World Cup 2015 - warm-up

12/02/15

Despite, skipper Preston Mommsen opting not to bat, Scotland gave West Indies a huge fright. West Indies had helped themselves to 313/9 but Scotland should really have surpassed them as with 2 overs to go, needed 14 runs. Scotland lost 3 wickets and fell short by 3 runs after the fall of Matty Cross (39) at the end of the 48th over.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/engine/match/806137.html

England v Pakistan

There were some positive aspects Hales, Balance and in particular Root batted well. It was sad for Hales as he had made a decent start after he lost partner Ali early but just as he looked as if he was cutting loose he chipped a catch. Even so England should have posted 275--300 on the wicket which was true if a little slow by Aussie standards. Morgan's shot was horrible...another 0 whilst Bopara struggles , painful to watch. Anderson  and Broad used the new ball well but in the end Pakistan batted far better overall than England and won the game.

Afridi remains a cult hero to the Pakistan supporters. The game was free admission and complete access to the pavilion and surrounds..a wonderful gesture by SCG...how many Test venues in England would do such a similar thing?...hmmm. 

England move on to MCG to face Australia....they will have to rev up their individual and collective performances otherwise a heavy beating by the hosts is on the cards..

England 250-8 [50] Root 85 Balance 57 Hales 31 Jordan 31 no

Pakistan 252-6 [48.5] Misbah-ul-Haq 91 no Akmaal 65 Sohail33

Andy

11/02/15

85 from Joe Root gave England 250. Captain Morgan was dry again and Stuart Broad managed to bag a golden duck. Alex Hales opened, scoring 31; not enough to dislodge Ian Bell or Moeen Ali from the likely starting eleven against Australia but in his first innings for a while, outscored all other openers on show today at Sydney.

250 proved to be below par as Pakistan eased to a 4 wicket win with 7 balls to spare. 2 wickets each for Anderson and Broad. Misbah ul Haq 91* the match winner for the Pakistanis.

A useful work-out for England, Ravi Bopara doing himself no favours with hopes of selection but Gary Ballance, 57 and some good work in the field, will have benefited from the fixture. 








10/02/15

Scotland were dealt a huge physiological boost when they trounced Ireland in Sydney today. Matt Machan 103, Preston Mommsen 56 and Richie Berrington 52 launched the Scots to 296/6. Matty Cross made 12*.

Ireland were dumped out for 117 - Alasdair Evans, released by Derbyshire in 2013, 4/17 the pick of the bowlers. Keeper Cross took 2 catches.

AC Evans

09/2/15

England Warm-up against Windies

Golden Ducks from key men, Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo and a five-fer for Chris Woakes. combined with a seaming wicket, ensured West Indies were skittled out for 122 inside 30 overs.

England, resting Anderson and Broad, made light work of knocking the runs off, Moeen Ali 46, Ian Bell 35* and JamesTaylor 25*, hitting the winning runs in the  23rd over.



01/02/15

Tri-Series Final Crash


Another dismal batting performance by England against a Mitchell Johnson lead Aussie bowling assault gave the hosts a massive win in Perth.

Fifties from Maxwell (95), Mitchell Marsh (60) and Faulkner (50*) had given England a target of 278/8 to beat. Stuart Broad 3/55

BUT when 46/4 and then 98/7 England's chances had been blown away. Some late long handle work from Broad (24), all but too briefly and some confusing tactics from Ravi Bopara with a pedestrian thirty, managed to drag the poor effort, punctuated by two golden ducks from Morgan and Woakes, to a dismal 166 from 39.1 overs. Glenn the tyke Maxwell 4/46




30/01/15

James Taylor's fourth fifty in eight ODIs ensued England will face Australia in the Tri-series final at Perth on Sunday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/89500

Recovering from 66/5, chasing 201, top scorer Taylor made 82 in a sixth wicket stand with Jos Buttler worth 125. England won by 3 wickets.

Stuart Big Pockets Broad, earlier, had broken his duck with the ball, taking two Indian wickets.

23/01/15

A Tri-series defeat for England at the hands of Aussie skipper Steve Smith

http://www.trentbridge.co.uk/news/2015/january/england-slip-to-three-wicket-defeat.html



20/01/15
A demolition job by Anderson and Finn lead to an easy win over the travel-sick Indians.



Anderson 4/18 Finn 5/33 India 153

A professional chase ensued after the loss of Ali ending with James Taylor(56*) hitting the winning runs for a 9 wicket win with 135 balls to spare. Ian Bell made 88*.



Five fifties in the last 6 ODI innings for James Taylor; does this mean his place is secure in the England XI? Mick Newell will be in the know, having one foot in the England camp and the other in his crow's nest at Trent Bridge, so will this prompt the opening of a cheque book anf the signing of a second overseas player for the Blast tournament?

18/01/15

George Bailey looks likely to be suspended after another slow over rate against India today. This follows Australia's success over England where again Bailey is to carry the can as skipper for a poor over rate.

On the field today, India, thanks to Rohit Sharma (138) made 267/8. Aaron Finch with 96 took Australia on the right path towards victory.

Australia won by 4 wickets with an over to spare.   


16/01/15

In further preparation for next month's World Cup, England and Australia  started in a triangular tournament today.

The false new dawns of the warm-up games at Canberra soon became apparent after just 3 balls at Sydney when Bell and Taylor were both back in the dressing room with nought on the board. Only Captain Morgan (121) showed much resistance as England struggled to 234 with 13 balls unused. Stuart Broad didn't get the opportunity to face a ball with 0* and Alex Hales was on bottle duties.

Mitchell Starc took the first two and last two wickets in his 4/42

Australia lost wickets but with David Warner scoring 127 the modest required rate was never an issue. Australia winning by 9 wickets.







14/01/15

Against the sterner opposition of the Prime Minister's XI; England scored freely at Canberra; Ali 71, James Taylor 71 and Ian Bell, from opener, weighing-in with a ton and a half, out for 187............ England making 391/6

England won by 60 runs - Stuart Broad 4/40 - Glen Maxwell 136


Josh Davey had a good day for Scotland against Afghanistan as he scored 53* in Scotland's 213/7 before helping to dismiss the Afghans for 63 with 6/28. Davey's fellow Aberdonian, Matty Cross made 23 and took three catches.

12/01/15

In a warm-up work out for England against a Capital Territory Invitation side, the tourists were able to get 5 batsmen to 50s, making an academic 364/6, James Taylor 55. ACT lost their 10 wickets in 32.4 overs, 2 wickets for Broad - 3 for Tredwell.






09/01/15
In a warm-up tournament in Dubai, Matt Cross made 28 in a 8 wicket defeat for Scotland against a solidly performing Afghanistan.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/90006


20/12/14

Alex Hales, James Taylor and Stuart Broad all make the England World Cup squad to be captained by Eoin Morgan.

Harry Gurney and Samit Patel are in the Lions squad to play South Africa.

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex),
 Moeen Ali (Worcestershire),
 James Anderson (Lancashire),
 Gary Ballance (Yorkshire),
 Ian Bell (Warwickshire),
 Ravi Bopara (Essex),
 Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire),
 Jos Buttler (Lancashire),
 Steven Finn (Middlesex),
 Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire),
 Chris Jordan (Sussex),
 Joe Root (Yorkshire),
 James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), 
James Tredwell (Kent),
 Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)


19/12/14

Via a Sky leak, ECB let it be known that Alistair Cook had had his chips as England ODI captain and his place with it in the ODI team, earlier this afternoon.

A good call, but a good call a few months later than it ought to have been, perhaps.

Moeen Ali and Alex Hales to open in the World Cup? We should know tomorrow, when the squad is announced.

England's World Cup fixtures

14 February

v Australia

at Melbourne


20 February

v New Zealand

at Wellington


23 February

v Scotland

at Christchurch


1 March

v Sri Lanka

at Wellington


9 March

v Bangladesh

at Adelaide


13 March

v Afghanistan

at Sydney