England win by an innings and 9 runs. New Zealand were rendered helpless and found wanting on the fourth day of the Third Test. We had earlier reported how KP saved England on the first day! Maybe that proved to be the catalyst for a really inspired performance by the Poms.
Making 364 in the First Innings in Trent Bridge seldom means trouble. So England were always in a relaxed state of mind, with just a few hiccups, as they mercilessly bowled out New Zealand twice over two and a half days. James Anderson took 7 for 43 in the …read more

England successfully navigated their must-win match against Canada in the group stages of the World Cup. Having lost to New Zealand in game 1, a defeat here would have sealed a similar fate to that of Pakistan. Luckily, it didn’t happen, albeit under inauspicious circumstances. For starters, the team was without Andrew Flintoff, who was sidelined for a “breach of discipline”. Ravi Bopara replaced him. After being inserted, England started well, with both Joyce and Vaughan playing fluently. Vaughan got yet another start, but failed to make a big score, but he did at least manage to progress out of …read more

England got their World Cup under way today with a warm-up game against Bermuda. The win was moreorless a formality, and fortunately England suffered no upsets in that regard. And looking at the match stats will suggest exactly how the game ought to have panned out – England posted 280 and bowled Bermuda out for 45, so in all reality a comfortable win. Top score for Bermuda was Hemp with 11, followed closely by extras at 8. There’s little point in being overly critical at this point, considering it is only game 1 for England, but they would likely have …read more

England did the unthinkable: they actually played some good cricket. The net result: They Beat Australia. And considering that really, that’s all this trophy is about, it’s a Big Thing. Most surprising, however, was that England actually played the type of cricket of which we knew they were always capable, but have totally failed to demonstrate throughout this Ashes tour. Australia did feel like they were gifting the win, but considering the point of Australian cricket is to beat the English, then it’s hard to conclude that they may have actually let England win. Besides, it’s much more satisfying to …read more