A Tough Year of English Cricket

The day of 22 August 2011 marked a historical day for English cricket, the day England were ranked #1 in test cricket. It had been a 30 month journey starting from the appalling 51 all out suffered at the hands of the West Indies in February 2009. Unfortunately 363 days later England's reign as #1 came crashing down at the hands of South Africa, who no doubt deserve to be at the top of the test rankings. England played 11 test matches since the demolition job of India, managing to win just 3 of them, whilst losing 6 of them. 

Pakistan v England (3)

England began their first series as world #1 against Pakistan in the UAE. England went into the series as the favourites but they were yet to learn the wonders of the sub-continent. Into the first test match, England found themselves scraping to a well below par 192. Pakistan replied with 338, before they bowled England out cheaply again, this time for 160, leaving just Pakistan with 15 to win. The key for Pakistan was the spin bowling from Saeed Ajmal & Abdur Rehman. They left England with no answers and with England playing the one spinner themselves, they found it very difficult to bowl Pakistan out. 

England found no answer to Pakistan's spinners

England added Panesar to help out Swann for the second test and it was a much improved performance from England. England managed to score 327 in reply to Pakistan's 257, before bowling them out again for 214, Panesar picking up 6-62. England needed 145 to win, seemed gettable, however they were undone by the brilliance of Rehman picking up an incredible 6-25 and England crumbling to 72 all out. That's pretty shambolic in my opinion. 

It was on to the third test, where the series was won, but pride was still to play for. England began brilliantly, bowling Pakistan out for 99, but posted a weak 141 in reply. The game changed with a wonderful partnership from Azhar Ali & Younis Khan who put on 200+ runs and took the game away from England, who were bowled out 71 runs short of their target. England, the world #1 test team, were whitewashed. A quite marvellous performance from Pakistan who climbed above their rivals, India, in the test rankings. Pakistan 3-0 England

Sri Lanka v England (2)

England's sub-continental challenge continued with a 2 match test series in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka posted a good score of 318 in their first innings, guided by a brilliant 180 from Mahela Jayawardene. England, yet again, posted a weak reply of 193. Rangana Herath, the spinner, taking 6 wickets. SL posted 214, leaving England a massive 340 to win, which seemed likely when England needed 88 with 5 wickets in hand, thanks to a 112 from Trott, but sadly England crumbled and lost by 75 runs. 

Pietersen's vital 151 earned England an excellent victory

The second test was crucial for England as a loss would see them drop to #2 in the rankings. England began fairly well bowling SL out for 275. Now this was the test, England's batting. Tey finally delivered in the sub-continent posting a very good 460, guided by an epic 151 from Kevin Pietersen. SL were bowled for 278 in their second innings leaving England 94 to win. Strauss was out in the first over signalling alarm bells from the 72 all out. However, Cook & Pietersen batted positively and aggressively and guided England to their first test win as world #1. England retained their #1 spot. Sri Lanka 1-1 England

England v West Indies (3)

It was on to the first summer as England being world #1, hosting the West Indies to begin with. England went into the first test as strong favourites and so they proved why. Lord's was the host of the first test and West Indies were bowled out for 243, Stuart Broad finishing with figures of 7-72. England replied with 398, guided by an overdue century from Andrew Strauss. In the second Innings WI posted a very good 345, lead by a partnership between Chanderpaul (91) and Marlon Samuels (86) setting a target of 191 to win. England began shakily as they were  57-4 before Cook and Bell guided England to safety as they won by 5 wickets.

Trent Bridge and bright sunshine awaited the second test and Darren Sammy who scored his maiden test century and in a 204 run partnership with Samuels, helped WI along to 370. England replied with 428, laid out by a remarkable 141 from Strauss, consecutive centuries for the captain, before Tim Bresnan struck and along with Anderson, picked up 4 wickets to bowl WI out for 165. This left England needing 108 to win and they cruised to victory by 9 wickets. This was much better cricket from England after the poor showings in Asia.

Tino Best scores a record breaking 95

Sadly for all cricket fans, the first two days of the third test was washed out, but on the third day play began and WI found themselves 280-8 at stumps, again poorly placed. However, on the fourth day the sun cam out and so did Tino Best. This test will be remembered for his 95 batting at #11. Best's 95 is the highest score by a #11 in test cricket and along with Dinesh Ramdin, he helped WI along to a very good 426. England's reply did not go according to plan as they found themselves 221-5 before rain came and washed out the rest of the test. England my have escaped a defeat there. England 2-0 West Indies

England v South Africa (3)

Then came a main event of the summer, the decider to see who would be world #1. The oval hosted the first test and it belonged to South Africa as they posted a monstrous 637-2d in reply to England's 385 lead by a fantastic 311* by Hashim Amla. Then Dale Steyn did the damage as England were thrashed and humiliated by an innings and 12 runs. 

The second test in Leeds was a much closer affair as SA were all out for 419, Alviro Petersen with 182 and England replied with 425, Kevin Pietersen with 149. The match ended as a draw as time got the better of the two sides.

The third was extremely crucial, especially to England. The test began in similar fashion to the previous with England gaining a lead of six. Then SA posted 351 to set a target of 345 to win for England, a very tough task. England began poorly losing the openers but the batting of Trott, Bairstow, Swann and especially Prior gave England hope, but unfortunately they could not score the runs in a valiant chase. England 0-2 South Africa

England lasted a year on top of the world and no doubt all the fans, the players and staff will say that England are disappointed in being kicked off the top. However, England did not play the cricket that is expected of the world #1 side. In the UAE they were undone by the spin of Ajmal & Rehman and 46/60 English wickets were LBW. England failed to pick up the turn of the ball, in particular Eoin Morgan who was later dropped. There was the odd good innings such as the 94 from Cook and the 70 from Prior, but in general England batted poorly. In Sri Lanka, England improved as they learnt, but still England's performances in Asia remained unconvincing. England did not coast past the West Indies as they expected and credit needs to be given largely to Marlon Samuels, but then South Africa came and destroyed England in the first test, sending alarming wake-up calls for England before they were kicked off the top. 

It was a highly disappointing year for England as very little went their way, but I think that they choked a little under the pressure of being world #1. They went to the UAE with certain expectations of Pakistan that did not match. They were under prepared for the first test and were not the better team. In Sri Lanka they eventually learnt what to do and what not to do. Sweeping was a mistake and we saw less of it in Sri Lanka, which may have been a factor in their success in the second test, yet England's ability in the sub-continent still raised question marks. The West Indies series was seen as the minor series, but England would have disappointed with some of the partnership that the West Indies put on and would have like to have bowled better. 

What Next for England?

Is his England career over?

England's next test series is a very tough series away to India. It is yet another sub-continent tour so tension will be high in the England camp. The performances with the bat will be looked at carefully and England need to deliver. Personally, I would love to see Kevin Pietersen back and hope that the issues can be resolved as soon as possible, but realistically I think that his England future looks very bleak. The element of trust needs to be shown by Pietersen and it could take a long time to for the ECB to gain his trust back. Not only Pietersen, but I hope that Ravi Bopara plays in India as he is a fine batsmen and can really help strengthen England's batting. Samit Patel is also another name on the radar. He played fairly well in Sri Lanka, but his all rounder role in the side and the fact that he bowls spin need to be noted. In addition to the batting I hope that Monty Panesar gets a call up as he bowled very well in the UAE and Sri Lanka and deserves another outing in the side and can really assist Graeme Swann in India. 

After the England series England face an away series and then a home series to New Zealand, in which I fully expect England to win. Then the main event for the summer is the Ashes as England look to win 3 Ashes series' in a row. 

What's next for England's test future?

England v South Africa Review

The most anticipated series of the summer saw the number one ranked test side, England, host the number two ranked test side, South Africa, and the prize for the winners, the number one spot at the top of the test rankings. 

Before the series had begun, South Africa had keeper Mark Boucher ruled out through a horrific injury. During a warm-up game Boucher had been hit in the eye with a bail after the ball had hit the stumps ruling him out of the series and left Boucher requiring surgery. Soon after the incident Boucher announced his retirement from cricket after play 147 test matches for the Proteas, no doubt he was an integral part of South Africa's team and he was to be missed. So was it advantage England?

Alistair Cook celebrates his 115

The Kia Oval was the host of the first test match and home to some fine weather which was well due after a dismal period of weather in May. England won the toss and batted first, but they lost Strauss after four balls as he was trapped LBW off Morne Morkel. However, England recovered, lead by Cook & Trott who put a partnership of 170 for the second wicket. England ended the day on 267-3, which was laid out by a marvellous 114* from Alistair Cook. On the second day England were looking at 500, but South Africa took advantage of the overcast conditions and fought back and lead by Dale Steyn, they bowled England out for 385. South Africa's reply begun badly as Aliviro Peterson was out LBW for a duck by Anderson, but from then on it was all South Africa. Graeme Smith, in his 100th test match carved up an epic 131 before he was bowled by Bresnan in a stand of 258 runs with Hashim Amla, who then with the help of Jaques Kallis tormented the England bowling attack. Kallis finished on 182* and he did not even finish with the highest score. A monumental effort from Hashim Amla, who finished on 311* set up the game for South Africa. Amla was the first South African to score 300+ and SA batted on day 4 without losing a wicket and finished on 637-2d.
So England were right up against it. They had 38 overs in the evening of day 4 to survive, but instead they lost four wickets. Cook went early, as did Trott, Strauss was caught sweeping and Pietersen missed a straight ball from Morkel. As Day 5 began, England had to bat out the day to win as there was no chance of rain intervals. England managed to lose only 1 wicket in the morning session, that of Ravi Bopara, who's test return was to be a forgettable one. Eventually England collapsed in the afternoon session losing their remaining five wickets and losing the match by an innings and twelve runs. It was the biggest defeat in test history in terms of average runs per wickets, SA managed 315+ runs per wicket, England managed 30+.

The Match Winner

MOM: Hashim Amla (311*)

Eng: 385 & 240
SA: 637-2dec

SA win by an Innings & 12 runs

England 0-1 South Africa

Petersen makes his mark on the series

So it was off to Headingly, where England were slightly disrupted before the match as Bopara pulled out due to personal reasons and England decided to leave out Graeme Swann for Steven Finn, which is still a puzzler. South Africa batted first and began shakily. Graeme Smith was caught at slip off Finn's bowling, but was called a "dead ball" as Finn had hit the stumps, but why was is not called the three times before that? Cue the controversy. Soon after, both openers reached fifty, although Petersen was dropped early on. Alviro then batted past 100 before he was out on 182 and South Africa were bowled out for 419. A good score from SA, now could England take control? They got off to a shaky start as they were 173-4, but then a 150+ stand between Pietersen and debutant Taylor brought England back into the game. Taylor was eyeing a debut 50, before he was out on 34. Pietersen then went to make a fantastic 149, including a huge six off Dale Steyn. England were then boosted by Prior's 68 and were all out for 425, a lead of 6.
A disrupted SA batting order came out in the second innings with Rudolph opening the innings due to an injury to Peterson. Rudolph and Smith put on 120 for the opening partnership before Pietersen came to have a bowl. In the absence of Swann, KP provided turn and issues for the batsmen as he removed Rudolph, Smith and Amla claiming his best bowling figures. Then Stuart Broad came to the party and gave England a real chance as he removed the middle order finishing with 5-69, SA declared shortly after tea on 258-9, a lead of 252. England showed signs on intent as they opened with Pietersen and Cook. However, Pietersen fell quickly and after Prior was run out after England found it difficult to score runs and the game was drawn as England finished on 130-4. 

KP gave England a chance with his 149

MOM: Kevin Pietersen (149 & 3-52)

SA: 419 & 25-9dec
ENG: 425 & 130-4

Match Drawn

England 0-1 South Africa








Off to Lord's, the venue for the crucial test match. This test match was marked as England's most important test in recent years as they had to win stay #1. Strauss' 100th test match was preceded by the headlines surrounding Kevin Pietersen. KP had announced that he was fully committed to playing for England in all three forms of the game via a video on youtube. However, he was dropped from the third test squad the next day for allegedly sending derogatory texts to South African players about the captain, Andrew Strauss. His replacement was Jonny Bairstow. Graeme Swann was back in the side at the expense of Tim Bresnan.

Kallis was disappointed with his dismissal

All the controversy surrounding the test match had shadowed the cricket itself, but nonetheless it was a beautiful day at Lord's and South Africa won the toss and batted first. South Africa began horribly as they found themselves 54-4, although the dismissal of Kallis was one to talk about. De Villiers & Rudolph provided a small partnership and Philander's 61 provided very useful runs as South Africa posted 309. Steven Finn starred with the ball take 4-75. England's reply got off to a poor start as well as they too found themselves 54-4, but a solid partnership between Ian Bell and Jonny Bairstow lead England's recovery. Bairstow was eventually bowled on 95 as the pressure got to him, but helpful runs from Prior and Swann lifted England's total to 325. Morkel & Steyn both took 4 wickets each. 

Matt Prior provided real hope

SA began their second innings shakily as both openers went quickly after a small partnership. Kallis provided some resistance, but he was trapped LBW under controversial circumstances, again. Then the South African wall, Hashim Amla, racked up another century after being dropped on 1 by Prior. More useful runs from Philander fired South Africa up to a very good score of 351, leaving England chasing 346. England got off the the worst possible start from their 16 overs in the evening and found themselves 16-2, with both openers gone to Philander. Day 5 produced a memorable day of test match cricket for both teams. England began the day as they finished the previous as they lost two more quick wickets, that of Bell and a terrible run out involving Trott running out Taylor. England were 54-4 again, but a very good half century from Bairstow and a solid innings from Trott provided England with some hope. However, Bairstow soon fell after lunch, which brought Matt Prior to the crease. After Trott departed England were 146-6 and things looked very bleak. Stuart Broad, with a highest score of 169, came to crase and batted aggressively, including a massive six of Steyn. As soon as some hope was rekindled, Broad was caught attempting a hook shot. That brought Swann to the crease and it produced England's most hopeful partnership. Prior and Swann targeted Tahir and were very successful. They were 63 runs from victory until Swann ran himself out for 41. Soon after SA thought they had Prior out, but Morkel had bowled a no-ball. Eventually Prior was caught behind off Philander who struck with the new ball with England requiring 52. They failed to reduce that total as Steven Finn was out for a golden duck.

Philander's wickets and runs were vital

MOM: Vernon Philander (5-30 & 96 runs)

SA: 309 & 351
ENG: 315 & 294

South Africa win by 51 runs

England 0-2 South Africa









So England were knocked off the top of the test rankings after a year at the top. It was a very tough year for England winning just 3 of their 11 test matches. However, SA were the better side throughout the tests, especially the first test and the deserved their victory.

England Player of the Series: Matt Prior

South Africa Player of the Series: Hashim Amla

The Kevin Pietersen Saga

One of the most stylish, eye-catching batsmen in world cricket is Kevin Pietersen. The South African born English batsmen has been a key player for England since he was given his test debut in the 2005 Ashes series. However, over time things change and people change and recently KP has been at the center of a lot of controversy. The thirty-two year old batsmen retired from limited overs cricket earlier this May claiming that the ECB schedule was too hectic.   

"With the intensity of the international schedule and the increasing demands on my body, I think it is the right time to step aside and let the next generation of players come through to gain experience for the World Cup in 2015."

Pietersen still wanted T20 cricket for England and expressed his desire to play in the World T20 this September. This was denied due to the statement in the central contract which he has signed with the ECB stating that if a player retires from ODI cricket, he too retires from T20 cricket. 

The timing of KP's was particularly odd as coach Andy Flower was looking at Pietersen to try and lead England to glory in the 2015 World Cup. Nevertheless, England regrouped quickly calling up Ian Bell to replace KP and Bell did not disappoint as he scored a century in his first game back. 

As England moved on to face South Africa in a vital test series, that sees the winners the number 1 ranked test team, the KP situation was resolved, or was it?

Shortly after the Headingly test match between England & South Africa, Pietersen launched an astonishing "attack" on the ECB in a press conference that was preceded by one of KP's finest innings. Pietersen threatened to quit playing cricket for England which left the whole cricketing world shocked.   

Yet, there was another twist in the tail as Pietersen released a YouTube video in which he reversed his retirement decision meaning that Pietersen was fully committed to playing cricket for England in all formats of the game because he "loved playing for England." Pietersen also stated that he will not play the full IPL tournament and that he was making himself available for the test matches against New Zealand in May 2013. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaZnXayjTQ

Alas, this tale does not end here. The YouTube video was released the day before England announced their squad for their vital, must-win test match. Everybody thought that this video will end all issues revolving Pietersen (me included), but how wrong we all were. Pietersen was shockingly dropped from the test squad due to allegedly sending derogatory texts to the South Africans that stated things about the England captain Andrew Strauss. He was replaced by Jonny Bairstow, who made a cracking 95. 

Since the announcement of the squad was made, Pietersen has apologized to the ECB for his actions and he will return to county duty for Surrey and is set to play in their CB40 game against  Hampshire on the 19th August. 

Is this the end of Kevin Pietersen?

My Verdict

There can be a lot of responses to the whole issue of Kevin Pietersen. As an England fan, I hate to see any England team without Kevin Pietersen, ultimately because it is a weaker side. However, what Pietersen did was wrong. Slating his own team mates is totally unacceptable and I can see why he was dropped, but in this situation could England afford to drop him? Pietersen came in on the back of a magnificent 149 at Headingly and I would have included him in the squad for the third test match purely because it was England's most crucial test match in recent times. This test match determined which team would be at the summit of test cricket and was too important to leave out anybody of KP's talent, England's strongest squad was needed. I can fully understand why Pietersen was dropped and in any other situation I would agree, but I think this test match is too important and vital to leave any of England's best players sitting out in the cold. Pietersen has apologized for his actions and I hope that these issues can be resolved quickly and I would love to see Pietersen in the final 15-man squad for the world T20 in September.