Win should not mask problems

Victory was, in the end, overwhelming. England won by the second Test at Edgbaston by nine wickets with four-and-a-half sessions to spare. They’re two-nil up in the four-match series and have now won six Tests in succession.

So, on the surface, all is well. England have, give or take a position or two, a settled side and they’ll go into an away Ashes series with more optimism than any time in the last 25 years.

Yet, scratch beneath the surface, and things are less straightforward.

England have been flattered by their results this summer. They have played against two sides – Bangladesh and Pakistan – who are woefully sub-standard and in conditions that couldn’t have suited England’s bowlers better.

It won’t be like this in the winter. James Anderson, so dangerous when the ball swings and seams, can still look ordinary and innocuous when it does not. And it will not in Australia. The pitches will be flat and the balls used there – Kookaburras rather than the Dukes ball used in England – will provide him with far less assistance.

Australia won’t prove nearly so unforgiving, either. Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, reckoned that his side missed 14 chances at Edgbaston. Had they held even half of them, then England would surely have faced a far tougher run-chase.

There’s growing concern over a couple of England’s batsmen, too. Alastair Cook looks hopelessly out of touch at present, while Kevin Pietersen has now gone 23 Test innings since recording a century. Yes, he made 80 at Edgbaston, but he was missed five times. He won’t enjoy so many lives in Australia.

Cook’s form is causing particular concern. He has now scored just 100 runs in his last seven Test innings and his dismissal in the second innings at Edgbaston, unable to move his feet or retain his balance, hinted at a man in crisis. He’s barely able to play on the off side and needs to be replaced as opener. The Aussies will gobble up Cook in moments.

Harsh? Maybe. Cook was captain of England only five Tests ago and, aged just 25, he’s scored 12 Test centuries and averages 42. He can clearly play.

In current form, however, he is unrecognisable from that man. So, for The Oval, Trott could step up a position (though he’s reluctant) or England could draft in the excellent but uncapped Adam Lyth. He has the class to represent England with distinction.

And then there’s Stuart Broad. Broad, aged 24, has the world at his feet. He’s now developed into a world-class bowler – he’s rated eighth in the world Test rankings – and he will, in time, score Test centuries. More than that, he’s the pin-up boy of English cricket.

But with that comes responsibility. And Broad’s on-field behaviour is ugly. It demeans him and it demeans the game.

He may count himself fortunate to escape a ban for throwing the ball at Pakistan’s Zulqarnain Haider but he needs to learn the lessons. His constant grumbling at the umpires, his moaning at team-mates’ mistakes in the field and his sledging of batsmen are as unattractive as they are unnecessary. He’s a fine player. He needs to let his cricket do the talking and remember his responsibilities as a role-model.

That’s not to say all is doom and gloom. Far from it. The form of Graeme Swann adds weight to Shane Warne’s theory that he the Englishman is currently the best spinner in the world, while Warwickshire’s Jonathan Trott looks wonderfully sound. As England captain, Andrew Strauss, put it, his presence at number three is “immensely reassuring.”

The Test did not go particularly well from a Warwickshire perspective, however. The club were budgeting on selling 45,000 tickets for the Test. In the end, they sold more like 30,000. They did not, as has been reported elsewhere, make a loss on the game, but the profit they have made is well below expectation. As they also failed to hit their targets for domestic T20 sales, membership, the neutral games between Pakistan and Australia and for their general banqueting business, their end of year financial results will be far below budget.

KP benefits from Pakistan profligacy

By Gemma Wright

Do you remember the game of table cricket? The fielders could only claim a catch if it landed directly in the pouch between their feet. Even then, the ball would bobble out given the slightest opportunity.
So it is with Pakistan. Their fielding was so shocking parents shielded their children’s eyes so as not to be permanently scarred by the horror of what they saw. By the end of the day, even coach Waqar Younis could be seen laughing ruefully on the balcony as yet another sitter was put down.
Pietersen was the chief beneficiary of these outrageous mistakes. Struggling for form at the moment, at least half a dozen chances in his innings were refused by Pakistan, and the visitors made poor referral decisions with several lbw shouts.

There were glimpses of the Pietersen of old. He took successive boundaries off Ajmal, cutting once behind square before launching a
ferocious straight drive back past the bowler, and produced one classic flick through mid-wicket off Aamer.

Mostly, however, this innings was a horrible struggle. It was as if a Pietersen impostor had taken his place and to see him surviving missed
chance after missed chance was like watching a drowning man thrashing for a lifeline. He is a man crying out to play more cricket.
He battled, though. He’s batted for longer than anyone else in the game and, by contributing 80 in such a low-scoring encounter on a

pitch he rated as “really hard”, he should have answered some questions about his commitment. It’s now 23 innings since his last Test century (at Port of Spain exactly 17 months ago) and, against any other team, he would have been out five times here before reaching 50.
Controversy had surrounded Pietersen in the first session, as he stepped away from the crease just as bowler Asif let go of the ball. Although it had been called dead ball, Pietersen still hit it and, ironically, it was caught. It was deemed not out, but Pakistan were underwhelmed with the decision. He later apologised for any misunderstanding caused, but cited Trott, the non-striker, walking into his eye line as the reason for backing off. Pietersen finally went, misjudging Ajmal’s doosra and falling to a return catch.

KP’s dismissal precipitated a collapse. England lost seven for 46 from that point, with Ajmal claiming his first five-wicket haul in Tests. His last four wickets came for the addition of just two runs in 26 balls. Had all the chances been taken off his bowling, he might have taken 38 wickets. In the end he resorted to taking two of his own catches to ensure they stuck.

It is, perhaps, worth noting the dismissal of Eoin Morgan. There is a theory that he struggles against the short ball and that angled across him. He did nothing to disprove that later theory when he felt for one angled across him and was caught behind.He still has much to prove.

Starting their second innings with a deficit of 179 runs, Pakistan struggled against England’s quick bowlers. Anderson soon removed Butt with a good ball to swinging away from the left-hander. Butt’s shot, playing slightly across the line, did him few favours. England rarely drop those catches.

Pakistan ended the day on 19 for 1, still needing another 160 runs to make England bat again. Even if they do, a hamstring injury to Gul is likely to rule him out of the remainder of the match. Unless the weather intervenes, it’s most unlikely that this game will crawl into a fourth day.

Afterwards , Butt dismissed the fielding performance as “one of those days”.
“Nothing went out way,” he said. “It wasn’t one or two people [dropping chances], it was everybody. [In the end] you just have to
laugh about it. They were catches guys should take with one eye closed.”

Actually, plenty went Pakistan’s way. Their bowlers kept finding the edge and the ball kept going to hand.
Butt does his cause a grave disservice if he diminishes the extent of the problem. Pakistan are not just unlucky. They are poorly prepared.

They have been consistently poor in the field for some time and their attitude to fielding practise is that of a reluctant schoolboy faced
with a detention. It’s not coincidence. They simply have to work harder. One drop, by Amin in the gully off Aamer when KP had 36, was as bad as this ground can ever have witnessed.

England win the World T20

By Gemma Wright

England have won the World T20 in Barbados, beating Australia by seven-wickets in a one-sided final.

Had England captain Paul Collingwood sat down last night to script his dream game, he couldn’t have asked for better. Winning the toss and electing to field, England claimed early wickets, withstood the inevitable late assault from the Husseys and sped to victory thanks to two outstanding innings by Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter. It means England, finally, have won their first ever ICC trophy.

Had Australia’s middle-order not dug them out of the mire once again, England may clinched victory with even more than 18 balls to spare. Sidebottom struck with the second ball of the game, though it was lucky for Kieswetter and England that Swann was at first slip to take the keepers spilled catch. Watson went for two, as did Warner, and Haddin 1 to leave the Aussies struggling on 24/3 after the power-play overs, Australia’s lowest power-play total in the tournament.

Captain Michael Clarke steadied the ship with his 27 from 27 balls before he was well caught by a diving Collingwood at short mid wicket. The England captain rarely drops those.

Man of the match winners in their super 8’s victories, the Hussey brothers and Cameron White powered Australia to a total of 147 from their 20 overs: Daivd Hussey (59) and Cameron White (30) and Mike Hussey (17 unbeaten). The comeback started in the 13th over, bowled by Yardy, which went for 21 runs. Although not abundant in boundaries, they kept the score ticking over with ones and twos. England kept them to under 150, Broad’s final over going for seven and taking the wicket of David Hussey.

Kevin Pietersen made the chase look easy. Coming in after the loss of Lumb in the second over for two, KP (47) and Kieswetter (63) shrugged off some hostile fast bowling and soon gained the upper hand. Watson’s bowling suffered the most, his second over going for 16. Both Kieswetter and KP played magnificent shots, and quickly had the Aussies worried. A rare misfield by David Hussey to let the ball go through for four showed just how rattled the Aussies had become.

Pietersen was eventually caught by Warner on the boundary off the bowling of Steve Smith for 47, after a second wicket partnership of 111 from 71 balls. Kieswetter didn’t last much longer, going just 6 balls later.

It seemed almost too good to be true, and yet somehow inevitable that England and Australia should avoid playing each other all tournament, and then face each other in the final. England have a well deserved victory here. Since being appointed just over a year ago, England coach Andy Flower, lead England to an Ashes win over the Aussies in England and this World T20 victory. Now for the Ashes in Australia next…