The Ashes: Second test, day two - Cook puts England in a commanding position

Us England fans thought that it would be impossible to top yesterday's performance when we bowled Australia all out for 245, but thanks to another incredible innings for Alastair Cook it seems we have, leading by 72 runs with eight wickets remaining.

It was a miserable start to the day though, as Andrew Strauss suffered from the third ball blues once more, being bowled for just one run after an embarrassingly bad leave, with Doug Bollinger hitting middle stump. Bollinger should have had two in quick succession when Mike Hussey dropped Trott on 10 as England continued to live dangerously, with Trott getting lucky once more when Xavier Doherty missed a chance of a run out.

It was nervy times for all England fans watching, with the partnership between Cook and Trott undoubtedly going to go a long way in determining the outcome of the test. However the pair reacted brilliantly under the baking Adelaide sun, and in the first over of the afternoon session Cook hit three fours to set the tone for the rest of the day.

Trott finally went on 78 when he was caught by Michael Clarke, just two runs after being dropped by wicket keeper Brad Haddin. Kevin Pietersen joined Alastair Cook at the crease with England 176-2 as they approached tea.

It was a miserable performance from the Aussies once the final session began, as they failed to take a single wicket after tea. Alastair Cook quickly brought up his century as he cut one away to the boundary off Xavier Doherty. Kevin Pietersen joined in the fun on the flat wicket and dispatched Marcus North to the boundary to bring up the century partnership. 

Even with the new ball taken the Aussies were powerless to do anything to stop the ruthless England onslaught. They had chances on a vitally important day in the series, and failed to take a sufficient amount of them. No matter how bad we play during the rest of this test, surely we can't lose this one now! Our batsmen have looked very comfortable on the batsman's paradise of a wicket, and we should really be able to go on to win the test.

If we bat well tomorrow then the best the Aussies can hope for is a draw. If we can win then they'll need to win two of the last three to regain the Ashes, and with the England batsmen in their current form, I honestly can't see them doing that. Keep up the good work chaps!

P.S. Yesterday was the first day in which I was brave enough to stay up and watch a days play back here in England, so if you want to follow more of my Ashes ramblings in real time, follow me on Twitter!

The Ashes: First test, day three - Hussey and Haddin have England reeling

It was a nasty day to be an Englishman as Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin sapped the spirits of the tourists, with the former making 195, the latter 136 on a very tough day for England, who are currently at the crease with Strauss and Cook on 19-0, trailing the Aussies by 202 runs.

Hello, it's been a while since my last column hasn't it? Anyway I'm back for this Ashes series with the blind optimism only an England cricket fan could have, hoping that by some miracle our batsmen can put up a good score on the board after a horrific day at the Gabba.

There have been patches of brilliance from the English bowling attack and Steve Finn's 6-for on his Ashes debut is certainly one to tell the grandkids about. James Anderson was the best in the tourist's bowling attack - of that there is no doubt. He somehow only took two wickets in the innings but should have had more - we will get onto that later! The first Australian five wickets fell for for 143, and the last five for 31, it was the 307 in between which was the problem!

There is no doubting the class and quality with which Mike Hussey scored his 195, although had England taken their chances he wouldn't have had the mammoth total which he amassed, being dropped by Cook on 67 and Anderson with a relatively easy one on 113. He had more good fortune when he was reprieved by his own referral on 82, and having scored just three more runs he was facing an appeal from the England team when James Anderson hit one straight on Hussey's pads in front of the stumps. It was out, but umpire Aleem Dar said no on the basis that he heard two noises. It transpires that these two noises were caused by the ball hitting both of the pads, but England couldn't ask for a referral as they had already used up both of their chances.

What's worse, one of the chances that England 'wasted' was on Shane Watson, where on the hotspot graphic there were no signs of an edge, with the 'Snicko' system showing obvious contact with the bat. However, because the third umpire doesn't have instantaneous access to 'Snicko', the original decision was upheld.

Readers of this site will know that I wasn't a massive fan of the umpire referral system at first and it's fair to say that it's definitely grown on me. However there still remains a major, major flaw in the system. If the idea of the reviews are to eradicate mistakes made by the umpires, why do we still let obvious mistakes be made? The ICC certainly need to find away to make sure all human error is eradicated without the teams being able to ask for a referral every time the umpire makes a decision.

I think that realistically, this test is lost. It is unlikely that we will be able to bat for two days, and unlikelier still that we can get 400+ to defend in the time that is remaining, especially on a pitch which is cracking up under the Brisbane sun. Tomorrow the test will be won and lost, and unfortunately I feel that it is advantage Aussies.

35 years of waiting over!

England are world champions. I never, ever saw myself writing this thinking back to the match against Ireland, where we only just scraped through to the super eights thanks to some rain.

However since we got through we have been simply the greatest team in the tournament. We played great cricket, and today's win against Australia has been as good as any one of our performances. We won by 7 wickets, (with 18 balls remaining) and played some phenomenal cricket.

We pinned Australia back brilliantly, and Watson, Warner and Haddin didn't last long thanks to a mixture of brilliant bowling and fielding, something which is more valuable than most people imagine in the Twenty over format.

Australia made 147-6 on a pitch where 170+ was more competitive, and true to form we came out and knocked it off with relative ease. Sadly Michael Lumb made just 7 runs, but his South African countryman Craig Kieswetter made his biggest score of the competition in 63, earning him the man of the match award. KP made 47 and Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan were there to take us home.

We have been terrific in all areas throughout the tournament in batting, bowling and fielding. We have looked commanding, professional and focussed and we have really found a brilliant lineup for this format of the game.

I don't know if it has been just because England have been playing well, but I don't believe that the grumblers grumbling about the World Twenty20 being timed wrongly after the IPL and the lack of crowd at the tournament are at all correct.

The relaxed rules from the disastrous 2007 World Cup held in the West Indies have meant for a nicer, more relaxed atmosphere, but the ever reliable crowd were there to crank up the volume when it was needed. I couldn't care less that it was timed after the IPL, and I found it rather refreshing from the glossy sponsor-plastered coverage of the previous tournament.

The quality of cricket has been better than that of the IPL and overall it can be considered a terrific tournament, and, after 35 years of waiting, England are world champions!

Mike Hussey you beauty!

I can't quite believe what I have just witnessed. Well, what I have witnessed is quite simply the greatest Twenty20 innings of all time, courtesy of Mike Hussey who in a last over thriller helped Australia get through to the final of the World Twenty20 with a 3 wickets win with 1 ball remaining.

Especially agonising for Pakistan, considering their awesome performance with the bat. Australia's bowling attack has proved to be pretty much unstoppable throughout the tournament, with Dirk Nannes, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait using typical brute Aussie force to demolish the opposition.

However Pakistan had no such trouble, with the Akmal brothers starring on the tricky Beausejour pitch, bludgeoning the ball to all corners of the ground, with Kamran scoring 50 and Umar 56* on the way to a total of 191-6 at 9.55 runs per over.

It was always going to be a tough total, and I had given up hope of seeing a Pom vs Aussie final pretty soon into the Australian innings. The falling of Cameron White on 139-6 was pretty much the nail in the coffin. And then queue Mike Hussey, who was just about to begin an innings which was simply the greatest T20 cricket has ever seen.

He began smashing boundaries all over the show, but despite this, the Aussies scoring rate was not enough. It came down to the last over with Australia needing 18 to win. The game was pretty much safe. Hussey called for a drink before Saeed Ajmal stepped up to bowl his first delivery to Mitchell Johnson, who edged it to fine leg for a single.

(Above) This Hawk-Eye graphic does a good job of showing the enormity of Mike Hussey's task going into the final over. The likelihood of an Australian win was less than 10%.

Michael Hussey was now facing. Ajmal made the fatal mistake of bowling it short, before Hussey pulled it over the rope for a maximum. The next delivery came, and Hussey sent it miles over the long on boundary, bringing up his 50. Did he care about this milestone? Did anyone? Did we heck, as we all started to think that Michael Hussey was single-handedly about to do the impossible.

He was. The scores were levelled with two balls remaining in the match thanks to a streaky edge over the leaping backward point fielder, and inkeeping with his incredible innings, Husseydidn't just push the ball away and run a single to win the match, he let out a roar as he swung the ball over long on for another maximum, to win the game and end on 60* off 24 balls.

In that moment Twenty20 cricket was displayed at its best. Sometimes people question whether it can ever be as dramatic as a momentous 5 wicket haul or a heroic 100 to swing a test match, but all the drama and passion and despair in those seconds proved that yes, yes it can.

So, England vs Australia final, and secretly I'm delighted. It'll be a thrilling match against the two biggest rivals in cricket, and the close shave the Aussies had today should spur us on and increase our confidence. Once things started to unravell for Australia today they fell to pieces, something we will undoubtedly take into consideration for Sunday's game.

And of course, hard luck Pakistan!

Time to go, Sanath?

There are rumors flying around that Sri Lanka's captain, Kumar Sangakkara is willing to step down from his post due to politicians meddling with the selection of the international side.

The player being selected much to the disdain of Kumar Sangakkara is Sanath Jayasuriya. The veteran opening batsman was omitted by selectors before being stuck back in the side by none other than Sanath's chum, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

And I absolutely agree with Kumar. Jayasuriya's inclusion into the World T20 side has led to disastrous consequences. His scores in this tournament have been: 0, 3, 6, 5, 0, 1. Bearing in mind his position at the top of the order that is not great to say the least.

It is no question that Jayasuriya has served his country immensely well over the years, but at 40 years and 317 days, he really ought to call it quits, for the good of the nation's cricket. Sangakkara has been a great captain and has some vital runs in this competition, and shouldn't have to needlessly leave his captaincy.


So, come on Sanath, do the right thing.

One sweet sight...

	Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR
Q	England	3	3	0	0	0	6	+0.962
Q	Pakistan	3	1	2	0	0	2	+0.041
	New Zealand	3	1	2	0	0	2	-0.373
	South Africa	3	1	2	0	0	2	-0.617

That table above is one sweet sight for every England fan, and admittedly is not one I expected to see at this stage. We are through to the semi-finals after a great win against New Zealand today which we played brilliantly as we have done so far this tournament.

NZ won the toss and batted first, with Tim Bresnan and Michael Yardy being the most economic bowlers. We restricted them to 149 off the 20 overs, and we managed to knock off the score with minimal fuss.

Michael Lumb propelled us off to a great start as he has done all tournament, with a 32 off 21. Sadly once the wicket of Craig Kieswetter fell, Ravi Bopara didn't perform (again!) He made just 9, setting off a bit of a batting wobble. Lumb fell immediately afterwards, and Collingwood only made 3.

Luke Wright and Eoin Morgan, two of the highest run scorers in the tournament so far came in and were as reliable as ever, putting on 52 between them as we edged ever towards the target.

It was fitting that it was man of the match Tim Bresnan who ended the game in style, as he pulled it to the square leg boundary for 4. Bresnan is in no way the most attractive player, but he is increasingly becoming a more important feature in this strong England side.

We are going from strength to strength, and it is hard to see anyone being capable of stopping us as we take the T20 world by storm. What's more, we seem to have avoided the Aussies in the semis, so, see you lot in the final then!

Superb England comprehensively defeat South Africa

England played some amazing cricket tonight to comprehensively defeat South Africa, and prove they are serious contenders for the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup.

England hearts sank in the first over as opener Michael Yardy was trapped plumb LBW by a slider from Johan Botha, who was bowling around the wicket to the left hander as he went for 3 off 4.

However this brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease alongside his countryman Craig Kieswetter batting against their country of birth. You always get the feeling with KP and Kieswetter in T20 that it is very hit-or-miss, and boy was it hit today.

KP and Kieswetter seemed to be attempting to find the boundary off every ball, and a large proportion of the time, they did! KP appeared confident and fearless, cutting, pulling and driving to find his 50 off 48 balls, scoring eight 4s and one 6 along the way. However, that is where the big scoring ended, as he went for 53 off 33.

Craig Kieswetter was the same, entertaining us with his usual aggression, and he scored three 4s and two 6s on his way to 41 off 42, before he was caught by Dale Steyn off JP Duminy.

I was expecting the England run rate to slow down once Paul Collingwood came to the crease, but he kept up the gung-ho mentality, smashing two massive 6s. Unfortunately, he paid the price though as the England captain faced just 9 balls before being caught by Boucher off the bowling of Morkel for 14.

Luke Wright then joined Eoin Morgan at the crease, but disappointingly went without troubling the scorers when he was bowled after a hideous swipe to a full pitched, off stump delivery courtesy of Charl Langeveldt. 

Morgan however made 21 off 14 before being well caught for 21 off 14, after the shot was hit very high but caught extremely well by a diving AB de Villiers at cow corner.

Tim Bresnan added 13 before being bowled by Morkel, and Mike Yardy made 8 and Swann just 1 as they were the two batsmen who were not out at the end of the 20 overs. We had made 168-7 and after an electrifying start we had slowed down somewhat. It was set to be a thrillingly close game. Or was it?

Nope, it wasn't. It was an innings dominated by terrific bowling, and the South Africans put up little resistance. In fact, only 4 batsmen made it into double figures, and only JP Duminy made it past 19! Duminy put in a good display onboard the sinking South African ship, making 39 off 25.

Sidebottom showed why he is in the side, taking 3-23. Swann also took 3 wickets for 24 runs, with Broad's figures 2-26 and Yardy 2-31 as South Africa fell to a comprehensive 39 run defeat as they were all out for 129.


England played some top drawer cricket today and I loved seeing the aggressive attitude from the batsmen. Kevin Pietersen in particular was terrific, and there is good news too in regards to baby Pietersen. Literally as I am writing this post the news has just broken that KP will return to the UK in the next 24 hours but will be back for the semi finals. I must say, that is excellent timing by KP's wife Jess, as Kevin is simply a match, even tournament winner and it is great that we will have him back for when it matters.


Kevin Pietersen's performance sums up the performance of the whole side. We appeared aggressive and showed desire. We looked confident and focussed on the pitch and we were as good as any side tonight. Our batting was second to none, our fielding was sharp and the bowling was right on the money. If we continue like this, we can undoubtedly win this tournament.


MoM: Kevin Pietersen
Wow. What a performance in which he played aggressively but brilliantly, like the Pietersen of old, and he really drove the score forward alongside Kieswetter.