6 January 2011
New Year, New Design
(As it's the rugby season, and having a light and summery background in January just feels wrong.)
Snatching Victory from the Jaws of........Well, Victory
In a few hours' time, barring a Botham-esque stand from Smith and Siddle, England will have added a series victory to their regaining of the Ashes, and made a mockery of many pre-Brisbane predictions. (Mine included, although a 2-1 win was only slightly too conservative.)
The interventions of Christmas and New Year have meant I haven't documented this series as closely as I wanted to; some might say this was a good thing, as the up-turn in England's fortunes coincided with the start of my blogging silence. . . But I couldn't resist returning at the end of 23 days of often brilliant and sometimes woeful cricket to offer some final thoughts. (Slash gloats.)
Man of the Series
Fairly predictably, Alastair Cook. 700+ runs , batting for 36+ hours -- that's a day and a half. That pie's still tasting pretty good.
Best Innings of the Series
Finally, Kevin Pietersen had silenced the doubters. Not got the temperament to push on into the 200s? Pah. Weak against left-arm spinners? It doesn't really matter if you get to 227 before falling to one. The first innings at Adelaide was a masterwork. Gone was the scratchy, jittery Kaypee of yesteryear, foxed by such cricketing goliaths as Mehrab Hossain; this was a new, mature model of the complete batter. KP 2.0, then. Until...
...Worst Shot of the Series
Oh dear. After an ugly swipe at Mitchell Johnson yesterday, the composure of the Adelaide double-century appears to have been a false dawn.
Most Undermined Stat of the Series
Jimmy Anderson's 5 previous wickets in Australia went for 80 apiece; England were basing their attack on someone who just didn't have a clue when handed the Kookaburra ball. So this analysis makes for pretty good reading:
208.1 ~ 49 ~ 614 ~ 23
That's 23 wickets at 26.7, with an economy rate of less than 3 an over. Oh, and 23.5% of his overs were maidens.
The Heart and Soul of England Cricket Award
Duncan Fletcher, Nasser Hussain, and the Three Wise Andrews (Flintoff, Strauss, Flower) have all been credited with a hand in the renaissance of English cricket over the past decade or so; the man I believe to have done more for the game in this country than any other, since his ODI debut in 2001, is Paul Collingwood, who retired from Test cricket this week. So long, Paul, and thanks for all...of...these.
The interventions of Christmas and New Year have meant I haven't documented this series as closely as I wanted to; some might say this was a good thing, as the up-turn in England's fortunes coincided with the start of my blogging silence. . . But I couldn't resist returning at the end of 23 days of often brilliant and sometimes woeful cricket to offer some final thoughts. (Slash gloats.)
Man of the Series
Fairly predictably, Alastair Cook. 700+ runs , batting for 36+ hours -- that's a day and a half. That pie's still tasting pretty good.
Best Innings of the Series
Finally, Kevin Pietersen had silenced the doubters. Not got the temperament to push on into the 200s? Pah. Weak against left-arm spinners? It doesn't really matter if you get to 227 before falling to one. The first innings at Adelaide was a masterwork. Gone was the scratchy, jittery Kaypee of yesteryear, foxed by such cricketing goliaths as Mehrab Hossain; this was a new, mature model of the complete batter. KP 2.0, then. Until...
...Worst Shot of the Series
Oh dear. After an ugly swipe at Mitchell Johnson yesterday, the composure of the Adelaide double-century appears to have been a false dawn.
Most Undermined Stat of the Series
Jimmy Anderson's 5 previous wickets in Australia went for 80 apiece; England were basing their attack on someone who just didn't have a clue when handed the Kookaburra ball. So this analysis makes for pretty good reading:
208.1 ~ 49 ~ 614 ~ 23
That's 23 wickets at 26.7, with an economy rate of less than 3 an over. Oh, and 23.5% of his overs were maidens.
The Heart and Soul of England Cricket Award
Duncan Fletcher, Nasser Hussain, and the Three Wise Andrews (Flintoff, Strauss, Flower) have all been credited with a hand in the renaissance of English cricket over the past decade or so; the man I believe to have done more for the game in this country than any other, since his ODI debut in 2001, is Paul Collingwood, who retired from Test cricket this week. So long, Paul, and thanks for all...of...these.
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