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- Thread starter chandikagunawardhana
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Australia eye 7-0 whitewash over sleepy England
It's getting on for mid-September, the Ashes are in the bag, and England's footballers have just qualified for the World Cup finals. Those are just three significant reasons why no-one other than the 21,000 punters who forked out 70-odd quid to sit in the Rose Bowl's evening chill will care too much about this latest result. This is just another day, just another defeat, for a team of cricketers going through the motions as the summer winds to a close.
Andrew Strauss, inevitably, protested the charge when it was put to him at the end of the match. "We're not good enough in one-day cricket to sit here and go easy, and I don't think we have for one minute," he said. But the evidence is all around him. No single England partnership was worth more than 41, and even that was more than 100 runs fewer than Cameron White and Michael Clarke managed in their game-breaking alliance. Whether they are setting the agenda or chasing the game, England are about as effective as the weather forecasters' prediction that 2009 would be a "barbeque summer".
"We haven't played well enough, clearly, but I don't think it's for lack of trying," said Strauss. "We've had three poor batting performances, and the first two were very winnable at the halfway mark, but as a batting unit we just haven't fired. We've got to be honest with ourselves and have a look at it, in terms of how we can improve. In one-day cricket, you can't go into your shell and grind it out, you've got to play with enough confidence to put a competitive score on the board, but at the same time make good decisions."
You've got to play, in other words, like Cameron White, who started this series with a reputation for a late-innings big hitting, but has morphed remarkably effectively into a man with the range of strokes for all occasions, and the temperament to utilize them at the correct moments. Admittedly he could - and maybe should - have been run out on 46 and 70 (just as he was for 53 in the first match at The Oval) but he didn't offer a chance off his own bat until he had made 92 and the game was already safe.
"The wickets can be quite hard to score on, so you can feel the scoreboard pressure, and pressure from the opposition at times," said White, who would not have been batting at No. 3 had Ricky Ponting not flown home for a break, and who will not feature there - injuries permitting - for the rest of the series. Either way, he did not snatch at the opportunity, and ended up teaching England's own batsmen how to survive in their own conditions.
"Maybe the scores haven't been as high because the pitches have been a little tough to score on," he said. "It just takes a little bit of time to get used to the pace of the pitch, and obviously if you bowl a good length and straight at the stump it is hard to score. It makes the run-rate a little bit slower."
"He played it very well," said Strauss. "When we were trying to squeeze the Australians he played some big shots to keep the momentum going, and he's taken his chance pretty well. We're a bit frustrated we didn't take all our chances, our fielding wasn't as good as it should have been, but fair play to him, he guided Australia home, which was what was needed in those circumstances - one guy to bat through and get a big score."
And that, as Strauss well knows, is exactly the role he himself should have played in each of the first three games. Regardless of the outcomes in the series to date, England's captain has still looked the most fluent and classy strokemaker on display. Each of his three innings, however, have been unfulfilled promises, undermined by the wrong shot at the wrong moment, not least as today's clip to midwicket when, with 63 out of a total of 98 for 4, he had scored almost two-thirds of England's runs.
"When you're batting well, you have to make hay," said Strauss. "But I haven't done that, and that's frustrating. Every time you pull on an England shirt you've got a chance to go on and achieve something, and I am as culpable as anyone."
England have two days to regroup before returning to Lord's for the first of their four must-win matches, and though Stuart Broad will be back to shore up the seam attack, Joe Denly's football-crunched knee is likely to keep him sidelined for yet another contest. With Kevin Pietersen proving an immeasurably huge void to fill, and Paul Collingwood so exhausted after featuring in every single international fixture this year that he has reportedly asked to be released from his Champions League obligations with Delhi Daredevils, there's little immediate hope of arresting the current decline.
So, can Australia achieve an unprecedented feat, and complete a 7-0 whitewash? "Yes, at the moment," said White. "I think, if we keep playing good, consistent cricket, keep bowling and fielding well, there's no reason why not. I definitely think we want to keep the momentum going, and I don't think we're playing at our total best at the moment.
"There are still areas we feel we can improve in," he said. "There's probably things we've got to work on to get better in the rest of these four games, and hopefully come four more games time, we are at our peak. Seven one-day wins against a really good side would be a pretty strange thing to happen, but I'm not saying it can't."
Nor, at this moment in time, are many of the few people in England still paying any attention.
It's getting on for mid-September, the Ashes are in the bag, and England's footballers have just qualified for the World Cup finals. Those are just three significant reasons why no-one other than the 21,000 punters who forked out 70-odd quid to sit in the Rose Bowl's evening chill will care too much about this latest result. This is just another day, just another defeat, for a team of cricketers going through the motions as the summer winds to a close.
Andrew Strauss, inevitably, protested the charge when it was put to him at the end of the match. "We're not good enough in one-day cricket to sit here and go easy, and I don't think we have for one minute," he said. But the evidence is all around him. No single England partnership was worth more than 41, and even that was more than 100 runs fewer than Cameron White and Michael Clarke managed in their game-breaking alliance. Whether they are setting the agenda or chasing the game, England are about as effective as the weather forecasters' prediction that 2009 would be a "barbeque summer".
"We haven't played well enough, clearly, but I don't think it's for lack of trying," said Strauss. "We've had three poor batting performances, and the first two were very winnable at the halfway mark, but as a batting unit we just haven't fired. We've got to be honest with ourselves and have a look at it, in terms of how we can improve. In one-day cricket, you can't go into your shell and grind it out, you've got to play with enough confidence to put a competitive score on the board, but at the same time make good decisions."
You've got to play, in other words, like Cameron White, who started this series with a reputation for a late-innings big hitting, but has morphed remarkably effectively into a man with the range of strokes for all occasions, and the temperament to utilize them at the correct moments. Admittedly he could - and maybe should - have been run out on 46 and 70 (just as he was for 53 in the first match at The Oval) but he didn't offer a chance off his own bat until he had made 92 and the game was already safe.
"The wickets can be quite hard to score on, so you can feel the scoreboard pressure, and pressure from the opposition at times," said White, who would not have been batting at No. 3 had Ricky Ponting not flown home for a break, and who will not feature there - injuries permitting - for the rest of the series. Either way, he did not snatch at the opportunity, and ended up teaching England's own batsmen how to survive in their own conditions.
"Maybe the scores haven't been as high because the pitches have been a little tough to score on," he said. "It just takes a little bit of time to get used to the pace of the pitch, and obviously if you bowl a good length and straight at the stump it is hard to score. It makes the run-rate a little bit slower."
"He played it very well," said Strauss. "When we were trying to squeeze the Australians he played some big shots to keep the momentum going, and he's taken his chance pretty well. We're a bit frustrated we didn't take all our chances, our fielding wasn't as good as it should have been, but fair play to him, he guided Australia home, which was what was needed in those circumstances - one guy to bat through and get a big score."
And that, as Strauss well knows, is exactly the role he himself should have played in each of the first three games. Regardless of the outcomes in the series to date, England's captain has still looked the most fluent and classy strokemaker on display. Each of his three innings, however, have been unfulfilled promises, undermined by the wrong shot at the wrong moment, not least as today's clip to midwicket when, with 63 out of a total of 98 for 4, he had scored almost two-thirds of England's runs.
"When you're batting well, you have to make hay," said Strauss. "But I haven't done that, and that's frustrating. Every time you pull on an England shirt you've got a chance to go on and achieve something, and I am as culpable as anyone."
England have two days to regroup before returning to Lord's for the first of their four must-win matches, and though Stuart Broad will be back to shore up the seam attack, Joe Denly's football-crunched knee is likely to keep him sidelined for yet another contest. With Kevin Pietersen proving an immeasurably huge void to fill, and Paul Collingwood so exhausted after featuring in every single international fixture this year that he has reportedly asked to be released from his Champions League obligations with Delhi Daredevils, there's little immediate hope of arresting the current decline.
So, can Australia achieve an unprecedented feat, and complete a 7-0 whitewash? "Yes, at the moment," said White. "I think, if we keep playing good, consistent cricket, keep bowling and fielding well, there's no reason why not. I definitely think we want to keep the momentum going, and I don't think we're playing at our total best at the moment.
"There are still areas we feel we can improve in," he said. "There's probably things we've got to work on to get better in the rest of these four games, and hopefully come four more games time, we are at our peak. Seven one-day wins against a really good side would be a pretty strange thing to happen, but I'm not saying it can't."
Nor, at this moment in time, are many of the few people in England still paying any attention.
New Zealand under pressure to stay afloat
Despite finding out the morning before their first match that Gautam Gambhir had aggravated a groin injury and would take no part in the series, India's captain MS Dhoni was confident of the side's chances. He has reason to be.
This is India's third one-day series in Sri Lanka over the last 13 months. Where for decades India's record here had been nothing to crow over - they arrived for a tri-series in 2005 having won just nine of 33 matches - a strong one-day outfit has turned that record around dramatically.They have won seven of ten matches since then and in their last two series proved the past now counts for little, beating Sri Lanka 3-2 last August and 4-1 in February. In terms of rankings, there's plenty at stake for India in this series - if they go unbeaten into the final and win there, they will climb to No. 1 in the ICC's ODI rankings for the first time.
India strutted their stuff at the two practice sessions they had since arriving two days after the tournament began, and look confident. There were no traces of rust in how their batsmen and bowlers applied themselves. On the whole, the manner of their preparation has been calm and self-assured even though Virender Sehwag, a critical cog in the batting line-up, is missing. Plenty of responsibility will be on Rahul Dravid, recalled to the one-day team after two years. India's middle order has been shaky against fast, short-pitched bowling and if a wicket goes down early, expect Dravid to walk out first.
To beat a confident Indian outfit, New Zealand will have to shape up in disciplines that let them down in the first game. Their batting was rocked by a superb display from three bowlers of varying speeds and trajectories - Ian Bishop called it one of the best one-day efforts under lights he had seen - but the application was perhaps to blame. The top order seemed intent on attacking from the start. In the field, New Zealand failed to finish the job when Sri Lanka were 69 for 5 in 25.3 overs, and also gave them leeway with singles and doubles in the field. That was surprising given how efficient they were in the Twenty20s. A defeat tomorrow will see them crash out of the short tournament.
Despite finding out the morning before their first match that Gautam Gambhir had aggravated a groin injury and would take no part in the series, India's captain MS Dhoni was confident of the side's chances. He has reason to be.
This is India's third one-day series in Sri Lanka over the last 13 months. Where for decades India's record here had been nothing to crow over - they arrived for a tri-series in 2005 having won just nine of 33 matches - a strong one-day outfit has turned that record around dramatically.They have won seven of ten matches since then and in their last two series proved the past now counts for little, beating Sri Lanka 3-2 last August and 4-1 in February. In terms of rankings, there's plenty at stake for India in this series - if they go unbeaten into the final and win there, they will climb to No. 1 in the ICC's ODI rankings for the first time.
India strutted their stuff at the two practice sessions they had since arriving two days after the tournament began, and look confident. There were no traces of rust in how their batsmen and bowlers applied themselves. On the whole, the manner of their preparation has been calm and self-assured even though Virender Sehwag, a critical cog in the batting line-up, is missing. Plenty of responsibility will be on Rahul Dravid, recalled to the one-day team after two years. India's middle order has been shaky against fast, short-pitched bowling and if a wicket goes down early, expect Dravid to walk out first.
To beat a confident Indian outfit, New Zealand will have to shape up in disciplines that let them down in the first game. Their batting was rocked by a superb display from three bowlers of varying speeds and trajectories - Ian Bishop called it one of the best one-day efforts under lights he had seen - but the application was perhaps to blame. The top order seemed intent on attacking from the start. In the field, New Zealand failed to finish the job when Sri Lanka were 69 for 5 in 25.3 overs, and also gave them leeway with singles and doubles in the field. That was surprising given how efficient they were in the Twenty20s. A defeat tomorrow will see them crash out of the short tournament.
Sri Lanka moved one place up to the 6th in the ODI ratings after they beat New Zealand and Australia beat England.
Warner disappointed at ODI treatment
David Warner has revealed his frustration at the lack of communication from Australia's selectors after he was axed from the one-day team in February. Warner was dropped six matches into his ODI career and was told of the decision by the selector Jamie Cox in the dressing-room before a game against New Zealand in Sydney.
"Jamie Cox said to me, 'You are not playing in the next game, and you're not coming to Brisbane. You can call me and talk about it if you want'," Warner told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I was a bit disappointed. I thought, 'Well it's your job to call me about it'.
"Which was disappointing [not hearing from the selectors]. Obviously, I know what the reasons were. I've got to at least put a good performance in every three innings. If you're not going to do that, then you are obviously going to get dropped. My goal is to be a bit more consistent this season. You know, I've got to work on that."
Warner has played one ODI since his axing, when he turned out against Scotland in Edinburgh last month and made a duck. His only innings of note in seven one-day internationals was an entertaining 69 against South Africa at the SCG.
He remains in Australia's Twenty20 side and will be keen to impress during the Champions League Twenty20 in India, when he will line up for New South Wales in a squad that features 10 international players. Warner has played only one first-class match and hopes to break into the Sheffield Shield side more regularly this summer to help his chance of playing more games for Australia.
"I want to get into the four-day stuff," Warner said. "Hopefully, I get that opportunity this season. I might not start, obviously, because we've got a full-strength team. I've just got to keep on scoring runs, putting runs on the board and things take care of itself."
David Warner has revealed his frustration at the lack of communication from Australia's selectors after he was axed from the one-day team in February. Warner was dropped six matches into his ODI career and was told of the decision by the selector Jamie Cox in the dressing-room before a game against New Zealand in Sydney.
"Jamie Cox said to me, 'You are not playing in the next game, and you're not coming to Brisbane. You can call me and talk about it if you want'," Warner told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I was a bit disappointed. I thought, 'Well it's your job to call me about it'.
"Which was disappointing [not hearing from the selectors]. Obviously, I know what the reasons were. I've got to at least put a good performance in every three innings. If you're not going to do that, then you are obviously going to get dropped. My goal is to be a bit more consistent this season. You know, I've got to work on that."
Warner has played one ODI since his axing, when he turned out against Scotland in Edinburgh last month and made a duck. His only innings of note in seven one-day internationals was an entertaining 69 against South Africa at the SCG.
He remains in Australia's Twenty20 side and will be keen to impress during the Champions League Twenty20 in India, when he will line up for New South Wales in a squad that features 10 international players. Warner has played only one first-class match and hopes to break into the Sheffield Shield side more regularly this summer to help his chance of playing more games for Australia.
"I want to get into the four-day stuff," Warner said. "Hopefully, I get that opportunity this season. I might not start, obviously, because we've got a full-strength team. I've just got to keep on scoring runs, putting runs on the board and things take care of itself."
Pakistan play Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy warm-up
The ICC has announced the schedule of warm-up matches to be played in preparation for the Champions Trophy beginning on September 22 in South Africa. The matches will be played on September 18 - the top draw being Pakistan taking on Sri Lanka - and September 20 in Potchefstroom, Benoni and Pretoria. None of the matches, like in previous ICC events, will carry official ODI status. Potchefstroom and Benoni will host day-night fixtures.
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies play two warm-up games while India and South Africa play one. The Warriors, the Eastern Cape franchise team, will also participate, taking on Pakistan and New Zealand. England and Australia won't play any warm-up games as their seven-match ODI series concludes on September 20.
Warm-up matches schedule
Friday, 18 September - South Africa v West Indies (d/n), Potchefstroom
Friday, 18 September - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (d/n), Willowmoore Park, Benoni
Friday, 18 September - New Zealand v Warriors (d), LC de Villiers Oval, Pretoria
Sunday, 20 September - New Zealand v India (d/n), Potchefstroom
Sunday, 20 September - Pakistan v Warriors (d/n), Willowmoore Park, Benoni
Sunday, 20 September - Sri Lanka v West Indies (d), LC de Villiers Oval, Pretoria
The ICC has announced the schedule of warm-up matches to be played in preparation for the Champions Trophy beginning on September 22 in South Africa. The matches will be played on September 18 - the top draw being Pakistan taking on Sri Lanka - and September 20 in Potchefstroom, Benoni and Pretoria. None of the matches, like in previous ICC events, will carry official ODI status. Potchefstroom and Benoni will host day-night fixtures.
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies play two warm-up games while India and South Africa play one. The Warriors, the Eastern Cape franchise team, will also participate, taking on Pakistan and New Zealand. England and Australia won't play any warm-up games as their seven-match ODI series concludes on September 20.
Warm-up matches schedule
Friday, 18 September - South Africa v West Indies (d/n), Potchefstroom
Friday, 18 September - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (d/n), Willowmoore Park, Benoni
Friday, 18 September - New Zealand v Warriors (d), LC de Villiers Oval, Pretoria
Sunday, 20 September - New Zealand v India (d/n), Potchefstroom
Sunday, 20 September - Pakistan v Warriors (d/n), Willowmoore Park, Benoni
Sunday, 20 September - Sri Lanka v West Indies (d), LC de Villiers Oval, Pretoria
New Zealand 155 (46.3 overs)
India 71/3 (19.2 overs)
India require another 85 runs with 7 wickets and 30.4 overs remaining
India 71/3 (19.2 overs)
India require another 85 runs with 7 wickets and 30.4 overs remaining
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