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

Injuries, injuries, injuries. It’s been a hot topic for ages now as huge amounts of people give their reasoning as to why there’s been an apparent increase in the frequency of serious injuries in International cricket. And now they will affect the World Cup, as key teams have players out with injury:
Australia: Matthew Hayden (toe), Andrew Symonds (bycep)
Pakistan: Abdul Razzaq (knee), Mohammad Asif (Elbow), Shoaib Akhtar (Knee)
New Zealand: Jacob Oram (finger)
England: Micheal Vaughan (everything)
to name but a few, with the likelihood that the World Cup will take down some more big names during its tenure. If the World Cup meanders …read more

England quick bowler Liam Plunkett has been banned from driving for 20 months, after being convicted of driving under the influence. And under the influence he was with a recorded 172mg of alc-y-hol per 100ml, when the legal limit is 80mg. Plunkett apparently regrets the incident realising he is a role model for youngsters.

David Graveney somewhat ridiculously called for an apology from anyone who doubted Duncan Fletcher’s ability, following England’s success in the CB Trophy. Evidently Graveney was on the bog when England lost the Ashes. It is often said that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but sometimes it is the only medium to portray your true feelings. So make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy Simon Barnes’ delightfully sarcastic “apology” to Duncan Fletcher.

England’s physio was robbed at knifepoint by a gang of masked thieves, whilst “sharing drinks” with Andrew Strauss and a few other team peeps in their Sydney hotel. It sounds like an isolated incident, and that the robbers weren’t cricket fans who were annoyed Dean Conway for sorting out all England’s injured players. If anything, Dean did the Aussies a favour in getting Ashley Giles back in to shape.
* I do like the idea of the chaps “sharing drinks”. It was 4am and what that really means is that they were having a proper session. Fortunately, The Sun isn’t afraid …read more

England managed to end the Ashes tour on a high by somehow winning the Commonwealth Bank Trophy series. After a staggering 8 “group” matches, Australia entered the finals with 31 points having lost only one game, and England entered on a lowly 13 points having lost 5 games, just one better than New Zealand. The fact that one game basically decided the members of the final is to me laughable. Nevertheless, the Australians would still have targeted a win and their abject performances in the finals were quite mystifying. There’s no doubt that England improved their game substantially in the …read more

I’m struggling to remember the last time I saw such an incredible game of cricket. Actually, in real terms, the game of cricket wasn’t that remarkable as South Africa quite literally thrashed the pants off Pakistan in the first ODI. No, what was remarkable was the manner in which South Africa annihilated Pakistan. To score 392 in a ODI is no mean feat, but South Africa really acted like someone who had just been told their mum was ugly and that no-one liked them. They actually went ballistic as de Villiers and Smith started off well, but left it to …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

It’s only a matter of time before Duncan Fletcher resigns / gets sacked from his position as head coach of the England cricket team. The question is, though… when? The ECB have said it won’t be until after the World Cup, if at all, but both David Graveney and David Morgan (Chairman of Selectors / Chief of ECB) have added some doubt / uncertainty to that by saying that it’s Fletcher’s decision and he has no fixed term contract. In addition there’s the uncertainty over what will happen when the England team finally escape the Ashes tour. What will happen …read more

Would you believe that I actually had a much longer post all written out here, but thanks to the wonder that is the Internet, it didn’t get processed properly and I ended up with nothing.
But maybe it’s fate? After all, what else is there to be said about another lacklustre performance from England? And this time against New Zealand, England received their hardest spanking of the tour to date. 120 all out is nothing short of piss-poor.
England’s top order, with the slight exception of Ed Joyce, who, 6th time lucky managed to find a glimmer of form with …read more