England notes down the “positives” after being bruised by Ireland – ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
England were thrashed, bashed, bruised and murdered by Ireland on 2nd http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 at Bangalore when the Irish men river-danced their way to win by three wickets, with 5 balls remaining. Shocking? Barely, when you get to know that they managed to successfully
chase 329. Now, this is really shocking.
Kevin O’ Brien became the fastest cricketer to make a century in the World Cup, smashing 113 off just 63 balls, including 13 fours and six sixes.
So the question is how did England manage to lose? It was the same team who thrilled us with a tie against India. 327 is a formidable target, especially for an “associate” team. Ian Bell scratched 81 off 86 balls, while Jonathan Trott raked in 92 off 92
balls. Even Mr. Ego, Kevin Pietersen crossed 50 that day.
Was it the fielding? Or was it the bowling? Or maybe the team was disturbed by Steven Davies’s revelation about his sexuality?
Whatever the case, it is pretty humiliating at the ousted. Some cried foul, some called it “match-fixing” because of the presence of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajmal-Shahzad-c42489.
However, it was none of it. It was basically the “self-sacrifice” of the Queen’s men to the Irish. Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann were shell-shocked and will remain like that for a long time, but they couldn’t help pointing out the positives from the drubbing.
For the love of cricket
There were three exciting matches in the tournament so far, all of them involved England. Out of the three games, there were two matches that involved the minnows. Out of them, England squeezed through a narrow win. Andrew Strauss and his men single-handedly
managed to bring life back in cricket. They have sympathies with the Associate teams and they have joined forces with the mighty Barmy Army to revive the cricket in these areas.
Developing Cricket
It was not only the team that joined forces to revive the game in the Associate countries, but it was also the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) who are committed to grow the game in the World. They have been passionately involved in evolving cricket,
taking in South African-bred players and developing them to don Her Majesty’s colours. The ECB will now work ahead to recruit Kevin O’Brien on a permanent basis and then discard him when he isn’t good anymore.
Ashes hangover
The team and the management are still suffering from the trip of the land Down Under. The hangover will officially subside until the next Ashes Test series.
James Anderson is on his way to find the form
He needs a break, they all do. But he needs it the most. He took one wicket for 163 runs against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Netherlands-c753. Even Sreesanth will be horrified after seeing these figures. He is dead tired, fatigued and late night tweeting is making him cross-eyed. Including
the amount of travel he had to do to see his new-born baby, he needs the time off.
Mind-boggling confusion
The whole O’Brien family plays cricket, even the manly sister. But Kevin and Niall seemed different on their official breakfast identity cards. Graeme Swann was confused by which Brien came up the crease as one was a left-hander while the other was right-hander.
From next time onwards, the English squad will be provided with the opposition’s profile, including where they dine before the match.
The haircuts
Kevin Pietersen finds the Irish haircuts cool and will be donning the pink hair in their next match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751’s success.
Lost the positives list
Andrew Strauss always has the set of “positives” list that can be taken along and reproduced in every other press conference. The list was compiled by Stuart Broad in his girly writing when they tied the game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
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