TagJonathan Trott

Clucking Bell – day one at Lord’s

England 289-7. Stumps. I have a conundrum for you: if England have so many world class batsmen, why can’t they put decent first innings totals on the board? This has been a big problem for a while now; it stretches back to last summer. Perhaps it’s because Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell and Prior are unlucky? Or maybe they simple aren’t as good – and by good I mean consistent and ruthless – as everyone thinks they are. When was the last the big guns fired at the same time? Yesterday was an...

Joe Root to open for England in Ashes warm-up

Have you heard the news? Less than 24 hours after watching India parade around Edgbaston wearing delicious cream / white / off-white / ivory / beige jackets (the spoils of their Champions Trophy victory), the selectors focused minds on summer’s main event by announcing that Joe Root would open the batting in our Ashes warm-up game against Essex. Nick Compton’s name was not even in the 14 man squad. Even if Compton scores a triple hundred in the next two weeks, it looks extremely unlikely he’ll...

Bat for good? Not if you’re Alastair Cook

Us* supporters have always assumed, from a distance, that Jonathan Trott is the most neurotic batsman in the England team; it’s all that superstitious scratching at the crease that drives the opposition mad. When Trott hit the winning runs the other day, he ignored the congratulations of both his batting partner and the opposition until he’d returned to his mark and methodically deepened his customary trench by another couple of millimetres. However, our spies in the England dressing room have...

Edgbaston here we come! South Africa crushed

South Africa 175 all out (38.4 overs). England 179-3 (37.3 overs) We always suspected that picking a winner in our semi final against South Africa would be a toss up, and so it proved – literally. Winning the toss was absolutely crucial at the Oval on Wednesday. It was humid; it was overcast; both sides had good pace attacks – and of course, winning the toss and bowling first ensured that England wouldn’t have to set a target. Our Achilles heal – pacing an innings – was therefore never...

Round one to England – and Australia’s low blow

England 269-6 (50 overs). Australia 221-9 (50 overs) Boxing isn’t everyone’s cup of Twinings, but the blogosphere would be a much poorer place without boxing analogies. Saturday’s ODI at Edgbaston was round one of the forthcoming heavyweight contest between England and Australia. England didn’t quite secure a knockout blow – they’re far too cautious for that – but they won comfortably on points. George Bailey’s team must have felt like Wladimir Klitschko’s latest opponent: the Aussies just...

The Gatorade Guzzlers have landed – a view from down under

The irrelevance that was the England versus New Zealand test series has mercifully finished. Now the ICC Champions Trophy is upon us – another sideshow that sits uneasily in the interregnum before the Ashes: the 10 act drama that shall fashion greatness or infamy, where every reputation is wagered and nothing held back. England’s victory over the hapless Kiwis at Headingley told us nothing we do not already know. The two R’s, Root ‘the local County luminary who walks on...

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