- Jonathan Agnew
- 19 Oct 07, 12:58 PM
The dropping of Andrew Strauss for the first time in his 43- match Test career was the main talking point of the latest England squad announcement.
He was recently awarded a central contract for the next 12 months, but he has paid the price for a really disappointing year in which he averaged only 27 and failed to score a century.
Even on the rare occasion that he managed to pass 50 he looked unconvincing and the feeling of the selectors is that he needs a rest, and more time to work on one or two technical issues.
Continue reading "Strauss pays price for a poor year"
- Jonathan Agnew
- 14 Sep 07, 05:33 PM
So England were going to gain some revenge for the Ashes and knock Australia out of World Twenty20 were they? Well, at least dreams are cheap!
The reality is that Australia are back to their ruthless, disciplined and bullying best, and dominated the game from the first ball to the premature end.
I'm at a loss to explain why England chose to bat first. After their defeat by Zimbabwe - in which their batting was little more than complacent slogging - Australia were the team under pressure.
They had to win to stay in the tournament, and had their batting been put the test from the start, they might have collapsed.
Continue reading "England let Aussies off hook"
- Jonathan Agnew
- 8 Sep 07, 05:11 PM
It’s a shame that umpiring controversies should once again overshadow a match in this excellent one-day series.
No matter how hard England celebrate their well-deserved victory, Indian supporters will point to the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar as being crucial to the failure of their team.
Tendulkar was given out caught behind off Andrew Flintoff by Aleem Dar, who had just dispatched Rahul Dravid in similar circumstances.
Continue reading "Mobile England deserve series win"
- Jonathan Agnew
- 5 Sep 07, 06:24 PM
Another tremendous match enthralled the Oval crowd, and ended with India completing a remarkable victory to set up a winner-take-all final at Lord's on Saturday.
England appeared to have the match in control until Robin Uthappa produced a clinical finish.
Continue reading "Uthappa holds nerve for India"
- Jonathan Agnew
- 2 Sep 07, 06:29 PM
A chilly, damp day at Headingley with a howling gale did little to encourage good cricket, but India deservedly prevailed in a match littered with fielding errors to keep their interest in the series alive.
Both teams were guilty of missing chances, largely because the white ball dipped and swung on its way to the slip fielders, while Yuvraj Singh received a crucial reprieve on 10 when umpire Nigel Llong failed to detect an edge to the wicket-keeper off the bowling of Monty Panesar.
Yuvraj then played some magnificent shots to reach 72 off only 57 balls which pushed India's total beyond 300.
Continue reading "Change of emphasis boosts India"
