click on "news of world cup 2010 " above to know about schedule and score of world cup 2010 and many more.

easy google search

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE NEPALI SONGS
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE HINDI SONGS
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE ANY SOFTWARE

google ad


THE TOP SPIN: Lawrence Booth's pre-tour report on England's Ashes-winning personnel ahead of South Africa test

Andrew StraussCould this tour turn into his perfect storm? Strauss averages 55 in 17 Tests as captain, and scored 656 runs at nearly 73 when England last toured South Africa six years ago.There’s no way their bowlers will feed his cuts and pulls as they did in 2004-05, but Strauss is a less predictable batsmen these days. Heck, we might even see a straight-drive or two. He has admitted this series will be even tougher than the Ashes, but – with Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison no longer there – this is indisputably a team of Strauss acolytes now. The message to the captain is simple: as you were.Alastair CookOne hurdle has already been overcome: Joe Denly is not in the Test squad to breathe down Cook’s neck. But doubts remain. Against the probing seamers of Australia and New Zealand Cook averages 28 in 29 innings, testimony to a small but fatal flaw outside off-stump. Against everyone else, he averages 46. Yes, he batted well against South Africa in England last year, but that was on slower surfaces: Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel on a Wanderers greentop could be a different proposition.And yet England have invested heavily in his success: Cook is set to captain them in Bangladesh next year.
Kneesy does it: Captain Andrew Strauss hits the deck during during England's Champions Trophy defeat to Australia at CenturionIan BellHe hasn’t even arrived yet but – with thanks to Andy Caddick – the sledging has already begun. 'Twas ever thus, but now Bell has his chance to show that the 199 he made against South Africa at Lord’s in 2008 really was a turning-point rather than the cul-de-sac it seemed to become.
More...
England’s selection policy could yet get in his way: if Strauss insists on five bowlers, one of Bell or Collingwood will surely miss out. If not, Bell simply must build on his 72 at The Brit Oval – a knock under-rated in much the same way as Strauss’s first-innings 129 was four years ago. Otherwise, the critics will have a field day. Caddick may enjoy himself too.Kevin PietersenFirst he has to get on the park. The last two one-day internationals before the Tests may be the earliest opportunity. Then, he has to strike the right balance between entertaining the crowd and scoring big hundreds.Graeme Smith gleefully points out that the 2008 series tilted South Africa’s way when Pietersen was caught at long-on at Edgbaston trying to hit Paul Harris for six to reach his hundred. But beneath the schadenfreude lurks truth. This is a bloke who can do pretty well as he pleases. He, and he alone, will be his own worst enemy this winter.Jonathan TrottAnd you thought that debut was tough. If he succeeds in the country of his birth, the rest of his career could feel like one long anti-climax.Pietersen will invariably deflect some of the bile, but there will be more to deal with in the coming weeks than bouncers and outswingers.A Sportsmail chat with Trott four days ago confirmed a rock-solid temperament. Now he just needs to allay fears he’s not an lbw candidate early on.Paul CollingwoodNo doubt we’ll be told at various stages of the tour that Collingwood is playing for his career. When isn’t he? But the return of Pietersen – leader of the orchestra to Colly’s percussionist – could spark him into life after he fell away during the Ashes. The worry is South Africa’s bouncy tracks could expose his minimal back-lift and bottom-handed shovels, but he is nothing if not resourceful, and there is always the memory of that 135 against the same bunch last year. Always assuming the selectors find room.
Middle order: South African-born Trott (left) and Durham-born Colly (right)Matt PriorIn Flintoff’s absence, Prior becomes the all-rounder with the power to balance or unbalance the side. At No 6, he allows the luxury of a five-man attack but is also the gateway to a long tail. At No 7, he is part of a powerful lower order that may have to score more heavily because the four-man attack has leaked more runs. There is no easy solution – unless Prior counter-attacks early in the series and turns his Ashes cameos into something more substantial. But, please, don’t drop AB de Villiers on nought.Stuart BroadThe beginning of the rest of his career? Possibly, although his Ashes-winning five-for at The Brit Oval has raised the bar to an unfair degree. The talent is there, but he needs direction too. Those close to him say Broad is not the enforcer England crave: his bouncers go for too many runs. He himself nominates Glenn McGrath – the human-form-made-metronome – as his role model. But will the management listen? As for his batting, No 8 seems perfect, especially in the land of Shaun Pollock, who averaged nearly 31 in that slot.The top spinner? Graeme Swann celebrates taking the wicket of Marcus NorthGraeme SwannIf conventional finger-spin is dead, long live Graeme Swann. He more than punched his weight in the Ashes, averaging 35 with the bat (with a game-changing strike-rate of 83), and taking 12 wickets in England’s wins at Lord’s and The Brit Oval. Now he may have to follow Paul Harris’s lead and show patience: spinners in South Africa occasionally do little more than give the quicks a breather. Two hopes: that he works on his technique against the bouncer; and, after over-sleeping twice in South Africa a decade ago, that he buys a second alarm clock after having one pinched in the Caribbean earlier this year.Jimmy AndersonSouth Africa are wary of him, and rightly so: his opening burst during the Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka kick-started England’s partial one-day revival. Yes, he needs the ball to swing, as it should do at times in the weeks ahead. But there is a Plan B these days that no longer makes a mockery of the theory Anderson is now the undisputed attack leader. Not convinced he’s grown up as a cricketer? Then look at the improvement in his batting – one of the reasons England now hold the Ashes.Graham OnionsThe Champions Trophy highlighted the good and the bad. Onions currently resembles a Sajid Mahmood-plus: he takes wickets but gives away too many easy runs, usually when he’s embodying England’s maddening tendency to overdo the bouncer.But Strauss seems to know how to use him: witness his first two balls on the second morning of the Edgbaston Test last summer.Read more:

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

a

ad

ad


statistics

About this blog