Posts tagged with ‘James Anderson’

Having taken an enforced week off, I was fully expecting to see England efficiently eliminated from the Champions Trophy with a minimum of fuss. Instead, I find that they have beaten the two strongest teams in their group. I find myself wondering: How did this miraculous turnaround occur?

Aside from the 3-0 scoreline, there are signs that the England team just aren’t that into this ODI series. First Stuart Broad and now Paul Collingwood and James Anderson are being rested from the team.

Watching England and Australia muddle their way through seven ODIs after the Ashes has finished is like going to your favourite restaurant and having the main course before the starter. Nobody wants a bowl of soup when they’ve just finished a plate of steak and chips.

So, the third day has been completely washed out with England 116/2 following the dramatic Australia collapse yesterday. Before the match, many England fans would have been secretly happy at the prospect of little play in this match, but it might rob them of the opportunity to deliver a knockout blow.

Almost everything went right for England today, and they are in a great position to beat the Aussies at Lord’s for the first time since 1934.

At first glance it seems as if Anderson’s, and England’s, performance vastly improves if you take Flintoff out of the side. But if you look at the individual matches (see the links in the above table), a different story emerges.

They told us he couldn’t bat. They told us it was all over. They hadn’t counted on Monty.

These are my selections for the best performers in English cricket for the month of April, in all competitions.