England took hold of the dead rubber and gave it a bloody good slap to take an assured 2-0 series victory and turn it in to an emphatic whooping by winning the final match of the series and sealing the 3-0 victory. As rain wiped out the first day and a half, a result looked extremely unlikely. After West Indies battled much longer than anyone ever expected them to, it took some inspired bowling from England on the 4th day, from Monty in particular, to knock out the Windies leaving England a target of 110 for victory. Which they duly …read more

They’re coming home, they’re coming home, they are coming….. Wait. Sorry. I was pre-empting the inevitable overreaction to todays remarkable events.
First things first, Australia were skittled in 71 overs for 244. The damage was done by Monty Panesar (5-92) and Steve Harmison (4-48). England were then 51/2 by the close of play, with Strauss not out 24 and Paul Collingwood not out 10. Far be it from me to point how extraordinary this was, as I saw posted on one forum “the debate over Giles and Panesar was decided in 7 balls this morning”. All eyes were on Monty Panesar. …read more

If you visit any of the cricket forums at the moment, there are a number of common topics, man of them surrounding team selection. The discussion England’s side seems to be especially vociferous, mainly due to the sheer volume of question marks surrounding the side.
Will Flintoff be fit enough? (injuries)
Monty or Giles? (spinners)
Collingwood, Bell or Cook? (mid-order batsmen)
Tresco? (is his head screwed on?)
Read or Jones? (wicket keeper)
Mahmood or Anderson? (bowling)
Harmison? (see Tresco)
With some many possibilities, pre-empting Duncan Fletcher’s decision is nigh-on impossible. All I can do is say what I’d do, if I was in his shoes:
Tresco
Strauss
Bell
KP
Collingwood
Fred Flintoff
Read
Mahmood
Hoggard
Harmison
Panesar
I’d be really …read more