Posts tagged with ‘Graeme Swann’

Played 18, drawn 9, lost 9. This is England’s record against Australia at Lord’s from 1938 until this morning. Their last Ashes victory there, in 1934, was the only time England achieved the feat in the whole of the 20th Century.

As emotive as England’s late escape was yesterday, the team will be under no illusions – they were thoroughly outplayed. With the 2nd Test following just a few days behind, Strauss will need to regroup his team fast. Here are the areas that are of concern.

So this is it.  Let the battle commence.
England are playing both Swann and Panesar in the 1st Test.
And Australia will be playing Nathan Hauritz but not Stuart Clark.
Just what we would have wanted…

If the 1st Test against West Indies has taught us anything it is that test cricket doesn’t care a damn about reputations. Two of the worlds finest batsmen, Kevin Pietersen and Shiv Chanderpaul, faced just 7 deliveries between them, whilst it was the likes of Swann and Onions who took the limelight.

I have decided to announce the inaugural GoodCricketWicket Test XI, a selection of test match performers who I deem to be worthy of praise. This XI will be updated on a rolling basis, although there is no time limit.

A series defeat against West Indies, but there are positives to be found. The worry will be that the selectors rely on those living on past glories in an attempt to bolster short-term results, particularly for the Ashes.

After all that so drearily preceded the final day of the series between West Indies and England, we were treated to a gripping day that reminded us all what test cricket should all be about