England v Pakistan, ODIs: Arise Sir Donald Hales

 

England v Pakistan

ODIs

Arise Sir Donald Hales

August 31^st  2016

A summer that threatened to end as a damp squib from England’s point of view, has re-ignited after guttering and fading. Three years ago England took a 3-1 Ashes lead against Australia: they lost the Final Test, the ODI series that followed, the five Tests in Australia, all but one of the ODIs, the series to Sri Lanka and went down in the series against India before finally reviving. A sad, dispirited defeat in the Final Test to a suddenly revived Pakistan, led by a suddenly revived Yasir Shah, raised at least the spectre of that scenario. Yasir Shah, who had spent two and a half Tests looking totally inoffensive and seeming the least of England’s worries, thundered back with 5-71 and made England look clueless again. A drawn series was a tribute to Pakistan’s capacity to come back from the abyss and England’s incapacity to close out series. On the balance of play, it was deserved, with each side totally dominating two Tests. As a spectacle though, it was dispiriting.

At the end of the Test series most fans looked at the England side and called time on James Vince’s career. A large majority felt that Gary Ballance had not justified his recall – to be fair, his county form did not justify it. And an increasing number of fans thought that the faith that the selectors had shown in Alex Hales had not been justified.

Poor Alex Hales. Equalled the England record with five consecutive 50s in the ODIs in South Africa after being written-off. Came back with three scores in the 80s and 90s in the Tests against Sri Lanka without making those last few runs that would have silenced the doubters. And has had three consecutive low scores in his last three ODIs. One feed-backer put it succinctly: “he’s shown that he is not good enough in any format”.

Cricket fans are a fickle lot. Their memories are short. Their gratitude is parsimonious. And a player is only as good as his last match. In T20 Hales was ranked as the #1 batsman in the world for a time and has top scores of 94, 99 and 116* - the first English T20 century. A relatively lean run in T20 (no 50 since 2014) has seen his contributions forgotten.

Three low scores in his last three ODIs have seen calls for him to be dropped in all formats. The suggestion is utterly bizarre. You do not become a poor player overnight and Alex Hales had, in his eight ODIs of the year up to the end of June, scored 520 runs in 8 innings with 4x50 and 2x100.

The nature of limited-overs cricket is that you will sometimes have failures and runs of low scores. And sometimes you will just have a brainstorm and do something really stupid. To come back though from being pilloried, from looking totally out of sorts and make a murderous 171 in 122 balls at very least shows character.

Hales’s sequence in ODIs in 2016 is something that even Sir Donald Bradman would be proud of:

57, 99, 65, 50, 112, 4, 133*, 0, 7, 14, 171

That is a small matter of 712 runs in 10 completed innings at a strike rate of 101.7. If that is not good enough, long live mediocrity!

When a player such as Joe Root has to act as sheet anchor because he is only scoring at a run-a-ball you know that great things are possible. We wanted to know what England could do batting first and now we know. The highest score in an ODI and some fairly eye-watering bowling figures. Only the fact that the last two overs unaccountably brought just 15 runs when the previous five had gone for 77 saved Pakistan from being the first side to concede 450 and 460 was definitely on with two overs to go.

The headline figure was the10-0-110-0 of Wahab Riaz, but Pakistan’s combined fifth bowler (Yasir Shah, Azhar Ali and Shoaib Malik) was actually more expensive (10-0-112-0).

Jos Buttler, who has looked short of match practice in the first two games, came good with the fastest 50 for England in ODIs and could have reached a century. What no one noticed is that Eoin Morgan was close to equalling the record: he was 42* from 20 balls and just two hits away from equalling Jos Buttler’s 22-ball 50. 33*, 68 & 57* is a big revival of fortunes for him.

If Pakistan had been sensible they could have at very least scared the target. Until the end of the 20^th over they had only once, very briefly at the start of the chase been behind and had been as much as 21 runs ahead of England at the same stage. The difference was that Pakistan panicked and, instead of accepting the odd over with only 3 or 4 runs scored, lost wickets regularly trying to force the scoring. At 106-3 after 15 overs they were 20 ahead of England at the same stage; within eight balls though that had become 108-5… game over!

England’s extraordinary ODI revival continues despite the ICC table saying that they are still only a mid-table team. The sceptics, who say that England have not yet beaten anyone of any quality must, at very least, be getting nervous. The suggestions that England are no different to the sad side of the last World Cup are getting harder and harder to justify. And, for Pakistan, the danger of having to qualify for the next World Cup is getting greater with every defeat.

Anatomy of Another Embarassment

 

 

Cricket World Cup 2015

 

Anatomy of Another Embarassment I

 

March 12^th 2015

 

You have to feel for Eoin Morgan. Given the captaincy with England in disarray, only weeks before the World Cup, there was always a danger that he would be overwhelmed by the task. When he was appointed I wrote of the options facing the selectors:

“Had it been Joe Root then the endless speculation about Alistair Cook losing the Test captaincy too would have started afresh. Had it been James Taylor, fans would have been stunned by a really adventurous move. Morgan is the steady move: he was the regular stand-in already and was captain for England’s only ODI series win for eighteen months. That said, the calls for Morgan himself to be dropped have got louder and louder over the last year so, unless the captaincy sparks a glorious revival in him, it may only be a short-term appointment.”

After a bright start, with fans and press praising his pro-active captaincy, things have gone very, very pear-shaped and ended with England’s ignominious exit from the World Cup. 

Asking Eoin Morgan to captain while struggling with his own form was always a risk. After a brilliant series in Australia last winter, with runs flowing like a river in flood, the last year has been a disaster: 28 matches, 491 runs at 18.8. Even the two matches when he has scored runs – 62 v Sri Lanka in the 4^th ODI and 121 v Australia in the first match of the tri-series – led to heavy defeats. A series of scores since the start of the winter of 1, 62, 5, 0, 4, 121, DNB, 0, 2, 0, 0, 17, 46 (v Scotland), 27 and 0 is a pretty desperate one. It is 92 runs in his last 8 innings, exactly half of them against the lowest-ranked team in the World Cup.

At the same time, to make his job harder, he has been given a hamstrung side riven with strange tactical decisions. James Taylor was doing very well at #3, so he was dropped down to #6 in the World Cup. Alex Hales played three matches in Sri Lanka and the warm-up against Pakistan, but was dropped for Gary Ballance in the World Cup. Critics would point to the fact that Hales has not been a success: 153 runs in 8 ODIs, but that still gives him an average marginally superior to his captain over the last year. More importantly, Hales is a player who has shown, albeit in T20, that he can go berserk and destroy a bowling attack: Hales was an attacking move – 15 overs in partnership with Moeen Ali could have set up a winning total against any attack in the world. Instead, the selectors took a settled side that was beginning to show signs of gelling and tinkered with it for the first game of the World Cup. In came “safe option” Ballance who, after a promising start to his ODI career, has stalled badly. Ballance has only passed 10 in one of his last eight and two of his last ten ODI innings. Short of cricket – he had had just one “slap and giggle” innings since September in a 15-a-side warm-up – he came up against first Australia and then New Zealand, the two class attacks of the World Cup, which was no way to find form and confidence. Ballance should have made way for Hales in the critical game v Sri Lanka. What better opponent than the one against which he scored England’s first T20 century to unleash Hales? He is just one innings away from making his breakthrough and pity Afghanistan if he decides that it should be against them.

The bowling attack is another case of chronic mismanagement. Chris Woakes has taken the new ball all winter with some success so, of course, he should be relieved of that responsibility in the World Cup. It is true that Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have been as good a new ball pair as any in the world, but neither had played in months and both are still feeling their way back. The feeling must be that two disastrous tours of Australia have been one too many for Jimmy Anderson: I can see him retiring from ODIs after the World Cup and from all international cricket by the end of the summer.

Stuart Broad is another player under pressure. He admits that his nerve has gone with the bat. Although still capable of useful cameos, there has not been a 50 in any format since the 1^st Ashes Test in summer 2013. After 26 wickets in the six Tests last summer, the winter has been less kind: 8 wickets in 10 ODIs and some painful poundings at the hands of various batsmen. The public are on his case. Actively disliked by many fans of other teams due to his abrasiveness and frequent brushes with authority, he has never been a favourite of the English fans either who have rarely given him the credit that he deserves. Troubled by multiple injuries, he is not going to continue playing all formats of the game. If he is to continue to be an effective Test bowler he will probably need to retire from ODIs and T20. There is a danger that he may be pushed into retiring in all formats too.

England have taken a punt on Steve Finn this winter. On paper, returns of 5-71 and 3-26 in the World Cup look pretty good, especially when combined with a 5-33 and a 3-36 v India in the tri-series. You then look closer and see that the 5-71 owed a lot to a hat-trick from the last three balls of the innings after a fearful pummelling and that all three wickets were from catches in the deep. The 3-26 was against an over-matched Scotland, who still pushed England far closer than even the most pessimistic English fans had feared. While Woakes and particularly Broad were bowling deliveries that passed 90mph against Sri Lanka, Steve Finn was well under and for a good part of his spell cruising in the low-80s. Finn is no longer the attacking weapon that he was, aggressive and bowling regularly at over 90mph. However, England have persisted with him as they did with Jade Dernbach, hoping that he would click and he has not; at least, not consistently. Probably he should have been replaced with Jordan after the New Zealand game, although there was a case for playing Tredwell, despite – or maybe due to the fielding restrictions.

Jimmy Anderson lost his way so completely in 2004 that it was four years before he was ready to return – an unwanted exile blamed on the coaching that he had received. Steve Finn is young enough that he can afford two seasons in county cricket to re-invent himself and still have several years at the top level, but he needs to go back to Middlesex, play day in, day out and get back his pace and bounce.

So, to add to his personal troubles with the bat, Eoin Morgan has laboured with an iffy attack in which the most reliable control bowler was usually his non-specialist spinner, Moeen Ali, without the safety valve of being able to bowl 4 or 5 overs of dobbers from Ravi Bopara if one of the seamers got punished. This despite the fact that in the last year or so Bopara was often England’s most economical bowler and rarely proved expensive. Eoin Morgan needed options, but could change the names, he could change the ends but, in the absence of a specialist spinner, a left arm seamer, or an express quick, could not change the bowling.

In a few hours England face their final game and a potential final humiliation. On a pitch expected to offer pace and bounce they will come up against a 90+mph bowler who wants to make a name for himself. The odds are that even a wounded and demotivated England will be far too good for Afghanistan, but there is a nice parallelism in that the only side that either England or Afghanistan have beaten in this World Cup has been Scotland: England’s win was somewhat the more convincing of the two, but the Afghans see a chance to take a historic scalp and England look ready to be taken.

A big win may buy Peter Moores and Eoin Morgan some time. A defeat will surely see the end of at least the latter and potentially of both. The damage though has been done.

Stuborness Proves Cook's Undoing

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Finally the axe falls

 

December 20^th 2014

 

Finally, Alistair Cook has been relieved of the ODI captaincy. After weeks of mixed signals, first seemly confirming him in his role, then saying that the axe might fall, repeating the cycle several times, true to form, Alistair Cook has had to be sacked to get him to leave the post. His successor is not the greatest surprise. Had it been Joe Root then the endless speculation about Alistair Cook losing the Test captaincy too would have started afresh. Had it been James Taylor, fans would have been stunned by a really adventurous move. Morgan is the steady move: he was the regular stand-in already and was captain for England’s only ODI series win for eighteen months. That said, the calls for Morgan himself to be dropped have got louder and louder over the last year so, unless the captaincy sparks a glorious revival in him, it may only be a short-term appointment.

Cook is no stranger to Australia-induced runs of poor form. He had a very poor run against Australia in 2009 that continued for the 1^st Test in South Africa that winter, before he roared back with three centuries and two fifties in his next five Tests. His current run though is unprecedented: 17 Tests, going back to New Zealand at Headingley in late May 2013 since he has made a Test century; the fact that he has made nine half centuries since then without once converting one speaks volumes. The question now is whether or not he can re-capture his Test form and appetite for run-scoring: not everyone is convinced that he can.

Alistair Cook seemed to predict his fate when saying at the end of the Sri Lanka series that he could have no complaints if he were sacked: it looks as if the strain had finally got to him after twelve months of being questioned constantly.

This though has been such an unnecessary crisis. If Alistair Cook had had the sense to give up the ODI captaincy after the Test series against India, he would have been hailed as a hero, the unquestioned captain of the side. Someone else would have taken the rap for the expected defeat in Sri Lanka and the anticipated debacle in the World Cup, with Cook coming back against the West Indies as the saviour in a Test series against a side that is increasingly unable to offer more than token resistance against serious opposition.

Eoin Morgan at least has a licence to go out and be his own man. With Scotland, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in England’s group, together with the Sri Lankans who have won just 38 of 133 ODIs in Australasia, it would take a disaster of unprecedented proportions for England not to make the Quarter Finals. With the two hardest matches being the first two group games, a win in either might just set the set team up for a run that could just surprise a few cynics.

Meanwhile, Australia are giving more signs that their current side is more fragile than it seemed. Having been whitewashed by Pakistan, they were expected to defeat India with great ease. However, despite being 2-0 up in the series, India could have won both Tests and Australia have looked distinctly ragged at times. India’s young side seem to be showing real spirit. Whether or not they can convert “real spirit” into a Test win in this series is an interesting question: if they were to win the 3^rd Test, it would not be hard to imagine them completing an amazing comeback in the series.

The Ghosts Of 2009

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Is he? Isn’t he?

 

December 14^th 2014

 

 

“England fans tend to be hyper-critical and unforgiving.” (November 23^rd)

“One wonders if Alistair Cook will survive as captain if England lose 7-0, or even 6-1, even if he starts to score some runs: how much patience do the selectors have with him? Possibly not much more.” (November 29^th)

“The question has been answered in the clearest possible way by the selectors. Alistair Cook is captain for the World Cup, so there is no point debating the issue more.” (December 8^th)

The series is gone now, with England 4-2 down with one match to play. Alistair Cook’s poor series continued with a pretty awful sixth match that suggested that his mind is frazzled.  Despite the fact that a month ago you would have got quite long odds on England keeping the series live into the sixth match and the denouement was expected long before it actually happened, the fans and experts are being as unforgiving as unusual. Five losses in the last six ODI series, including three in England, which has always been the place where even the best sides usually fail to win, is a dismal record. Calls for Alistair Cook to step down, or to be sacked if he refuses to, are now being joined by calls for Peter Moores to go. It could be that Peter Moores’s best chance of survival is to wield the axe, but there is almost more chance of him featuring in a repeat of 2009 and being the protagonist of a double change of captain and coach.

In 2009, Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen annihilated each other mutually is a blaze of heat and light, the lasting fallout of which may well have contributed to the latter’s recent exile. For England, despite an unpalatable defeat against the West Indies with a provisional management in the immediate aftermath of the conflagration, the end result of the change was the best period in their recent history, reaching #1 in the T20, Test and ODI rankings at different times, winning three consecutive Ashes series and England’s only ever global trophy.

The truth was that, although Peter Moores was forced to re-build in the face of mass retirements after the 2006/07 Ashes wipe-out, the England record during his reign was pretty awful and it was a surprise to many when he was re-appointed on Andy Flower’s resignation.

Peter Moores 2014, we were assured, was a more gentle and understanding coach who would work well with the players, but his start has not been a good one. The only bright point has been the comeback win against a totally disinterested India in the summer Test series. Apart from that, his record is almost exclusively one of defeats: Test defeat v Sri Lanka; ODI defeats home and away v Sri Lanka and at home v India; T20 defeat in the Caribbean and at home v Sri Lanka; only one win in the T20 World Cup and a defeat to The Netherlands to boot. The only series wins were in the Caribbean ODIs (having selected a team of T20 specialists), in a one-off ODI v Scotland (played effectively as a T20) and in a one-off T20 v India. The balance is poor and, with a tri series in Australia and the World Cup to come, plus Test series against Australia and South Africa, is likely to get even worse before it gets better. Right now, it is uncertain that anyone would offer odds on England to beat Australia next summer in any of the three formats and, despite England’s good record against South Africa since 2003, you would not bet much money on England winning there either.

The Moores-Cook combo is not producing results. Fans and pundits are getting increasingly restless and, just six days after apparently confirming that Alistair Cook will captain England in the World Cup, Peter Moores has come out and stated that his place in the final 15 for the tournament is not assured. This has created varied readings, although many experts are cautioning that Moores’s comments may not be all that they seem to be. With just the tri-series to come and with the stand-in captain Eoin Morgan’s place under some threat still, with just one significant score since returning from Australia, the chances of bedding in a new captain should the axe fall on Alistair Cook, are far from good. However, it is not as if there are no plausible candidates at all. Eoin Morgan can point still to the fact that the only real score that he has made since the Australian ODIs was as captain in Sri Lanka – would making him captain bring back his sparkling and devastating form? James Taylor has made a convincing case to play in the World Cup and is a successful captain at Nottinghamshire. And Joe Root is seen as a future England captain and is in sparkling form: starting him with the ODI captaincy would find out if he has what he needs to be England’s next Test captain in the same way that Michael Vaughan was initiated. However, asking a new captain to take up the job in a tough series in Australia that England are expected to lose badly is not the greatest way to build him up.

As Peter Moores has consistently backed Alistair Cook, changing captain now would also be a major admission of failure on his part and one that would only add to the calls for his short second period in charge to be terminated abruptly too. Something is going to give soon: either England start winning or the axe will fall and heads will roll. Invoking the ghost of 2009 may though be just what England need now.

Yet Again, Close But No Cigar...

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Close, but no cigar, again…

 

December 8^th 2014

 

“One wonders if Alistair Cook will survive as captain if England lose 7-0, or even 6-1, even if he starts to score some runs: how much patience do the selectors have with him? Possibly not much more.”

The question has been answered in the clearest possible way by the selectors. Alistair Cook is captain for the World Cup, so there is no point debating the issue more. Whatever your personal opinion, you have to get behind the team and the captain.

The Sri Lanka tour is, in one sense, going as expected. A Sri Lankan team who failed to put up more than token resistance against India – albeit in a series organised in a rush when the West Indies tour was abandoned – has proved far too strong for England. However, among the wreckage some very creditable performances are emerging. Moeen Ali is showing that he is a powerful option as an opener. England are getting fast starts when he comes off, which has been in three of the five innings on this tour: a century and two fifties more than offset his two failures. Although his bowling has been less effective than it was last summer, this is all part of the learning experience. Only Kumar Sangakarra has more runs in the series, but at a far inferior strike rate.

James Taylor got his chance as a replacement for Alistair Cook: fine irony there, as James Taylor would be a credible alternative as captain. A fine 90 scored at a rate 14 runs/100 balls faster than Alistair Cook in this series shows what England are missing. Unfortunately, Alex Hales has continued his disappointing start against India and is struggling to make a case to be in the starting XI at the World Cup. Two chances: the first a relatively rapid 27, the second a first-baller. Most England fans would like to see Moeen Ali and Hales open, but Hales really is not making it easy for the selectors to pick him.

While England are now getting quick starts, a familiar problem is still embarrassingly present. Despite an array of power hitters, the middle order is getting stuck. It has cost England probably two wins in the series. In fact, a more confident side would have won all four matches instead of losing three of the four by rather narrow margins.

More good news for England has come in the fine form of Chris Woakes, who has done an excellent job with the new ball. It is interesting to contrast his fortunes with Steve Finn. Few fans offered the choice between Finn and Woakes would go for Woakes, rather disparagingly dismissed by many as “a batsman who can bowl”. Although Steve Finn is clearly on his way back and is a far cry from the dispirited bowler of Australia, it is Woakes who is getting the new ball breakthroughs: 6 wickets against 2 at a slightly better economy rate. Chris Jordan is also rewarding the faith of the selectors. He was England’s best bowler in the 4^th ODI and has by far the best average and economy of any member of the England attack in the matches so far.

While Jordan and Finn are repaying the selectors, Ben Stokes’s form remains a major issue. In the three matches that he has played he has been entrusted with 2, 4 and 2 overs and gone for 85 runs. The decision to play Stokes instead of Tredwell in the 4^th ODI quite possibly cost England the match. Nine ODIs since returning from Australia have provided just 4 wickets, three of them in a single match. He is not providing the weight of runs as a finisher, or a sufficiently fast scoring rate to justify his place as a batsman and he is certainly not justifying being described as or selected as a front-line bowler, which is what he was meant to be. It is hard to see how he can be picked in the final 15 for the World Cup, let alone make the final XI. Stokes is an exciting talent, but something is not right with him right now.

Eoin Morgan, on the other hand, has had a major run transfusion. A fast 62, albeit in a losing cause, is a reminder of his talent yet, when he looks back on his scores of 1, 17, 1 & 62 he should not feel too proud of his contribution so far in the series.

One remains convinced that the elements for a successful World Cup campaign are there, but the mixture that the selectors are providing is not quite right.

With Broad, Anderson, Finn, Woakes and Jordan competing for a maximum of four bowling spots, Moeen Ali and Tredwell as spinners, Hales, Moeen Ali, Taylor, Bopara, Morgan & Buttler to supply batting power and the adaptable Joe Root, the side could yet surprise a few if the selectors play their card right.

Finishing In The Pits

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

The Pits

 

March 31^st 2014

 

All logic said that England would end their campaign with a comfortable win of The Netherlands and would return home feeling a little better after an encouraging World T20 in which they could say, quite genuinely, that they were unlucky to be eliminated. No one could have imagined the full horror being on the wrong end of a hammering – their only heavy defeat of the tournament – to a side that is no longer ranked high enough to play official ODIs.

The team was awful. Catches dropped. Misdirected bowling. It took a mean spell from Ravi Bopara and, after a rather dodgy first over, from James Tredwell, to pull back the run rate. Then the batting was abysmal. England lost, inexplicably, to a team who they should have put to the sword, a team who were better on the day and, who should also have beaten South Africa.

In the three games so far the batting, condemned before the tournament as insipid and powder-puff, has been England’s strength. It has not been just Alex Hales’s century. In 30 matches in the tournament – 60 innings – just six times has 190 been reached, two of them by England. In Hales, England have the fifth highest run-scorer of the tournament and the second highest of the players not involved in the preliminary round. Various other batsmen have had useful innings, although the top three of Hales, Lumb and Moeen have not given England the solid starts that one would have liked. Moeen Ali, in particular, has been disappointing with the bat. However, a line-up criticised as unable to clear the boundary has hit 20 sixes and 58 fours in their four games (really in three because, today, the totals were 0 and 4 respectively).

When England have been weak has been in the bowling. No one has more than 4 wickets. Apart from the strangely underused Ravi Bopara, whose six overs over two games went for just 28, no one comes close to Chris Jordan’s figures: 4 wickets at 19, with a strike rate of 15.5 and economy of 7.35. Dernbach’s economy has been 11, Bresnan’s 9.7 (just 1 wicket for 97 in 10 overs), Broad’s 8.5, although with the consolation of 4 wickets at 25.5.

One thing that is singularly odd is that England’s three most economical bowlers bowled just 27.2 out of a possible 48 overs between them: in part that this because England used so many bowling options – 6 or 7 bowlers in each match – but it is still poor use of your resources to leave so many overs of your most reliable bowlers unused.

Bresnan and Dernbach have struggled. It is hard to see Dernbach playing again. Tim Bresnan has also looked more the vulnerable Bresnan of 2006 than the heroic figure of 2010/11. Can England continue to wait on him to rediscover his best form? It is hard to know how badly Stuart Broad’s knee problem has hampered him. After a poor start to the tournament with a couple of Dernbach-like overs, he has finished more strongly, but has never felt up to taking the new ball – not having him running in strongly with the new ball has weakened the attack significantly.

Like the death bowling, the fielding has been shambolic. Catch after catch has gone down. There have been misunderstandings in the field with runouts missed and catches dropping between fielders with neither making a serious effort to take responsibility. Unfortunately it has not been limited to difficult chances and to outfielders: several sitters have gone down and Jos Buttler has missed a couple of important chances too.

However, things are not as bad as they feel. The core of a strong side is there. Probably eight or nine of today’s starters will be in England’s best side in the summer, with the two or three changes more likely to be in the attack and one of those is more due to the nature of English pitches, which will not require two front-line spinners. Joe Root may well usurp Moeen Ali, but there must be some concern about Eoin Morgan who has only reached 20 twice in his last ten innings. The biggest need is to find a reliable death bowler and someone to use the new ball effectively. With Ravi Bopara, Moeen Ali and, presumably, Joe Root able to bowl overs, there will be no shortage of support options.

I stick by what said yesterday... it is not all bad. The side just needs a little luck and to win a couple of games to get some momentum.

Two Crazy Games

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

An Extraordinary Day

 

March 27^th 2014

 

 

After a few too many mundane matches, today has brought two corkers. A Dutch colleague who knows next to nothing about cricket was crouched alongside me in the dining room at lunchtime watching, stunned, as The Netherlands closed on an unblievable win against South Africa. Sadly, it was not to be and South Africa brought off another amazing narrow escape. Having won by 2 runs against New Zealand, they beat The Netherlands by 5 in a game that the Dutch should have won. The contrast with the Sri Lanka game was remarkable: the Dutch bowled with discipline and chased as if it were Ireland in front. So fast was their scoring that it seemed that unless they panicked, victory would come with several overs to spare. The Dutch though, can hold their heads high… they left the South Africans close to panic.

The game that came afterwards was, if anything, even more extraordinary. Few pundits gave England much chance of winning and fewer still thought that, having dropped catch after catch in the outfield, England would be able to chase 190 to win, especially as it would be the seventh highest successful chase ever in a T20. In fact, only seven times before today had a team chased 180 successfully in a T20 international.

When the opposition starts the chase with a double-wicket maiden you normally think that it’s curtains. However, Hales and Morgan batted sensibly and stayed either ahead of Sri Lanka at an equivalent stage or, at least, very close. The biggest difference in the scores was 6 after 8 overs (Sri Lanka 58-1, England 52-2) but, from the end of the 10^th over England were never behind save, momentarily and marginally after 18 overs. If you were watching the scores you could see that unless England did something stupid they would be very close at the end. As the ball got harder to grip, the scoring rate mounted and Sri Lanka’s chances of pulling the match back got slimmer. Two wickets in an over helped but then, as Sri Lanka played their trump card, hoping that Malinga would kill England’s challenge; what it did though was kill Sri Lanka’s as Ravi Bopara hit his first two balls for four and calmed any nerves.

The headlines will be for Alex Hales’s century and a magnificent innings it was, but England had other heroes too. Eoin Morgan, whose recent form has been awful, played a wonderful innings. Ravi Bopara supported calmly at the end when, so often in the past, batsmen have lost their heads. And, with a chase of 200 a real possibility, Chris Jordan’s last over, the penultimate of the innings, went for just 4 runs and included the wicket of Sangakkara – 4-0-28-2 was the most economical spell of the day by any bowler. Even Jade Dernbach had one of his better games of the recent past.

One win does not make England a great side, but neither are they such a bad side as many have claimed. They now face South Africa in a winner-takes all game on Saturday: the winner will almost certainly make it through to the semi-Finals, the loser is out. South Africa have squeaked past New Zealand and The Netherlands and blew a winning position against Sri Lanka – you would worry a lot more if England were facing India.

There are still many permutations in the group. Any of the four Full Members could still qualify. Sri Lanka must beat New Zealand to qualify. South Africa have to beat England. England have to beat South Africa and New Zealand have to beat Sri Lanka. Unless the Dutch play party-poopers, the two winners will go through and the two losers will go out. There is even a freak combination of results that would allow the Dutch to go through (England beat South Africa, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka, the Dutch beat both England and New Zealand, leaving all five sides on four points).

Brilliant Faulkner. Dreadful Cook.

 

 

Ashes 2013

 

England snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

 

January 17^th 2014

 

 

For 97 overs today England had the match under control. However, despite 99% of fans seeing the mistake, Alistair Cook committed a scarcely believable error and insisted on bowling Ben Stokes, his most expensive bowler, who had already started to come in for some serious punishment, when he still had overs from Jordan (who put in another excellent new ball spell), Rankin (who had a much better game today, beginning to look more like the threatening bowler seen in the summer ODIs), Bresnan, Bopara and Root (England’s most economical bowler on the day). It was like watching a train racing to disaster when everyone except the driver is screaming for the brakes to be applied. Stokes is developing into a fine player and came out of the Tests with great credit, but came in for such fearful punishment that a target that appeared well out of Australia’s reach, became easy. James Faulkner was brilliant, but Alistair Cook made it far easier for him than it should have been.

It was a pity because, for once, England had done things right. A reasonable opening partnership at a respectable pace set the base for a massive late innings charge with Morgan, Bopara and Buttler hitting eight sixes between them and Morgan showing the sort of confidence and amazing innovation that makes fans wonder why he barely averages 30 in sixteen Tests, with a third of his Test runs coming in just two innings. At 244-9, with just 6 overs left, Australia needed 51 off 36 balls. It should have been a comfortable win for England. When Tim Bresnan went for just 3 in the 46^th over, the equation was 41 from 24 balls.

Stoke’s last 3 overs went for 13, 11 & 13. He could have been a hero because he did have Faulkner brilliantly caught by Joe Root on the run, but Root’s momentum carried him over the boundary: ironically, if Root had deliberately dropped the ball, he probably would have saved England four runs: it was symptomatic of England’s luck all tour.

After this sickening defeat, a whitewash in the ODIs now looks sadly inevitable too.