is of course way below a good batsman's average. Just because these were Tests, strike rates can't be ignored. Cook and Strauss stayed at the crease in some of the innings, but it didn't help as the runs dried, which built the pressure. Also, Prior and Broad were left stranded when they got going, which shows how irresponsible English batsmen are. Both of them showed that this isn't the toughest pitch to bat on, positive intent works in your favour if you are courageous enough against tough tasks.

Kevin Pietersen is the first one to get some flak, when England crumbles. Or rather when he doesn't smash a few centuries and a double century in a row. Because, one century just isn't enough. It gets him remarks like "Great batsmen can bat all day, Kevin Pietersen is too impatient to be great." But, captain Strauss' average in the last 11 Tests is 27.41 with no century. And in this series, Ian Bell has only scored more runs than Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett. Perhaps England should try reversing the order, with Matty Prior, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Graeme Swann being the top 4. Can't do much worse than the batters anyway. I guess the tail-enders play free-spiritedly, with dreams of becoming heroes, while the batters take pressure and consider runs a "job" they have to do. May be because bowlers are used to being fighters, they keep bowling, close calls for them mean they are on the right track. But, even if things aren't going their way, they know one lethal delivery could make their day. On the other hand, as a batsman, you know you have to keep going, ball by ball, run by run. Miracles happen slowly in the life of a batsman, but it's not always the case with bowlers. Luck plays a role for bowlers, they are dependent on the batsman to make a mistake. But, nothing comes to the batsmen easily, they have to work their way, steadily.

Sponsored by Unruly.
England one-day squad: A Cook (capt), J Anderson, J Bairstow, R Bopara, T Bresnan, D Briggs, S Broad, J Buttler, J Dernbach, S Finn, C Kieswetter, E Morgan, S Patel, K Pietersen, G Swann, J Trott.

England Twenty20 squad: S Broad (capt), J Anderson, J Bairstow, R Bopara, T Bresnan, D Briggs, J Buttler, J Dernbach, S Finn, A Hales, C Kieswetter, E Morgan, S Patel, K Pietersen, G Swann.

Pakistan one-day squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam.

Pakistan Twenty20 squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafique, Adnan Akmal, Awais Zia, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam.

With a team as ecstatic as Pakistan, and an opener as flamboyant as Kevin Pietersen, (Yeah! News just in.) the 4 one-day series and 3 Twenty20 series promises to be exciting. I have missed Steven Finn, looking forward to seeing him play. Until then, take care. See you next time.

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In a bid to expand grassroots cricket in England, AEG in association with Super Skills travel will be offering 40 teams in UK a chance to win an ultimate laundry and kit package. The prize includes 12 bespoke Canterburry cricket kits which you will be designing yourself! That means, you will have kits which represent your team, with your logo. An AEG top of the range watching machine is also up for grab.

Here is your shot to watch the England cricket team train, up and close! Also, you can win training days at Lord's where you will be coached by Michael Vaughan, Paul Nixon and many other England legends. They will also pay a visit to your home club.

The competition is open to all teams in the UK. Don't miss this opportunity to shine, visit AEG Grassroots for more information and to apply. The last date is January 30.

Sponsored by AEG.

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England vs Pakistan 2nd Test: 25-29 January
Abu Dhabi: England finished Day 2 at 207/5. England clearly looked the better team of the two, bowling Pakistan out for 257. They were in a commanding position, thanks to run machines Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, who have both been breaking records since the Ashes down under began. This was their 6th hundred run partnership. Jonathan Trott is also the highest run getter for England in Tests with no sixes. These two took England to 166/1. Trott made 74 while Cook fell 6 runs short of a century. Trott's dismissal was Rehman's brilliant mind on display. Trott tried to defend it in the way he defended previous deliveries, but this one spun. The day had a perfect ending for Pakistan - Morgan's wicket, who never looked comfortable. Ian Bell is still out there, while Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss went cheaply. It should be noted that poor batting has cost England matches, time and again. In the previous Test as well, England were bundled out for 192 and 160.

The referral system has been an interesting and funny topic ever since it was implemented. It was very funny, when at first, Cook's catch was dropped, and a while later, the Pakistanis appealed for lbw, with all their heart, to no avail. They could not review since they had none remaining. It wasn't out anyway, but they were going crazy because they were thinking, "If, only if we hadn't wasted our reviews earlier, oh we would have Cook out of our way."



The funniest thing about the DRS is umpire's call, it makes sure that there is no use of the system, except for making the players think more, wait and waste more time. I wonder if it has been brought to improve the decision-making of cricketers. In the event I just mentioned, the impact was outside, but the technology showed it as umpire's call. So, while the decision would have stayed not out, even if Pakistan would have reviewed it, it would have been given out had the on-field umpire made a mistake. On numerous occasions in the series so far, we have seen umpire's call to be the culprit. According to it, even if 10% of the ball is on the other side, it is umpire's call. As if the ball is made of cardboard and the whole ball touches the pad. What I suggest is that if the seam is inside, it should be given out, otherwise not out.

I'm sure Pakistan would be the first team to be in favour of scrapping this system. They have had 10 unsuccessful and just 1 successful review. It was no different today as they were left scratching their heads at every lbw shout. They didn't review when Trott was plumb lbw and reviewed twice when you just wouldn't believe they went for it!

One change that I would like to see in this England side is Steven Finn replacing Monty Panesar. Monty isn't so bad, despite being hit for, 5 sixes I think, he still bowled well. But, England just doesn't look ideal with Monty in the side. On the other hand, Finn is the best bowler in the country. The man has 50 wickets in 12 matches, with an average of 26.92 and a strike rate of 41.4, what more could you ask for? Among bowlers who have taken 50 or more wickets, he has the 5th best bowling strike rate, in the history of the game. The top four are Dale Steyn (4), Shane Bond (3), John Ferris (2) and George Lohmann (1).

Catch the action live at 6 am GMT. Until next time, take care. Cheers.

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England blistered by Pakistan 3-0; Kevin Pietersen...

Striding into the game as officially the world’s best test side and favourites for victory with the best in play betting markets , England were well and truly humbled against Pakistan in the first test on Thursday.

From a triumphant whitewash of India, a team ranked as the best test side in the world before last summer’s humbling in England, to a test defeat inside three days against a Pakistan team that is no doubt talented but has yet to show it can win at the very top – there are plenty more questions than answers that have emerged from this unpredictable first test.

Having built their success upon a simple formula – a long batting line up and bowlers that posses the weapons to torment batsmen the world over – it was certainly surprising to see England’s top six falter and succumb in the manner they did to Pakistan’s bowling attack.

Ripping pace wasn’t on offer for Umar Gul, a man not exactly noted for his express speed, nor was there a crumbling, turning surface from which Saeed Ajmal to conjure up spin at a right angle, yet English batsmen fell like dominoes for two totals under 200 while Pakistan neared 400 in their solitary effort.

It wasn’t so much demons in the pitch that did for England but in the arm of the bowler, most notably Ajmal, who took ten wickets in the match and became the first spinner to trap seven of his victims LBW in a single match.

Ajmal’s Doosra is a thing of beauty, virtually unreadable from the position of the seam which hints at turn only to go away from the batsman rather than back in at him.

Ian Bell, a noted expert at dealing with spin with a natural talent and beauty, struggled to pick Ajmal’s ‘other ‘delivery, culminating in the Warwickshire man posting two very low scores.

Bell wasn’t the only one caught out of course, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior were all victims at some point in the game, and it is certainly an area of weakness that Pakistan have exposed in an otherwise impenetrable veneer formed by England over the last two years.

Because of their inability to read the ball from the hand, England were forced back into the crease and were caught red handed in front of their stumps, or worse opted for the sweep and became victims that way.

This is not a new problem; England have only won series against Bangladesh on the sub-continent since 2003, but they must do more to negate the problem by playing forward with bat and pad, and stifle the problems that have been the main difference between the sides in the first two tests.

Of course, while there are questions of technique there are also questions of personnel, mostly aimed at Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen’s two innings bordered on shambolic, from the scratchy two he recorded from 29 balls in the first inning to his thoughtless hoik to deep square leg in the second innings, there was little to cheer about for his supporters and plenty for his detractors who believe he is on the wane to sink their teeth into.

Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have built their house upon stone, and have no time for knee-jerk reactions that call for the head of one of their most accomplished players after a single defeat.

However Pietersen needs big performances in the next two test matches, or face testing the captain and coach’s patience more than he would ever care to.


This is a guest post, hence it is not written by blog author jimmymycrushie.

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