England Vs West Indies, Test 1, Day 4

England have gone from being in the best possible place, to being in a terrible position. All in just 10 minutes. The day started brightly for the touring side, West Indies Samuels and Chanderpaul continuing from where they left off, in the process building a 150 run partnership. West Indies didn’t loose a single wicket in the morning session. England began to claw their way back in the afternoon, taking the wickets of both Chanderpaul and Samuels. Then the deadly bowling attack of England did the job in the final session of the day, dismissing West Indies for 345, leaving the batsman with a target of 191 to win. But the day’s play had one final twist. West Indies rolled back the years and bowled with terrific pace and bounce in the half hour or so left in the day. Andrew Strauss and nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson would fall victims to West Indies, leaving England with just 8 wickets left. Jonathan Trott can consider himself extremely lucky, saved by a few centimeters and a single word.

Samuels and Shiv Chaunderpaul had shared a partnership worth over 150, England needed to break the partnership or face the prospect of a draw. Stuart Broad, the 7 wicket hero from the 1st innings, stepped up to the mark. Whether the dismissal of Samuels was due to a lapse in concentration or a good ball is disputable, Samuels played at a ball wide of his off stump. And low and behold, it was caught behind. Swann took the catch at second slip. England had made the all important breakthrough, Samuels departed 14 short of a century his innings and partnership with Chanderpaul left West Indies 222-5.

Shiv  Chanderpaul was the only realistic hope West Indies had left. The number 5 batsman again missed out on a century, this time by only 9 runs. Graeme Swann was the man to take the key wicket, after many (even Jonathan Trott) had tried. Chanderpaul attempted to sweep the ball, a shot he had played magnificently this match so far, but this time a tired Shiv Chanderpaul completely misjudged the delivery from Swann and payed the ultimate price. The ball struck him on the pad and he was given out. Chanderpaul immediately reviewed the decision, but replays showed 30% of the ball would have hit his leg stump, subsequently he had to depart for 91.

Terrible shot. Darren Sammy came in and entertained the freezing Lord’s crowd with his unorthodox batting style, basically swinging at the ball and hoping it reaches the boundary. In the end Sammy swung once too many and only succeeded in gifting England a wicket. A high and wide ball from Stuart Broad tempted the West Indies captain in to playing at it, Sammy however changed his mind mid-shot and left his bat dangling in the air. The ball hit his bat on his way to Prior. Sammy’s innings came to an end with the Windies captain returning to the famous Lord’s pavilion, contributing 37 runs to his sides total of 307-7.

Roach was next to fall. The bowler managed to steal a 4 from England’s pace attack, before becoming Broad’s eleventh wicket of the game. Roach played aggressively, smacking the ball in the air through the covers. Ian Bell impressed with an expetional piece of fielding leaping into the air and taking the catch. Stuart Broad joins yet another list of legends, this time people who have taken 10 wickets in a match against the West Indies, including Angus Fraser and Fred Trueman among others.

West Indies wicket keeper Ramdin offered a mild form of resistance before becoming the deserved wicket for James Anderson. Anderson bowled a beauty of a delivery with the ball just nipping back just enough to dislodge Ramdin’s bail and knock over the off stump. Jimmy Anderson bowled well today and is unlucky to only have one wicket next to his name. Ramdin added an impressive 43,  Gabriel was the final man in for the fairly young Windies side.

Gabriel was the final man out for West Indies, avoiding a ‘king pair’ on debut and scoring a career best 13. This won’t do his average any harm. Graeme Swann popped up again when frustration was starting to creap into the field. 3 words describe the final wicket to fall; played, missed, out. Swann drifting a ball in and flattening Gabriel’s stumps. West Indies finished with a respectable 345 setting England a target of 191 to win.

England then lost 2 wickets late on to Roach and were lucky not to loose a 3rd, Trott saved by the original umpire’s decision of Not Out. Strauss was the first wicket to fall. The ball struck the top of his bat and found it’s way into the hands of Powell, who took the catch well – despite playing in the fading light. Anderson then went for 6 off 5 balls, caught behind by Ramdin. It was unclear at first what had happened, but hot-spot showed that he had glanced the ball with his glove whilst attempting to clip it off his legs.

England have made it hard for themselves, we’ll find out tomorrow if they can complete the victory.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

England Vs West Indies, Test 1, Day 3

West Indies 243 & 120-4 . England 398 lead by 35.

I’ve been extremely busy, here’s a brief summary:

In a day of huge sporting significance 11 wickets fell at Lord’s, England came out on top; although it could be argued that this was due to the work done in the previous two days. Andrew Strauss fell first for England, failing to add to his overnight score. Then England suffered something of a collapse, losing Bairstow, Prior, Bresnan and Broad cheaply. Bell offered stability and shared a partnership with Swann, who played like he was batting in the IPL, like all good things this had to come to an end. England missed out on the psychological boost of reaching 400. West Indies walking wicket of an opener, Powell, fell cheaply as did Barrath and Edwards. Bravo couldn’t last, England couldn’t take another wicket.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

England Vs West Indies, 1st Test, Day 2

Andrew Strauss is back in the runs after making a brilliant century on his home ground of Lord’s. The Middlesex opening batsman brought up his century in just over 200 balls, a steady start which the England captain went on to build on. Andrew Strauss’ footwork was far better than the abysmal effort he showed in the sub-continent and shot selection was spot on. The South African born cricketer enjoyed a standing ovation from team mates and fans all around the stadium, as well as a collective huge sigh of relief. Kevin Pieterson was first to congratulate Strauss, giving him a whopping hug as he brought up his century. Having not scored a century for 18 months, Strauss’ relief and pride at his ton has visible for all to see when he screamed “Yaaay!!” at the top of his voice having dispatched a ball for four to bring up his century. Strauss is still undefeated in this match, not out on 121.

England’s first challenge of the day was to dismiss either Gabriel or Shiv Chanderpaul as quickly as possible. Stuart Broad, yesterday’s six wicket hero, took his seventh wicket of the match on the first delivery of the day when he dismissed Gabriel. The tail-end batsman was caught by Swann, Broad’s Nottinghamshire team mate. Gabriel’s pathetic attempt at playing the ball lead to the ball landing itself in the 6th separate catcher of the innings, Graeme Swann. Broad’s 7-72 were the best figures of his international career.

Alistair Cook was the first England batsman to go, bowled by Roach. Cook attempted to play at a ball wide of his off stump, a leading inside edge ended up with the ball being deflected onto his own stumps. A poor error from the Essex opening batsman. Cook was one of the few England batsman to score to ‘big’ scores in the winter against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but will be disappointed that he couldn’t continue were he left off in England last summer. Cook had gone for 26 and the score was 47-1.

Trott was the net batsman to fall after sharing a very good partnership of 147 with his captain, Andrew Strauss, before falling for a decent score of 58. West Indies thought they had their man, but were made to look like fools when they misread the DRS Hawk-eye technology and started celebrating – only for them to be told he wasn’t out. Trott should have been out when he gave the faintest of edges to Ramdin. West Indies did not review the original not out call, something they may regret now. Trott was definitely out when the ball hit the edge of his bat and reflected to Ramdin, who made a good dive to take the catch. This made the score 194-2 and Kevin Pieterson was the next man in, eager to entertain the near capacity crowd.

Kevin Pieterson entertained the Lord’s crowd before he was out for 32. KP displayed some great strokes before falling to the hands of Samuels, or Ramdin rather, who took a magnificent catch. KP has the ability to turn it on or really turn it off and it looked like today was going to be a very good day for Kevin Pieterson, but a very quick piece of fielding lead to Pieterson leaving the crease disappointed. Pieterson was the 3rd and final English wicket of the day to fall, Ian Bell would join Andrew Strauss to see the days play out.

Tomorrow we can hop to see a ‘daddy hundred’ from Andrew Strauss, a comeback innings from Bell and a brilliant debut innings from Bairstow as England try to build on their 16 run lead.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

England Vs West Indies, 1st Test, Day 1

A fantastic summer of sport for England was kick-started by the England cricket team today and they didn’t disappoint. Taking 9 wickets at an average at of 1 every 10 overs ensured England were on top come ‘stumps’ on day one. Jonny Bairstow made his England debut and was awarded his first cap by Geoffrey Boycott. Stuart Broad was the pick of the bowlers with 6 wickets to his name, Anderson started England of with two and poor team work led to a run out opportunity which England almost didn’t take.

England - Strauss (Captain), Cook (Vice Captain), Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Bairstow, Prior (Wicket Keeper), Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson

West Indies - Barath, K Powell, K Edwards, Darren Bravo, Chanderpaul, Samuels, Ramdin (Wicket Keeper), Sammy (Captain), Gabriel, Roach, F Edwards

Andrew Strauss won the toss for England and elected to field.

Wickets:

K Powell – Powell was the first batsman to go, clean bowled by Jimmy Anderson. Anderson had bowled a series of out-swingers to the left handed batsman, his next delivery was a text book in-swinger, catching Powell by surprise and flattening his stumps. Powell departed with just 5 runs off  29 runs. This brought K Edwards to the crease, with West Indies 13-1.

K Edwards – Edwards added just 1 run before returning to the famous Lord’s Pavilion. Edwards was Anderson’s second victim, this time he trapped the West Indian batsman LBW. Edwards didn’t move his feet and tried to play across the ball only for it to strike him on the pad, a simple error but with big consequences for the batsman. It was 32-2 and Bravo was the next man in.

Barath - Barath made a very positive start to his innings scoring 41 runs and will be mightily disappointed that he could ot add to a solid start. Barath fell to Stuart Broad and was caught by Jimmy Anderson. Anderson fumbled the catch at first attemped but on the second, the bowler pocketed the catch and sent Barath walking with the score on 86-3. Shiv Chanderpaul, the world number 1 batsman came to the crease.

Bravo – A catalogue of errors were involved in his dismissal, which goes down as run out by Matt Prior. Chanderpaul defended a ball from Graeme Swann, Darren Bravo set off on a run. Chanderpaul appeared to change his mind mid run and turned around to return to his crease. Bravo also ended up at the strikers end, presenting England with a perfect opportunity to dismiss Bravo. Prior hurled the ball to the bowlers end, very wide of Graeme Swann who was waiting to complete the run out. Swann dived well to catch Prior’s throw and crawled back to the wicket to knock off the bails. All this time Chanderpaul and Bravo stood there watching, oblivious to the fact that they could have returned safely.

Samuels – Samuels threw his wicket away, gifting Broad another wicket and giving Bairstow a catch on debut. Samuels attempted to hook the ball but due to poor judgement and timing the ball ended up striking his bat and veering off to the hands of debuton Jonny Bairstow. Samules went for a relatively good score of 31, but again could have added to his total. It was 181-5 and this brought in ‘keeper Ramdin.

Ramdin – Ramdin fell next exposing a long Windies tail. Broad claimed a fourth wicket with help from a catch by Andrew Strauss. Ramdin edged the ball to Andrew Strauss at first slip, who took a decent catch. Broad now needed two more wickets to become one of the few players to have got on the century and five wicket-haul honours board at Lord’s. West Indies skipper Sammy came in to try to steady the ship for his team.

Sammy – Sammy continually swung and missed during his innings of 17, eventually becoming the forth wicket to fall to England T-20 captain Stuart Broad. Sammy made typical tail-ender errors and succeeded in hitting the ball with the back of his bat whilst looking n the opposite direction. A bizarre dismissal ended a bizarre Darren Sammy innings. West Indies were now on 219-7 and Roach was next to face Stuart Broad.

Roach – Roach fell to Stuart Broad who took a magnificent catch of his own bowling. Roach added six runs to West Indies poor total of 231-8 before heading back to the Windies changing room. Stuart Broad joins the likes of Ray Illingworth, Sir Ian Botham and Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff with his 5 wicket-haul and Century at Lord’s. Broad spoke of how pleased he was after the game.

F Edwards – Fidel Edwards, one of the more experienced cricketers in the West Indies side fell on the last ball of the day. And there’s no prizes for guessing who took his sixth wicket of the day, Stuart Broad came handy once again when he took the wicket to put what must be the penultimate nail in the coffin for West Indies 1st innings. F Edwards went for 2 and West Indies finished the day on 243-9.

So Broad takes the credit for and England side who look a million miles better than the side who met Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. Chanderpaul’s unbeaten 87 salvaged some pride for West Indies who will have to improve if they are to restore their famous reputation.

Tomorrow the hard work starts, England need to bat themselves to victory and that batting must get off to a great start.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

Bopara setback further as England opt for uncapped Bairstow

Following aggravating a thigh injury whilst playing in the County Championship for Essex Eagles against Kent Spitfires, the England medical staff and management have deemed Ravi Bopara unfit for England’s test match against the West Indies at Lord’s starting this Thursday. Instead Jonny Bairstow, who is uncapped at test level despite playing for England in the both shortened versions of the game, has earned an England call-up. Although support has been gathering for James Taylor to make the England team, the England Lions captain has missed out on an eleventh hour call-up to the full team.

Bairstow, 22, has played One Day International cricket for England six times, the same number of times he’s represented England at the Twenty20 level. Jonny Bairstow is a wicket keeper-batsman, however if he is to make the England team his wicket keeping services won’t be required as Matt Prior has been named as the wicket keeper. This means that if Bairstow is to play in the first test match against West Indies, England will benefit in having an extra batsman and extra specialist fielder all-in-one.

Chief Selector Geoff Miller labeled the Yorkshire cricketer as “An exciting young player who now has an opportunity to experience the Test environment”. Mr. Miller went on to say. This clearly shows that the England back-room team have confidence in the ability of the youngster and believe that he has potential to become a permanent fixture in the England squad, especially as the batting order isn’t getting any younger.

Elsewhere, just as I predicted, Graham Onions is in line for a return to the England team, he’ll be jostling with Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn for the final fast-bowlers place. Onions has impressed many with his form so far in the County Championship, taking 24 wickets in just 4 matches for his side Durham, despite the County Championship being hugely affected by the poor weather that has hit Britain in the past few weeks.

The full thirteen man England squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex, wicket keeper), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire).

Keep up to date www.bbccricket.co.uk for all the latest news and views as England take on West Indies.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

My England Team To Face The West Indies

Geoff Miller, Ashley Giles and co. will have a lot of big decisions to make when it comes down to selecting England’s preliminary squad to face the West Indies. But I think the task of choosing the final eleven for Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss will pose even harder decisions to make. Do they go with the tried and trusted 5 Batsmen, 1 Wicket Keeper-Batsman, 3 seam bowlers and 1 spin bowler. Or will they choose to play Patel, the all-rounder, and will there be a spot in that final eleven for an extra spinner in the shape of Monty Panesar. Recalls for Eoin Morgan and Graham Onions are also on the cards as well as a possible call up for the impressive James Taylor. This could be one of the toughest selections that has had to be made in recent series. This is my first choice eleven to face the West Indies at Lord’s on Thursday.

Andrew Strauss - Although Mr. Reliable has been far from reliable in recent months, Strauss showed in the final test match against Sri Lanka why he has been in the England team for such along time. Strauss and Cook have proved to be a valuable source of runs and stability for England and I will expect no less this summer. Strauss is a worthy captain and until someone can rise from county level and knock him off his opening perch then it will stay that way.

Alistair Cook - Cook has been the gem of the England team who have rose to best in the world, the vice captain has proved vital in so many test matches, not least the Ashes tour of Australia where Cook out shone everyone else. Cook was one of the only England batsman to get two scores greater than 90 in the Pakistan and Sri Lanka series, scoring 94 on two occasions. A good Cook summer is the key to a good England summer.

Jonathan Trott - No surprises here then. Since joining the England team against Australia in the 2009 Ashes series, Trott has nailed the number 3 position. With his calm and relaxed attitude and his exquisite shot repertoire Trott really is the real deal. Jonathan Trott was the only England batsman to score two centuries in the test series against Sri Lanka and is no doubt the best England, via South Africa, has to offer at number 3.

Kevin Pieterson - One of only two English batsman to play in the IPL this year Pieterson is my number 4. When he’s good he’s exceptional and when he’s bad he’s abysmal. He proved in the final test of the winter how lethal his aggressive batting can be and has since shone in the IPL with yet another punishing innings for the Dehli Devils. Pieterson must be in form for England to play to their full capacity.

Ian Bell - Ian Bell has batted at number 3, 4, 6 and even opened in the shortened version of the game, but for me Bell is by far at his best when he plays at number 5. Ian Bell had a really good summer last year and will hope to have another good one this year. Bell is England’s best short fielder, with Cook a close second. But Bell has had problems recently against spin and unless he can rectify those quickly he may find himself dropped from the side, a good performance this series is vital for his International career.

James Taylor - Number 6 may not be the preferred position for the England Lions captain, but if the 22 year old is to make it in to the team, then this is were I would put him. With a thigh strain to Ravi Bopara, an on-going injury which recently flared up whilst playing for Essex, James Taylor’s 118 in the England Lions match against the West Indies should earn him an eleventh hour call up for the International side.

Matt Prior - Prior, is great with the bat and even better with the gloves. He is the team lifter in the England camp and will be important towards England’s team spirit during the summer. What is impressive about Prior is that he is very good at batting with the tail end and if England are to play Anderson, Finn etc they will need to be supported by experienced batsman in order for the tail to wag.

Stuart Broad - The England Twenty20 skipper missed out on the final test against Sri Lanka through injury but has fully recovered from that injury. Broad now must be seen as an all-rounder having proved his ability with the bat on several occasions now. Broad’s bowling must be on the right line and length in order for him to take wickets, do this and Broad could have a great summer for England. Injury providing of course.

Graeme Swann - Perhaps England’s greatest spinner ever, Swann has really proved how valuable he is taking key wickets at key times, often in the first over of his spell. Being able to spin and drift the ball on English turf, the way Swann can is such a rarity. And he is definitely in my England team. I would say he is the most important player this summer,  and will be the first name on the team sheet.

Graham Onions - Reward fine form. That’s what I’d do. Onions has been the pick of the bowlers so far this season with 24 wickets in just 4 matches. Onions was a regular in the England team of 2009 untill injury cost him his place in the team. He made his debut 3 years ago against the West Indies and it would be fitting that he makes his return against the West Indies side. I would choose him, but will Flower, Miller and co.?

James Anderson - Jimmy Anderson has been at his best rcently swinging the ball both ways and reversing it, often unplayable. Jimmy is a certain for my England side. I can only persume that he is a certain for the side England will field on Thursday. Anderson was recently described as “being able to swing an orange”, this really shows how far Jimmy has come in the past couple of years. Let’s hope he can keep this form going.

So that’s my England side to face the West Indies at Lord’s on Thursday, no places for Morgan, Bresnan, Finn, Bopara, Panesar or Patel. A recall for Graham Onions and a debut for James Taylor. This is only speculation, for now at least, we should know the side by Thursday at the latest.

A good series against West Indies will mean a good summer for England.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

Follow for updates on England’s campaign on home soil against the best West Indies has to offer.

Brief Round up of England Test players form

With the England West Indies Test series on the horizon I thought it would be a good chance to glance over how England Test squad have been performing over the past month. Certain players have been involved in the IPL whilst most have been playing County Championship Cricket when it hasn’t been raining!

Batsmen

Andrew Strauss ended the Sri Lanka series with a half century to silence some of his critics. He would have been hoping to pile on the runs for Middlesex at Lords but has yet to pass fifty. In his first match against Durham, Onions who is vying for a place in the first test got Strauss out twice including a 2nd ball duck in the first innings. Although he hit 49 in his last innings against Worcestershire he will be hoping for runs in the first Test against the Windies.

Alastair Cook has only played for Essex once since the Sri Lanka series and both innings he was out cheaply for 9 and 5 versus Glamorgan. Cook will get one more chance to hit a significant score against Kent, which started today.

Jonathan Trott returned to his Warwickshire team and hit a sensational 178 in a draw against Sussex. He followed this up with two low scores at Edgbaston, which is the venue for the final test match against West Indies.

Kevin Pietersen was one of the two England batsmen playing in the IPL and he made his mark. He smashed 305 runs in 8 innings, this included a breathtaking 103* off 64 balls. Now Pietersen has returned to his English side Surrey and is in the team against Worcestershire although he was limited to fielding today.

Ian Bell hasn’t been in the best form for England similar to his Captain Strauss but has rediscovered his touch for Warwickshire. He scored 120 against Durham at Edgbaston and followed this up with a match winning 82* against Northants in a Pro40 match. He will be anticipating the West Indies series as a good chance to get runs for his Country again

Ravi Bopara didn’t play in Sri Lanka but returned to Essex to hit an amazing 117* in a team total of 199. Since then he has registered low scores, many pundits predict he will be picked to bat at 6 against the West Indies. His three test centuries have come against that nation and he will want to add more to cerment his place in the England Test team.

Wicket Keeper

Matt Prior has only played twice for Sussex and has been affected hugely by the rain. In his first match he went for 3 ball duck and didn’t take any catches. He played Englands opponents West Indies in his last match and caught Powell but only one innings was played and Prior has been short of match practice so far.

Bowlers

Tim Bresnan is an alternative to playing a batsmen (Bopara) against West Indies. He has played two matches and performed decent picking up five wickets in 3 innings. His record of never losing a test match for England might however work in his favour this summer.

Stuart Broad has played once for Notts and picked up three wickets against Lancashire but failed twice with the bat. He will no doubt be amongst the wickets this summer

Graeme Swann also played for Notts against Lancashire and performed a little better picking up five wickets in the match including Jimmy Anderson for a duck which Swann and Broad both celebrated like winning a Test series, all three will hopefully be celebrating come the end of the summer.

Jimmy Anderson only match was against his England team mates Broad and Swann versus Notts. He picked up five second innings wickets, including Swann to get revenge but his Lancashire team lost the match. He did injury his thumb but an X-ray cleared him of any serious injury.

Steven Finn, England fastest bowler has bagged nine wickets in two matches so far for Middlesex both at Lord’s. He is expected to be selected for the first test and it will be a big summer for him to cement his place in the test side.

Graham Onion is battling against Steven Finn for a test match place and he has been hugely impressive for Durham. Playing four matches and has grabbed an impressive 24 wickets. It would be hard to ignore the man who has 28 wickets from 8 England Test appearances so far.

Monty Panesar has played three first class matches but one against West Indies was affected by rain and he didn’t bowl. In the other two matches he has a combined six wickets, the English pitches are suited to pace in the early summer season so Monty will want to impress for Sussex to regain a place for the South Africa series.

Outsiders

Samit Patel in four matches has four wickets and one half century to show, for a man trying to retain a England test spot he will have to improve. He is a big doubt to be selected because of the lack of spin in these early season pitches but could be an option in the summer to compliment Swann.

Eoin Morgan was dropped from the Test side for the Sri Lanka series and choose to go to the IPL rather than play County Championship cricket. Unfortunately for Morgan he hasn’t been selected once for Kolkata Knight Riders. He is seriously hampering his test career and will have to hit some big county championship scores to remind the selectors of his talent.

By George Sessions

Review of Test series in Sri Lanka

England finally won a Test match on the sub continent. After defeating Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the 2nd and final Test match of the series they remained as the no1 Test side and drew the series.

I’ll be looking back on the high and lows of a series that should have been longer than 2 Test matches.

The First Test

After England had done so well in the warm up fixtures they went into this Test match with optimism, hoping to rewrite the wrongs of the Pakistan Test series, unfortunately they didn’t initially.

England’s bowlers again performed admirably bowling out a strong Sri Lanka batting line up for 318, Jimmy Anderson the star of the show with 5 wickets.

Then England’s first innings was like déjà vu from the Pakistan Test series bowled out for less than 200 with only one batsman passing 50.

England would go on to lose the match by 75 runs despite Jonathan Trott hitting a brilliant 112 in the second innings. The positives out of this match was once again, the bowling unit was formidable and Trott’s century and Bell’s first innings half century maybe showed that England had learnt mistakes from the winter tour.

Final Test to salvage pride

After Trott’s last day hundred there was hope England batsmen would finally come good and boy did they.

Before they could have an impact the exceptional Mahela Jayawardene was at it again hitting his second century of the series to guide Sri Lanka to a under par 275. Once again England’s bowlers were phenomenal with good contributions from each bowling member.

Then the moment we had been waiting for, firstly Strauss and Cook finally shared a 100 run partnership. After Strauss had hit his first half century of the winter tour he was dismissed but Trott fresh from his century in the last match was again in the runs making 64 before the impressive Herath had hit caught.

In between this England’s run machine Alastair Cook was showing why over the last 18 months there probably isn’t a better Test batsmen, he deserved a century but after hitting 94 off 278 balls he was out.

Then it was the KP show. Every single batsman had struggled for timing on the P Sara Oval pitch until Pieterson came in and smashed one of his best ever century’s for England. Hitting a masterful 151 off just 165 balls scoring six 6’s in the process.

This innings made a mockery of the stat that KP averaged just 12.5 in the previous 4 Test matches on the sub continent. After waiting for 8 innings England top 4 finally delivered and a platform was set to go win the match.

Once again repeating myself, England bowling unit again done the job bowling Sri Lanka out for 278 but at 215-4 with only two overs left in day 4, Swann got two crucial wickets. He bowled both Samaraweera, who made 47 and night watchmen Randiv to give England real hope of winning the match.

He would go on to pick up 6 wickets in the second innings and 10 in the match overall. Question marks over who is England’s no1 spin bowler are surely answered after this performance.

England then had to chase down a low score of 94, memories of the collapse in the 2nd test against Pakistan were fresh in the memory after Strauss was out in the first over but first Cook and Trott and then Pieterson took England to victory to square the 2 match series and show lessons have been learnt over the winter.

The Best in the world?

England’s bowling attack has been spot on throughout this 2 match series leading me to believe the bowling squad we have at our disposal is the best in the world.

I would go as far as saying Graham Swann and Jimmy Anderson are England’s McGrath and Warne. Swann picked up 16 wickets in 2 Matches and Jimmy 9 in 2. These two were exceptional all tour and only continue to get better and better.

Stuart Broad who was brilliant in the United Arab of Emirates tour only played one match in Sri Lanka due to injury but despite injury still bowled economically and got 2 wickets himself.

Monty Pansear like Broad only played 1 test match and picked up 2 wickets but his omission from the team for the 2nd Test has proven an interesting talking point. He didn’t pick up the wickets he was expected to but in tandem with Swann kept his overs tight and helped build pressure.

Tim Bresnan is England’s lucky charm he has now played 11 Test matches and won every game. He following the trend of also picked up 2 wickets in the 2nd test and whenever called upon proves to be a reliable player for England. Steven Finn played in the 2nd Test and he got 3 wickets at an average of 27, which is very impressive. The fact that he and Bresnan are not regulars in this England side just shows how good Broad and Anderson have been.

Samit Patel was England all rounder for the Test series and played both matches picking up 3 wickets. A great quote from Nasser Hussain that sums up Patel perfectly is that he is a ‘good cricketer but not a great one yet’ I am yet to be convinced by Patel but he was very economical in both test matches and picked up 3 wickets. Add the 29 runs he hit in the 1st innings and Patel made a decent contribution to the 2nd test match.

Swann and Anderson are the lynchpins of the England bowling unit but the contribution by the other bowlers in the series should not be forgotten. To keep players like Dilshan and Sangakkara from hitting a half century shows how good this England bowling attack is.

Overall

The short tour of Sri Lanka should be seen as a success. It’s incredible hard to win Test matches on sub continental pitches and to draw a series against a decent Sri Lanka side is a good result.

People have regarded them an average team now that Muralitharan and Malinga do not play Test cricket anymore but it’s easy to forget less than four months ago, they demolished South Africa by 208 runs in a close fought Test series where they only lost 2-1 overseas.

The batsmen eventually figured out how to bat on these slow turning pitches and what tempo to play at, to ensure a big score is made.

This series will leave England prepared for the next winter tour, which is of India. Now that England know they can win matches on sub continent pitches they will be more confident of winning that Test series or at least drawing it.

Before that is a home Test series against West Indies before a mouth watering three match series against South Africa that will truly establish who is the no1 Test team in the world.

England have learnt valuable lesson on this tour and showed why they are the best Test side in the world… eventually!

George Sessions

@GeorgeSessions

Test 2, End of Match, Sri Lanka Vs England

So, an England victory it is. An 8 wicket win for the visitors who retain their status as World No.1 test cricket side. Although Andrew Strauss was out for a duck and Jonathan Trott also fell cheaply, England looked at the top of their game whilst chasing their 94 run target. Cook looked like he had re-found the form he showed in Australia and England last summer, and Kevin Pieterson showed why he can become England’s greatest ever batsman.

I won’t say anything else because George Sessions is going to do a review of the match/series.

All I will say is; Form and morale spread like a virus, person to person. Bad form and morale were passed on by the England team to one another. But now great form and morale is floating around the England camp making England a force to be reckoned with.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9

Test 2 Day 5, Morning Session, Sri Lanka Vs England

England have bowled Sri Lanka out for 278 meaning they require 94 to win in 60 overs plus additional half hour spells at the end of a session should they need it and be in a match winning position. Graeme Swann took 6 wickets in this innings, 10 for the match. Samit Patel chipped in at the end with 1 wicket and Steven Finn took the final wicket of the innings. Surely England can’t let it slip from a position as strong as this?

Graeme Swann took the crucial wicket of Mahela Jayawardene for 64. The pitch had provided a lot of uneven bounce especially the delievery before Jayawardene’s dismissal which kept very low. The next ball from Swann bounced much higher and struck Jayawardene on the glove, the ball went up  and Cook dived onto the hard wicket and took a good catch, making amends for earlier dropped chances.

P Jayawardene was back in the pavillion almost as soon as he had reached the crease, falling for just 2 runs. P Jayawardene atttempted to play a sweep shot, but P Jayawardene stepped too wide of his off-stump and confused himself in to thinking that he was covering all of his stumps. He was not. P Jayawardene had left his leg stump exposed, that’s exactly where the ball went. Herath was the next man in for Sri Lanka.

Samit Patel had failed to impress with the ball, but did take the wicket of Herath. Patel’s delivery spun less than Herath anticipated and as Herath tried to defend it, Herath edged the ball to the slip James Anderson. Anderson took a good catch, being the slip for a spinner is very difficult but Anderson made it look easy this time.

The final batsman to fall was Angelo Matthews for 46. Matthews and Lakmal had put together a sizable partneship and were frustraiting England, but when Steven Finn came back on to the field he immediately made the break through. Finn bowled a delievry on a good line and length, the ball held up in the pitch for a fraction, this was enough to unsettle Matthews who looped the ball up into the air. Strauss made the ground and took the catch well.

When the sides come back out after Lunch, England will look to wrap up the test match and retain thier No.1 ranking, however that is easier said then done. Earlier this year did England failed to chase a 145 run target against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. Flower, Strauss and co. will be desperate not to have a repeat performance.

Joseph Perry

@Josephperry9