Story From the Fields of England to the World T20: Australia on Tour in 2012

[timchrist984]

Australia Arrive In England For 5 One-Dayers
June 25, 2012

The Australian One Day squad, led by captain, Michael Clarke, landed at Heathrow airport early this morning. The squad of 15 consists of 5 batsmen, 2 all-rounders, 7 bowlers and 1 wicket keeper. Mitch Starc and Dan Christian were surprise omissions from the squad. Michael Hussey was also not selected due to injury. All-rounder, Steven Smith received an unexpected recall to the squad after his successful IPL campaign.

Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins are both coming in to the 5 match series after recently recovering from injuries. Johnson and Cummins will be competing with Brett Lee, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson and Clint McKay for a place in the Australian XI. Xavier Doherty is the only specialist spinner in the squad. He will be supported, however, by David Hussey, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith.

On the batting front, David Warner and Shane Watson are expected to open. Michael Clarke, David Hussey, Peter Forrest and George Bailey will make up the middle order. Matthew Wade has permanently replaced Brad Haddin and will provide solid lower order hitting.

Fixtures:
1st ODI: England v Australia at Lord's: Jun 29, 2012
2nd ODI: England v Australia at The Oval: Jul 1, 2012
3rd ODI: England v Australia at Edgbaston: Jul 4, 2012
4th ODI: England v Australia at Chester-le-Street: Jul 7, 2012
5th ODI: England v Australia at Manchester: Jul 10, 2012

Australian Squad: Michael Clarke (c), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett, Lee, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade, David Warner

English Squad: Alastait Cook (c), James Anderson, Johnny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott

 

[Prithvi]

Something what I couldn't finish some time ago, all the very best for this story.

 

[timchrist984]

Hussey Cleared To Play
June 27, 2012

After initially missing out on selection in the Australian touring party, Michael Hussey has recovered from his hamstring injury and is expected to play in Friday's ODI against England. With "Mr Cricket" likely to come back in to the Australian side, it is expected that either Peter Forrest or George Bailey will omitted from the line up. Hussey, who has been plagued by niggling hamstring soreness for the past 2 years is hoping that he is over his injury for good.

Australian physio, Alex Kountouris praised Hussey in an interview saying:
"Well he's a real freak, everyone know's it. You know, he's actually ridiculously fit. Just the way he looks after himself, he runs 10km a day and does a hundred push ups on top of the team fitness regime. Michael is such an organised, committed cricketer. It's no wonder he has recovered from his injury so quickly. He's just the perfect role model for any young cricketers out there. You look at players like Peter Forrest, Rohit Sharma or Dwayne Leverock. They may have talent, but they're lazy. Huss has such an advantage over them. He's so athletic and agile in the field, he's just a perfect 21st century athlete in terms of work rate.

When asked about Hussey's injury, Michael Clarke told the press:
"Michael is a certain starter. He's just a complete cricketer. He's just integral to our middle order. He takes so much pressure off Watto, Davey and myself. With Huss down the order, we can afford to bat aggressively, with the knowledge the Michael can clean up any mess we leave him. He's just a great cricketer, like not just his batting. He's a superb leader, he knows the game inside out and is a great help to me as captain. He's just so versatile as well, he can be a back bowling option if need be. He can field anywhere and will be a danger of taking a catch or assisting in a run out. He's just a freak of nature.

 

[timchrist984]

Kieswetter and Bairstow Lead England To Huge Total
June 29, 2012

Going in to the first ODI of the series, England were quietly confident of their XI, while Australia were bullish about their chances of taking victory. The pitch looked like a greentop, an absolute bowler?s paradise. It was expected that the side that won the toss would go against conventional wisdom and bowl first.

It was quite a surprise when English captain, Alastair Cook, won the toss and decided to bat first. In an interview after the toss, Michael Clarke said ?This strip reminds of the wicket down at Hobart in the summer where we rolled the Kiwis for a hundred odd, then they rolled us for even less. I definitely would have bowled. I?m sure Bing and Hilfy especially are getting pumped to bowl on this minefield.?

At 2PM, right on the dot, the English openers, Cook and Kieswetter, marched out to the middle. The Australians then followed, led by their captain Michael Clarke. The Aussies were full of energy and were in good spirits as they bounded out to the middle. As expected, Clarke gave Brett Lee the new ball.

Lee and Hilfenhaus bowled an exceptional opening spell. Hilfenhaus, in particular was swinging the ball dangerously and beat the bat almost a dozen times in his first 4 overs. Alastair Cook looked particularly shaky at the crease. He could barely get bat on ball and was probably regretting his decision of choosing to bat first. Young Kieswetter, however, took initiative and began shielding Cook from the strike. Although batting reasonably carefully, Kieswetter easily looked the more solid of the batsmen.

After 8 overs, Australia were on top, but were still yet to take a wicket. Clarke decided to make a double change. He introduced McKay and Watson in consecutive overs and it really worked a treat. In his first over Watson picked up Australia?s first when Cook flicked a half volley straight in to mid-wicket?s waiting hands. Cook was out for 22 and the ever-exciting Kevin Pietersen was in.

Unfortunately for KP, today wasn?t his day. He fell in the very next over, edging a McKay off cutter straight to Peter Forrest at 2nd slip. Jonathan Trott then came out to face the music. While wickets seemed to be tumbling at one end, Craig Kieswetter was playing real anchoring role.

On the final ball of the 13th over Kieswetter went hard at a short ball and slapped it at catchable height toward gully. Michael Hussey dropped the difficult chance, diving away to his right. Mr Cricket was seriously angry. He threw his cap down in disgust before running over to retrieve the ball. On the first ball of the very next over Hussey dropped an absolute sitter that seemed to hang in the air forever. These mistakes killed Hussey's confidence and he really seemed to got back in to his shell.

In the 16th over Trott nicked a thunderbolt from Lee and Wade took a neat catch behind the stumps. At that point, Australia held a commanding position with the score at 3-75. Eoin Morgan was the next man who came the crease. He made a quick fire 17 in a useful 37 run partnership with Craig Kieswetter. Morgan eventually fell, edging Doherty behind to Wade.

With the score at 4-112, Jonny Bairstow and Craig Kieswetter met midpitch. They obviously decided to go hell for leather and grind the Australians in to the dirt. For remaining 30 odd overs of the innings, Bairstow and Kieswetter absolutely dominated. They put on an unbeaten stand of 225, a record for the 5th wicket at Lord?s against Australia.

Kieswetter played a magnificent, almost chanceless innings, making 182 from 161 balls. He gave just 2 chances all day, a difficult catch in the gully to Hussey and a sharp stumping missed by Wade. With 22 boundaries and 1 six, it would really take something special to take the man-of-the-match award away from Kieswetter. Carrying his bat through the whole 50 overs, he was easily the best batsmen for England. Bairstow was also superb. He hit an unbeaten 105, coming from just 86 balls, including 11 fours.

For Australia nothing went right after the dismissal of Morgan. Clarke tried every tactic in the book, but nothing would stop the dominance of Kieswetter and Bairstow. Shane Watson was the best of the bowlers taking 1-52. After 50 overs, England had amassed a score of 4-337. This magnificent display of batting from the English has ensured the Australia have a huge task ahead of them in the 2nd innings.

Scorecard:

 

[AbhishekS]

That's an absolutely superb knock from Kieswetter. Bairstow's ton will certainly be over-shadowed by the brilliance of Kieswetter. Pretty sure that if Australia lose this match by a huge margin, their confidence is gonna hit rock-bottom.

Nice presentation BTW. The write-up is also very good and covers all the points and aspects in a perfect manner. Keep it up!
Certainly looking forward to the next inning.

 

[timchrist984]

Superb Forrest Can't Save Australia in Nail-biter
June 29, 2012

As Shane Watson and David Warner strolled out to the wicket, they knew Australia had a huge run chase ahead of them. With a target score of 338, England were looking like red-hot favourites for victory. Jade Dernbach and James Anderson shared the new ball for the English.

After making a relatively cautious start, the Australians lost their first wicket with the score on 7. David Warner sliced a short ball from Anderson straight to the waiting hands of Kevin Pietersen at gully. Warner was out for 3 and England were right on top.

Coming in at number 3 for Australia was young Peter Forrest. Forrest was busy at the crease and scored at a run a ball with relative ease. He looked especially comfortable off his pads, flicking the bowlers through the leg side at regular intervals. Forrest and Watson shared a solid 35 runs stand before Anderson struck again. Watson nicked a ball that swung late and Kieswetter pouched a comfortable catch behind the stumps. Watson was out for a run-a-ball 19 and Australia were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat, with the score at 2-42.

The Australian captain, Michael Clarke then came to the crease and played a steady, sensible innings. He and Forrest began to push the run rate as they set out to rebuild the Australian innings. English captain, Alastair Cook, sensed the Aussies were taking control and decided to make a double change; he brought Bopara and Broad in to the attack, to try and snatch a wicket.

Clarke and Forrest looked unstoppable during their 41 run partnership. Their stand, however, was brought to an end by a magnificent piece of fielding by Eoin Morgan. Clarke played an elegant cover drive that should have rocketed to the boundary. Instead, it was plucked out of the air by Morgan, diving away to this right. Clarke was out for 18 with the Australian score on 3-83.

Michael Hussey came in at number 5 and looked uncomfortable throughout his brief innings. His niggling hamstring injury seemed to be playing up again. He managed to scrounge a meager total of 6 before he was bowled through the gate by Swann. He managed to share a stand of 25 with Peter Forrest, who was looking solid as ever.

With the score on 4-108, Michael?s brother, David, came to the crease. David Hussey was mindful of the required run rate and began upping the ante. He contributed a quick fire 19 in a 45 run partnership with Peter Forrest. Hussey was eventually run out by Kieswetter after an embarrassing mix up with Forrest.

The Australian wicketkeeper, Matthew Wade, was the new man at the crease. Wade and Forrest batted beautifully, really dominating the middle overs of the innings. Forrest eventually brought up his hundred and Wade his fifty. The pair both scored at over a run a ball. Their magnificent stand really got the run rate ticking. After sharing a 98 run partnership Forrest eventually fell. He was caught in the deep by Pietersen after trying to smash Swann over cow-corner. Forrest was dismissed for 127. His innings had come off just 109 balls and included 7 boundaries.

With the score on 6-251, the game was evenly poised. Brett Lee came to the wicket and shared a useful 51 run partnership with Matthew Wade. The pair?s stand, however, ended on a sour note. Wade was run out after being sent back in suicidal circumstances by Lee. Wade was out for 83 and Australia were just 36 runs away from their target with the score on 7-302.

Victory was still within Australia?s reach, but their hopes were dealt a massive blow in the very next over. Brett Lee nicked a ball from Broad straight in to the waiting hands of Kieswetter. Lee was out for 19 and Australia were 8-303. With 2 wickets in hand, Australia had to scrounge another 35 runs.

Clint McKay and Ben Hilfenhaus batted boldly to muster up another 15 runs, but Hilfenhaus soon fell and Australia were 9-318. Hilfenhaus had his stumps rattled when he missed a Jade Dernbach Yorker. He was out for 4.

McKay and Doherty batted valiantly and together added another 10 runs. Going to the final over, Australia were on 9-328, needing just 10 runs for victory. Jade Dernbach was the bowler and Xavier Doherty had the strike. He had to somehow get a 1 or 3 or somehow manufacture a 5 to put McKay on strike. Dernbach charged in and bowled a superb yorker on the first ball of the over. The ball cannoned in to Doherty?s pads and the umpires finger was up in a flash. Doherty was out LBW and England had taken victory by just 10 runs.

The Man-of-the-Match award was given to Craig Kieswetter for his magnificent innings of 182 not out and his solid performance wicket-keeping which included 3 catches and participation in a run out. So, it was England who took home the bacon in the first ODI at Lord?s. They lead the 5 match series 1-0 and will be hoping to win the next match at The Oval.

 

[badvintage]

The Aussies came close, going for Australia the next game

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Your writing is just superb and brilliant and awesome, out of adjectives man

Some inspiration from you man!! Kudos

 

[Dipak]

Good writing there mate!

 

[Umair7]

Great Writeup Mate Cant For Next Odi