Story The Silent Planet tour

[SaiSrini]

Play was delayed here for a while as both teams were glued to the radio listening to the conclusion of the 2nd test between India & Pakistan. (Saisrini80's thread). At the conclusion, the players dashed out into the middle here, in case the 3rd test was started and the Nottingham crowd were robbed of any more live cricket here at Trent Bridge.

Wow.. Really didnt know England & Australia enjoyed that match between India & Pakistan so much!! I think Trent Bridge had Sky Sports telecast rite? The India - Pakistan match was telecast on Sky Sports. Why did they hear it on radio? Didnt the stadium have in built TV's for the telecast??

Ok now to this thread, I think England should win this unless you have a collapse or go for the broke!! I wish England wins this one!! I dont like Australia that much. Not that they are a bad team but want to see them losing after seeing them win so much!!

 

[m_vaughan]

Good and a very useful partnership there between Straussy and Butch. I think the match is in England's hand now, and only they can lose it. But one must not forget that the opposition happens to be the best team in the world.

 

[FishBowlMan]

Wow.. Really didnt know England & Australia enjoyed that match between India & Pakistan so much!! I think Trent Bridge had Sky Sports telecast rite? The India - Pakistan match was telecast on Sky Sports. Why did they hear it on radio? Didnt the stadium have in built TV's for the telecast??

Both sides were glued to this match. Unfortunately, the broadcaster's for the Silent Planet Tour - Channel 9 have decreed that no rival television broadcasters can appear anywhere in the ground for the duration of the match. Hence - the radio.

England vs Australia - Day 4 - lunch through tea

England, despite a couple of stumbles are still in a promising position at 223 / 5. With Freddie on 9 and new batsman Geraint Jones yet to face a ball, Australia will also feel they still have a good chance.

The most controversial moment of the match occured soon after lunch. Only 5 runs had been added when Butcher was "given out" LBW from Katich's bowling. The ball would have missed leg stump, and pitched way outside leg as well. Unfortunately, the host broadcasters did not manage to record this decision for posterity (I had forgotten to load Fraps before starting the game today ). Somehow, Butcher managed not to complain - his 76 providing a solid platform for England.

Vaughn is still not in the best of form, and he scratched around in the crease for 87 balls for his 20, before he too fell LBW. No complaints this time - the ball from Warne pitched, and would have gone on to hit, middle stump. 196 / 4 at this point, and with Thorpe going strong, and Freddie on his way in, 76 to win should not be a problem.

In the last over before tea, there was a terrible mix up. Thorpe was run out for 44 having been sent back by Freddie. Can he atone for this mistake this afternoon? 49 to win with 5 wickets in hand.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

C'mon England!
And thanks for the rep!

 

[FishBowlMan]

England shoot themselves in the foot! "BANG!!!"

3 balls after tea, Geraint gets himself in a right mess. The least said about that shot, the better. 223 / 6 and England wobbling.

Now the fun begins, as from here on in, it will be "edge time". Giles does not look too confident, and with the ball flying around, Ponting has set really defensive fields! Surely he must put a slip in soon!

Warne is starting to turn the ball sharply. Freddie mis-judges the flight of a leg-break and drives to Ponting in the covers for 22. That's Ponting's 2nd catch and this one could be key!

When Giles is caught, again from Warne, England are 253 / 8 with Simon Jones and Hoggard now at the crease and 19 still required for victory. Australia require 2 wickets.

 

[FishBowlMan]

Ponting seems happy just to let England lose this by themselves. You could have Lord Nelson and Stephen Hawking in the slip cordon (when they had achieved Australian residency qualification ) and they would have picked up 20 or 30 catches. As it is, no slips, so free runs. England, however, insist that to make it fair, Jones would edge to the keeper. 258 / 9 and 14 short of the target. Hoggard & Harmison are the pair that England are relying on to see them through.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

C'mon England! Don't lose this like India lost to Pak(Saisrini80's Thread)!!! :crying
Don't attack, and try to take quick singles! C'mon England!!!!! :happy :hpraise

 

[FishBowlMan]

England "edge" their way to victory


Well England's 2 tail enders batted like champions - edging and scratting around, but with a beautiful drive down to mid off, and a mad dash - Hoggard hits England's winning run! The balcony erupts with joy and I now need a large cup of coffee.

Stats will follow soon, but for the mean-time, here is Hoggard's spider. 2 quality scoring strokes, and some horrendous edges. They all count though

 

[SaiSrini]

C'mon England! Don't lose this like India lost to Pak(Saisrini80's Thread)!!! :crying
Don't attack, and try to take quick singles! C'mon England!!!!! :happy :hpraise

Ha Ha.. hey buddy, i never attacked at all on the last day. It was all trying to grab those quick singles. But playing the spinners was really tough.. but still i lost just by 5 runs. So it was a close game!

 

[FishBowlMan]

C9: Its presentation time - and first the losing captain Ricky Ponting. Ricky - what was with the field positions at the end of the game. Surely with more attacking fields you would have won that game?

RP: No I don't think so. Our plan was to restrict the England run-rate and stop them from getting to the total. That nearly worked, so I think we should have won.

C9: So you believed you could have kept them to less than 1 an over for the best part of 2 days?

RP: Absolutely. We pushed them hard.

C9: Well you did nearly win, but there were so many chances that you could have taken had there been slips in place at the end of the game. England won with a day to spare.

RP: That's just dirty tricks! We'll beat them up in the re-match, and then beat whoever we face in the final.

C9: Thanks Ricky - some interesting thoughts (or lack of!) from the Aussie captain. Turning to England's skipper. Congrats Michael. That's 2 out of 2.

MV: Well, how can I follow that interview. The spirit of "Lord Sutch" lives on. We need to take a serious look at our batting. I've not been in great form, but some of the middle / lower order have been shocking. Andy, Butch and Thorpey got us in a good position, and we hung on in there. A net session tomorrow, I think!

C9: We'll have to see what the pitch is like at Chelmsford for the New Zealand game.

MV: Yeah - hopefully a decent track and I can get back into good nick. Having said that, 2 from 2 - one of which was against the best in the world, so we can't complain too much. We just need to improve from here.



Here is the scorecard. As we've said - good innings from Strauss, Butcher and Thorpe - it's just the rest that needs some work. Good effort from Simon Jones, Hoggard and Harmison when the new ball was flying.

 

[FishBowlMan]

Some good bowling figures. Katich bowled some long spells. His only problem was that most overs contained a rank wide short ball. Easy runs as England could just sit back and wait for the bad one.


Checking through the record books, the great Bill Frindall has identified 4 more updates. Three new partnerships, and a clubbing effort from Mark Butcher have been entered into the hall of fame. Will any more occur in Chelmsford?

 

[SaiSrini]

Well done England. Nice to see the Aussies beaten. Who is next for England?? I am happy that India gave a better fight to England than Australia!!

 

[FishBowlMan]

Game 5: New Zealand vs South Africa at Durham's Chester Le Street.

New Zealand were rolled for 150 in their 1st innings. Richardson top scored with 48. Kallis recorded 5 wickets.

South Africa's response was 276 all out. Kallis making 70.

In the kiwis 2nd innings, they struggled to 178 all out. Richardson again top scoring with 50

This left South Africa needing just 52 to win. They made this comfortably to win by 8 wickets.


Game 6: India and Australia at Old Trafford

Aus batted 1st, reaching 295 all out. Lehmann and Gilchrist both reaching half centuries.

India, who are yet to register a victory in this tournament, could only make 165 in reply. Tendulkar top scoring with an unbeaten 62.

Building on their 1st innings lead, Australia piled on the runs, declaring on 376 / 8. The highlight being the 1st wicket partnership of 142 between Langer and Hayden.

India found themselves chasing 506 to win. Unsurprisingly, they failed to reach this target - being bowled out for 211.




Here is the table after game 5 with all teams having played twice. I've still no idea how these run-rates are meant to work - they seem to have no bearing as a decider. I'm sure it will work out in the end.

Next match sees England take on New Zealand at Chelmsford. Here's hoping for slightly less batting collapses. This game probably won't be played for a few days. I really must get some work done

 

[FishBowlMan]

Well done England. Nice to see the Aussies beaten. Who is next for England?? I am happy that India gave a better fight to England than Australia!!

Unfortunately the Aussies bounced back to give India what Ponting promised in that bizarre interview - a right kicking! The table does not make for happy viewing for India. After their 3rd game, Australia now top the table. Good luck to them it must be said - they have played some good cricket.

England will take on the Kiwis in the next game.

 

[m_vaughan]

Good win there for England. Both your matches so far have been really close ones, with England just about getting there at the end. Great reading and very exciting.

Looking forward to the next test.