Tbf, they took 18 wickets in 4 sessions on a bit of a batting paradise.
Thanks for the positive feedback. :happy
Story Englands attempts to become the best (ICC2006 Ashes Edition)
- Thread starter Sureshot
- Start date
Tbf, they took 18 wickets in 4 sessions on a bit of a batting paradise.
Thanks for the positive feedback. :happy
1st Test, team. 3 changes from the Lions Friendly. Collingwood, Prior and Panesar in. KP, Davies and Plunkett out. Rashid keeps his space as it looks like spinning.
They elected to bat first after winning the toss.
Smith and AB made a good start putting on 76 for the 1st wicket with Smith in particularly good form. The partnership ended when Davies took his first test match wicket. Kallis and Smith carried on the good run adding 56 for the 2nd wicket before Kallis fell on 30 to the bowling of Panesar. Gibbs fell just 2 deliveries later to the bowling of Panesar - two in one over! - who started to turn the game off it's head. Smith kept batting through and helped add 66 runs for the next 2 wickets, the 4th wicket partnership was with Van Wyk who fell to Rashid and the 5th wicket partnership was with Rudolph. Smiths innings finally came to an end on 105 though as he fell to Panesar. Rudolph batted quite well with the lower order and tail, but Panesar and Jones were taking wickets around him. For the 8th wicket he and Friend put on 58 runs before Rudolph fell for 51 to the bowling of Jones. Friend was last man out for 32 as Monty ended up with 5-91. Jones 3-41 was also very good and he performed when needed. Davies 1-27 was very good as he bowled 16 overs, Rashid 1-59 but did get a big wicket.
Cook fell early to the bowling of Govender as we needed our form batsman to perform one failed. Vaughan and Bell got some ground back putting on 67 for the 2nd wicket before Bell fell for 40 to the bowling of Joubert. Horton - who averages 59 in FC cricket - had failed to do anything in his 3 test appearances but that was about to change as he put on 98 for the 3rd wicket with Vaughan before Horton fell just 2 short of his half century. The 4th (Vaughan) and 5th (Collingwood) wickets fell in no time after Horton fell and our position was delicate. Vaughan falling just 6 short of another test hundred. Flintoff and Prior put on 77 for the 6th wicket as we looked to at least get something of a lead. Prior falling for 44 to the bowling of Govender. Flintoff was joined by promising No.8 Rashid, who with 1 test 50 had credentials to help me out. He did as he and Flintoff put on the biggest partnership of the innings whilst adding 107 for the 7th wicket, Flitnoff finally fell for 87 to Kallis. Rashid carried on his good batting putting on 22 with Jones, passing his 2nd test 50 at the time, his innings ended on 59 when Govender got another wicket. Jones finished on 40 as he batted well to get us past 450, finally out for 463. Govender 4-92, Kallis 2-28 were the pick of the bowlers. Friend, Joubert and Pollock one wicket each.
Davies struck early to dismiss AB but Smith and Kallis gave the proteas some hope as they put on 93 for the 2nd wicket. Kallis fell for 28 bowled by Panesar. Gibbs came and went with Rashid grabbing a wicket. The Protea keeper who failed in the first innings then gave them some hope puttong on 54 for the 4th wicket with Smith before their captain fell for 79. Rashid getting the leftie. From here on in though it was a massive collapse as Rashid worked his magic taking 5-59 and Vaughan got a wicket whilst he bowled when Monty was resting. They were all out for 196 Van Wyk making 46 but relatively in vein. Davies 2-26 capped off a decent debut.
We needed just 33 runs for victory and we got them without loss. Cook 16* and Vaughan 15*
They elected to bat first after winning the toss.
Smith and AB made a good start putting on 76 for the 1st wicket with Smith in particularly good form. The partnership ended when Davies took his first test match wicket. Kallis and Smith carried on the good run adding 56 for the 2nd wicket before Kallis fell on 30 to the bowling of Panesar. Gibbs fell just 2 deliveries later to the bowling of Panesar - two in one over! - who started to turn the game off it's head. Smith kept batting through and helped add 66 runs for the next 2 wickets, the 4th wicket partnership was with Van Wyk who fell to Rashid and the 5th wicket partnership was with Rudolph. Smiths innings finally came to an end on 105 though as he fell to Panesar. Rudolph batted quite well with the lower order and tail, but Panesar and Jones were taking wickets around him. For the 8th wicket he and Friend put on 58 runs before Rudolph fell for 51 to the bowling of Jones. Friend was last man out for 32 as Monty ended up with 5-91. Jones 3-41 was also very good and he performed when needed. Davies 1-27 was very good as he bowled 16 overs, Rashid 1-59 but did get a big wicket.
Cook fell early to the bowling of Govender as we needed our form batsman to perform one failed. Vaughan and Bell got some ground back putting on 67 for the 2nd wicket before Bell fell for 40 to the bowling of Joubert. Horton - who averages 59 in FC cricket - had failed to do anything in his 3 test appearances but that was about to change as he put on 98 for the 3rd wicket with Vaughan before Horton fell just 2 short of his half century. The 4th (Vaughan) and 5th (Collingwood) wickets fell in no time after Horton fell and our position was delicate. Vaughan falling just 6 short of another test hundred. Flintoff and Prior put on 77 for the 6th wicket as we looked to at least get something of a lead. Prior falling for 44 to the bowling of Govender. Flintoff was joined by promising No.8 Rashid, who with 1 test 50 had credentials to help me out. He did as he and Flintoff put on the biggest partnership of the innings whilst adding 107 for the 7th wicket, Flitnoff finally fell for 87 to Kallis. Rashid carried on his good batting putting on 22 with Jones, passing his 2nd test 50 at the time, his innings ended on 59 when Govender got another wicket. Jones finished on 40 as he batted well to get us past 450, finally out for 463. Govender 4-92, Kallis 2-28 were the pick of the bowlers. Friend, Joubert and Pollock one wicket each.
Davies struck early to dismiss AB but Smith and Kallis gave the proteas some hope as they put on 93 for the 2nd wicket. Kallis fell for 28 bowled by Panesar. Gibbs came and went with Rashid grabbing a wicket. The Protea keeper who failed in the first innings then gave them some hope puttong on 54 for the 4th wicket with Smith before their captain fell for 79. Rashid getting the leftie. From here on in though it was a massive collapse as Rashid worked his magic taking 5-59 and Vaughan got a wicket whilst he bowled when Monty was resting. They were all out for 196 Van Wyk making 46 but relatively in vein. Davies 2-26 capped off a decent debut.
We needed just 33 runs for victory and we got them without loss. Cook 16* and Vaughan 15*
After almost losing my piece of paper with information on I bring you a delayed update, apologies, I was in Swindon all weekend.
2nd Test. Hoggard in Rashid out. Despite Rashid's excellent game in the last Test I still couldn't quite pick him above Hoggard.
They won the toss and elected to bat on a road..sorry Cricket pitch....
In these conditions it would take a miracle to win, for either side.
They made a brilliant start with Smith and AB putting on 149 for the 1st wicket before AB was run out. Our attack, as expected, was struggling on this docile pitch. Spin, Swing, Pace, nothing worked! Smith was playing with much aplomb and he and Kallis put on 77 for the 2nd wicket before Kallis fell to the bowling of Flintoff for 34, Smith passing his cenutry midway through their partnership. He was joined by the talented Diaan Van Wyk and they added 78 for the 3rd wicket before the captain fell for a brilliant 161, lbw to Jones. Van Wyk was joined by Duminy and they further destroyed our bowlers by adding another big partnership with 138 on for the 4th wicket, Duminy falling just 2 short of his hundred as he dominated the partnership. Hoggard having Duminy caught behind by Prior. As they were approaching 450 I was very pessimistic about being able to bowl them out, and so it proved with Van Wyk and Rudolph making the biggest partnership with putting 169 on tfor the 5th wicket. Van Wyk passing his 6th test hundred and ending up 169*, Rudolph was 71* as they declared on 611-4 declared. Jones 1-78, Flintoff 1-95 and Hoggard 1-115 were the best bowlers.
We needed over 400 runs to avoid the follow on and needed a good start. we got that as Cook and Vaughan put on 120 for the 1st wicket before Vaughan fell to Govender for 47. Bell was out in the next over to Quinton Friend as I was dreading defeat without my strongest batsman (KP). Horton came in at 4 and put on 67 for the 3rd wicket with Cook before the young Lancastrian fell to Joubert for 26. There was nothing from Collingwood and Flintoff but Prior played quite well, but a blow came when Cook fell to Friend for 137. Prior though managed to bat well with the tail and put on 50 for the 8th wicket with Jones, he then put on 34 for the 9th wicket with Davies and 21 for the 10th wicket with Panesar. Prior was the last man to fall going for 80. Hoggard batted above Jones at No8 due to me trying to stem the wickets - it didn't work - Friend with 4-103 was the pick of the bowlers, Joubert 2-92, Govender 2-104 also contributed. Cook passed 3,000 test runs with his century.
We were asked to follow on with half of Day 4 and all of day 5 left. Cook and Vaughan both fell early, the latter to Pollock and the former to Joubert. Bell and Horton put on 111 for the 3rd wicket before Bell fell to Friend for 72. Horton was joined by Collingwood as we looked to save the game. They were magnificent and put on 237 for the 4th wicket before Collingwood fell for 140 off of just 180 balls! Horton also passed his maiden hundred, eventually being bowled by Pollock for 163. Jones made 29 at the end but we were bowled out for 468. Pollock 3-81, Joubert 3-108 and Friend 3-161 the main bowlers.
There was only one hour left in the game and they made 28 without loss, AB 15* and Smith 13*.
So a decent result if not a victory we didn't lose to a mammoth first innings score and Horton and Colly made big hundreds.
2nd Test. Hoggard in Rashid out. Despite Rashid's excellent game in the last Test I still couldn't quite pick him above Hoggard.
They won the toss and elected to bat on a road..sorry Cricket pitch....
In these conditions it would take a miracle to win, for either side.
They made a brilliant start with Smith and AB putting on 149 for the 1st wicket before AB was run out. Our attack, as expected, was struggling on this docile pitch. Spin, Swing, Pace, nothing worked! Smith was playing with much aplomb and he and Kallis put on 77 for the 2nd wicket before Kallis fell to the bowling of Flintoff for 34, Smith passing his cenutry midway through their partnership. He was joined by the talented Diaan Van Wyk and they added 78 for the 3rd wicket before the captain fell for a brilliant 161, lbw to Jones. Van Wyk was joined by Duminy and they further destroyed our bowlers by adding another big partnership with 138 on for the 4th wicket, Duminy falling just 2 short of his hundred as he dominated the partnership. Hoggard having Duminy caught behind by Prior. As they were approaching 450 I was very pessimistic about being able to bowl them out, and so it proved with Van Wyk and Rudolph making the biggest partnership with putting 169 on tfor the 5th wicket. Van Wyk passing his 6th test hundred and ending up 169*, Rudolph was 71* as they declared on 611-4 declared. Jones 1-78, Flintoff 1-95 and Hoggard 1-115 were the best bowlers.
We needed over 400 runs to avoid the follow on and needed a good start. we got that as Cook and Vaughan put on 120 for the 1st wicket before Vaughan fell to Govender for 47. Bell was out in the next over to Quinton Friend as I was dreading defeat without my strongest batsman (KP). Horton came in at 4 and put on 67 for the 3rd wicket with Cook before the young Lancastrian fell to Joubert for 26. There was nothing from Collingwood and Flintoff but Prior played quite well, but a blow came when Cook fell to Friend for 137. Prior though managed to bat well with the tail and put on 50 for the 8th wicket with Jones, he then put on 34 for the 9th wicket with Davies and 21 for the 10th wicket with Panesar. Prior was the last man to fall going for 80. Hoggard batted above Jones at No8 due to me trying to stem the wickets - it didn't work - Friend with 4-103 was the pick of the bowlers, Joubert 2-92, Govender 2-104 also contributed. Cook passed 3,000 test runs with his century.
We were asked to follow on with half of Day 4 and all of day 5 left. Cook and Vaughan both fell early, the latter to Pollock and the former to Joubert. Bell and Horton put on 111 for the 3rd wicket before Bell fell to Friend for 72. Horton was joined by Collingwood as we looked to save the game. They were magnificent and put on 237 for the 4th wicket before Collingwood fell for 140 off of just 180 balls! Horton also passed his maiden hundred, eventually being bowled by Pollock for 163. Jones made 29 at the end but we were bowled out for 468. Pollock 3-81, Joubert 3-108 and Friend 3-161 the main bowlers.
There was only one hour left in the game and they made 28 without loss, AB 15* and Smith 13*.
So a decent result if not a victory we didn't lose to a mammoth first innings score and Horton and Colly made big hundreds.
rabeta
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Well you said the pitch was as flat as anything so I predicted a draw from the moment you said that. SA must have played well though, but it helped that Smith and De Villiers started so well. England followed on but was a comfortable draw in the end. Good knock from Prior, and the knocks from Horton, Colly and Cook will give them a lot of confidence. Loving the hard work sureshot, keep it up 
Oh and any regrets about not playing Rashid, maybe the leg spin might have caused more problems than Hoggard with the lack of swing?
Oh and any regrets about not playing Rashid, maybe the leg spin might have caused more problems than Hoggard with the lack of swing?
rabeta
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Yeah, I would have gone with Hoggard, but I was just wondering if after the game you had a different view. Must have been a very dead pitch lol
3rd Test, Unchanged. and they won and chose to bat.
They got a good start on another flat pitch, Smith and AB putting on 149 for the 1st wicket before Smith fell for 66 to the bowling of Panesar. We then took the next 2 wickets for just 35 runs. Kallis went to Jones and AB went to Hoggard for 79. Van Wyk joined Duminy at the crease and they got the innings back on track at a sunny Bloemfontein. They put on an excellent 161 for the 4th wicket before Duminy fell for 89 to the bowling of Davies with the new ball. With the new ball he and Hoggard did some damage, dismissing Van Wyk for 100. Davies also dismissed Rudolph for just 6. Their tail fought back after some excellent new ball bowling by Davies and Hoggard. Pollock and Gibbs put on 37 for the 7th wicket before Gibbs fell for 20 to Davies. Pollock and Friend put on 26 for the 8th before Hoggard dismissed Pollock for 28. Joubert played well in the last two stands including a last wicket stand of 37 with Govender. Joubert finished 28*, Davies took the last wicket of Govender to get his first 5 wicket haul in Tests. 452 all out, Davies 5-104, Hoggard 3-110, Jones 1-74 and Panesar 1-77.
On this dry pitch the plan was to get a big lead and try to bowl them out cheaply on Day Five. Cook and Vaughan got a good start putting on 88 for the 1st wicket before Cook fell for 46 to Joubert. Vaughan was joined by Bell and they batted for over 65 overs as they put on a massive 259 for the 2nd wicket before Vaughan fell to Joubert for 165. Bell and Horton added 57 for the 3rd wicket in this run fest before Horton fell to Friend for 29. Bell and Collingwood made another big partnership, putting on 109 for the 4th wicket to surpass their score and to pass 500. Bell got to his double ton, but was bowled by Govender for 207, a wonderful innings. Colly and Flintoff put on 69 for the 5th wicket before Flitnoff fell to Friend for 28. Collingwood was all set for another test hundred before he fell to Joubert for 93. Prior couldn't get the innings on any further falling for 6. Jones and Hoggard put on 35 for the 8th wicket before Jones fell on 21 to Govender. Hoggard was playing well and put on 46 for the 9th wicket with Davies before the new boy fell on 16. Monty fell for a duck as Hoggard was the not out man on 49! 680 all out, Joubert 4-163 and Friend 4-197 were the pick of the bowlers.
Davies got two early wickets as AB and Kallis fell for 13 between them. Smith and Duminy put on 42 for the 3rd wicket to get the innings back together before Smith fell on 30 to the bowling of Flintoff, caught well behind by Prior. Duminy and Van Wyk added a further 78 to the total for the 4th wicket before Duminy fell to Panesar for 60. Rudolph joined Van Wyk as we still had a good chance of winning. But they dismissed my chances with some excellent strokes, playing with some aggression. They put on 195 for the 5th wicket to belittle my chances of winning, the partnership ended when Rudolph was dismissed for 100 by Panesar. But the damage hasd been done and they were too far ahead with too little time left for me to win. Van Wyk fell to Flintoff several overs later for 123. Truth be told the tail didn't offer any kind of notable resistance, Jones taking a couple of wickets and Monty finishing with 3. Hoggard got Joubert out last man, in the last over of Day Five, so we just one over to bat. 385 all out, Panesar 3-62 was the pick of the bowlers, Flintoff 2-62, Jones 2-72 and Davies 2-100 all chipped in.
Monty reached 150 wickets with his first innings wicket.
They got a good start on another flat pitch, Smith and AB putting on 149 for the 1st wicket before Smith fell for 66 to the bowling of Panesar. We then took the next 2 wickets for just 35 runs. Kallis went to Jones and AB went to Hoggard for 79. Van Wyk joined Duminy at the crease and they got the innings back on track at a sunny Bloemfontein. They put on an excellent 161 for the 4th wicket before Duminy fell for 89 to the bowling of Davies with the new ball. With the new ball he and Hoggard did some damage, dismissing Van Wyk for 100. Davies also dismissed Rudolph for just 6. Their tail fought back after some excellent new ball bowling by Davies and Hoggard. Pollock and Gibbs put on 37 for the 7th wicket before Gibbs fell for 20 to Davies. Pollock and Friend put on 26 for the 8th before Hoggard dismissed Pollock for 28. Joubert played well in the last two stands including a last wicket stand of 37 with Govender. Joubert finished 28*, Davies took the last wicket of Govender to get his first 5 wicket haul in Tests. 452 all out, Davies 5-104, Hoggard 3-110, Jones 1-74 and Panesar 1-77.
On this dry pitch the plan was to get a big lead and try to bowl them out cheaply on Day Five. Cook and Vaughan got a good start putting on 88 for the 1st wicket before Cook fell for 46 to Joubert. Vaughan was joined by Bell and they batted for over 65 overs as they put on a massive 259 for the 2nd wicket before Vaughan fell to Joubert for 165. Bell and Horton added 57 for the 3rd wicket in this run fest before Horton fell to Friend for 29. Bell and Collingwood made another big partnership, putting on 109 for the 4th wicket to surpass their score and to pass 500. Bell got to his double ton, but was bowled by Govender for 207, a wonderful innings. Colly and Flintoff put on 69 for the 5th wicket before Flitnoff fell to Friend for 28. Collingwood was all set for another test hundred before he fell to Joubert for 93. Prior couldn't get the innings on any further falling for 6. Jones and Hoggard put on 35 for the 8th wicket before Jones fell on 21 to Govender. Hoggard was playing well and put on 46 for the 9th wicket with Davies before the new boy fell on 16. Monty fell for a duck as Hoggard was the not out man on 49! 680 all out, Joubert 4-163 and Friend 4-197 were the pick of the bowlers.
Davies got two early wickets as AB and Kallis fell for 13 between them. Smith and Duminy put on 42 for the 3rd wicket to get the innings back together before Smith fell on 30 to the bowling of Flintoff, caught well behind by Prior. Duminy and Van Wyk added a further 78 to the total for the 4th wicket before Duminy fell to Panesar for 60. Rudolph joined Van Wyk as we still had a good chance of winning. But they dismissed my chances with some excellent strokes, playing with some aggression. They put on 195 for the 5th wicket to belittle my chances of winning, the partnership ended when Rudolph was dismissed for 100 by Panesar. But the damage hasd been done and they were too far ahead with too little time left for me to win. Van Wyk fell to Flintoff several overs later for 123. Truth be told the tail didn't offer any kind of notable resistance, Jones taking a couple of wickets and Monty finishing with 3. Hoggard got Joubert out last man, in the last over of Day Five, so we just one over to bat. 385 all out, Panesar 3-62 was the pick of the bowlers, Flintoff 2-62, Jones 2-72 and Davies 2-100 all chipped in.
Monty reached 150 wickets with his first innings wicket.
kookaburra69
International Coach
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Huge total by england there,good luck for the next test match
rabeta
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lol AB and Smith put on 149 for the 1st wicket in consecutive first innings'. Very good total by England there but must have been a very flat pitch again. So there is one more Test right? Lets hope that a result comes from the next game. Also, it is a sight to behold a flat track, it is never usually a surprise if test matches finish inside 3 days...oh and good work Sureshot
freddiw
Panel of Selectors
go ian wot a beast
goo dstory what year, date are you in
goo dstory what year, date are you in
mattfb
Chairman of Selectors
Good double hundred by Bell and hundred by Vaughan and some huge scores! Well done
Game before- Some more big scores with hundreds! Well done again!
Game before before - Good batting again but excellent bowling did it. Great work!!
Well done on this story.
Game before- Some more big scores with hundreds! Well done again!
Game before before
- Good batting again but excellent bowling did it. Great work!!Well done on this story.
freddiw
Panel of Selectors
cool, where r u in rankinga
We're 1st in the Test table, 2 ahead of Australia. In the ODIs we are 6th a win away in RSA could lift us up to 4th.
Simbazz
Chairman of Selectors
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To be honest Sureshot, ive not commented much, or at all in your story but i must say, its the way you do it which keeps my interest in ICC games, you make a story behind it, and make it so interesting, so well done for that!
Also, why did you drop KP?
Also, why did you drop KP?
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