Cricket: England-India Review

It's hard to believe, looking back over the wreckage of the series, but India were the number one ranked side going in, and there was anticipation for a tightly fought, thrilling series. It didn't take long for India to start coming apart, and it just got worse and worse through out the series. However, it had started well on the first day, with Zaheer Khan removing both openers, and then having Trott missed - but once he limped out of the series in his next over, things started to go wrong. Praveen Kumar bowled well to finish with five, but Pietersen's 202 led England to a big score, and India's response was well short. Even then, Sharma sparked an England collapse that could have seen India in with a shot in a fourth innings chase, but Prior and Broad took that out of contention with a run-a-ball 162 run partnership, and England's seamers ensured India were never in the hunt.

Still, a 196 run loss first up could be put down to acclimatisation, and so it looked when they bowled England out for 221 on the first day in Nottingham, and then reached 4/267 on the second day, led by Dravid's second century of the series. But then along came Stuart Broad and his hat-trick, figures of 6/46 and a small lead for India. The openers went cheaply, and India still looked good for levelling the series, but that was to be the end of the competition. Bell and the middle order pulverised India on the way to 544, and the seamers ripped through the visitors for a 319 run win. And then it got really ugly.

As Australia found out in the last Ashes series, the current England batting card can make some very large scores. The 474 and 544 in the first two tests were just warm-ups - the Third test brought 7/710 and a massive innings win, and the Fourth Test might have seen that surpassed before rain led Strauss to declare at 6/591. Still, that was enough for another innings win. In contrast, India's much vaunted batting line-up had a high score of 300. Of India's batsmen, Only Dravid could hold his head up, and then some, with three fine centuries and 461 runs. Tendulkar was next highest with 273 and without a century, while only Dhoni also reached 200 in the series. Laxman, Raina, Gambhir and the late arriving Sehwag all had a woeful time. Not surprisingly, the Indian bowling figures were unattractive, although Praveen Kumar flew the flag, finishing with 15 wickets under 30. The spinners had a torrid time, with Mishra and Harbhajan combining for 5/607 in the series.

England's dominance was so total, that it was somewhat of a surprise to note some weak spots. Bell and Pietersen had dominating series, with both totalling over 500, but they didn't always have it easy, with neither opener having an outstanding series. Cook may have finished with 348 from six knocks, but 294 came in one innings, while Strauss had only the one half-century. Morgan and Trott also posted somewhat sub-par numbers, but the lower order again excelled as Prior, Bresnan and Broad all averaged over 60 with a combined century and six fifties. On the bowling side, the seamers had a field day, led by Broad's 25 wickets at less than 14, able backed by Tremlett and Anderson. Graeme Swann had a tougher time, as the Indians showed they can still play spin quite happily away from home, although Swann picked up nine in the last match to finish with 13 at a shade over 40. Not surprisingly, the part-timers weren't needed for a single wicket in the series.

Where to from here? England will take their newly minted top ranking to the UAE to take on Pakistan, and then to Sri Lanka. Given their demolition job here, it would seem that only complacency would threaten them on either tour, although they may be wary about the pitches they may face in Sri Lanka. Presumably, Swann might be more important to the outcome there than he was in the series just gone. For India, they have dropped to third in the rankings, and face some serious questions about the make-up of the squad, although the questions might be better directed at those running Indian cricket. Their preparation was far from ideal, with just a two-day warm up before the First test. The solution can not be just a wholesale shift to youth - veterans Dravid and Tendulkar are still undoubtedly worthy of a place, whereas the IPL-swayed youngsters seem to lack the technique to counter the swinging ball. A leadership change isn't mooted given Dhoni's results elsewhere, so where is the answer? Probably in short-term memories. A reversal of fortune next time out against more modest opposition, and much will be forgiven. Especially when that opposition is Australia.  

EPL: Nasri Leaves Arsenal for Man City

A tough start to the season just got tougher for Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal manager has lost the battle to keep Samir Nasri. Manchester City have signed the player, with rumours of the fee being around £22-24m, further weakening the Gunner's side which also recently lost club captain Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona. Wenger is now under extreme pressure to bolster his squad before the end of month transfer deadline. With injuries and suspensions also causing headaches for Wenger, the coming week's matches away to Udinese and Manchester United could hardly come at a worse time.

Rearview Mirror

If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:

EPL - Manchester United picked up the gauntlet thrown down by their crosstown rivals with a 3-0 defeat of Tottenham in the Monday night game. United took over an hour to get on the board, but didn't look back once Danny Welbeck opened the scoring, moving into second place behind Manchester City after City's 3-2 win at Bolton. Arsenal are the team under early pressure, after Liverpool had their first away win at Arsenal since 2000. The introduction of Luis Suarez following the sending off of Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong gave Liverpool the cutting edge they had been lacking, and they finished 2-0 winners to leave Arsenal with only one point from two games, and a trip to Old Trafford next weekend - with the minor matter of a Champion's League qualifier at Udinese to negotiate during the week. With a lack of depth already cause for concern, Arsene Wenger did not need a second red card in as many league games. Chelsea recovered from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 at home to West Brom, while Wolves joined the two Manchester teams with a perfect record after beating Fulham 2-0.

AFL - Collingwood took advantage of Geelong's bye to move one game clear at the top of the table with a predictable victory over the Brisbane lions, although the Lions showed further evidence of a turnaround in their fortunes as they only went down by 18 points. Hawthorn kept Chris Judd and Carlton subdued to grind out a hard fought 12 point win, all but ensuring that Hawthorn and West Coast will finish with the double chance while Carlton will again be faced with a sudden death final in week one of the finals. West Coast moved ahead of Carlton with a 57 point win over Essendon. North Melbourne kept their faint final hopes alive with a 98-point hammering of Fremantle, all but killing the Dockers hopes of making the eight, as the Sydney Swans 15 point upset of St Kilda meant that the Saints, Swans and Bombers will likely join the Blues in the elimination finals. (Click here for the latest ladder.)

Cricket - England completed their series win over India with an innings win in the fourth and final Test, completing a 4-0 drubbing of the former number one ranked team who now drop to third. England showed there are a number of reasons for their rise to the number one spot, with another dominant batting performance, anchored by Bell and Pietersen, followed by two Indian innings in which the English frontline quartet all played their part. Graeme Swann finally took a bag of wickets, finishing with six in the second innings, nine for the match and thirteen for the series. Dravid carried his bat in the first innings, and Tendulkar made 91 in the second, but India's top order again failed to bat with the tenacity necessary in the circumstances. Raina underlined their woes, facing 42 balls in the match, for the end result of a pair.

 

Over in Sri Lanka, Australia wrapped up the one day series with an emphatic win in game four, before Sri Lanka closed the final margin to 3-2 in the final game after a Malinga hat-trick truncated Australia's innings, and left Sri Lanka with a total they always looked likely to run down, even if they only did so with four wickets and three overs to spare.

Cricket: Sri Lanka Step Up in Game 3 as Australia Fold

Sri Lanka moved up second place in the one day rankings when they trounced the top ranked Australians in game 3 of the five match series. Rebounding strongly after being crushed in the first two matches, the Sri Lankans posted an imposing total with Tharanga (111), Dilshan (55) and Sangakkara (49) providing the foundations for a much larger score. However, from 1/220 after 38 overs, Sri Lanka were held to 286 after Doug Bollinger took three quick wickets to pressure the middle and late order. Australia were never really in the hunt after losing Haddin, Watson and then Ponting in the early overs, although for a while Clarke and Mike Hussey combined nicely. However, Australia's batting depth was tested once Clarke fell, and they slid from 3/123 to be all out for 208, with Malinga finishing with the superb figures of 5/28.

Once again, Australia's recent Test weaknesses came to the fore in the one-day game, missing a belligerent innings from Watson, and unable to be papered over by wickets from the quicks. Australia's opening partnership continues to pose problems, with Brad Haddin struggling to 5 off 20 balls, leaving him with 24 runs from three innings. While Brett Lee, Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson combined for 7/134 off 29 overs, and Watson picked up two last-over wickets, the spinners Xavier Doherty, David Hussey and Steve Smith took 0/90 off 12 overs. Smith was only trusted with two overs, meaning he has bowled just five overs so far in the three matches. There must be strong consideration being given to bringing Shaun Marsh in to open, allowing Haddin to slide down to seventh in the batting order, in place of Smith. Although this would reduce Clarke's bowling options, it doesn't seem like there's much faith in Smith's bowling anyway. As Cameron White learnt, if you don't get bowled, you'd better be batting well. And Smith's scores just haven't been good enough, with the all-rounder/6th batsman debate still well and truly alive.

It seemed like Australia was cruising to a series win after the first two matches, but Sri Lanka will take a lot of  confidence from this match heading into the last two games in Colombo on Saturday and Monday, and the series is wide open again. And Sri Lanka will be well aware that winning the last two games will be a big dent in Australia's confidence heading into the Test series at the end of the month.



 

Rearview Mirror

Rearview Mirror

If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:

EPL - the English Premier league opened up, with Manchester United jumping out to an early advantage over their expected rivals for the title. A predictable late goal gave United a 2-1 win at West Brom, while Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all drew (Manchester City play Monday). Adding to Arsenal's woes, they had Gervinho sent off, while Fabregas is supposedly on his way back to Barcelona for somewhat less than Arsenal were asking.

Golf - A rollercoaster conclusion to the US PGA saw Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley fight out a thriller which looked all over when Bradley triple-bogeyed the 15th hole. At that stage, Dufner had a five shot lead over Bradley, but that disappeared as Dufner bogeyed 15 through 17, while Bradley bounced back to birdie 16 and 17 - the last with a monster putt that he nearly replicated  for a birdie on 18. Bradley went into the clubhouse at 8 under, tied with Dufner who was hitting off back on the tee. Dufner managed to land his second shot in the middle of the green, leaving a similar putt to Keegan's, and safely got down in two to send the contest to a three-hole playoff.

Momentum was all with the red-shirted rookie Bradley, not to mention the four shot advantage he had just experienced over the playoff holes, 16 through 18. However, it was Dufner who had the first advantage when he nearly holed his second shot on 16, missing by a ball's width. It drifted only a few feet past, but Bradley hit a phenomenal shot inside that, and made his putt after Dufner missed, taking a one shot advantage. Onto the 17th, where, as he had done in regulation, Dufner three-putted to give Bradley a two shot lead heading to 18.

After they finished in near identical spots on the 18th green, Dufner made his putt to pressure Bradley, but the rookie in his first ever major was able to safely get down in two to clinch a fantastic victory. Once again, the majors have thrown up another first time major winner as Tiger Woods' fall from preeminence has left a vacancy that no one else can get close to filling.

AFL - after some blow out victories in recent weeks, league leaders Collingwood and Geelong were run closer this week, but both pulled out close victories over resurgent St Kilda and Adelaide respectively. Elsewhere, Hawthorm, Carlton and West Coast all registered impressive victories, headlined by the Hawks 165 point drubbing of a demoralised Port Power. Essendon registered a crucial win over the Bulldogs, while the Swans and Fremantle's losses keeps their fans fingernails in danger, and North Melbourne's fans hoping to steal 8th spot. The ladder looks like this with three rounds remaining.

Cricket - England moved to the number one spot in the Test cricket rankings with a crushing win over India in the third test, taking a 3-0 lead in the four test series. With the exception of MS Dhoni, the Indian batsmen again provided little resistance to England's seamers. Bowled out for 224 and 244, Dhoni's 77 and 74 not out were India's only half-centuries in the game, while England's 7/710 contained a century and three fifties in addition to the minor matter of Cook's 294 as England swept home by a massive innings and 242 runs. 

Over in Sri Lanka, Australia have bounced back from the 2-0 loss in the Twenty20 series to take the first two matches in the five-match ODI series. With the batting line-up bolstered by the experienced Clarke and Ponting, Australia have looked a more formidable side in registering two convincing victories. 

Rugby - as the World Cup nears, England lost 19-9 to Wales in Cardiff, and Australia had a rare win in South Africa, taking the Tri Nations clash 14-9.

Cricket: There, but for the grace of Hilditch, go I...

Ricky Ponting has come out in support of Simon Katich when the former captain appeared on the AFL Footy Show. Given the respective ages of the two veterans, and their recent records, the fact that Katich missed out on a contract while Ponting remained on the 25 man list was certainly a contrast in fortunes. Ponting is around eight months older, and his last century came in January 2010, while Katich's was in March 2010. Since their last centuries, Ponting has made 593 Test runs at an average of just over 31, while Katich has made 394 at just under 33. In the most recent Ashes series, Ponting made 113 runs at just 16.14, missing one test with injury and failing to pass 20 after the first test in Brisbane. Katich made 97 at 24.25, and was injured for the last three tests.  

Ponting's likely replacement is currently Usman Khawaja, who made 37 and 21 in the Sydney test in Ponting's absence and made 613 Shield runs at 61.3 last summer, while Katich's replacement Phil Hughes made 628 in the Shield at 41.86 (with two centuries in his last two matches) and 97 at 16.16 in the Ashes tests. Given those numbers, Ponting can be very thankful to still be in the hunt for a test spot, especially relative to Katich. Mike Hussey's brilliant last few months has staved off his axing, as has the absence of alternatives pushing for his spot, so we'll moderate Ponting's comment that "It puts us 36 year-olds on notice now, Mike Hussey and myself. It's going to make us work that little bit harder." Mike Hussey didn't get the name 'Mr Cricket' by being a shirker on the work front, and if Ponting didn't feel he was on notice after losing the captaincy, then he's getting as slow on the uptake as he is on the hook shot.

Back to the Katich situation though, my biggest concern is the selectors' apparent focus on the 2013 Ashes as a driving reason for the change. It might be the most prestigious series for historical reasons, and the longest series in terms of tests played, but it is an insult to India and South Africa to infer that they are mere training stepping stones in between Ashes engagements. It is important to be keeping the side refreshed and balanced in terms of age and experience, both now and into the future, but there are plenty of tests to be won and lost between now and then, and too many losses may well see plenty of players and selectors turned over before then. It would not be pretty to see the opening batsmen turned over with anything near the frequency of spinners, and yet both Khawaja and Shaun Marsh have put their hand up for the opening spot, while other names like Ed Cowan and Nic Maddinson have been thrown around, and indifferent form from Hughes and/or injury to Shane Watson could make for 'interesting' times.

NBA: Dallas Mavericks Take Game 5 as LeBron Falters Again

The Dallas Mavericks will head to Miami with two chances to take the NBA championship after winning game 5 112-103 to take a 3-2 series lead. In another close contest, Dallas got away to a 9 point lead late in the third quarter before a Miami Heat surge in the fourth saw them take a 99-95 lead to the distress of the Dallas crowd. However, the Mavericks again stepped up under pressure at the business end, continuing to make 3-pointers (as they had done all night - 13 of 19) through the Jasons, Kidd and Terry, while Dirk Nowitzki continued to make clutch throws, finishing with 29 points. Terry had a big game finishing with 21 while Barea also provided crucial support with 17.  

For the Heat, an injury to Dwyane Wade stripped him of court time, although he led their scoring with 23 after coming back to the court to spark their 4th quarter resurgence, while Bosh had 19 and LeBron James 17. James faced plenty of questions and accusations after his 8-point effort in game 4, and responded with a triple-double, but only contributed two-points in the last quarter to have just 11 last quarter points in the five finals matches. Once again, the Mav's old-timers had too much composure when the stakes were highest, and probably too much depth, although Haslem and Chalmers registered double-figure points tonight.

The Heat certainly have the firepower to win the last two games at home, but whether they can deal with the pressure remains to be seen. While LeBron was better tonight, he will need to be better again in Miami, otherwise Wade might be left with too much to do.