England's cricket World Cup Squad

Batsmen                                           Bowlers

Andrew Strauss (c)                     James Anderson

Ian Bell                                       Tim Bresnan

Paul Collingwood                        Stuart Broad

Eoin Morgan                               Ajmal Shahzad

Kevin Pieterson                          Graeme Swann

Matt Prior (wk)                          James Tredwell

Jonathan Trott                            Michael Yardy

Luke Wright

I will analyse Andy Flower's choice of Squad. Andrew Strauss can be very good but can also get out very quickly. If he wants to confirm his place in the side he has to get a couple of hundreds in this ODI series with Australia. He was reasonable in the Ashes getting lots of fifties but only one or two hundreds. On the other hand he is a very clever captain making the right decisions at the right time. 

Ian Bell was a definite for me as he has shone throughout the Australian tour showing he is on the form of his life.In the last test he got 116 and he was batting down the order making lots more valuable quick contributions. He is also a very good fielder and will never let you down in that aspect of the game.

Paul Collingwood I wasn't sure about but at the the end I think that he should be in the squad. He is an outstanding fielder taking some magnificent catches in the Ashes. Batting wise he has not delivered the goods and done nothing all tour. He instils confidence and when he is on form can be a destructive force. His off-cutters and medium pacers could be vital on the sub-continent conditions.

Eoin Morgan has shown us that he is a quality batsmen and provides stability to the England innings. He usually gets big scores and is a very good fielder giving energy off. He is renowned for his unpredictability  which will be key. Shots like the reverse sweep and the Dilshan which is the hit over the head are his speciality.

Kevin Pieterson seems to be back on form after lots of quick fire fifties and a massive 227 in the second test match for England. He is the best player in the world when he is on form because of his strength and sheer quality. He even has proved himself with the ball taking a critical wicket of Michael Clarke.

Matt Prior is an excellent wicket keeper but I do not believe that he has what it takes to be an opening batsmen in the World Cup. He scored a century in the final Ashes test and is on form but he has not convinced me. Steven Davies or Kieswetter would have been a better choice as they score quickly and play well in pressure situations.

Jonathan Trott has had a wonderful year, in the English summer he was England's best batsman scoring every time he was out in the middle. He has carried his form to Australia making a few hundreds and fifties. He is extremely reliable and will always get a decent score. He is a good fielder and I think that his overs will contribute massively to the English bid of winning the World Cup.

Luke Wright is, in my opinion, a bits and pieces cricketer who can make very quick runs and take wickets. The selectors like him a lot and throughout  Andy Flower's leadership of England he has made no mistakes. Luke Wright has a knack of taking wickets at vital times but I am not sure that he can bowl his 10 overs. I think they made the correct decision taking him. They could use him as a substitute fielder as he is very energetic and catches brilliantly.

Now onto the bowlers and the person leading this attack will be James Anderson who I think is one of the best bowlers in the World. He makes the ball reverse or swing both ways and is a wicket taker. When he is not taking wickets he applies pressure on the opposition through maiden overs. This then allows other bowlers to take the wicket and the credit. He is experienced and it came to me as no surprise that he was included in the squad.

Tim Bresnan bowled brilliantly in the Ashes taking valuable wickets. He made the ball swing and is an excellent bowler at the death thus applying pressure on the opposition. He ,unlike, Anderson usually takes advantage of this by claiming a wicket for himself but he is usually bowling at the tail enders. He is an extremely accurate bowler at the death as well.

Nobody argues that Stuart Broad is talented but I don't think that he should have been included in the squad just on the basis that he has not played much cricket at all. He had to withdraw from the tour because of a torn stomach muscle. He is a natural wicket taker but is expensive like Steven Finn. Tremlett might not take as many wickets but does give away 30 runs less.

Ajmal Shahzad deserves his place in the team as he is hugely talented at swinging the ball thus takes a lot of wickets. It is a gamble but if he gets it swinging nobody can play him. He would start in my books. He might not be as good with the new ball but can be deadly with the oldish ball.

Graeme Swann has been magnificent all summer taking wickets on very difficult surfaces and conditions. In England he took record number of wickets and was vital in the English Ashes' victory. He was an obvious choice for the World Cup and will prove a decisive factor. The sub-continent conditions will suit him and he will take many wickets through the course of the tournament.

James Tredwell was a surprise as he has not been part of the England set up for a long time. The more I think about it the more I tend to agree with the selectors. His batting may be an important contribution near the end of the match. As I have mentioned before Indian conditions with favour the slower bowlers and he might be able to take wickets. I think that he will not be able to get in the team, the only way he might is if any of the spinners get injured.

Michael Yardy has supplemented Swann extremely well over the last very successful year. He used to be a fast bowler but turned to slower pace. He now bowls accurate darts and creates pressure that Swann thrives on. He will have a good tournament and the conditions will help him as well.

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Will Arsene Wenger buy somebody?

There is a clear weakness at the heart of the Arsenal defence after the last two seasons. Kolo Toure was sold to Manchester City and he was a very good player who was capable of marvellous defending. Tomas Vermaelen was brought in to replace him and he looked to be even better than his predecessor. At the start of the season he became Arsenal's top goalscorer and was considered a very decent defender. The fans had thought that they had found a good partnership between Vermaelen and William Gallas.

Arsene Wenger claimed that Gallas was asking for too much money and too long a contract. He always insists on not giving players over thirty more than a one year contract. Arsene decided to buy another two centre-halves and got Koscieley and Squillaci who are both not very good.

Koscieley was supposed to start with Vermaelen but Vermaelen got injured and still is. This meant that the new defenders had to start. They have been at fault for many goals and Wenger has admitted that there is a problem. There is talk that Christopher Samba was going to join West Ham but was put off by a bid by the Gunners. He is not the World Class defender we need but is strong and reliable which is what Arsenal need at the moment.

I believe that Wenger will buy a defender but not the ones we are in dire need of. He will get average players and Arsenal's defence will not be able to cope thus not giving a worthy challenge to Manchester United!

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Why England won the Ashes?

1st Test

As I have said in the past I fully expected England to retain the ashes but I never would have hoped for such a brilliant performance in Australia! We travelled there with a very young and talented squad but we did not start too well as we were bowled out for 260. This was due to Siddle getting six wickets in an innings but there were positives as Cook got 60, Iain Bell got a fifty and Peiterson looked like he was on form getting 39.

In the Australian innings wickets fell in quick succession but suddenly Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin make a record partnership at the Gabba. Hussey fell short of the double ton and Haddin got 132. The English bowler, Finn, who has shown a lot of promise got six wickets as well. Australia posted  a big score of 481.

England came out to bat 221 runs behind Australia but soon this would all change. Strauss after getting naught in the first innings made 110. Then Cook and Trott broke the record partnership that had been set the previous day. Cook ended up with a huge double hundred (not out) and Trott made 132 (not out). Strauss declared on 517-1. They had a session to ball the Australians out.

The opening pair fell very quickly and the higher middle order did not to much to stop the English bowlers but yet again Hussey and Haddin saved Australia. England had managed to take five wickets but the match was drawn. England had managed to turn it around and they had the upper hand over the Australians. They needed to take advantage of this in the next test.

2nd Test


Hopes were high at Adelaide and the English turned up in numbers to see what would happen. England began bowling and got the Australians out for below 300 runs but Hussey had got a very good score.

Cook came out and made runs quickly but Strauss went for a few runs. This was not to perturb Cook as he went on to make 189 and then came K.P. He got his highest ever score of 227 and Australia were left dumbfounded. England declared on 620 runs.

The pitch appeared to have cracks perfect for Swann and the Australians did everything they could to stop this happening. They drove heavy rollers over the pitch for a long time but this proved to no avail as Swann got a five wicket haul and the Australians lost by an innings and 73 runs.The bad news was that Stuart Broad had to pull out of the tour because of a torn stomach muscle. This was the biggest Australian defeat since 1939! England were one up in Australia!

3rd Test

Australia were on the back foot and on the defensive. They were panicking and the fans wanted Shane Warne   back in the squad to see if he could inspire a major comeback to save Australian cricket form utter humiliation. In the end he was not needed.

England looked to have carried on their good form as they bowled the Aussies out for less then 300 runs again but then England returned to the dark ages where collapses were a frequent feature of their game. Strauss and Cook made a 91 run partnership and it seemed plain sailing until Johnson bowled. He managed to swing the ball round corners and took his place by the scruff of the neck after being dropped. England fell apart and Mitchell Johnson took six deserved wickets. Australia were 83 runs ahead, it would seem that England were not completely out of this one.

Australia made around 300 but Hussey had got them there with yet another high score. He had not been dismissed for less than a fifty whole series. If England could turn it around they might just be able to clinch victory and retain the Ashes for the first time in 24 years.

It was not going to turn out that way as England lost wickets quickly and made around 200. The Aussies had turned it around and the English had failed to take advantage when they had Ricky Ponting's team on the ropes. They had lost and the series was all square.

4th Test


90,000 people went to watch the Australians with hope that they could win the test match. It was not worth it as Australia were rolled out for less than 100. England had answered their critics very well and had shown that they were a new England team. They had the resilience to come to a packed Australian cricket ground and on the back foot and performed magnificently. They had got them out in less than two sessions but England had to take full advantage of this awful batting display. Tremlett and Anderson got 4 wickets each.

Andrew Strauss and Cook came out with a skip in their step and completed the best possible day for England. They got to 157 for no wickets down. Another thing that even worse than the performance was the faith of the Australian fans. At the start of the day over 82,000 Australian fans were present. At the end of the day the English outnumbered the Australians by a couple of thousands.

Day 2 of this test match arrived but this time it was the Australians who took wickets as the English openers fell in quick succession but then Trott and Peiterson  made a decent partnership. Peiterson got a fifty and got out but Trott continued and made another huge score of  168. Prior then added just over eighty runs to the English innings and they were all out for 513 runs. This meant that the Aussies were 415 runs behind the high flying English.

Australia started quite well as Shane Watson got fifty but as usual he could not get to sixty. A couple of twenties followed but then a massive wicket was taken. Bresnan had taken Mike Hussey for a duck and this sent the English into ecstasy. Smith and Haddin made a good partnership but when they were gone England dismantled the tail with ease! Australia managed 258 and yet again the middle order was the main failure. England now had retained the Ashes and went 2-1 up in the series. They had nothing  to lose and they were going for the jugular as a win in the final test match would ensure their first win for 24 years in Australia. On the other hand the Aussies were playing for pride and to give their fans something to shout about. They had lost again by an innings and 157 runs.

5th Test


This match was held in Sydney and Australia won the toss and decided to bat. This proved to be a mistake as they were all out for less then 300 runs. Ponting had been injured so Khawaja came in. The first three batsmen got over thirty but then Clarke came and went and wickets fell on a constant basis. Siddle and the tail managed to prolong the innings and take them to 280 all out.

Strauss made 60 off just 58 balls and Cook started slowly but made it count making a massive 189. Apart from 36 from Peiterson the middle order fell. Then Bell came and played terrifically and got 115 runs then Prior continued his brilliant form and made 118. England got 644 all out this meant that this was their fourth score over 500 and their second over six hundred! Australia had almost no chance of saving themselves from series defeat so they came out swinging the bat.

The Aussies did nothing much apart from a fifty from Smith. The batsman had failed to produce and this time it would be the last as they were bowled out for 281. They had been humiliated again and lost by an innings again. They had lost 3-1 and all of their defeats were innings ones. The English had batted to innings less than the Aussies. WHAT A TOUR FOR THE ENGLISH!

The Conclusion


Ricky Ponting had not performed and had not got over fifty once. He did not lead his side and was very angry in his manner towards the umpires. Watson had on almost every occasion got around fifty runs but he was unable to make it into a big score. They relied too much on Hussey and when he lost nick they just could not stop losing. Clarke never got a good first innings score as his highest was 20. Haddin had batted well and so did Siddle alongside Johnson.

The Aussie bowlers were not accurate and didn't reverse the ball almost at all. Siddle gave everything and was rewarded but the rest were not determined at all in the slightest. The Aussie management were not patient and constantly shifted the line-up like England had done previously.

The English were simply more talented than Australia and had better management. The English converted their fifties into big hundreds and double tons.The English bowlers were very accurate and they took advantage of the conditions.
Well done England you were the better team!

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