England Still Has Chances
England cricket team is being bowled out for a cheap score on the first day of the Trent Bridge test against India. Indian commentators are rating England team very poorly even after its victory in the first test. I recall my article about England side written at the height of the Cricket World Cup in February.
Post Comment|0 Liked It
ENGLAND STILL HAS CHANCES
The latest score in the Trent Bridge test between England and India is 216 for 9 for England. At one stage, they were 88 for 8. English tail is wagging and showing resilience against Indian attack. But coming to the previous Lords Test where England won in style, some Indian analysts expressed anger against the performance of Indian team against what they called a weak England team. I beg to differ. England is not a weak team. In the world cup, it played entertaining matches which produced close finish. I reproduce below one of my articles about England team written in the height of the World Cup frenzy in February. Please read below.
Image via Wikipedia
As the British press tears England cricket team to pieces, as an Indian, I still see silver lining on the otherwise dark horizon. I have contributed more than 3000 freelance articles on economy, stock markets, corporate happenings etc but about ten per cent of my articles had covered sports also. You need to shut your emotions and engage in deep analysis of the company’s published balance sheet before arriving at a decision as to whether it is worth to buy its shares at the current ruling price. I am following the same kind of analysis to arrive at possibilities of an English win in the current world cup.
Image via Wikipedia
Yes, I can understand the emotions behind the British writers in criticising England team. It ought not to have lost to Ireland. But as an Indian I do not have any emotional problem while analysing England’s chances. So I am penning my thoughts with fond hopes that it will get published.
Image via Wikipedia
First of all, England has that wonderful capability to chase and achieve an impossible victory against any opponent. Take for example its match against Netherlands. After putting up a comfortable total of 291 with an outstanding ton coming from Ten Doeschaste, the mercurial Essex county player, any other team would have given up. But not England. They fought back and achieved the impossible victory. Okay, you can rule that Netherlands is not a test playing country and its players are amateurs. But you can’t talk in the same vein about its match against India.
Image via Wikipedia
India put up a brilliant performance, totalling 338 runs with a century coming from Sachin Tendulkar who seems to be losing age every year. England was set a thankless job of chasing 339 runs for a victory before a capacity crowd who were hooting for an Indian victory. Boundaries and sixes hit by the English batsmen went unapplauded by the partisan Indian crowd in Bangalore stadium. But England was not overawed. It went about the task in a professional and planned manner. Strauss played a captain’s innings of 158 ably assisted by Bell. That the end turned out to be so dramatic did not distract England’s distinction of once again proving its capability of chasing even very high totals.
Image via Wikipedia
Had England followed its successful formula of letting the other team bat first and opting to chase any total, it could have won handsomely against Ireland. Even when England batted first, it put up a decent total which was by any means difficult to chase. Expectedly, Ireland was 111 for five and from that position onwards, England could have clinched the match straight away. But the Irish players played like devil. While analysing this match, you should draw a parallel with an India Pakistan match. The two nations are bitter enemies and have fought wars. Pakistani terrorists regularly cause loss of lives and property in Indian soil with their weapons and bombs. It is akin to the IRA causing havoc in England or Northern Ireland with deadly weapons. An India Pakistan match is not an ordinary cricket match. It is almost like a military battle. So much prestige is attached to it. Similarly Ireland fought like devils and with such a bellicose mood, England could do nothing and became stunned spectators. The same bellicose mood was lacking for Ireland when it played its first match against Bangladesh and lost even though it was set a modest target of 206 to win.
Image via Wikipedia
Why I am writing this point elaborately is that we should not weigh England’s prospects from a single match against Ireland which was not a normal cricket match. All the positive futures listed above will come in handy for England in its remaining matches against West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh and enable it to advance to quarter final stage of the tournament. Maybe it might lose to South Africa because of de Viliers factor. But the other two matches will be firmly in England’s bags. Though England’s bowling looks hapless, it still has Swann with an economy of under 5 in three matches put together. Yardy is capable of delivering that unexpected spinner which the batsman fails to read properly.
Image via Wikipedia
England’s fielding is miserable to put it mildly. But it cannot get any worse than what it was against Ireland. England wicket keeper seems to have a big hole dented in his broad gloves and he will do well to cover it at the earliest before it is too late. I don’t care what the English people think about England in the current circumstances, but as an Indian, I rate England’s chances to enter quarter finals very bright. From then on every match counts and again I will pen my thoughts and share it with you. Till then, sweet dreams, English fans.
Image via Wikipedia
