Story England's International Season (Sep 2004 Onwards) [C2005]

[m_vaughan]

So a comfortable win at the end for England. But it wasnt as easy as it seems. We very well know England had a pretty horrid time batting, and had it not been for that 140 run partnership between Vaughan and Jones, England would have probably struggled to make 150. But as a result of that massive partnership and some late hitting from Jones and Batty, England managed to put up a very good score.

300 was always going to be tough target to chase under lights. And South Africa A got off to a bad start when Wan Wyk was out bowled by James Anderson in the first over. Wharf picked up the next two wickets, that of Bosman and Amla. Then there was a decent partnership between captain Dippenaar(45) and Bacher(25), before Batty struck for England dismissing both Dippenaar and Bacher.
After this wickets started to fall a bit too often for the home side, as the increasing required run rate started to put too much pressure on them. They were finally bowled out for 162, handing England a comprehensive 137 run victory.
Geraint Jones was named man of the match for his superb innings of 101 from 76 balls.

 

[m_vaughan]

Dippenaar and Kemp added to SA squad
Boeta Dippenaar and Justin Kemp have been added to SA's ODI squad for the first four matches against England. Both featured for South Africa A in a day and night game against England, that the visitors won by a 137 runs. Gary Kruger however finds no place in the side despite his bowling figures of 4-29 in the same match.

South Africa
Graeme Smith (Capt)
Nicky Boje
Mark Boucher
AB De Villiers
Herschelle Gibbs
Andrew Hall
Jacques Kallis
Andre Nel
Mkhaya Ntini
Ashwell Prince
Shaun Pollock
Jacques Rudolph
Boeta Dippenaar
Justin Kemp

England
Michael Vaughan, capt
Marcus Trescothick
Vikram Solanki
Andrew Strauss
Paul Collingwood
Geraint Jones, wkt
Ashley Giles
James Anderson
Gareth Batty
Darren Gough
Alex Wharf
Ian Bell
Stephen Harmison
Kabir Ali
Kevin Pietersen
Matthew Hoggard

The first ODI between the two sides takes place on Jan 30, 2005 at Johannesburg.

 

[m_vaughan]

Flintoff to skip Bangladesh Tests
Andrew Flintoff has been cleared by England to start the season with his county Lancashire instead of playing in the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
The all-rounder returned early from England's tour of South Africa to have an ankle operation.

He could make his comeback as a batsman in Lancashire's opening championship game against Somerset next month.

Mike Watkinson, Lancashire's director of cricket, said: "When he bowls and how much will be up to him."

Watkinson, speaking to the Daily Telegraph, added: "The plan is that 'Freddie' will start off playing just as a batsman and then gradually build up to bowling a few overs."

Flintoff is unlikely to be used in the two Test matches against Bangladesh.

He may even miss some of the one-day internationals which precede the main event of the summer - the Ashes Test series against Australia. Although this is very much unlikely considering the fact that Australia are involved in the ODI series.

He is likely to play in a large chunk of Lancashire's Championship matches.

He is working to a plan drawn up by the England and Wales Cricket Board with the aim of producing him in mint condition for the first Test against Australia which starts on 21 July at Lord's.

Flintoff played only six Championship games in the last three years, most recently in June 2003.

In the meantime England are preparing to kick start their ODI series against South Africa without Flintoff.

Pictures from Freddie's wedding

 

[The Champ]

Well i think he will be missing chances to feast on those so called test bowlers ( Not really underrating the ban but still they have lot to develop to call themselves test teams)

 

[nightprowler10]

After the way England played against SAF, beating Bangladesh should be child's play.

 

[m_vaughan]

After the way England played against SAF, beating Bangladesh should be child's play.

There is still some time for that. First I have the 7 ODIs against South Africa to deal with. No Flintoff, remember.

 

[The Champ]

Ya waiting for ODI mate it should be exhilarating man. Waiting for it.

Rain ruins first session on the second day

 

[m_vaughan]

The Standard Bank One Day Internationals 2005
1st ODI
South Africa vs England
Johannesburg, South Africa

Hello and welcome to Johannesburg for the first of seven ODIs between South Africa and England. After a 4-0 thrashing in the tests, South Africa are determined to restore lost pride in these one dayers.

England on the other hand will want to continue their good form in the one day arena as well. They are without Flintoff who went back to England after the 4th test, to undergo a surgery on his troublesome ankle, and be fit in time for the Ashes.

First let us have a look at the conditions and the pitch for this match.

So the overcast conditions will definately help the swing bowlers early on, and bowling first on this wicket will definately hand you an advantage over the opposition. So the toss is very important for today's game. Let us see what happened at the toss.

Well, England's captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and as expected, put South Africa in to bat.

 

[m_vaughan]

A look at the team lineups for today's game.
South Africa have decided to leave out vice captain Nicky Boje, and play Justin Kemp, who featured for South Africa A in the warm up one day match against England at Kimberley.

As far as England are concerned, there is no place for offspiner Gareth Batty despite his figures of 4-25 against South Africa A. Also no place for Ian Bell as Pieterson and Collingwood make up England's middle order. Trescothick and Harmison will be playing their first one day international since the ICC Champions Trophy final, as they did not travel to Zimbabwe prior to the South African tour.

So let us not waste any time and get right into the action. Should be a cracker, always is when these two teams are involved. So stay tuned.

 

[m_vaughan]

South Africa 304-8 (50 Overs)
H. Gibbs 73(84) P. Collingwood 3-67
J. Kallis 71(87) D. Gough 2-90
S. Pollock 44*(28)

England need 305 runs to win

Highlights:

 

[m_vaughan]

 

[m_vaughan]

 

[m_vaughan]

 

[m_vaughan]

In front of a packed stadium, and under some heavy cloud covering, Smith and Gibbs walked to
the middle to open the batting for South Africa. They got off to a fantastic start picking up
20 runs in the 1st over of Darren Gough. However Gough fought back and dismissed Smith for 25.
Kallis who replaced Smith, along with Gibbs, started to score runs pretty freely and easily for
the home side. England's bowlers were unable to make much use of the cloud cover to generate swing
in order to trouble the batsman. Runs were coming pretty easily for the home side.
Finally it was Darren Gough who broke a 112 run partnership between Kallis and Gibbs when he
had the latter out bowled. Rudolph was unable to do much before missing a straight one from
Collingwood. Collingwood dismissed Kallis and Prince as well to finish with figures of 3-67.
South Africa's early advantage was almost lost due to some ordinary batting from the middle
order, but thanks to some late hitting at the end by Shaun Pollock and Justin Kemp, South
Africa ended up with a massive score of 304 for the loss of 8 wickets.

Almost all the England bowlers were expensive, apart from Wharf, who gave just 29 runs from
10 overs, but failed to pick up any wicket. Gough on the other hand picked up two wickets but
thanks to a total of 36 runs from his first and last over, he ended up conceding 90 runs.
Steve Harmison had a silent game, while Ashley Giles and Kevin Pieterson each picked up one wicket.

Scorecard and other stats coming up.

 

[m_vaughan]