Guess I best get us started!
Following on from an indifferent tour of South Africa (completed on C22) Andrew Strauss’ men are next off to Bangladesh, however Strauss himself will not feature.
The ECB have announced that the tour will allow them to ‘see new faces’ and in doing so provide a chance for both Strauss and James Anderson to rest. Anderson is expected to have a specialist review and rehabilitation on a chronic knee problem, while Strauss is resting ahead of a year consisting of an Ashes tour to Australia.
Former England captain Michael Atherton was less than impressed with the decision to leave out Strauss, believing that a side always needs its captain, but it has allowed for the inclusion of another left handed opener, Hampshire’s Michael Carberry. Carberry receives the call up following some good form in last year’s County Championship.
Joining Carberry in the touring party are a few more England new boys; Steven Finn, Ajmal Shahzad, James Tredwell and only just qualified for inclusion, South African born Craig Kieswetter.
The tour begins with a 3 match ODI series, which will then be followed by 2 Test matches. Alistair Cook is set for a return to the one day side as he has been named captain for both formats.
Write up of the 1st ODI in Dhaka to come…
Over a year since posting this and I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that cricket has been getting played behind the scenes.
The tour to Bangladesh was less than ideal, with a 1-1 draw in the Test series, but it did see the emergence of Steven Finn, who has gone on to take 33 wickets from 8 Tests at an average of 30.82 BBI 23-6.
Following this tour was the 2010 T20 World Cup in the West Indies, but sadly I could not replicate the real-life success, with the hosts beating Pakistan in the final.
It was back to Test cricket after this and Bangladesh were the first of 3 sides to tour the UK that summer, with an ODI series against Australia and a full schedule of games against Pakistan to come. The results went as follows;
2 Match Test Series v Bangladesh - Eng won 2-0
ODI v Ireland - Eng won by 2 wickets
5 Match ODI Series v Australia - Eng won 3-2 (it was 2-2 going into the final ODI and England chased 308 for victory. Andrew Strauss with an unbeaten 145)
3 Match ODI Series v Bangladesh - Eng won 2-1
4 Match Test Series v Pakistan - Eng won 3-1 (Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have since faced charges of match fixing after 13 no balls were bowled in the first innings of the 1st Test - this actually happened, was quite odd)
2 Match T20 Series v Pakistan - Pak won 2-0
5 Match ODI Series v Pakistan - Eng won 3-2
After an action packed summer of cricket, the England side rest up before heading to Australia to try and retain the Ashes after winning it back in 2009 (on Cricket 19)
Enjoy the screen shots!