Friday, July 30, 2010

England lose 6 for 23

Well, you wouldn't expect anything less given the fact it's England. Had it been Australia, it may've raised a few more eyebrows and been celebrated by the national tabloids. Instead, the hero of yesterday Eoin Morgan* and partner, Lord Paul Collingwood, lost their wickets and sparked a collapse of the tail. Swann ran a ball watching Prior out. Then a brooding Swann, given out LBW,  glared at Tony Hill, who had a pretty good morning. Jimmy gifted his wicket to the jubliant Asif by leaving a pretty decent delivery. Happy birthday to you Mr. Anderson. And finally, Broad got bowled. At least, I think it was him. It might've been Finn.

Normally, England's tail is pretty good. This is when the top order has failed, for example Cardiff and Headingley in 2009. And South Africa. And various other places across the globe. Anyway, from 331-4, England were all out for 354. At least this didn't happen yesterday, when we were 118-4. 


The ball appears to be moving around at Trent Bridge today. The pitch looks good for spin and has variable bounce. So over to you Anderson, Finn, Broad and Swann. Pakistan's batting is inconsistent to say the least and England's fielding should be superior. Hopefully England can get themselves back into a decent position. Either way, after the very, very high-scoring draw out in Colombo between Sri Lanka and India, this Test match should really whet the appetite. 

*Congratulations to Eoin Morgan by the way. That was a superb innings and yeah, he may be Irish but the man is too talented to be playing minor country and county cricket. He deserves a chance against the world's best and on the international stage.