England vs Australia – 1st ODI – Match Preview
Familiar foes, traditional rivalry, historic venue, all of which rekindles when England encounters Australia in the first ODI of a short five-match series, beginning at Lord’s, on June 29, 2012.
While the scale of the series might not serve well for the cricket-goers, who are more used to some compelling battles between the two sides, which involves bloodshed and tears with only one army coming up trumps in the true sense as witnessed in the previous Ashes where England trounced http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 to such an extent that the sole mission for the Aussies since then has been to regain the urn.
The same scenario hurt England for more than a decade when the Kangaroos’ were arguably the more potent force. However, with changing times a five-match ODI series might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the hype surrounding it surely puts the upcoming battles to a whole new level.
Having been outplayed in recent times, the Aussies have been more than eager to topple their arch-nemesis and the preparation for the next year’s Ashes begins right here. They have had plenty of overhauling since the past 16 months and it will be interesting to see how the new side copes without the usual suspects, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 (rested).
They have tasted plenty of success under http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJ-Hussey-c1380 in the middle-order is always an assuring factor for the camp, which possesses plenty of young guns.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, making full use of the warm-up games and winning them convincingly.
While the above players will have little insight to the team’s Ashes debacles, for someone like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Watson-c2558, memories simply loiters. The player has evolved as an all-rounder in recent times and his experience, and performances will hold key.
While they have arguably installed themselves as the no.1 ODI ranked team, their upcoming task will not be a walk in the park as England are expected to comeback hard.
It has been a gradual rise for English cricket and the stage is now set for them to be become World beaters across all formats. Their Test supremacy is undeniable, however question marks still linger over their ability to transform their longer version success to the shorter editions.
They have to chop and change with the sudden retirement of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 but have looked in impressive form against the West Indies. The approach of playing out an out specialist players have so far reaped dividend but that ploy could be exploited by a stronger opposition.
Nonetheless, at home they are an indomitable force with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 in hot form, while the bowling lineup is arguably the best under seam friendly conditions.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TT-Bresnan-c2711 in this format, the swing maestro will need to prove that he is well equipped to bowl at the death.
The playing XI will have little change, which took the field against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783.
The weather could have a bearing with showers expected.
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