Johannesburg, South Africa (GenevaLunch) - The South African fast bowlers, led by Morne Morkel, ripped through the English batting to allow the South Africans to win the the fourth and final Test by an inning and 75 runs Sunday 17 January. Morkel took three wickets in six balls in a devastating spell that destroyed England’s middle order. He finished the innings with four for 59 and also took a catch to dismiss Paul Collingwood, the only batsman to offer any resistance, for 71. England were all out for 169. Earlier in the game they complained about the operation of the system of referring umpiring decisions to television replay, as they thought South African captain Graeme Smith should have been given out. The series ended even with one Test each and two draws.
Links to other sites: yahoo cricket, The Guardian.
Centurion Park, Pretoria, South Africa (GenevaLunch) – England just held on to claim a draw in the first test between England and South Africa. The middle order batting collapsed after Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, both South African-born but playing for England, seemed to have made the game safe. As it turned out Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions had to survive the last few overs in a nail-biting finish. The final scores were South Africa 418 and 301 for 7, England 356 and 228 for 9.
Links to other sites: Guardian, Yahoo cricket.
South Africa (GenevaLunch) – The English batsmen put on a rare display as they beat South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy. Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided to bat but lost the opening batsmen quickly. Owais Shah (98) and Paul Collingwood (82) then gradually took control and Eoin Morgan added 67 in just 34 balls. England reached an impressive 323 for 8: the second highest score in the tournament’s history.
The Oval, London, England (GenevaLunch) – England were in control at the end of an incredible second day of the final Test of the Ashes series in which 15 wickets fell. They started the day on 307 for 8 and extended the score to 332, which looked a little below par at the time. Australia then made a solid start, reaching a somewhat fortunate 61 without loss despite the deteriorating wicket, which is being criticized in the Australian media.
The Oval, London, England (GenevaLunch) – The Ashes reaches its climax this weekend with the series balanced at 1-1 going into the final Test at the Oval. The Australian selection is unchanged from the team that crushed England at Headingley. England replaced out of form batsman Ravi Bopara with Trott. Fast bowler Steve Harmison is fortunate to have been chosen ahead of Graham Onions.
Andrew Strauss won the toss and chose to bat on what looked like a good pitch but England soon lost opener Alistair Cook.
Headingley, Leeds, England (GenevaLunch) – England nearly achieved the unusual feat of losing a Test match in two days as they were comprehensively outplayed by Australia. The Aussies bowled out England for 102 and then scored 445 themselves, with Marcus North getting 110 runs. The England openers reached 58 before the loss of Andrew Strauss but then managed to fold to 78 for 5, with Ravi Bopara falling first ball, Ian Bell falling for three and Paul Collingwood for four.
London, England (GenevaLunch) – England are in a dominant position after three days of the second test at Lords: the first test ended in a draw. They lead by 515 runs with two days to play. The Australian tail enders held up the English attack but fell just in time for England captain Andrew Strauss to have the chance to enforce the follow-on. However he prefered to bat again, possibly influenced by the easy batting conditions, the fitness of Andrew Flintoff or simple cowardice.
Bristol, UK (GenevaLunch) – England coasted to a comfortable six wicket victory over the West Indies in the second one day international in Bristol. The first was rained off.
