England vs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760: SWOT analysis of the English bowlers
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749 is all set to face the West Indies in a crucial ICC World Cup 2011 match-up on Thursday. Currently, England is going through a nightmare in the tournament, having lost two important matches against weaker sides. Both teams will be looking for a good
performance to carry them forward into the quarter-final stage of the tournament.
The World Cup is entering into a critical phase and in the coming days we might see some cut throat competition among the top teams of the world. There are some teams which have secured their place in the next stage of the competition and can afford to stay
relaxed for a few days. There are also some teams which are still not clear about their position in the group table and will have to perform their best until their last match to reach the next stage of the competition.
England will play West Indies on Thursday and they will have no choice but to win this important encounter. England has got some good bowlers in their line-up and they can pose some serious issues for a comparatively weak batting line-up of the West Indies.
Graeme Swann will be the best strength of the English bowling and has the tendency of bowling some economical overs during his spell. Swann has clearly been the odd one out within the bowling line-up and has been performing with a lot of “variety” during
his bowling spells. The biggest strength of Swann’s bowling in the world cup has been his ability to keep one end tight during the middle-overs.
Swann has bowled some long spells during the middle-overs and has not allowed the batsmen to score boundaries off his bowling. He bowls with a good flight to the middle-order batsmen and his flight could temp hard hitters like Ramnaresh Sarwan and Kieron
Pollard to play some “uppish” shots on the off side.
Swann can easily bowl some consecutive maiden overs to the West Indian middle-order and can place them in a defensive frame of mind. His bowling will give encouragement to the other English bowlers and will motivate them to bowl a good line to the West Indian
batsmen. The West Indian middle-order has not shown a lot of command in their batting display and can easily fall for a low score during Swann’s spell.
Tim Bresnan is another bowler who will act as a considerable strength for the English bowlers and can pick some crucial wickets in his bowling spell. Bresnan has bowled well in the tournament and has maintained a good line during his spells. The West Indian
batsmen have always found it difficult to play against the bowlers who bowl with a good line and tempt the batsmen to play some risky shots on the off side.
The West Indian batsmen have not been consistent with the bat in the world cup and Bresnan’s line can easily halt them from scoring in the first 15 overs. Broad did show some good touch with the ball against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and he will be in a good position
to test the West Indian batsmen with some good swing in the early overs.
The lack of a dedicated fifth bowler can pose some issues for England and there is a chance that the West Indian batsmen might score some easy runs off the bowlers during the middle-overs. Though, their middle-overs bowling has not been that weak, but it
has also not been penetrative enough to make a strong impact during the critical phase of the middle-overs.
Bowlers like Paul Collingwood and Michael Yardy are not reliable for long spells and any loose stuff from these bowlers can tempt the West Indian hard hitters to hit boundaries during the middle-overs. The West Indian batsmen are not steady in their batting
technique and this can give an ideal opportunity to the experienced English bowlers to bowl a tidy line and take early wickets.
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