After being white-washed in the Test series, England have managed to bounce back. And in what exhilarating fashion. England began the series with the new opening partnership of Captain Cook and Kevin Pietersen. The first two one-dayers had a striking similarity - a century by Cook and 4 wickets by Finn. Yet, they were extremely different. While England won the first with no struggle, the second tested them. They would be proud of winning the first, especially since it followed their drubbing in Tests, but it's the battles like the second, which give you a rush. From the spectators point of view, all three had something interesting to offer. The first made sure that this tour isn't going to be one-sided. The second was a close contest. And the third? The third had Kevin Pietersen. When KP is on song, he takes cricket to a higher level. The transition from other cricket to Kevin Pietersen's batting is the same as the one from school books to erotic fiction. Not to forget, I predicted an entertaining show from him in my last post, England at a loss in victory as Lions crushed before one-day against Pak.

These 3 matches couldn't have been better for me. Two centuries by Cook, success for Finn and KP, it just couldn't get better than that. Before this series, Finn had expressed a desire to play in Tests, and again, he has said that Tests is where he wants to be, for the rest of his career. Performing in all the three one-days means that he is pushing harder for a place in Tests. England next head to Sri Lanka for 2 Tests, the squad for which will be announced after the 3rd Twenty20 in Abu Dhabi.
Other posts:

• Steven Finn Wallpaper!
• Not The Most Conservative Sport Anymore?
• A true legend within cricket: Shane Warne
• England blistered by Pakistan 3-0; Kevin Pietersen...

England go into the one-day series with an aim to take revenge. But, actually it's more about salvaging pride. England's batting might have shocked Geoffrey Boycott, but this was long overdue. If you leave the Twenty20 International against India, England have lost their last 9 International matches.

Positives can always be taken. The England staff should be proud of Stuart Broad. After all, he is their well crafted weapon. He wasn't a Test bowler when they decided to make him a part of England side in all formats. Earlier, his success came in bouts. But, he was not only the bowler of the series for England, but also batted positively. I have one complaint in the bowling department though. Monty Panesar bowled 141 overs in 2 matches, while Graeme Swann bowled 115 in 3 matches. Swann had a strike rate of 53 while Monty, 60. Also, in Pakistan's first innings in the 3rd Test, he bowled a wicket maiden, but was removed after that. Monty has been in and out of the side, while Swann is here to stay, he has performed consistently. England should be careful to retain his shine and not rust him.

The Test series may have been horrendous for England, but it will help in boosting the popularity of Test cricket. 2nd Test was the most exciting one, as the advantage flipped from one side to the other. It carried to the 3rd Test as England bowled Pakistan out for 99. And then managed only 141 themselves. We had a contest on hand until Azhar Ali and Younis Khan shared a partnership of 216. The series also revived the art of spin bowling as spinners of both teams prospered.

On Friday, England XI swept past England Lions with ease. Steven Finn had referred to this match as important for both sides, since he remembers Kieswetter and Lumb made their way to World Twenty20 and he, himself got into Tests a month after such a game. This match, however, turned out be a battering of the Lions, and thus didn't benefit either side much. England bowled the Lions out for 99, and although a revised target of 230 was set, England chased without any struggle. Dernbach, Swann, Trott, Cook and Pietersen flourished while Finn grabbed 3 wickets, including two tail-enders and Bopara chipped in 36. Pietersen may not have scored that many runs in the Test series, but he looked in good touch in both the Tests and the Lions game. I'm telling you, a splendid knock by him is just around the corner. Haha, got to take my chances, no harm in predicting. Great if I prove to be right!

This is Sanya, signing off. Cheers.

Other posts:

• Not The Most Conservative Sport Anymore?
• Wallpaper: Sexy England Cricketers!
• A true legend within cricket: Shane Warne
• England blistered by Pakistan 3-0; Kevin Pietersen...

Well, this is hilarious. The team which beat Pakistan (at home) by 3-1, Australia (away) by 3-1 and India (at home) by 4-0 has been whitewashed by Pakistan. England are still No.1 on ICC Test rankings though.

Batting has long been a concern for England, but Cook's and Trott's success let other batsmen get away with it. When the whole team fumbles, no one goes ignored. Apparently, England's lower order fights till they can, but the batsmen don't. Prior's average in this series was 37.50, the highest among England players. The second highest was Trott's - 26.83, which is of course way below a good batsman's average. Just because these were Tests, strike rates can't be ignored. Cook and Strauss stayed at the crease in some of the innings, but it didn't help as the runs dried, which built the pressure. Also, Prior and Broad were left stranded when they got going, which shows how irresponsible English batsmen are. Both of them showed that this isn't the toughest pitch to bat on, positive intent works in your favour if you are courageous enough against tough tasks.

Kevin Pietersen is the first one to get some flak, when England crumbles. Or rather when he doesn't smash a few centuries and a double century in a row. Because, one century just isn't enough. It gets him remarks like "Great batsmen can bat all day, Kevin Pietersen is too impatient to be great." But, captain Strauss' average in the last 11 Tests is 27.41 with no century. And in this series, Ian Bell has only scored more runs than Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett. Perhaps England should try reversing the order, with Matty Prior, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Graeme Swann being the top 4. Can't do much worse than the batters anyway. I guess the tail-enders play free-spiritedly, with dreams of becoming heroes, while the batters take pressure and consider runs a "job" they have to do. May be because bowlers are used to being fighters, they keep bowling, close calls for them mean they are on the right track. But, even if things aren't going their way, they know one lethal delivery could make their day. On the other hand, as a batsman, you know you have to keep going, ball by ball, run by run. Miracles happen slowly in the life of a batsman, but it's not always the case with bowlers. Luck plays a role for bowlers, they are dependent on the batsman to make a mistake. But, nothing comes to the batsmen easily, they have to work their way, steadily.

England one-day squad: A Cook (capt), J Anderson, J Bairstow, R Bopara, T Bresnan, D Briggs, S Broad, J Buttler, J Dernbach, S Finn, C Kieswetter, E Morgan, S Patel, K Pietersen, G Swann, J Trott.

England Twenty20 squad: S Broad (capt), J Anderson, J Bairstow, R Bopara, T Bresnan, D Briggs, J Buttler, J Dernbach, S Finn, A Hales, C Kieswetter, E Morgan, S Patel, K Pietersen, G Swann.

Pakistan one-day squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam.

Pakistan Twenty20 squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafique, Adnan Akmal, Awais Zia, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam.

With a team as ecstatic as Pakistan, and an opener as flamboyant as Kevin Pietersen, (Yeah! News just in.) the 4 one-day series and 3 Twenty20 series promises to be exciting. I have missed Steven Finn, looking forward to seeing him play. Until then, take care. See you next time.

Other posts:
England at a loss in victory as Lions crushed befo...
The many amusements ECB provides us
James Anderson Cool Blue Wallpaper
Another jolt in English cricket: Kevin Pietersen o...

England vs Pakistan 2nd Test: 25-29 January
Abu Dhabi: England finished Day 2 at 207/5. England clearly looked the better team of the two, bowling Pakistan out for 257. They were in a commanding position, thanks to run machines Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, who have both been breaking records since the Ashes down under began. This was their 6th hundred run partnership. Jonathan Trott is also the highest run getter for England in Tests with no sixes. These two took England to 166/1. Trott made 74 while Cook fell 6 runs short of a century. Trott's dismissal was Rehman's brilliant mind on display. Trott tried to defend it in the way he defended previous deliveries, but this one spun. The day had a perfect ending for Pakistan - Morgan's wicket, who never looked comfortable. Ian Bell is still out there, while Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss went cheaply. It should be noted that poor batting has cost England matches, time and again. In the previous Test as well, England were bundled out for 192 and 160.

The referral system has been an interesting and funny topic ever since it was implemented. It was very funny, when at first, Cook's catch was dropped, and a while later, the Pakistanis appealed for lbw, with all their heart, to no avail. They could not review since they had none remaining. It wasn't out anyway, but they were going crazy because they were thinking, "If, only if we hadn't wasted our reviews earlier, oh we would have Cook out of our way."

The funniest thing about the DRS is umpire's call, it makes sure that there is no use of the system, except for making the players think more, wait and waste more time. I wonder if it has been brought to improve the decision-making of cricketers. In the event I just mentioned, the impact was outside, but the technology showed it as umpire's call. So, while the decision would have stayed not out, even if Pakistan would have reviewed it, it would have been given out had the on-field umpire made a mistake. On numerous occasions in the series so far, we have seen umpire's call to be the culprit. According to it, even if 10% of the ball is on the other side, it is umpire's call. As if the ball is made of cardboard and the whole ball touches the pad. What I suggest is that if the seam is inside, it should be given out, otherwise not out.

I'm sure Pakistan would be the first team to be in favour of scrapping this system. They have had 10 unsuccessful and just 1 successful review. It was no different today as they were left scratching their heads at every lbw shout. They didn't review when Trott was plumb lbw and reviewed twice when you just wouldn't believe they went for it!

One change that I would like to see in this England side is Steven Finn replacing Monty Panesar. Monty isn't so bad, despite being hit for, 5 sixes I think, he still bowled well. But, England just doesn't look ideal with Monty in the side. On the other hand, Finn is the best bowler in the country. The man has 50 wickets in 12 matches, with an average of 26.92 and a strike rate of 41.4, what more could you ask for? Among bowlers who have taken 50 or more wickets, he has the 5th best bowling strike rate, in the history of the game. The top four are Dale Steyn (4), Shane Bond (3), John Ferris (2) and George Lohmann (1).

Catch the action live at 6 am GMT. Until next time, take care. Cheers.

Other posts:
Not The Most Conservative Sport Anymore?
A true legend within cricket: Shane Warne
England must address sub-continent flaws
England blistered by Pakistan 3-0; Kevin Pietersen...

England went with Ian Bell, fresh from winning the trophy for Warwickshire and Paul Collingwood, who didn't play in the 3rd ODI due to a virus. Playing these guys was the right thing to do, but not in place of Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara. Bopara hadn't been bad but England had to drop him to bring in the in-form Ian Bell but Wright shouldn't have been dropped. He should have played, instead of Yardy. Ajmal Shahzad should have replaced Bresnan. These changes can still be made, since an ODI is remaining in the series, the last of the summer. Or Fall I shall say.

Pakistan won the toss and choose to bat first. Jimmy Anderson started well but failed to pick up any wicket. Bresnan wasn't too bad either but he too, couldn't take a wicket. Anderson gave only 8 runs in his first 3 overs but was taken out of the attack by Strauss. But no for too long, as he replaced Bresnan. Broady, the wicket-taker provided the breakthrough. In his last 21 games he has taken at least a wicket in all matches except for the one against Scotland. Swann took a wicket in his first over - again! And got Yousuf in his 2nd over. Swann fetched 2 more wickets to put England in a good position. But I'm not sure Fawad Alam's wicket was good for which team. He made 29 from 52 deliveries. He just tries to take a single on each delivery. And man, how many times does he succeed at that? He always fails to accelerate. Failed in the 1st Twenty20 too. Cannot say the same about the 2nd Twenty20 because Pakistan didn't even last long enough to accelerate. Coming back to yesterday's game, till the 48th over, it looked like the target wouldn't be more than 235 but Pakistan, who scored only 13 runs in their first 3 overs of batting Powerplay, smashed Anderson and Bresnan for 42 runs in 2 overs! The figures of both the bowlers were not bad until their last over.

It seemed like England should win this one, after being 77/0 in 10 overs and 107/0 in 19 overs. But as soon as Davies got out (when England were 113), it started going downhill. Trott failed to score runs, even though he tried and made 4 from 16 balls. Strauss, the top scorer (68) went soon. Bell looked promising as he lasted for just about an hour, 41 balls. But he had to hit, the required rate and the pressure were increasing. Yardy and Bresnan, England's 'all-rounders' failed. And that put all the pressure on Morgan, as he too got out, trying to hit. Bresnan has usually done well with the bat but Yardy has failed with both the bat and the ball in one-dayers. Teams are not using the batting Powerplay well. Some, like Pakistan, just don't take it and hence it is forced on them, in the last 5 overs. England should have taken it when Belly and Moggy were batting. Ian Botham always talks about this but I disagreed with him on this in the 3rd ODI, you don't always need to take the Powerplay early. When the required run rate is low, as it was in the 3rd one-dayer, you don't need to take the Powerplay. Powerplays don't just let you score runs but may also take your wickets. The bowling was fab, 7 of the 10 batsmen were bowled. Ajmal, Gul, Akhtar were all amazing.

MOM: Abdul Razzaq

I don't know how much England will consider this series in choosing the team for the next one-day after this series, which will be played in Australia after the Ashes and the Twenty20s. If they consider this series, they may drop Collingwood, which they may do in the last one-day of the on-going series too. I don't think they should do this though. In this series, they may do it to bring Wright in. In the next one, they'll need to bring KP in. None of the current batsman is bad, but Trott is a bit slow and if anyone, then he shall be dropped.

Kevin Pietersen during the 4th one day at Lord's>>>

In a shocking press statement, Ryan Sidebottom has announced his retirement from International cricket. England have not picked him in Tests in the near past and I guess, that's what encouraged Sidebottom to retire.

England play Pakistan in the last match of the summer, on September 22 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton at 13:30 GMT. Until next time, take care. Cheers!

Wallpapers: Jimmy and Belly Wallpaper!
                       Jimmy Anderson Wallpaper
                       James Anderson Cool Blue Wallpaper
                       James Anderson Wallpaper 

Popular Posts: England cricketers on twitter!
                             Astonishment at its best, daring ECB drops Kevin Pietersen

Naughty Monkey Women's Detective Boot

The gap between the 2nd and 3rd one dayer was so long that it felt like I'm watching a whole new series. Half an hour before the toss, Collingwood went for a fitness test and after having a conversation with Strauss, Flower and the team's physio, decided not to play. He is said to be suffering from a virus. But England didn't have a batsman for back-up. England had Wright (batting all-rounder who has disappointed in Internationals), Ajmal Shahzad (young fast bowler), Ryan Sidebottom (Left arm swing bowler) so it was obvious to go for Wright. Even though England are playing at home, they announced the squad for the whole series. This doesn't give players the chance to make their way into the team. The possibilities are endless. Kieswetter, Prior, Cook, Bell, Malan, KP, Shah, other keepers could replace Collingwood. The line-up for the 3rd ODI only had 4 batsman (Strauss, Trott, Bopara), a batting all-rounder (Wright), 4 bowling all-rounders (Bresnan, Swann, Broad, Yardy), a pure bowler (Anderson) and a wicketkeeper batsman (Davies). England paid the price for not playing enough pure batsman. I reckon playing 5 pure batsman, a batting all-rounder and the bowlers can contribute to batting but their bowling should be considered more than their batting while picking them.  It's good to have 2 or 3 bowlers who can contribute to batting in case you need 20-30 runs but you don't need all bowlers to be good with the bat. When wickets tumble, usually they all do. There are some all-rounders in cricket who take 1 wicket, score 20-30 runs and that is not good enough. Despite long batting, England failed to score 242. It was evident that England had gone with weak batting.

England don't need to play Yardy and Bresnan has never looked better than the ones sitting out. Yardy's bowling average in the series is 44.66 with an economy rate of 6.09. James Anderson has been superb in the series but he doesn't always take a wicket in his first spell and that's where Shahzad can be useful (he just needs to improve his catching, otherwise he fits the bill). Shahzad must replace Bresnan. Bresnan did pick 3 wickets but mostly luckily. The ball on which he bowled Kamran Akmal, was going down the leg side but just flicked the thigh pad and went to the stumps. I liked Atherton's remark when the ball went for four in Wright's first over,

Anderson couldn't get there. And if he couldn't, no one could.

England have got some brilliant fielders. Yardy must be the worst, followed by Swann I guess. Swann is good in the slips though. Umar Akmal kept the wickets as bro Kamran got injured. He did well I think. Afridi brought in the drama, by being run-out off his own bat. He was looking at Swann when Swann threw it and still he was just walking and as he was putting his bat down, the ball hit his bat and went on to hit the stumps. He was casual, he didn't even know England were gonna appeal. Lol.

Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul (thanks to his 6/42 in this match) are the leading wicket-takers of the series followed by Jimmy, Bressie and Broady. Jimmy has been amazing in all 3 matches and has the best economy rate (3.34) out of everyone who has bowled in this series. Shoaib Akhtar is the 2nd best in the economy rate (4.61). I must say he has surprised me by bowling beautifully. When I saw him in the squad at the start of the series, I thought Pakistan are clinging on to the past and Akhtar's career is over. He has been hit by controversies, drugs and bad fitness, or else he would have been far better.

Superb Deliveries Of The Day
Quite a few stupefying deliveries were bowled in this match. The first by Jimmy Anderson, to fetch the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez. Akhtar bowled an unplayable one to remove Trott. And Umar Gul produced some dumbfounding deliveries, notably the ones which sent the stumps flying out of the ground.

Hats off to Wright for trying so hard. Apart from his debut, ICC World Twenty20, this was his best batting display. He believed in Anderson, rightly so. You have to believe in tail-enders because it's really hard to score all the runs all by yourself. And even if you are a far better batsman, you can still get out. It's also important to believe in the tail-enders to improve their batting. I almost couldn't believe when Anderson was bowled, I thought the match would go closer than that. Jimmy needs to learn some leg-side shots. Straussy, Morgan and Wright were the only ones who got going.

England look to wrap up the series at Lord's, London on September 20 at 12:00 GMT. Watch out for it! Cheers!

 Pakistan won the toss and choose to bat first. Jimmy Anderson and Bresnan started the bowling. As Bresnan was leaking runs from one end, Anderson kept it tight. One way of taking a wicket is to create pressure from both ends so that the batsmen get frustrated and try to hit.  The first 6 overs went like this - 6 runs - 4 runs - 9 runs - maiden - 12 runs - 2 runs. After this, Broady replaced Bressie. Jimmy Anderson gave only 18 runs in his 6 overs before he was taken out of the attack, impressive. But his  fielding wasn't so impressive. England failed to break the opening partnership until Collingwood came to bowl and that must be a bad decision by the umpire. But that didn't stop Pakistan, they continued to flourish. Pakistan lost their 2nd wicket in the 26th over and 3rd wicket in the 39th over. Pakistan took the batting Powerplay at the end of over 44, just to tell England they are not afraid. They lost 2 wickets in the 45th over. Umar Akmal struck Broad for three boundaries in a row but Broad proved that he is not someone to target as he got Akmal on the very next ball, back of a length delivery, thin edge to Davies, just like the Yousuf dismissal. England and especially Broad conceded some runs but got the wickets as well. Broad finished with 4/81 in 10 overs, the most wickets but that's just too many runs. Jimmy (1/36 in 10 overs) had the best economy rate followed by Swann (1/43 in 10 overs). Bresnan (1/53 in 9 overs) and Yardy (0/43 in 6 overs) struggled. Wickets are so important and yet Strauss had only one slip till over 6 and no slips after that! Pakistan set up a very good target of 295 and I had my doubts over England winning this match unless Morgan or Collingwood get going.

But Strauss was the main man in this chase. Strauss and Trott shared a partnership of 146 runs. Trott was a bit slow as usual but that was needed. A big parnership makes it easier to chase big totals. Davies smashed a quick 26 in 21 balls. When Trott and Strauss were batting, it seemed like England would win it easily but England made it exciting by losing a 2 wickets. Colly and Moggie only scored about as many runs as they did in the 1st ODI. Bopara went for 16 off 13 on the 1st ball of the 49th over. At this stage, England needed 13 from 11 deliveries. The next ball was a wide and Bressie struck a boundary on the 3rd ball of the over. At the end of over 49, England needed 6 from 6 deliveries. And Umar Gul lost steam and bowled a wide after the 1st ball. Bresnan hit a 4 on the 2nd ball and this was enough, single on the next ball to finish it off. England must have enjoyed winning this one day much more than the Twenty20s and the 1st one day.

I don't regard Bresnan as anywhere close to being one of England's best bowlers. I know that he bowls better than I'm a fan of his bowling and not as good with the bat as much as I like his batting. Broad is better as a first change bowler but not when England play Bresnan. No idea why they play him. Why not give Shahzad/ Sidebottom/ Wright a chance?  England were not good in the field except about the last 10 overs. I don't think I've seen them field so badly in the past few years.

 The gap between 2nd One-day and the 3rd is too long. The 3rd One-day will be played on September 17 at the Oval at 12:00 GMT.

Sorry for posting late about this match. I've not been at peace in the past few days. One reason being waking up late. I like doing more serious work in the morn.

England vs Pakistan 1st ODI: 10 September
Although I enjoyed the Twenty20s, some people complained that they were both one-sided games. Well, how many of England's Twenty20 matches this year have not been one-sided? And are those people happy now that Pakistan, didn't still beat England but at least lost by only 24 runs? Well, at least I'm happy.

The match was reduced to 41 over per side due to rain. Pakistan batted first in both the Twenty20s, losing the toss in the 1st Twenty20 and winning the toss in the 2nd. This time they won the toss and decided to field first. They played far better than the Twenty20s but that wasn't enough. None of the England batsmen disappointed with the openers getting to a flying start. Steven Davies blossomed the most. Strauss smashed the ball all around the park (41, three 4s, two 6s). Trott played almost till the end and did a good job by scoring 69. Collingwood came out to bat in the 25th over and when he needed to press on, he did, struck a boundary and a six before getting out in the batting powerplay. Morgan hit 2 boundaries (13 off 11). Bopara was innovative and magnificent in his 35* off 27 hitting 3 sixes! Perfect finishing. England finished with 274/6 which was better than scoring 300 in 50 overs since this was a 41 over game. Pakistan were rather casual in the field, as usual. Their giraffe, Mohammad Irfan, 7'11" debuted in this match and had to dive to pick up balls while fielding in the out field. And later, he suffered from cramps and went out of the field after bowling 3 balls in his 6th over. This led to a funny moment as Afridi, who bowled the rest of the Irfan's over, came to bowl the last over the innings but the umpires denied him saying that his those 3 deliveries will be counted as an over. Lol.

Pakistan were not that bad with the bat. Kamran Akmal actually managed to score 53 runs and Pakistan lost their first wicket (Hafeez) at 62. Anderson and Bresnan failed to get an early breakthrough. Though there was a close lbw shout off Anderson's delivery, which the hawk-eye suggested as hitting the stumps. And yet, even if the review system was in use, it would have stayed with the umpire's decision since only half the ball was hitting the stumps. The spinners got the first 3 wickets. Bresnan gave away runs but fetched Alam's wicket. Nothing special in the delivery, Alam just failed to hit boundaries, as he did in the 1st Twenty20 too. Umar Akmal provided some entertainment and hope for the Pakistan fans (43 off 33) but the hopes faded as he tried a paddle-scoop but sent it straight to Davies' hands off Broad. Afridi tried not to lose his wicket, scoring 19 off 25 but he had to hit boundaries as the required rate was soaring high. He gave a catch to Swann in Anderson's over (38th over), the ball went high but not too far. Pakistan's new batsman, Asad Shafiq, playing his 2nd ODI, came out to bat at No.7. He provided last hopes of Pakistan winning as he struck Timothy Bresnan for 4 boundaries in a row! At this time I was thinking, I've always wanted Bresnan out of the team and this time he may actually make England pay for choosing him. But his show wasn't going to last any longer as Yardy bowled him in the next over. Smart. Umar Gul tried his best, hit a six but later hit it straight to Moggie, the birthday boy, now 24, on a slower ball bowled by Jimmy Anderson. I wonder if umpires will have to change their thinking for Mohammad Irfan regarding lbw, his pads were as tall as the stumps. Stevie D bagged the Man Of The Match award in his 2nd ODI. Good day for England.

The 2nd One Day is on September 12, Sunday at 09:15 GMT at Leeds. Come back here for the interesting bits of the 2nd ODI. Bye for now!

Kevin Pietersen has opted to play for KwaZulu-Natal in October as the county season ends on September 18. Pietersen used to play for them before making his way into the Nottinghamshire team and later to the England team. He has expressed his desire to play as much cricket as possible before Ashes. And South Africa will provide the ideal preparation for it. But he won't be paid for it. Owais Shah, who was in form when he was dropped from the England side after last year's Champions Trophy, will play for Cape Cobras after being released by Middlesex.

Referring to my post, I'm with KP, are you?, I would like to say that even though most people don't agree with me, I stand by my opinions. Pietersen was not performing but I think that Twenty20 and one-day would have been ideal to bring him back to form. To those who think Pietersen did not deserve a place in the side, he couldn't have been worse than Bopara and before the 2nd Twenty20, I'd have said Kieswetter too. The Tests are a lot different, they really test you, put you under pressure. I understand that ECB dropped him to let him play county cricket for a while and also because England are beating Pakistan easily. None of Pakistan's Tests have been drawn in recent times, given their inexperienced batsman and inconsistency. Twenty20 and one-day does provide them a chance to finish the tour with satisfaction because it's easier to win in shorter formats.

England vs Pakistan 2nd Twenty20: 7 September
But that hasn't happened on this tour yet as Pakistan lost another Twenty20 without causing any trouble. From the first ball to the last, it never seemed like Pakistan has any chance of winning. They made one change to their side, bringing in Mohammad Hafeez in the place of Wahab Riaz. Bizarre. How many batsmen do they need for a 20 over game? Their opposition, England played 5 bowlers in both the matches and they played Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal along with Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez and Razzaq. The exciting thing in the match was Umar Akmal vs Graeme Swann. On the 4th ball of the 9th over, the first ball which Swann bowled to Akmal, he hit it for a six! In Swann's next over, (11th over) Hafeez faced the first ball, on the 2nd ball, Akmal again hit it for a six. But this wasn't going to last long as Swanny, the cunning witch, bowled him on the very next delivery. Dumbfounding. And this was it, Pakistan were left struggling at 44/5 and England never looked back. Pakistan were bowled out for 89. England bowlers shared the wickets with Sidebottom, Broad, Swann taking 2 wickets each, Bresnan 3 and Yardy being superb again conceding only 10 runs off his 4 overs.

I had criticised him in my last post but Kieswetter looked impressive but was ran out by Umar Akmal. I wouldn't give Akmal much credit, Kieswetter shouldn't have tried to take a sneaky single. There is not much to talk about England's batting. Collingwood didn't score much but still top scored with 21 and Morgan and Yardy finished it. David Lloyd has regarded this Twenty20 as the worst Twenty20 match he has ever seen. There wasn't much crowd but I think I have seen a worse Twenty20, England vs West Indies on England tour of West Indies last year. It seemed like England played only for formality. No fun.

Related posts: World Twenty20 Champions beat Pakistan effortlessly
                        I'm with KP, are you?
                       Astonishment at its best, daring ECB drops Kevin Pietersen

England vs Pakistan 1st Twenty 20: 5 September
Amid all the controversies, a week after a 4 Test series, England took the field against Pakistan, who were without Amir, Asif and Butt. It took me a while to start enjoying the game. Not because of the match fixing but only because I had got accustomed to watching them in whites. I started enjoying when Swann came to bowl, in the 7th over and the fun did not end there. Swann took 2 wickets in his first 2 overs. What Twenty20 brings is Collingwood and athletic fielding. Have always loved the way Colly captains the side. Uses the bowlers well and doesn't put much pressure on anyone. He is never tensed himself and inspires with his scintillating fielding. On the other hand, there were quite a few changes to the Pakistan side which played at Lord's. Shahzaib Hasan (the centurian against Somerset), Fawad Alam (scored 97 against Somerset on Thursday), Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul replaced Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif. Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Irfan will join the team for ODIs. England went with their strategy of ICC World Twenty and dropped James Anderson. Broad is a fiery bowler in Twenty20 and ODIs so it was obvious to pick him. Swann has been very successful in all formats and looks promising. So it comes down to Jimmy, Shahzad, Sidebottom, Bresnan if Yardy plays as he did on Sunday, rightly so. Jimmy and Sidebottom are both swing bowlers but Jimmy goes for some runs. I remember Collingwood used to do an excellent job in using Jimmy. When Jimmy would go for some runs, he would take Jimmy out of the attack and bring him back when the pressure would be on the opposition in both Twenty20 and ODIs. Anderson is better than Bresnan but Bresnan isn't too bad in Twenty20 and One-day since he is economical. Shahzad, Anderson, Sidebottom, Broad, Swann are all wicket-takers so it helps to have Yardy and Bresnan along with them. I think England also consider Bresnan's batting but in Twenty20 bowlers can't do much with the bat. Even Afridi (No.6) couldn't do much as he went for 16* and Razzaq kept waiting. You don't need 10 batsman for 20 overs, hard to score when wickets fall anyway.

England won the match rather easily with Morgan top scoring with 38* and Yardy doing well with 35*. Davies batted brilliantly for his 33. The guy looks nice and calm and he is good behind the stumps too. Kieswetter shouldn't have been playing in International cricket now. He needs a break from the pressure of the Internationals and must go back to Somerset. Shoaib Akhtar bowled pretty well, didn't look fit though. He was tired after bowling 3 overs. Surprisingly, England dropped a few catches. They were good in stopping the boundaries but Bresnan and Wright dropped one catch each. Broad dropped a difficult chance off his own bowling so he cannot be blamed for that.

Match fixing
There has been too much talk on this issue. Former cricketers, cricketers who still play, everybody has been commenting on this issue. Media, bloggers and websites have been busy covering it. They got news. But I reckon there are better things to do. The fans should rather concentrate on cricket. The last thing I read was Vettori calling for a life ban. The last notable thing I read was Pakistan’s high commissioner in London Wajid Hasan saying that he sensed a conspiracy in ICC’s decision to suspend the players. He said the players had opted out of the rest of the tour and ECB chairman Giles Clarke was happy with it. He said that after ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat and ICC president Sharad Pawar talked, they prepared a 5 page notice, handed it to the players and they were suspended. Now, we don't know what the truth is here but I did hear about the players opting out before hearing about the suspension. I don't like Sharad Pawar, don't know which fools wanted him as president. Remember, he is the one who was pushed off the stage by Ponting. I wonder if anyone involved with ECB or any former player can be pushed off the stage. Pawar got no respect.

Wouldn't be wrong if Pakistan is banned from cricket, their own players like Yaseer Hameed and Rashid Latif are speaking out against their team mates. Some suggesting that "they do it in every match". PCB are still trying to save the players though. Gross. I don't wish to talk about this issue anymore. I am, therefore, burying this topic.

Twitter Tirade
Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen and Dimitri Mascarenhas have both been fined by ECB and Hampshire respectively. I don't think there was a need to fine KP since he already apologised for it. Mascarenhas has also apologised now. Take a look at his tweet:

Chairman of selectors came to Liverpool and didn't even come and say hi.. what a p****.. Doesn't take much to say hello does it?

England vs Pakistan 2nd Twenty20: 7 September
Preview
Fielding has been a big difference between these two sides over the years. On Sunday, Pakistan's fielding was as usual, say, bad, that's the least I can say about it. England did a good job in ground fielding but were unlike themselves when the catches came. Kieswetter will play as the only ones who missed out on Sunday were fast bowlers Ajmal Shahzad and James Anderson. There is a long time for the next Twenty20 (after the Ashes) so Kieswetter will go and play for Somerset for a while anyway. Since they dropped KP and Ian Bell will play for Warwickshire before returning to International cricket, the only option in my view was to play Prior as a batsman, wouldn't have been a bad idea. Pakistan's batsmen could not score enough runs even though they only lost 4 wickets so Afridi and Razzaq must move up the order.

England take on Pakistan at 17:00 GMT tonight. Cheers!

Cricket has been spoiled by match fixing over the years and Saturday was one such day. A while after Day 3's play, police turned up at the team hotel for investigation. Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif have been accused of spot-fixing (getting paid to ball no-balls) and it is alleged that Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal are also involved. The cricketing fraternity is in shock and many former cricketers call for a life ban for those found guilty. Many cricketers have been accused of match fixing but I reckon there must have been other times too, when a player indulged in match fixing. Some are caught, some escape. Somehow Pakistanis are caught much more than others. They have been rather foolish to have a bag full of cash in their rooms after bowling no-balls intentionally. Amir rarely bowls a no-ball and this time he bowled an enormous no-ball. Rameez Raja and the former coach of Pakistan, Geoff Lawson are worried about Amir. They don't think he should be banned because he is an 18 year old from a village and oozing with talent. He is guilty. 18 year olds do have their mind. Pakistanis have been bringing embarrassment to their country and cricket. If they cannot be ethical, they must be punished so that their future generations don't think that they can get away with something like this. It's surprising how cricketers don't think of their team or country and indulge in something so unethical. Gibbs, Kapil Dev, Shane Warne, other Indian, South African and not to forget Pakistani cricketers have been proved guilty but most continued to play. Pakistan's Rashid Latif had written a letter to ICC warning them of spot-fixing going on. Enough action has not been taken on this issue in the past.

The staff of News Of The World, a British tabloid newspaper, published every Sunday, posed as front men for Far East gambling cartel and fooled Majhar Majeed, the man who bribed Amir and Asif. Majeed manages the contracts, sponsorships, marketing of the Pakistan cricket team. He revealed a lot of things about the Pakistani team including that the Pakistani cricketers wanted Butt as captain and they "wanted to lose anyway". Some other sources revealed that Shahid Afridi wanted the cricketers to stay away from Majeed and match fixing and most of the Pakistani cricketers were unhappy with this.

Strauss pointed out that the mood in the dressing room was not good after the news broke to England cricketers. Also, they now fear that this Test might be taken off record books. This was Pakistan's heaviest Test defeat, by an innings and 225 runs. Let me remind you that Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott shared a record breaking 332 run partnership in this Test. Although there is no need to take this Test off the record books, I don't think England cricketers should worry about this at all. Even if it is taken off the books, it will stay in the minds of the cricketers and the fans. But taking this off the books would be unfair to the England team, who did their hard work. There have been many matches in which match fixing has taken place but they were not taken off the books. Notably, Pakistanis fixed the 1999 World Cup final against Australia. Should the cup be taken away from Aussies? And the Lord's Test was not fixed, Pakistanis did not indulge in match fixing but only spot-fixing this time.

On Sunday, the talk was less about England's win and much more about this controversy. Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar will make a comeback to the team as the Twenty20 and ODIs begin. Pakistan's cricketers are so controversial, you name one, you have lots of controversies in your mind. Hopefully, things will settle down when the 1st Twenty20 takes place on Sunday, September 5th at Cardiff.

England vs Pakistan 4th Test: 26-30 August (If Pakistan lasts)
Day 2 and Day 3
England tumbled to 47/5 and later 102/7 before Broad and Trott shared a historic partnership. Records were broken as Broad and Trott put 332 for the 8th wicket. Stuart Broad played the hero as he broke his previous highest Test score of 67* and went on to make 169. He fell 4 runs short of Ian Smith's 173, the highest by a No.9 batsman. Chris Broad and Stuart Broad are the first father and son pair to hit a century for England in Tests. Broad and Trott surpassed the world record of the highest partnership for the 8th wicket, earlier held by Saqlain Mushtaq and Wasim Akram (313). Broad and Trott now hold the record for the highest partnership for any wicket, for England vs Pakistan. If someone would have told me before the Test that Stuart Broad is going to hit a century, I would have laughed out loud. Words are not enough to describe how stunning both of them were. It didn't seem like they can ever get out. Yes, we have seen 300-621 runs partnerships but so many wickets don't fall before and after the partnership. From Pakistan's point of view, it was terrible to let the opposition score 446 after having the match in their hands with England struggling at 102/7. In my post, Cook shines at Oval but not enough for England, I had criticised Trott and I've criticised Broad many times, including my post England look to finish series on a high as Ashes word war starts. And I stand by my comments, I do not think I was wrong. In my last post, I had praised Trott for being positive at the start of this innings but he was the culprit at Oval.

England bowlers (except Finn) especially Broad, usually don't bowl enough at the stumps but on Day 3, they were superb. 5 of the 10 wickets in the 1st innings of Pakistan were taken as lbw or bowled. All of them were impressive. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Graeme Swann fetched 1, 2, 3 and 4 wickets respectively. The controversies were endless. Salman Butt complained to the leg umpire about Finn (bowling at that time) and England's fielders chirping. But the umpire didn't intervene and the complaint didn't shut up England's fielders of Finn, who chirped on the very next ball. I think the aggression and chirping of a fast bowler are a part of the game and should not be discouraged. Umar Akmal complained about not being able to pick Finn as his hand went above the sidescreen. Later, Finn bowled Umar Akmal with a yorker. We have seen batsmen having a problem in picking Flintoff for the same reason. Notably, Kallis has been a victim of this, getting out lbw and bowled to Flintoff. Pakistan were very frustrated. England have unleashed the weakness of Mohd. Yousuf, who averages 52.95 in Tests. Yousuf got out in the same fashion in the 2nd innings at Oval, the 1st in this Test (bowled by Broad) and way back in the 2003 World Cup when Jimmy, then a youngster, just at the start of his career, bowled him with a full delivery. Jimmy did the same at Oval and bowled the same delivery to Yousuf when he first arrived at the crease in the 2nd innings in this Test. Yousuf survived it but did not last long.

In this Test, the review system actually helped to overturn the bad decisions of the on-field umpires. First, it saved Cook, which I mentioned in my last post. Then, Broad was out, lbw, way ahead but it struck him low, Pakistan reviewed and that's how the partnership was broken. Then, Amir was out off Finn in the 1st innings, on the second ball that Amir played, full toss, on his pads. England reviewed and it was given out, rightly so.
Pakistan finished Day 3 at 41/4 following on, after being all out for a modest 74. This is the third time in the series when they have been routed for less than a 100 runs. Pity. It may not make that much of a difference but Malik must replace Farhat. Even though rain almost washed Day 1, this Test will probably finish on Day 4.
Until next time, take care. Cheers!

England vs Pakistan 4th Test: 26-30 August
Day 1
The match was scheduled to start at 10 am GMT (11 am local) but due to rain, cloud cover, it started at 1:40 pm GMT. Only 12.3 overs were bowled in the day and Pakistan must be happy to have picked a wicket early. All credit to Asif who balled a stupefying delivery to Straussy. The review system came into play as Billy Bowden gave Cook out. It didn't look out to me even before I saw the reply. One reason being that it wasn't out. Second reason being that I've seen Cook getting out on edges but he always walks straight away. Alastair Cook's reaction was like...."out? really? I didn't expect that bad from you, Billy." He looked so sexy! And he referred it after walking down a few steps and catching up with Strauss. Trott, on the other hand looked positive after being criticised in the last Test for not looking to score.

AB Devilliers swapped his bat for a mike as he sang "Show Them Who You Are" and "Maak Jou Drome Waar" (Make your dreams come true) for the album Maak Jou Drome Waar which was released on 2nd August 2010. For track listing, click here. 9 of the 14 songs in the album are in Afrikaans while others are in English. He also plays the guitar! Nice thing to do after he retires or if SA drops him. Ampie du Preez (Not to be confused with Dillon du Preez or Mignon du Preez or Johan du Preez or any other cricketer) is his band member and he is featured in the video below.



I rather like the song and the video! I'm not too interested in other teams but thought this deserves a mention on my blog and AB is not bad!

I hate losing games of cricket. Every game that I play in, whether it's for my club side, Middlesex or England, every game you lose leads to a period of reflection. There were areas where I didn't bowl as well as I could have done and that might have contributed towards us losing the game. That's something I'm very aware of, and in the grand scheme of things you learn a lot from that having lost that Test

 Steven Finn is not the kind who take their place for granted

Watson singled Finn out as the potential weak link in the England attack. Funny thing. Jimmy Anderson can struggle on flat tracks, which is more of a mental thing though he is improving. Swann has been very successful, which is more of a mental thing, again. And if I have to single out any England bowler as a weak link, it would be Broad, which is not a mental thing. It will be interesting to see if Ponting gets out on a pull shot off Broad, something we have seen in the past. But other than a few batsmen getting out on the pull, I don't see Broad doing much, other than breaking partnerships occasionally.
Like everyone, Ponting is having a go at England's "foreign" players:

I just have a feeling England really like Morgan, what he brings to their set-up – plus he’s not English. I have got a lot of thoughts on why they pick those guys, it is quite surprising when you work out how many there are. But it doesn’t matter where they are born, we have to make sure whatever team they put out we are equipped to break them down. I think one of the reasons for playing Morgan is his attitude – but he hasn’t been tested against us yet.

They are all taking at the new guys, Finn, Morgan....who's next?

England vs Pakistan 4th Test: 26-30 August
Preview
Surprisingly, Pakistan dropped Shoaib Malik for the 3rd Test and now for the one day series. Younis Khan has not been called up either. Pakistan never fails to amaze us. Malik gives them a bowling option and without him and Amin, who has broken partnerships a few times this summer, Pakistan lacked a 5th bowling option. The reason why Pakistan drops anyone has always been a mystery. And though Malik did not fire in the first 2 Tests, the reason could be something else. Captain Salman Butt and long time wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal have failed too. England captain Andrew Strauss has averaged a meagre 28.40 in the series while Kevin Pietersen follows with 28, though I'd reckon he has played worse than that. Steven Finn suggested that a batting collapse (Pakistan) is just around the corner by reminding us that Pakistan were routed for 72 and 80 earlier in the series. But English need to take care of their batting collapses. It's appalling. They can lose from any position if winning is dependent on the batsmen. Must have scored at least 300 in the 2nd innings at Oval, given how well Cooky played. The match starts at 10 am GMT at Lord's, Finn and Straussy's home ground on Thursday.

Alastair came all guns blazing as he looked to save his place in the team. But doesn't he score a ton in almost every series regardless of how many technical faults he has? Alastair is a century maker. Even though his average was 27. 60 in Ashes 2006, he scored 116 in the 3rd Test at Perth. The question is whether he should continue playing for the England team while working on his technique or whether he should go back to county cricket. He was a good batsman when he came into the side but the reason why he hasn't worked on his technique is because England play too much and there is too much pressure while playing for England. I've seen him getting out while playing for Essex, he is barely disappointed. There are lots of batsmen in county cricket who are worse than Cook so he knows he will not be criticized or lose his place. Another reason why he hasn't worked much on his technique is because he tried to make himself suited for one day cricket. When England are playing ODIs, he is out there, playing for Essex, proving a point. He tries to bat with a good strike rate and he has succeeded at that. But Tests are the real game, I'd like to see him play well in the Tests. In the nets, he does work on his technique, bending the knee and all that stuff but obviously, there is pressure and not enough time in International matches to take care of those things. As Michael Atherton in the last Test, Cook was over conscious. But yesterday he was aggressive, with fire in his eyes. He was positive, he was looking to dominate. It's all about the mind. Cook looked so much at ease with batting buddy James Anderson. I enjoyed his innings to a great extent. He was lucky at the start but later, his shots were glorious. It was a hell of a knock.
        In my view, it will be hard for him to improve his technique while playing for England. Dropping him in South Africa would have been ideal. England are very reluctant to drop him. He has never been dropped. I didn't want him to bid adieu to his England career, I wanted him to go back to county and come back soon, better than ever. Of course, he cannot be dropped now, he will play in the 4th Test and the 1st Ashes Test. Others in the reckoning are Michael Carberry and Ravi Bopara. Personally, I'd prefer Carberry but bringing Bopara into the side would not be wrong either. He has played for England in the past, didn't prosper much in the Tests, except against West Indies but his recent 45* off 16 were very impressive.
                                           Lets get back to the ongoing match. To sum it up, this Test has been interesting. Pakistan have played a lot better. I think they dropped only one catch in the 1st innings, dropped by Yousuf. Oval has been known to support batting and spin more than pace. Yet, England were all out for 233 and just been all out for 222 in the 2nd innings. Day 1 and Day 2 belonged to Pakistan and Day 3 belonged to Cook and of course, Pakistan. His century put England ahead in the match but soon the momentum shifted towards Pakistan's side. England lost it all. The match was in their hands when Cook was batting. Collingwood cannot be blamed, he has saved England in crisis quite a few times. KP and Straussy need to score. KP's 80 in the last Test were not classy. I blame Trotty, who took 130 deliveries for his 36 and hit just 4 boundaries with over a hundred dot balls. There are batsmen, who take time to settle and don't score many runs at the start but he never settles. He should have been reminded that it's not Day 5 and England are not looking to draw. You need to score runs. There is no point in occupying the crease without scoring runs. What happened to the Pakistani batsmen who scored 20-30 ball ducks earlier in the series.
Pakistan need 148 to win their first match in the series as England hope for a miraculous win. Anderson, the leading wicket taker of the series, has struck in the 1st over to get rid of Hameed. Cheers!