Paul Collingwood found a welcome return to form, following up his century against New Zealand with 120* not out and 70. Collingwood doubters should now be feeling very silly about themselves. Aside from his double hundred at Adelaide, Collingwood has had a poor series, and his recent scores rightly earned him man of the finals (!) but he arguably had no worse a series than any of the other players. He managed to do what neither Bell nor Strauss managed and at the right time as well. England’s bowlers also managed to come through, with Liam Plunkett the most promising, picking up some key wickets at key times. There are still many things to look at, such as England’s running between the wickets which has been horrific, the opening batsmen situation and the wicket keeper situation, but the boys at least have some confidence back and there’s something to improve upon. It also shows that England don’t rely on any single member, such as Kevin Pietersen, to win the game. And even more promising is that if more than one player could find some form at the same time, then England can be even better.

Beating Australia in Australia at any time is always an achievement and one that shouldn’t be too undervalued. Leaving Australia with some silverware was certainly unexpected, and I admit I didn’t think there a was hope of it happening after the Ashes whitewash. The CB trophy was always going to take second place behind the Test matches, but it’s great that England managed to turn things around and rescue something from what was otherwise a terrible series. Ahead of the World Cup, this was about the best thing that could happen.

Post from: EveryJoe

England salvage some pride

1. Flintoff appointed Test captain, England lose 5-0
2. Flintoff loses some ODIs
3. Vaughan recovers from knee injury, leads England in a ODI, England win
4. Vaughan injures hamstring, Flintoff resumes captaincy, England lose
5. Vaughan recovers, resumes captaincy, England win
6. Fletcher says “Flintoff best when not captain!”
7. Vaughan injures hamstring again, Flintoff announced to resume captaincy for the CB Trophy finals

It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see that something is not quite right here. It is certainly a predicament, after all, Fletcher is scared witless about hurting the ego of his main man and equally scared witless of admitting he was wrong in the first place. The facts are simple: Flintoff is not a good captain and he’s a fantastic player when he’s not captain. We’ve seen it, we know it. So why on earth are they persevering with him as captain? It really is time to face facts and find a different captain. Perhaps Andrew Strauss is the man, as about the most senior man left in the team. But not Flintoff.

Unfortunately, this problem doesn’t seem like going away anytime soon, as despite leaving the Ashes tour early (after arriving late, no less) Vaughan is adamant that he will play in the World Cup. Therein lies the problem – sure, he might actually get to the World Cup, but how long will he last out there before he is injured again? And what happens then? Flintoff to captain? Nobody honestly expects England to get very far in the World Cup, but it would be nice to go in to it with at least a fighting chance.

Post from: EveryJoe

Our Captain Sucks!

Well, a revival in fortunes has seen them do exactly that, after first beating Australia and then New Zealand. Collignwood finally clicked with the bat, scoring a hundred, with Strauss backing him up with a consecutive 50. Mal Loye will arguably be annoyed at losing his place to Micheal Vaughan, who could only manage a first-ball duck, but the value of having Vaughan in the side, scoring runs or not, is becoming increasingly hard to quantify. What has ultimately worked in England’s favour in this series is that England and New Zealand are moreorless on an even keel, that is, Australia have been so consideradbly better, that it was never a contest to see who could beat Australia, more, it was a contest of who would win out between England and New Zealand. That contest was drawn 2-2, but England’s shock defeat over Australia sealed the deal. England now get a chance to continue the revival with three more chances to mop up the mess they made of the Ashes. The chance of that is decidedly slim, but it is a chance nonetheless and there would be a delicious irony in it all if they were able to snatch a victory here.

Post from: EveryJoe

England do the unthinkable

I know that Australia is a big country, but my extremely rough calculations, our boys will have done 26,000km travelling by the end of this tour (not including the 17,000km or so each way in just getting there). It’s no wonder they’ve been a little out of sorts. I hope they’ve been collecting their airmiles.

No doubt planning a tour schedule is a very complicated matter, involving all kinds of authorities and interested parties, but you can’t help but wonder if things could have been a little more sensible. For example, the 4th Test was played in Melbourne, they then went to Sydney to play the 5th Test, and then straight back to Melbourne to play the first one day match. It’s indicative of the extent to which cricket has become a commodity, something that can nowadays be sold to the highest bidder, with the quality of the cricket and the effect on the game and its players seemingly not even a secondary consideration. For example, by the conclusion of the CB Trophy, 15 matches will have been played. By the conclusion of the World Cricket League, 15 matches (well, OK actually 16, the final between Kenya and Scotland) will have been played. The different, though, is that there were 6 teams in the WCL. The CB Trophy really is a mockery of one day cricket. Teams should have played each other at most twice, with one final. It’s no wonder that injury in cricket is spiralling out of control. If the cricket authorities aren’t careful, they won’t have a game to sell, any players to play, nor any spectators to watch.

(The other obvious question is what’s wrong with Northern Australia? Does cricket not have the same following or are the conditions not correct for producing decent wickets?)

Post from: EveryJoe

Relent! Relent!

All this means that when England and New Zealand meet in the final match of the series, the winner will be the team lucky enough to meet Australia a further 3 times to decide the winner. Potentially, therefore, England could salvage something from this Ashes tour, despite Australia dominating this trophy. If nothing else, it is at least good practice for the World Cup.

Post from: EveryJoe

Final match to be decisive

In fact, Australia did have to play an extended game of fetch. Ed Joyce led from the front in treating the Australian bowling with the contempt that it deserves, as Glenn McGrath was below par and Shaun Tait had an uninspiring debut, Australia really looked to be missing Brett Lee. Dropped twice, Ed Joyce made his maiden ODI century, ably supported at varying times through the innings by Ian Bell (51), Loye (29), Strauss (26) and Dalrymple (30). Loye and Bell will both be unhappy that they made promising starts but failed to score heavily, but that Joyce capitalised on Australia’s mistakes is important. England totalled a respectable 292/7. Such a target was by no means beyond the reach of Australia who have consistently scored over 300, but with Ponting rested, things didn’t go their way. Matt Hayden made 50 and Symonds was going well until he ripped his bicep, an injury which has ruled him out of the rest of the series and makes him unlikely for the World Cup. Liam Plunkett had a dream game with the ball with 3/24 off 9.4 overs and was instrumental in dismissing Australia for 200, including Adam Gilchrist first ball.

Fortunately, though, the response to the victory has been necessarily muted. That is, no-one has yet announced the revolution of English cricket, which might ordinarily happen. England will know that the win was important, but that it is merely a drop in a bloody big ocean and they must aim to continue to improve their cricket if they’re to make a mark on the World Cup.

Post from: EveryJoe

Warm up the MBE machine

Umpire Steve Davis

I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something about Umpire Steve Davis that I don’t like. I think the first thing is that I have absolutely no idea who he is. He has somehow appeared on the International scene without so much of a word of warning. The second thing is that in today’s ODI between England and New Zealand, he made a lot of mistakes. But thirdly, and most importantly, it’s his name. Steve Davis. In my book there is only ONE Steve Davis, and to non-snooker fans this might not make a lot of sense, but it’s former gazillion-time World Snooker Champion, the one, the only, the carrot-top himself… Steve Davis. So it turns out that Umpire Steve Davis has umpired some 50 odd ODI’s, but I don’t care. He will never compare to Snooker’s Steve Davis, so he needs to either step out of the limelight, or pay a visit to Mr Deed Poll.

Daniel Vettori

How good is this guy? I’ve always been cynical of him, I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because he looks funny. And his funny-looking-ness is only as a result of his glasses. Which is ironic considering I’m as bespectacled as he is. But there’s something about a cricketer, well, any sports player, wearing glasses. It’s just not becoming. (Yes, I’m not mentioning Vettori’s dodgy new lip-warmer.)

Jacob Oram

Where did this guy come from? Apparently he was really good for NZ, and then got injured, and now he’s back. Well, I’ve chosen to block the first part from my memory so I can only base my opinion of him on this series. But he’s an absolute animal. He has absolutely no respect for any bowler, and rightly smashes anything that’s on a good or bad length. And usually for six. He’s a lot of fun to watch, moreso than KP or Gilchrist. And he’s backing it up with his fielding after a couple of top quality catches.

David Lloyd

David Lloyd is nothing less than a total legend when it comes to commentating. Those of you who do not watch their cricket on Sky Sports are honestly missing out. He’s pure quality. For example, as Peter Fulton ballsed up yet another catching chance, by choosing to use his head instead of catching the ball, Lloyd can initially be heard off-microphone laughing and saying:

[chuckle] “Ooh it’s ‘im on the ‘ead

he then comes on-microphone and says:

“Top corner, on me ‘ead son”

Comedy genius. So whilst the cricket might not be top class at the moment, at least there’s some good people about.

Post from: EveryJoe

It’s all about the people

The end result is that England have to win their next (and final) two games, one each against Australia and New Zealand. Fat chance.

The real loser today, however, was cricket, by virtue of the shocking display of fielding. And fortunately this time you can’t just blame it all on England. Both sides had a horrific day in the field, with catches a-plenty going begging. But it wasn’t just the missed catches as I lost count of the number of times I saw a ball slip through a fielders’ legs. Yes Chris Tremlett I’m talking about you. And you, Jacob Oram. Many of the basics of cricket that you learn when you first start playing the game had been overlooked and it was embarassing in places. Even Lou Vincent’s stunning one handed field and dive and throw and runout of Ed Joyce didn’t redress the balance.

Post from: EveryJoe

Today’s Loser: Cricket itself

“…at the moment we are not completely on the ball.”

Uh-huh. You think?

Curiously, there was absolutely no mention of the shot that Collingwood played to remove himself in Englands innings of 110 all out. The shot where he skipped down the pitch to Symonds, then 7 ironed a gentle catch to mid off.

But the real below-the-belt-kidney-bursting-nut-cracking-sucker-punch was when he spewed:

“We talk about that all the time, trying to figure out where we can improve but at some point the talking has to stop and we have to perform.”

Ouch. That really stings. We’ve been hearing / saying that since Day 1 of the First Test however many moons ago that was. The irony is frightening (and sickening), the motive is sound but it inspires no sympathy from this disenthused blogger.

Ahead of England’s next match (yet another must-win) against New Zealand, Colly and the rest of the England team still think (or at least want to be perceived to be thinking) that there is actually some value in England trying to get through the finals. But after watching Australia narrowly beat New Zealand over the weekend, not only are the chances non-existent, but the merit is doubtful. Australia batted first and scored a massive 343, with Ponting and Hayden scoring centuries. New Zealand in reply started very slowly and at one point looked to be on the ropes, but man-mountain Jacob Oram came in and turned things around with an unbeaten 101, including six enormous sixes. New Zealand fell 8 runs short. In any event it was a fantastic game of cricket which was played at a standard England can currently only dream of matching. If New Zealand take anything like that sort of form in to the next match with England, then their place in the finals is assured, and England will at last be allowed to go home.

Post from: EveryJoe

Irony not lost on Paul Collingwood

Is Michael Vaughan really that good a captain? England have failed to win any games in this tour under Andrew Flintoff’s guidance in this series, but the one game that Vaughan is back and England win. Coincidence, or skill? Judging by his frequent injuries, what odds would you give on Michael Vaughan ever taking a role in an England side ever again?

(Have a look at this article from July 2006 for an interesting look at Vaughan’s troublesome career.)

Post from: EveryJoe

Vaughan to miss… some more cricket