**Official** England in The West Indies

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

70 runs in 5 overs. Wow. Well Collymore should feel a little better now...

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Great knock by Smith and Sarwan but i cant help but think they shouldnt have been able to hit 1 of those sixes if we'd have bowled properly. I mean how hard is it to drill it into bowlers to BOWL FULL? jesus. I also have NO idea what Blackwell was trying to do, just rolling out deliveries with hardly any spin on them but pitching them on a line and length as if he was spinning it sideways. He should have watched how Gayle varies his pace / length to such good effect.
Hopefully Harmison / Anderson / Blackwell will learn from this and the next time they are in this situation they wont make the same mistakes again. But then again this is england and we like to do things the hard way

 

[Tim]

Alternatively you could've followed the match and you might have come across a more realistic scenario.

And of course, you're not guilty of EVER doing that yourself.

 

[Neil Pickup]

After this game Trescothick's 3 highest ODI scores were all made in matches England lost. He hardly scored a run in the Tests when England were winning. No point in having a batsman who only scores runs when his team loses. Drop him!!!!!!!!!!!!

The point of batting is to score runs, so that your team has more chance of winning, but in Trescothick's case a successful innings contradicts the very priniciple of making one - to help win a match. It would be better for England to select a batsman who would hardly score a run in international cricket (someone like Keith Newell), if they won with him in the side. Team success should generally be placed above individual success, except in rare cases like the 4th Test, where I believe Lara was right to go for the record because it meant more to the West Indian population than a consolidatory win would have done.

Am I talking crap?

In a word, yes

 

[tooextracool]

great performance by the WI. where are all those people who said that dwayne smith didnt deserve a place in the domestic side ??? well done to him and sarwan.
i think the most dissapointing thing on the english front is that the 3 players who england wanted to come through the most still havent proven themselves in this series-collingwood,strauss and clarke(maybe anderson too). harmison's bowling in both odis have been nothing short of pathetic and i dont really think hes cut out for the limited version of the game.

 

[tooextracool]

would that not mean that if he bats poorly, it would increase England's chances of winning? And if so, why not keep him in the team and have him get a load of ducks?

unless of course we happen to play a quality test match opposition like australia,india or NZ

 

[Neil Pickup]

great performance by the WI. where are all those people who said that dwayne smith didnt deserve a place in the domestic side ??? well done to him and sarwan.
i think the most dissapointing thing on the english front is that the 3 players who england wanted to come through the most still havent proven themselves in this series-collingwood,strauss and clarke(maybe anderson too). harmison's bowling in both odis have been nothing short of pathetic and i dont really think hes cut out for the limited version of the game.

I hope that I bowl as badly as 7-1-16-1 this afternoon.

 

[Neil Pickup]

I was only kidding anyway, I'm sure you worked for it. I'm just jealous of everyone with SKy as I've only watched 2 ODI in the past 3 years.

One being England v Australia, WC 2003 and England v Pakistan NatWest Trophy 2003.

It is a truly depressing situation and I don't see it improving as my degree doesn't finish for 3 more years.

Three, Peter - England v SL at Trent Bridge in 2002. You were there

That's two more than me, nonetheless, but I'm getting Sky next year

 

[marc71178]

Since when were the West Indies underdogs in this ODI series. I was of the opinion that people considered the teams evenly matched.

Most people did Liam.

Before the 4th Test, I'd have said England were favourites, with the momentum, but Lara changed all that and made it a close series in my eyes.

 

[V Reddy]

I also have NO idea what Blackwell was trying to do, just rolling out deliveries with hardly any spin on them but pitching them on a line and length as if he was spinning it sideways. He should have watched how Gayle varies his pace / length to such good effect.

I think he is again one of those English cricketers who is neither good at batting nor bowling but continues to remain in the side .

 

[marc71178]

Blackwell is a poor man's Flintoff IMO, possibly not good enough yet, but if persevered with, you never know.

Certainly think his big hitting needs to become more consistent.

 

[Anna]

I'd rather see him winning matches for Somerset! But he does deserve to be in the England team, match practice will help him to improve no end.

 

[twctopcat]

I'm just glad we've got Flintoff or yesterday could've been embarassing. He's massive in every sense of the word and IMO the best ODI all-rounder in the world. If it wasnt for him our inept bowling and batting really would've been shown up. Harmison isn't a ODI bowler and Anderson doesn't have much control. Clarke is *#@* as they come and Collingwood is a test player, doesn't have the shots for ODI. Blackwell has room for improvement. If this is the core for the next WC i'm worried. We need Pietersen and Mahmood, among others.

 

[Adamc]

Hey, Trescothick did alright.

 

[twctopcat]

True but then again i wansn't slagging him off! Do wish i could eat my words today with Clarke getting a fifer and 50 runs, but somehow i doubt it.......

 

[Adamc]

Could someone please tell me why Vaughan is hopeless at one-day cricket?

 

[twctopcat]

IMO he goes for one shot too many, like yesterday. Gets out in the 20's too much.

 

[PY]

Batty in for Blackwell, West Indies win toss and Vaughan + Trescothick are padding up.

Let the fun commence.

 

[Adamc]

Happy 35th Brian Lara. Looks like the selectors have been reading this forum, Blackwell dropped. Batty comes in, no changes for West Indies.

 

[Adamc]

Trescothick just got bowled but it didn't dislodge the bails! Rampaul must be bowling extremely slow.