The value of a wicket-taking strike bowler during the middle overs of an ODI cannot be understated, as Shoaib once again proved today.
Paul Wood - ARTICLES
Following heavy defeats for Kenya and Canada on Sunday against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively, Zimbabwe couldn’t back up a decent showing in the first 50 overs of the match against Australia and consequently subsided against the Australian pace attack to mark another comfortable victory for the full member sides against the so-called minnows.
Following the conclusion of the Indian Premier League auction at the weekend, what impact, in terms of disruption to the counties, will it have on the start of the domestic campaign in England?
Pietersen showed all his famous traits during his innings, and indeed Test best score, of 227 at Adelaide in the latest Ashes Test. The confidence he talked about in the summer time that had ebbed away was back in full force as he shimmied across his stumps and flicked the ball effortlessly through his favourite mid wicket area. Perhaps the only thing missing from this innings was an outrageous switch hit, but KP had plenty of other scoring options without taking unnecessary risks.
Well, England’s Ashes preparations continue to progress serenely, the latest victory coming against an Australia ‘A’ side that had few answers to some very good cricket played by the tourists.
Before I look at that latest tour match in more detail, I’ll continue scratching my head while trying to fathom out the latest reason for Australia experimenting with another spinner from their ranks and excluding Nathan Hauritz from the squad of 13. I must confess this did come as a surprise, not because Hauritz has impressed enough to be warranted automatic selection, but I thought he was probably deserving of the first shot at the Poms, for the sake of continuity, and I query whether Xavier Doherty is actually that much better than Hauritz or if it is a change for change’s sake.
Eoin Morgan has impressed everybody that has seen him play in One-Day internationals, he now has the chance to show what he can do in Test cricket, does he have the necessary tools to be a success ?
As the domestic season gets underway in England, we profile all the counties vying for the Division One title, and those expected to struggle.
As the Bangladesh and England series gets underway, what progress have Bangladesh made since their Test inception back in 2000?
A trip to India for a seven-match ODI series with your side handicapped by injury is not the most enticing proposition, but Australia underlined their ODI superiority with a 4-2 victory.
Sri Lanka’s Tillekeratne Dilshan has reinvented himself in recent times, moving from batting down at six to facing the new ball. Paul looks at whether this new role is just an experiment or whether it will be something that Dilshan continues to do for the rest of his career.