Story England summer

[m_vaughan]

India, Australia and Zimbabwe tour England shortly after the ICC Champions Trophy.

I will be using:

Sams exe
sams cursor
SAc2k4Pt patch v1.3b
Latest Kits
npower and natwest pitchmats
npower and natwest stumps
lineup editor v4

npower Test Series

May 31- Jun 4: England v India at Lords
Jun 13-17: England v India at Edgbaston

The Natwest Series

June 24: England v India at Birmingham (D/N)
June 26: England v Australia at Manchester (D/N)
June 28:Australia v India at Taunton
June 30:England v India at The Oval
July 2:England v Australia at The Riverside (D/N)
July 4:India v Australia at Rose Bowl
July 6: England v India at Headingley
July 8: England v Australia at Lords
July 10: Australia v India at Cardiff
July 12: THE FINAL at Lords

The npower Ashes Test Series

July 17-21: England v Australia at Lords
July 31- Aug 4: England v Australia at Headingley
Aug 6-10: England v Australia at Riverside
Aug 16-20: England v Australia at The Oval
Aug 24-28: England v Australia at Edgbaston

The Natwest Challenge

Sep 1: England v Zimbabwe at Manchester (D/N)
Sep 3: England v Zimbabwe at Birmingham (D/N)
Sep 4: England v Zimbabwe at Lords

 

[Jarryd]

Well M_Vaughan, you've started your tour off well enough. I'll be supporting you except when you play Australia.

 

[m_vaughan]

thanks mate!! the aussies have won the icc champions trophy, and beating them will be tough.........but the first challange will be the 2 test matches against India.

 

[the artist]

any idea on what spinner your going to use? and geraint jones or chris read!

 

[m_vaughan]

BREAKING NEWS
Nasser Hussain has announced his retirement from Test Cricket just days before the 1st Test between England and India at Lords. Hussain had earlier said he would retire at the end of the series, but has preponed his retirement, stating that he did not want to fight against youth in the form of Andrew Strauss. Strauss who hit a magnificent 225 against Zimbabwe in Harare would most probably miss out on a place in the starting lineup if Hussain was available for selection.

Strauss replaced Nasser Hussain in the England starting lineup against Zimbabwe, after Hussain pulled out of that tour due to moral reasons.

However Nasser has signed a deal with Sky Sports and has joined their commentary team.

On behalf of the entire cricketing fraternity I would like thank Nasser Hussain for all his contributions for England.


ENGLAND 12 man SQUAD for the 1st npower test match vs India at Lords

Michael Vaughan (Capt.)
Marcus Trescothick
Andrew Strauss
Mark Butcher
Graham Thorpe
Andrew Flintoff
Geraint Jones
Ashley Giles
Simon Jones
Matthew Hoggard
Steve Harmison
James Anderson


INDIA Test Squad for Tour of England

Saurav Ganguly (Capt.)
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
Virender Sehwag
Yuvraj Singh
Akash Chopra
Parthiv Patel
Ajit Agarkar
Harbhajan Singh
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Laxmipathy Balaji
Irfan Pathan
Ashish Nehra
Mohd. Kaif
Sanjay Bangar
Wasim Jaffer
Deep Dasgupta
Hemang Badani

 

[jamesdriscoll]

any idea on what spinner your going to use?

Looking at the squad, it must be Michael Vaughan. Giles is a specialist batsman these days.

 

[m_vaughan]

The npower test series
1st Test Match
England v India
Lords, London

Welcome to this 1st Test match between England and India here at the home of cricket, Lords. Two of the top teams in world cricket will do battle against each other in this 2 test match series. England have had successful tours of New Zealand and Zimbabwe, but went out in the 1st round of the ICC Champions Trophy. India beat Pakistan in both tests and one dayers in Pakistan, but lost to Australia in the semi finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Conditions: Sunny, Warm and no chance of any rain.

Pitch: A good sporting wicket, with something in it for both the bowlers and the batsman. There will some early movement on the 1st day, especially in the morning session, which is why I would suggest fielding first on this wicket. But again, batting last on this wicket could be very tricky indeed.

The Toss: Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to field first.

The Teams: No Nasser Hussain for England anymore. Strauss therefore retains his place in the squad. India have left out Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan.

 

[m_vaughan]

Score Update:
At Lunch
England 78/1
M. Trescothick 39*
M. Butcher 27*

A. Agarkar 1/16


The Indian bowlers did very well in the start, making it very difficult for England batsman to score any runs. They kept a tight line and length, and also generated some swing. The England batsman were bottled down, and started showing signs of frustation. Strauss went to play an over aggressive shot, only managing to induce a top edge, and Harbhajan Singh made no mistake in taking the catch. Agarkar was the bowler. But since then Trescothick and Butcher have played very well, and at Lunch, England are in a decent position with the score at 78-1. The Indian bowlers bowled well, but have not been able to make full use of the early bowler friendly conditions.

 

[Darren]

M_Vaughan - what are your initial impressions of the patch - better than the others??

 

[Rahul]

shud be a good match!!!

i wanna know how u liked this patch as well.....

secondly.....u make the schedules yourself...as in say the natwest series u make up the schedules and then play exhibition matches or what??

 

[m_vaughan]

yup, the patch is really very good. batting is definately made harder. havent checked out the bowling.

also regarding the fixtures, yup ill be using the play now mode. ill play all the england specific games and the final, and autoplay the others (i.e india v australia).

 

[m_vaughan]

Stay tuned to this thread for the 2nd session on this 1st day.

David Gower: The match is evenly poised after this 1st session's play. India have picked up the wicket of Strauss, and the bowlers really kept it tight. But Butcher and Trescothick have battled their way through, and have taken England to a fairly comfortable position.

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, I thought Marcus Trescothick and Butcher played really well. Runs werent coming easily, and when any batsman is bottled down for too long, he might show glimpses of frustation, and play a few careless shots, and in the process might throw his wicket away, and that is exactly what happened in the case of Andrew Strauss. But Trescothick and Butcher, have experience on their side, and they have gone through this in the past and knew that they would have to play with a lot of caution, which they did, and I think they really played well. We have to see whether they can carry on and get a big score.

David Gower: Yes, the job is only half done for Trescothick and Butcher. But what about the Indian bowlers?

Nasser Hussain: Well, they kept a tight line and a good length. But I thought they should have been a lot more attacking. I thought they did well cut down on the runs conceded, but I dont think there were too many wicket taking balls. I thought the field could have been a lot more attacking. I thought India should have picked more wickets in this 1st session.

David Gower: Well we will be back in about 45 mins time for the post lunch session. In the mean time, we bring you "Lords Heroes".

 

[m_vaughan]

Score Update
At Tea
England 169-3
M. Vaughan 38*
G. Thorpe 10*
M. Trescothick 55
M. Butcher 54


A. Agarkar 2/66

Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher were both dismissed shortly after reaching their half centuries. Trescothick was caught at third slip by Yuvraj Singh off the bowling of Ajit Agarkar, while Mark Butcher was run out. Captain Michael Vaughan has looked very good in his his strokeplay, and timing, so far. He is joined in the middle by the experienced and highly consistent Graham Thorpe. These two need to build a partnership between them, as at the moment, India have the slight upper hand. Ajit Agarkar was the pick of the Indian bowlers, dismissing both openers, Strauss and Trescothick. Sachin Tendulkar has also been very impressive with the ball. However, the main talking point is that why hasnt Saurav Ganguly used his specialist spinner, Harbhajan Singh yet?


David Gower: So, at tea England are 169-3. Butcher and Trescothick did the hard part, but werent able to carry on and get a big score, something we mentioned was important during the lunch interval. What now, Nasser?

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, they did the hard part, and then just when everything was going to smoothly for England, both of them lose their wickets, and that brings India right back into the game. Saurav Ganguly would have been pleased to have dismissed both the set batsmen. On the other hand, I guess Trescothick and Butcher will be really disappointed. But again, thats cricket, and things can change even when its least expected.

David Gower: Well Ajit Agarkar has been the pick of the Indian bowlers, dismissing both the England openers. But even Sachin Tendulkar has looked dangerous hasnt he?

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, certainly. I thought Agarkar looked most likely to pick a wicket, out of the three Indian seamers. But then Sachin Tendulkar has really looked very very dangerous indeed. He has beaten the bat on a couple of occassions, and is bowling some pretty useful off-breaks.

David Gower: What about Harbhajan Singh? Why havent we seen him yet?

Nasser Hussain: Well I am amazed at that to be honest, because I thought when Sachin was looking so dangerous and one end, it would be best to have Harbhajan operating from the other end. We know that Harbhajan is a wicket taking bowler, though he might concede some runs in the process, but I think the two spinners operating from both ends would have been a lot more effective. I seriously dont understand what Saurav was thinking.

David Gower: Well yes, I guess Saurav Ganguly got it wrong there, but over and all the match is pretty well balanced at the moment. Join us for the the third and final session of this 1st days play, but after a short break.

 

[m_vaughan]

 

[Jarryd]

Nice work so far mate. I like the screen of Thorpw and they all seem to be better quality, you using a different program or something?