Three Lions Cricket 'End Of Summer Awards', Pt 1

Time - during this well-earned international break - to review the summer of 2009. Only one team in the world could lose to Holland then triumph over Australia in the space of a few months.

Man of the Summer - 1. Andrew Strauss

A stunning summer, in fact, a stunning past 18 months. Grew into captaincy - improvement between Cardiff and Oval Tests was highly significant. Top scored in the Ashes (ave: 52.66) and ensuing ODI series (ave: 38.14). Married great batting and brilliant captaincy in an Ashes series; even Michael Vaughan didn't manage that.

2. Matt Prior

Finally, a worthy successor to Alec Stewart. Only just behind Strauss in terms of consistency during the Ashes. Has become a genuinely world-class keeper in remarkably short space of time. England conceded 106 fewer extras than Australia during the Ashes. Only criticisms being a moderate high score of 63 from seven Tests this summer (Ashes high score: 61) and an inability to consistently transfer Test batting cameos to one-day arena.

3. Andy Flower

Just brilliant. Comfortable in underdog role - a product of his playing career - but aiming to guide England to a level where they can dispense with the tag. Promising early signs of a special working relationship with Strauss. Showed his humility by opting out of the Oval victory lap.

Moment of the Summer - 1. Flintoff running out Ponting at the Oval.

A script writer would dare not pen it: Ponting run-out? Flintoff heroics? Been done before. But this was how it was meant to end. With his body restricting his bowling, Freddie, at wide mid-on, defied it one last time. The purest form of theatre, no-one could have predicted it. Except it didn't really surprise us. Flintoff's last offering of utter perfection to the Test match scene.

2. Panesar and Anderson Holding On At Cardiff

A monumental passage of cricket in the context of the rest of the summer. Few figures inspire less confidence with the bat than Monty Panesar, but his contribution that day - along with those of Anderson and Collingwood - were the first glimpses of the steely character which was to prove the difference between the sides.

3. Swann's Ashes Winning Wicket

Always a sweet occurrence, but made even more sickly by the the fact England were denied an on-field winning moment in 2005. I'm sure Swann doesn't mention it. Much.

Team Performance of the Summer - 1. The Oval Test (Ashes)

Edges out the Lord's Test purely because it followed the Headingley debacle, which, though both were bad, was far worse than the performance at Cardiff. An outstanding team effort, with argument-ending contributions from Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott.

2. v Pakistan, World T20

A win, under huge pressure, against the eventual winners. Highly commendable due to the unthinkable embarrassment defeat would have caused. Going out of your own tournament after three days, before some teams have even played a game, would have rivaled World Cup '99 - when we exited the tournament before the official team song was released.

3. v South Africa, Champions Trophy

So they can do it. And how. The hosts barely knew what had hit them as England compiled a Shah-and-Morgan-inspired 323. Strauss said it was the best he'd seen England bat in a 50-over game, and, backed-up by sound bowling, it can act as a model performance to aspire to.

Individual Test Performance of the Summer - 1. Strauss at Lord's (Ashes)

The innings which announced England's arrival in the series as a team with pretensions of winning it. Batted for a whole day, and put on 196 with Cook for the first wicket. Fell early on day two, for 161, but had made the decisive contribution of the match by then, despite Flintoff taking the man-of-the-match honours on day five.

2. Broad at the Oval

Kudos to the selectors for sticking with him, kudos to the man himself for the decisive spell of the series. Stuart Broad won the Ashes for England in 12 overs, on day two of the last Test, during a spell of 5-37 - which included four wickets in 21 balls. Stunning stuff, and a 2005-shaped dose of excitement.

3. Trott at the Oval

A scarcely believable debut. So many parallels with KP's 158 four years ago. Siddle looked for all the world to have him caught behind off the first ball of day three, just like McGrath seemed to have snaffled Pietersen first ball in '05, but two great umpiring decisions enabled two historic innings - Trott's every bit as good as his countryman's. Actually, better. As Scyld Berry put it, "one of the all-time best England debuts."

Central Contracts: Harmison And Panesar Dropped

Despite Andy Flower reiterating that "central contracts don't decide selection - performances do," there are signs in yesterday's central contracts announcement of the direction in which England will head over the coming year. Onions, Swann and Prior - three of England's leading lights in the last twelve months - have been awarded full contracts for the first time. Panesar and Harmison - along with Patel, Ambrose and the retired Michael Vaughan - have lost theirs.

Ian Bell also received one of the eleven full-time deals - an indication he'll be on the teamsheet for the first Test in South Africa, though hopefully at four, with KP moving up to three.

With their contracts taken away, the onus is firmly on Panesar and Harmison, and neither can have many complaints. The former has slipped behind Adil Rashid in the pecking order, who, with his all-round skills will be hard to overtake. Harmison does not have the threat of a like-for-like replacement breathing down his neck. The news will test his hunger, his options being retire now or add another chapter to his jekyll and hyde England career.

Full Contracts

Anderson, Bell, Broad, Collingwood, Cook, Onions, Pietersen, Prior, Sidebottom, Strauss, Swann

Incremental Contracts

Bopara, Bresnan, Flintoff, Rashid, Shah, Trott, Wright

Vaughan's England Blueprint

Under the sub-headline, "Mission: win the Ashes in Australia", Michael Vaughan offers his England blueprint for success in an interview with Scyld Berry in today's Sunday Telegraph.

He has interesting views regarding the make-up of the team, championing a three, four, five of KP - "because your best player should bat there" - Bell and Trott. He wants England to stick with Alastair Cook, introduce Rashid at number eight and take Bopara to South Africa. When pressed on bowling names he lists Broad, Anderson, Onions, Harmison and Plunkett as potential dangermen for the winter tour, and Chris Woakes and Steve Finn as ones for the future.

Sound as these comments are, Flower, Strauss and the selectors have given us plenty of reason to trust their current thinking regarding selection policy. One day, Vaughan may well find himself part of that process, but for now, this interview represents no more than the informed view of an interested bystander. Where one wishes Vaughan had a more hands-on role, is with regard to his comments relating to the structure of the English game.

Michael Vaughan is a universally liked and respected figure. He was an England weapon as a batsman and captain, and, despite recent retirement, could still be now - if only the ECB could find some sort of consultancy role for him. Even reading his newspaper column would be a start.

Vaughan is acutely aware of the fixture congestion faced by international cricketers today, and laments the lack of resting opportunities: "The players are going to get niggles in the next few weeks [during the upcoming T20I and ODI series' against Australia] and we wont go to the Champions Trophy with our best team in the best shape. It will be another tournament where we don't give ourselves the best chance of winning."

Vaughan understands the needs and necessities of both the county and international games. He excercised logic and diplomacy on the pitch, and could bring the same to an administrative role. He knows only too well that Ashes success can be wasted as a platform on which to build, and is perfectly placed to help avoid mistakes being made this time around.

Berry goes on to quote the Schofield Report, commissioned two years ago by the ECB. In the light of the recent decision to ditch 50-over domestic cricket, it makes damning reading: "The First Class Counties' One Day programme should mirror, wherever possible, the current ICC competition rules, regulations and formats. A reduction in the amount of cricket played at domestic First Class level county championship games played is essential in order to alleviate fixture congestion and allow for better preparation of the players. The domestic programme must aspire to quality and not simply to quantity and the 40-over discipline may be deemed surplus to proper requirement."

Vaughan's reaction? "It's just greed."

Denly Targets Opening Berth

Having made a promising start to his international career on Thursday by top-scoring against Ireland, Joe Denly has been enjoying some positive press attention. His score of 67 enabled England to post a just about competitive 203, though rain reduced the Ireland chase to 116 from 20 overs. They fell three runs short, despite the match again highlighting D+L's inability to manufacture a fair reduced target in heavily rain-affected games - something England discovered against the West Indies in the World T20.

The Telegraph described England as "underwhelming", which they were, but such games against the Associate Nations are essentially no win (defeat leading to heavy criticism, victory seen as no more than expected). After posting a sub-par score (only two batsmen achieved strike-rates of above 100), England did well to contain the Irish batsmen, who at one point needed just 57 from 12 overs - but not much can be read into most aspects of the performance. After all, Owais Shah claimed three wickets in as many overs with his part-time offbreaks.

However, Denly was able to make an impression, rising above the mediocrity to play an innings described by The Telegraph as "probably England's best performance by a new boy since Marcus Trescothick announced his arrival against Zimbabwe nearly a decade ago."

Nick Hoult's report went into further detail, and included another flattering comparison: "Only one England player truly coped. Joe Denly provided encouragement for the future with an innings of patient accumulation worth 67 off 111 balls. Tall and an elegant driver of the ball, there is a passing resemblance to Michael Vaughan and Denly made a strong case for keeping his place when Andrew Strauss returns for the one-day series against Australia."

No doubt mindful of Alastair Cook's quiet Ashes series, this successful first taste of international action has prompted Denly to target a place in the Test team.

Ashes Regained!

Unbelievable. England have won the 2009 Ashes, 2-1, following victory at the Oval by 197 runs. At 5:49, in the early evening light, a Graeme Swann delivery flicked off the bat and pad of Mike Hussey and nestled in the hands of Alastair Cook. Now the Ashes are back in English hands.

The cricket may not have quite matched the quality of 2005, but the scenes from the Oval today and the winning feeling are every bit as good. 2005 banished two decades of hurt, now 2009 has all but banished painful memories of the whitewash down under in 06-07.

This was a fantastic effort by the England team. To bounce back from off-pitch chaos and disappointing defeat in the Caribbean at the start of the year - not to mention on-pitch chaos and disappointing defeat only two weeks ago at Headingley - represents a remarkable achievement.

An Ashes win is the pinnacle of an England cricketer's career. Strauss and his men have deservedly triumphed after two months of the most hard and intense cricket they will ever play. They must make sure that 2009 is the start of something, not, as in 2005, the culmination.

For England, the series was not littered with outstanding individual performances - that can be worked on and improved in the future. What is less easy to manufacture, is character. No worries there; this England team have got it in spades.

First Test, Day Four, Tea Time. England In Trouble.

Australia declared on 674-6. England are 20-2, 219 runs behind.

The rain has come, and it's grim on the field as well as off. Australia batted with ease again, with Haddin and North joining Ponting and Katich as century makers. Whenever Strauss and Pietersen resume, which looks likely to be tomorrow, they, and the next batsmen in, have a mammoth task on their hands in saving this game and atoning for their poor first innings efforts.

For me there are two major reasons why England find themselves in trouble in Cardiff:

• Batsmen failing to push on - All the batsmen and all-rounders apart from Cook got in before getting out. This is good in that they proved they can score runs against this attack, but bad in that it shows a lack of responsibility/concentration/ application/intent/ability. It is an inexcusable fact that no batsman passed 70.
• Bowling plans - Either Australia have them and England don't, or Australia's are vastly more effective. Bowling wide of the off-stump may tempt Phil Hughes, but England wont snare Katich or North like that (because they showed the patience and restraint which was missing from England's innings.) Similarly, bowling full and straight to Pietersen has the effect of unsettling him. Kudos to Ponting - whose captaincy is something of an issue in Australia - but it's simple homework really.

First Test, Day One: Australia Edge It. Just.

England won the toss and finished on 336-7.

Morning Session (belonged to): Australia

Afternoon Session: England

Evening Session: Australia

No big scores yesterday, but all batsmen (other than Cook) at least made starts. England finished the morning session on 93-3, having looked a bit shaky - no doubt a combination of poor recent Ashes displays, playing the Aussies on reputation and big match nerves.

I think the key partnership of the day was Prior and Flintoff's. Collingwood and Pietersen rescued the team in taking them from 90-3 to 228-4, but the bulk of those runs were scored in ones and twos with Hauritz and Clarke bowling in tandem to defensive fields - not particularly threatening. Prior and Flintoff, on the other hand, were the first batsmen to make batting look relatively easy. They were fluent and aggressive and the main reason England's run rate for the day reached an almost 2005-esque 3.73 runs an over. Their innings mirrored Pietersen's contribution to the Lord's Test of 2005, when he was the only batsman to offer any resistance and take the fight to the Aussies. His teammates caught up belatedly in the next Test - they wont want to leave it as late this time.

Talk of the day inevitably centered around Pietersen's dismissal - caught sweeping a very wide off-stump delivery from Hauritz. I nearly always defend Pietersen in such circumstances - buying into the 'but that's the way he plays' theory. However, as Hawkeye shows, there is no excuse for not pulling out of a stroke when a ball is that wide. Replays showed just how off balance he was in attempting the shot, which ultimately denied him the chance of getting a big hundred.

England can make yesterday a success by reaching 400 today.

Mike Atherton's take on Day 1

England Confident

The Ashes begin tomorrow and England are confident of rekindling the spirit of 05, and avoiding the humiliation of 06-07. The team will be announced tomorrow, the only deliberation being whether to include Panesar or Onions at number 11. The team will be:

Strauss

Cook

Bopara

Pietersen

Collingwood

Prior

Flintoff

Broad

Swann

Anderson

Onions/Panesar

It will be fascinating to see who Strauss goes with for the final bowling spot. The common consensus is that the pitch will turn, though not as much as originally reported, and offer a little in terms of pace and bounce to the quicks. I think Strauss will go for two spinners - he and Flower have had that plan in mind for months and today Strauss told the press that an extra spinner "allows you more control and gives you more options". It would be a brave move, especially given Panesar's form, but I believe it's a gamble that could give England a major advantage. Australia are now likely to play one spinner, but before the injury to Lee were widely expected to field an all pace attack. 

It is currently raining in Cardiff, but the forecast for the next few days is good.

You can have any other tournament you want but to have the chance to play in the Ashes is everything

Andrew Flintoff