OmniCricket » England

Ian Bell ruled out of npower Test Series against Pakistan

Deep Fine Leg — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:24:18 +0000

Ian Bell ruled out of npower Test Series against Pakistan England batsman Ian Bell has today officially been ruled out of the forthcoming npower Test Series against Pakistan due to the foot injury he suffered on Saturday during the 2nd NatWest Serie...

Ryan Harris to return to Australia due to injury

Deep Fine Leg — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 11:30:40 +0000

Ryan Harris to return to Australia due to injury Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris will return to Australia after picking up a right knee injury during the one-day series in England against England. Ryan will miss the remaining games on the VB Tour of...

Pakistan Vs Australia 2010 in England – Fixtures and schedule

Cricket Current — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:55:00 +0000

England is hosting Australia vs Pakistan series 2010 that starts from the 5th of July. Pakistan will be playing four warm-ups against MCC and three other English country before they start the 1st T20 on July 5. The series in England will host two T20s...

A bunch of wealthy no hopers

Not Cricket — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:57:00 +0000

Team full of stars with bloated egos and over rated abilities Players put club ahead of country Underperform under pressure Under rate low ranked opponents Ages since the team has won the World Cup Supporters expected them to win every World Cup they.....

Prediction time – England’s team for Ashes 2010

Deep Fine Leg — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:52:43 +0000

With English cricket, it tends to all boil down to one series – the Ashes. Every selection, every Test match, every individual performance, all done with the Test series against Australia in mind. This is the same for the Australian team and it shows how big a series it is. The biggest in cricket without any [...]

The more things change

Not Cricket — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:24:00 +0000

One has been out on vacation and hasn't really been able to keep up with the events unfolding in the sporting arena. One noticed that things hadn't really changed. Sri Lanka and NZ shared the 2 match T20 series in the US of A. Now that's exactly...(read more)

Cook experiment was worth taking

Cricket Current — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:09:00 +0000

So after a brief spell as top dog Alastair Cook will return to the rank and file when he next lines up in an England shirt.

Full-time skipper Andrew Strauss will return for the home series with Bangladesh after missing the recent tour which England won comfortably.

The eventual aim is to ensure Strauss is fit, fresh and focused for the Ashes next winter so it was no surprise he talked about that series when discussing the benefits if his voluntary lay-off.

Ordinarily it would be a bad idea to pick and choose your appearances for your country, especially as captain.

But in this instance, with the international calendar ever busier, I feel they made the right call and turned the negative of an overcrowded fixture list into a positive.

England were expected to make a clean sweep in Bangladesh with or without their captain's influence. So while he was resting and thinking of bigger challenges ahead it gave the chance for a future skipper to spread his wings.

Alastair Cook may have a bit to go before he can take the job on full-time, but there is no doubt he will benefit from this experience. Many captains are thrown in at the deep end and it is sink or swim time. The pressure to get results in an unforgiving test arena can prove too much and even if the side is winning, the distractions of the job can have a negative effect on the players batting or bowling.

Thankfully the latter did not happen to Cook who continued to bat with poise and purpose. He has been in that unique position of having a trial run with minimum pressure and time and chance to learn from his mistakes, something many previous captains never had. Anyone who had an England cricket bet on the side to achieve a whitewash in Bangladesh would have been happy with Cook's efforts.

Strauss will hang onto the top job for a few years yet but when he does pass the captaincy on he can be confident his successor will be ready for it.

Meanwhile, in horse racing news, pundits have been preparing their Grand National tips and many feel last year's winner Mon Mome could make it two wins in a row.

Guest Post..

Swann spares England’s blushes

Cricket Current — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:19:00 +0000

It is rare in test cricket for both the victorious and defeated sides to be satisfied with their five days work but that is certainly the case in Chittagong.England's Test match betting odds suggested the side should win easily that aim was achieved. But the comfortable final margin of 181 hides a battling performance by [...]

England remain fifth in ODI rankings

Wicket to Wicket — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:12:00 +0000

After wrapping up their series against Bangladesh with another impressive win, it meant that England retained fifth position in the ICC ODI rankings:1Australia4964971332India4959821223South Africa2934011174New Zealand2831551135England3639651106Sri Lank...

England announce initial T20 squad

Wicket to Wicket — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:33:00 +0000

Alastair Cook, England's Test and ODI captain, has been omitted from England's 30-man provisional squad for the World Twenty20 that starts in April in the Caribbean. Cook's new ODI opening partner, Craig Kieswetter, has been included, alongside Peter T...