Story England's New Look [ICC 2005]

[ChannelDelibird]

Game: International Cricket Captain Ashes Year 2005
Game Mode: International Only (England)

As England prepare for the 2005 season of cricket, they have announced some surprises for the Test series against Bangladesh, with the first of two matches scheduled to begin on the 26th May. The squad for the first Test has been announced, and it does not include many a recognised international player:

England 12-Man Squad
Michael Vaughan (captain)
Alistair Cook
Ian Bell
Paul Collingwood
Owais Shah
Andrew Flintoff
James Hildreth
Geraint Jones
Ashley Giles (vice-captain)
Matthew Hoggard
Liam Plunkett
Chris Tremlett

Established players Steve Harmison, Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Graham Thorpe, Simon Jones and widely-praised Kevin Pietersen have all been neglected for the squad. England officials refused to comment on whether this would be an indication of the teams for the summer's Ashes series, or whether they were merely giving other players an opportunity. It remains a worry, however, that these are the only two Test matches before the Ashes begins.

Highlights and analysis from the first Test against Bangladesh to come.

 

[ChannelDelibird]

ENGLAND DEMOLISH BANGLADESH
Debutants make convincing starts

1st Test Match at Lord's
England 401, Bangladesh 141 & 101
England won by an innings and 159 runs

In a match where England gave Test debuts to no less than 5 players, it was two of them, Alistair Cook and James Hildreth, who stole the show as England's first innings total of 401 all out was unsuccessfully chased by Bangladesh, ably helped by Geraint Jones.

England - 1st Innings
M Vaughan (capt) run out 6
A Cook b Rafique 119
I Bell b Rafique 8
O Shah lbw b Haque 41
A Flintoff c Saleh b Rafique 0
J Hildreth c Islam b Haque 78
M Hoggard c Rafique b Haque 1
G Jones not out 101
A Giles (vc) b Haque 24
L Plunkett c Saleh b Rafique 9
C Tremlett c Mortaza b Rafique 0
EXTRAS (nb6, b2, lb2) 14

Total (all out, 155.5 overs) 401

M Rafique 54.5-17-129-5
E Haque 53-8-120-4

Alistair Cook made 119 in his debut Test innings to hold England together after a wobbly start, in which captain Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell lost their wickets early on. He enjoyed partnerships of 66 with Owais Shah and 148 with keeper Geraint Jones, who made an unbeaten 101. The Bangladesh spinners, Rafique and Haque, also deserve some credit for the innings in which only they took the wickets, with 20 maiden overs between them.

Bangladesh - 1st Innings
J Omar b Plunkett 14
A Ahmed c Giles b Flintoff 25
R Saleh c Jones b Hoggard 35
S Hossain c Shah b Giles 5
T Imran c Flintoff b Hoggard 0
M Islam b Giles 13
M Ashraful b Tremlett 6
M Rafique c Shah b Flintoff 22
M Mortaza b Tremlett 14
N Iqbal b Plunkett 2
E Haque not out 0
EXTRAS (nb2, w2, b1) 5

TOTAL (all out, 51.3 overs) 141

M Hoggard 11-5-13-2
C Tremlett 11-4-26-2
L Plunkett 10-1-26-2
A Giles 10-2-35-2
A Flintoff 9.3-2-40-2

England's bowlers shared the wickets evenly as Bangladesh crumbled in their opening innings. No batsman was able to stand about above the others, with Saleh top scoring with only 35.

Bangladesh - 2nd Innings
J Omar b Plunkett 23
A Ahmed c Shah b Vaughan 46
R Saleh c Jones b Giles 12
S Hossain b Giles 1
T Imran b Hildreth 1
M Islam lbw b Giles 2
M Ashraful b Giles 3
M Rafique lbw b Vaughan 3
M Mortaza c Jones b Vaughan 2
N Iqbal not out 5
E Haque c Flintoff b Vaughan 0
EXTRAS (nb2, lb1) 3

Total (all out, 51.5 overs) 101

M Vaughan 5.5-1-13-4
A Giles 12-3-22-4
J Hildreth 4-2-6-1
L Plunkett 7-3-13-1

England wrapped up victory comprehensively as their spinners took their turn to dominate the innings, with four wickets apiece for Giles and part-timer Vaughan. Only Ahmed caused any problem, but he was removed with Vaughan's first ball of the innings. Matthew Hoggard was also worth a mention in this innings, with an economy of less than 1 per over.

Man of the Match: Alistair Cook (England)

Next Match: England vs. Bangladesh (2nd Test Match)

 

[ChannelDelibird]

ENGLAND TAKE COMFORTABLE VICTORY
Nothing special, but they all count...

2nd Test Match at Chester-le-Street
Bangladesh 215 & 321, England 322 & 218-5
England win by 5 wickets and win the Test series 2-0

An unchanged England team needed a little more to fend off Bangladesh in the second Test than in the first, but there were still no real problems in clinching the two-match series 2-0. There were good performances all round for England, including a century for Ian Bell and a 99 for Freddie Flintoff, the only worry really present was that of the form of captain Michael Vaughan...

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat

Bangladesh, 1st Innings
J Omar b Hoggard 4
A Ahmed b Plunkett 21
R Saleh b Hoggard 55
S Hossain c Jones b Plunkett 4
T Imran c Flintoff b Plunkett 23
M Islam b Plunkett 51
K Mashud b Giles 7
M Rafique lbw b Vaughan 29
M Mortaza lbw b Plunkett 0
N Iqbal not out 6
E Haque lbw b Vaughan 0
EXTRAS (nb5, b5, lb5) 15

TOTAL (all out, 76.5 overs) 215

L Plunkett 14-2-52-5
M Vaughan 3.5-0-7-2
M Hoggard 14-2-32-2
A Giles 13-3-31-1

A first five-for in Test cricket for Durham paceman Liam Plunkett did well to frustrate Bangladesh, who would have wanted more from choosing to bat first. Half-centuries from Saleh and Islam led the tourists' attack but were not well-supported enough to build a big total.

England, 1st Innings
M Vaughan c Mashud b Rafique 39
A Cook c Mashud b Iqbal 48
I Bell b Rafique 0
O Shah st Mashued b Rafique 42
A Flintoff b Mortaza 99
J Hildreth b Rafique 50
G Jones c Mashud b Rafique 1
A Giles not out 28
L Plunkett c & b Rafique 0
M Hoggard lbw b Rafique 1
C Tremlett b Haque 1
EXTRAS (nb5, w1, b1, lb6) 13

TOTAL (all out, 115 overs) 322

M Rafique 35-4-84-7
N Iqbal 19-1-65-1
M Mortaza 23-4-68-1
E Haque 33-10-83-1

A dominating performance by Mohammad Rafique prevented a big innings from England, taking 7 wickets. Andrew Flintoff was very unlucky to miss out on another Test century by being bowled by Mortaza on 99, while Alistair Cook put in another sturdy performance, out for 48, and James Hildreth picked up his second consecutive Test 50. Captain Michael Vaughan put in a useful 39 before giving his wicket away playing a silly shot when he should have left the ball be.

Bangladesh, 2nd Innings
J Omar b Plunkett 14
A Ahmed c Cook b Giles 104
R Saleh c Jones b Flintoff 58
S Hossain c Jones b Hildreth 62
T Imran lbw b Vaughan 13
M Islam c Flintoff b Hoggard 4
K Mashud c Flintoff b Hoggard 25
M Rafique c Jones b Hoggard 33
M Mortaza b Tremlett 2
N Iqbal not out 0
E Haque lbw b Hoggard 0
EXTRAS (nb6) 6

TOTAL (all out, 102.5 overs) 321

M Hoggard 20.5-3-46-4
M Vaughan 7-1-15-1
J Hildreth 3-0-20-1
A Flintoff 14-2-48-1
C Tremlett 17-1-49-1
L Plunkett 14-0-51-1
A Giles 19-3-68-1
Bangladesh mounted a fightback in their second innings, spearheaded by Aftab Ahmed's superb 104. The batsmen continually asked questions of the English bowlers, forcing Vaughan to try a number of different bowling options (England used no less than 9 different bowlers in the innings), some of which paid off more than others. James Hildreth took his second Test wicket, that of Hossain, caught by Jones on 62. This left England with a target of 215 to win the match in two days' play - plenty of time, but towards the end of the innings the ball was beginning to turn on the pitch, boding well for the Bangladesh spinners.

England, 2nd Innings
M Vaughan c Islam b Iqbal 3
A Cook b Rafique 47
I Bell not out 105
O Shah b Haque 9
A Flintoff c Rafique b Haque 3
J Hildreth c Mashud b Rafique 25
G Jones not out 18
EXTRAS (nb4, b2, lb2) 8

TOTAL (5 wkts, 83.2 overs) 218

M Rafique 30-4-55-2
E Haque 28-3-83-2
N Iqbal 10-0-29-1

Ian Bell guided England through a run-chase that was a little more difficult than it needed to be, as Vaughan, Shah and Flintoff all fell for less than 10 runs trying to reach the total too quickly when they had all the time in the world. Cook once again missed out on his 50 after he was bowled by a great Rafique delivery, but in all it was a solid victory for England in their last Test before the Ashes begins.

Man of the Match: M Rafique (Bangladesh)
Man of the Series: A Cook (England)

Next Match: England vs Australia (Twenty20 Cup)

 

[ChannelDelibird]

AUSTRALIA COAST TO VICTORY IN TWENTY20
England too slow off the mark

Twenty20 Cup at the Rose Bowl
England 144-7, Australia 146-4
Australia win by 6 wickets

England's Twenty20 side walked out a very different 11 to the team that played the Bangladesh Test series. Among others, Marcus Trescothick and Stephen Harmison returned to international duty, and Michael Vaughan was confident enough in his bowling form not to include a specialist spin bowler, but they were unable to stop Australia pipping them to the post in a game that the English were never really in.

England Team
M Trescothick (vc)
V Solanki
K Pietersen
A Flintoff
J Hildreth
M Vaughan (capt)
P Collingwood
G Jones (wkt)
D Gough
S Harmison
J Anderson

Australia Team
M Hayden
J Langer (vc)
R Ponting (capt)
D Martyn
S Katich
A Gilchrist (wkt)
B Lee
M Kasprowicz
S Warne
J Gillespie
G McGrath

England won the toss and elected to bat

England
M Trescothick c Ponting b McGrath 1
V Solanki c Katich b Warne 34
K Pietersen c Warne b McGrath 0
A Flintoff b McGrath 5
J Hildreth b Kasprowicz 32
M Vaughan c Katich b Lee 49
P Collingwood b Warne 10
G Jones not out 9
D Gough not out 3
EXTRAS (w1) 1

TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 144

G McGrath 4-0-21-3
S Warne 4-0-34-2
M Kasprowicz 4-0-25-1
B Lee 4-0-28-1

After losing two wickets in the first over, England were not able to get going quickly enough to build a substantial total in their innings, and there were disappointing losses of Kevin Pietersen, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff for low or non-existent scores. However, Solanki, Hildreth and Vaughan put up a fight to finish 144-7.

Australia
M Hayden not out 79
J Langer c Vaughan b Gough 20
R Ponting b Anderson 34
D Martyn b Vaughan 1
S Katich lbw b Vaughan 0
A Gilchrist not out 5
EXTRAS (nb4, w3) 7

TOTAL (4 wkts, 18.4 overs) 146

M Vaughan 1-0-4-2
J Anderson 4-0-30-1
D Gough 3.4-0-34-1

Australia had no trouble chasing the total of 145 set by England, with Matthew Hayden making up more than half of their chase. Michael Vaughan took two wickets in two balls to continue his good run of form with the ball.

Man of the Match: M Hayden (Australia)

Next Match: England vs Bangladesh (ODI Triangular)

 

[Cricketman]

Nice presentation! This is something like the "aussie young guns" thread that i read! The only peice of advice i could give you is to use pics!

 

[ChannelDelibird]

Nice presentation! This is something like the "aussie young guns" thread that i read! The only peice of advice i could give you is to use pics!

Thanks, I'll see about sorting something out with pictures then.

 

[brettLee]

yeah you are doing worderful work with texts
& try using some snaps..it will look stunning
good job..
& good luck

 

[ramesh1986]

yeah you are doing worderful work with texts
& try using some snaps..it will look stunning
good job..
& good luck

I agree.