Sunday 12 July 2009

High drama in Cardiff

The ICC World Twenty20 competition produced some exciting moments but nothing came close to the high drama at Cardiff. In the true spirit of Test cricket England’s tailenders hung on to the draw with their fingernails, turning a comprehensive thumping into a brave draw.

England may not have lost the match at Cardiff but they did a good impersonation of a losing team for most of the match. Time after time England has suffered from the same issues:

  • Batsmen failing to capitalise on good starts
  • Batsmen failing when the pressure is applied
  • Bowlers not able to take wickets on a good pitch

Australia was simply a better side in the first test. Will it turn around at Lords? Probably not but at least getting away with a draw today will help confidence.

So Ricky Ponting, why didn’t Johnson bowl in the last hour? In which universe does bowling Marcus North seem a better option than Mitchell Johnson? What a bizarre decision. I am sure Panesar and Anderson were very happy with it.

2 comments:

Brian Carpenter said...

Not for the first time it's hard to know what Ponting was thinking about.

Personally I'd have bowled Hilfenhaus, who looked a better bet than Johnson all match

Krish said...

I agree with Brian. Johnson was horrible on the last day. It would have been a waste of effort. But there were better options that Marcus North. Hilfenhaus, Clarke or Katich all would have been better options.