England in Sri Lanka

16/12/14

England tailed-off a dismal tour with another Dilshan inspired crushing defeat. Another century and 3 wickets saw the 38 year grab Man of the Match and Man of the Series in the 87 run defeat for England.

All 3 Outlaws played but the Colombo wicket clearly suited the host's bowlers more than England's crop of pacier armed bowlers - perhaps Root was under-exposed (5 overs) but a target of over 300 proved to be much too many for any hope of an entertaining chase.




13/12/14

A crushing defeat in the 6th ODI saw England lose the seven game series. James Taylor made only 10 and neither Hales or Gurney made the starting eleven.

11/12/14

On day two of the fifth ODI; Joe Root 104* and James Taylor 68 salvaged and eventually took England to a comfortable, controlled victory by 5 wickets with 5 balls to spare.

10/12/14

A 6 wicket haul by Chris Woakes helped restrict Sri Lanka to a steady 239 all out before rain erased the possibility of a reply today. England will try again tomorrow on a "dusting" wicket Sri Lanka are only playing 4 front line spinners in this game.

09/12/14

With Captain Slow (over-rate) Cook set to return after suspension; Alex Hales looks likely to be dropped to make way. Hales dropping is a little harsh after a first ball duck in his only appearance in his favoured position on this tour but is also because of the excellence of James Taylor who has made himself at home in the upper-middle order with his 90 in his only outing so far.

With Ben Stokes not showing any of his true potential on the tour to date, he now looks likely to make way for James Tredwell in an attempt to increase the bowling variations for Captain Cook and hopefully bowl those overs a tad quicker. Is there any excuse with regards to over-rates in reality? Not really - all have access to the time! 


07/12/14

An encouraging 90 from James Taylor rescued a disastrous start after Alex Hales fell to his first ball. Captain Morgan, 62, took the total to 265, which again  proved to be inadequate.  Sri Lanka wining by 6 wickets, timing their chase to win with 2 balls to spare.



06/12/14

Speculating that now Alastair Cook is banned for one match, after his side's criminal over-rate in the victory earlier this week, will Alex Hales be promoted to opening with Moeen Ali bringing the potential for fireworks at both ends. You might also speculate that with Hales moving up the order that this might be the time to have a look at James Taylor in his natural environment (50 overs cricket), breaking the unofficial rule of only one Outlaw per England eleven for the first time in what seems an age. 


The next playing surface is likely to be a turner, according to Sri Lankan emanations, so perhaps the use of more than one spinner will keep Harry Gurney to bottle duties again and not produce a hat trick of Outlaws in the starting eleven. Two or more spinners would certainly help with over rate violations.

Meanwhile, the preliminary 30-man squad for the forthcoming World Cup has been released; it includes 5 Outlaws.

Alastair Cook (Essex) (Capt)

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)

James Anderson (Lancashire)

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)

Gary Ballance (Yorkshire)

Ian Bell (Warwickshire)

Ravi Bopara (Essex)

Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

Jack Brooks (Yorkshire)

Jos Buttler (Lancashire)

Steven Finn (Middlesex)

Harry Gurney (Nottinghamshire)

Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)

Chris Jordan (Sussex)

Craig Kieswetter (Somerset)

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)

Stephen Parry (Lancashire)

Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)

Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire)

Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)

Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)

Joe Root (Yorkshire)

Jason Roy (Surrey)

Ben Stokes (Durham)

James Taylor (Nottinghamshire)

James Tredwell (Kent)

James Vince (Hampshire)

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Luke Wright (Sussex)

03/12/14

Another rain delayed game, but in a 35 over game England chased down their 236 target for the loss of half their wickets. Moeen 58, Buttler 55*, Root 48*. Alex Hales in the side for Ian Bell made 27. HG did not play.



29/11/14

Another rain delayed start; England bat first, disappointingly, post a sub-par score, bowled out in 43 overs for 185; Bopara 51 Root 42

Sri Lanka with 45 overs to chase their target, kept wickets intact.

Sri Lanka had no trouble reaching victory thanks to the experienced pair of 

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, winning by 8 wickets.

26/11/14

On the morning of the first ODI in Colombo, it was raining!

However under lights and after a delay a 50 over contested commenced. Harry Gurney opened the bowling, replacing the lame Finn.

Gurney 10-0-66-0 as Sri Lanka racked-up 317/6

In spite of Moeen Ali 119, England lost regular wickets.

eventually falling 25 runs short. Gurney 1* Bopara 65






23/11/14

The second of the England's two warm-up matches ahead of the marathon seven match ODI series, was abandoned after repeated rainfall. This has left the Outlaw trio of James Taylor, Harry Gurney and Alex Hales with no competitive practise before the real stuff starts; all three not being in the eleven that beat Sri Lanka A earlier last week when Moeen Ali staked his claim to Hales' opening spot with a rapid fifty and also took 3 wickets, in a heavily rain affected match.