“A hot summer’s night spent watching the most traditional English game with a sumptuous picnic”

ALCOHOL…Wine, Pimms, Magners, Gin & Tonic….BEER! Here we were in the Garden of England, the home of the Shepherd Neame brewery amongst other beer makers, just down the road from Barkham Manor where some of the finest English wine is produced and we couldn’t get a drink for love or money.

This is one of the problems with cricket these days. Or more specifically the Twenty20 version of the game. And if the counties are not careful the huge bubble of interest in the game will go pop.

Let’s start with the facts. £70 for a family of four is pricey to start with. Counties want to bring more youngsters into the games but the pricing structure is still not right. Look at the facts:-

Twenty20 game – 40 overs in total – £22 for adults, £8 for children
Clydesdale 40 – 80 overs in total – £20 for adults, £8 for children
LV Championship – 90+ overs – £15 for adults, £8 for children

There are discounts for buying in advance but the maths here is that the longer games are the cheapest ones? Is there some economic logic in there? Possibly. And kids tickets are the same price irrespective of the game?

So we arrived, paid our £10 for parking and then had to take out the couple of bottles of beer we had packed in the picnic bag. I asked why you could not take alcohol in to a steward. “Because there is beer on sale inside” came the answer. Of course.

This was Kent’s first game in this season’s Twenty20 competition, and they were taking on last season’s losing finalists Somerset. Nothing like an easy start then. And this was the the peak of Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week, so the crowds had flocked to the Nevill Ground which ranks high up in my top ten for the best cricket grounds in England. Best in terms of location and setting for sure, but not in terms of facilities for the fans that is for sure.

Sorry, but as a paying fan you simply cannot get value for money from a venue that was stretched to over capacity in terms of facilities and where the views from anywhere apart from the “official” seating areas (an extra £5 to sit here) or in the front row of the school hall seats around the boundary. If you were in any other row then your view was basically of people’s heads in front.

5.30pm came around and the teams emerged to do one of those silly “friendship” lines that we now see in Football. Another pointless gimmick. And still people piled into the ground. They had set up two bars on either side of the ground, facing away from the action, meaning you couldn’t even really see the game whilst you queued. And queued some more. In fact I eventually got back to my seat after nearly fifteen minutes. By which time Kent had almost thrown away the game.

Kent 163-8 lost to Somerset 166-1 by 9 wickets – Nevill Ground – Friday 3rd June 2011
Kent won the toss and elected to bat. With a decent upper order they would have hoped to post a score of 180 plus on a pitch that had shown itself to be a batting track most of the week. That confidence had evaporated by the time I returned from the bar with Denly, Coles and van Jaarsveld back in the pavilion with just 32 on the board. Fear not because Robert Key was still at the crease, and with Stevens at the other end Kent started to build a decent score. The bumper crowd forget all about the lack of alcohol as put on 80 runs in double quick time including five sixes before Key was bowled by Kartik for 43.

It was left to Stevens to try and accelerate the scoring. He was running out of partners though, losing Mahmood and Jones cheaply before he was eventually bowled for 68 off just 41 balls.

One hundred and sixty three was never going to be an issue if Somerset could start strongly. And that is exactly what they did. They lost Trego cheaply with the score at 16 but from that point onwards they never looked back, scoring at 9, 10 and then 11 an over as Marcus Trescothick and van der Merwe battered the Kent attack. Tredwell went for over twenty in one over, with van der Merwe hitting him down the ground for three consecutive sixes. In total he hit 54 in boundaries out of his unbeaten 89 and never looked in trouble.

In the end Somerset reached the target with three overs still left. They could have carried on past the two hundred mark with ease and they showed exactly why they are one of the favourites again this year.

A final message to the powers that be. Men + cricket = beer. So put more bars on and then you will get more money in that bulging bank account from charging an arm and a leg to watch the game.

More pictures from the thrashing can be found here.

“A day at the cricket has rarely been such a dangerous occupation. While Graham Napier was at the crease the crowd had to scatter, duck and cover to avoid his blows. He made 196, and 176 of those were scored in boundaries. In total he walloped 16 sixes, equalling Andrew Symonds’ record for the most ever hit in a first-class innings.

In total he scored 171 from the 78 balls he faced on the day, including 125 in the morning session alone, and shared a stand of 190 with Chris Wright, who contributed a shrewd 30. Later on Napier added the wicket of the nightwatchman Meaker for good measure. As he said: “I’m a bowler first, not a batsman.”

So with Napier’s innings and a total of nearly 1,500 runs scored over the four days of the game at Whitgift it appeared to be a batters wicket. So we were looking forward to a limited overs game here with a short boundary. But what sort of mood would the visitors Hampshire turn up with? Whilst they weren’t directly involved in the second story of the week, they could not fail to shake their head in embarrassment at events on Saturday afternoon at The Rose Bowl.

How on earth this story didn’t make more of a splash this weekend I will never know. I could try and put a TBIR spin on it but the actual BBC report sums it up better than I ever could:-

“A stuffed toy animal led to a large-scale police operation in Hampshire and stopped play at the Rose Bowl cricket ground. The alarm was first raised by a concerned member of the public who believed there was an escaped white tiger hiding in a field near Hedge End. Officers were sent to the scene along with a helicopter and thermal imaging cameras, at about 1600 BST on Saturday. When no body heat was detected police moved in and found a cuddly toy tiger.

The Rose Bowl said a game between South Wiltshire and Hampshire Academy was stopped for about 20 minutes before they were given the all clear to continue. The spokesman said although the police action could attract criticism about costs, the force would have been praised if it had been real.”

I had a choice. In fact I had a few. West Ham had emailed me reminding me that it was another “Kids for a Quid” game against Sunderland (hmm…it certainly wasn’t last week and thus a ploy to try and sell the game out) although my seat would still be circa £50. I could of course watch the whole relegation story unfold on TV, or I could get off my arse and go and watch some live sport. So I went in search of runs.

Surrey beat Hampshire by 36 Runs – Whitgift School – Sunday 22nd May 2011
It is hard to knock afternoons like these in terms of value for money. For just £10 (the same price as 15 minutes of pain at Upton Park this afternoon) I saw nearly 6 hours worth of cricket, 586 runs including 16 sixes and 17 wickets from my boundary edge view point. Add in a couple of Kent Bitter limited edition IPA’s and you have a perfect antidote to Sky’s Survival Sunday.

Pupils at Whitgift school must be the luckiest cricketers alive. A fantastic natural semi-bowl of a ground, surrounded by trees was filled to almost capacity for this eagerly awaited game. And the crowd didn’t have to wait long for the action to really get going. Hamilton-Brown took on the Hampshire attack from the first over soon seeing off Simon Jones and Mascarenhas as Surrey posted nearly 9 an over from the start.

Without their “big guns” of Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Mark Ramprakash the smart money was going on a Hampshire win for this game but that soon started to change.

Two quick wickets for Hampshire which saw Rory Hamilton-Brown’s 43 ball 50 and Jason Roy’s quickfire 30 depart with just 102 on the board looked like they would restrict Surrey to a 250 score. However, they weren’t prepared for the Maynard Madness.

I found a nice little spot by the square leg boundary. I couldn’t believe nobody else was sitting on the rope so I settled down with my beer. Two balls later I was taking cover as Maynard sent a missile my way. In these instances you can try and be brave and make a spectacular catch or simply duck like a wuss. I chose the latter, shielding my beer of course.

It appeared the very spot I was sitting in was so empty as it was called Napier nest. Apparently it was in this very spot that Graham Napier took out his frustration at being out of the game for so long on Thursday. I could have moved, but I was feeling brave. That was until Zander de Bruyn starting hitting in my direction too.

The two Surrey batsmen added 118 for the fourth wicket in twelve overs before de Bruyn was run out two shy of his fifty. Maynard kept up the run rate hitting an excellent 79 before he was LBW to Cork. Cork actually thought he had caught and bowled Maynard earlier in his innings but the batsman, and more importantly the umpires ruled it was a bump ball.

The Surrey innings was on the verge of petering out when Maynard departed but Yasir Arafat and Chris Schofield both scored over thirty and increased the number of balls flying over the boundary.

A final score of 311 for 7 was a challenging total for Hampshire but there was no doubt that the conditions were perfect for the batting side.

And it didn’t take long for Benny Howell to prove that exact point as he smacked the Surrey attack to all corners of the ground. The main issue was that Hampshire kept losing wickets at the other end. Nobody else in the side hit over 31 and with fifty still needed to win with just a handful of overs left it was obvious it had to be Howell who carried the lions share of the fight. Unfortunately with the score at 265 his luck run out quite literally as Spriegel’s direct hit as he attempted another run sent him back to the pavilion. His innings of 122 in 113 balls included nine 4′s and 5 sixes. A really top notch knock.

With Howell’s dismissal went any lingering hopes of a Hampshire victory and just eight ball later their innings ended with them all out for 275.

Two fantastic innings, one on either team both ended by run outs had dictated the result. I am sure that Survival Sunday had been great viewing but with your team already relegated do you really care who else could be relegated? After all, once Spurs got enough points to stay up, and Liverpool brought in King Kenny, it was never going to be a happy ending for West Ham. Still it was good to see Chelsea trying to rival West Ham’s board poor decision making with the sacking of their manager on the way home from their game at Everton. Life is full of simple choices somethings.

Wormsley is the home of the Getty family, sitting just off the M40 in Buckinghamshire. Sir John Paul Getty was cricket mad until his death in 2003 and he built a replica of the Oval ground in his back garden for him and his chums to have a game in. Some say it is the most beautiful cricket ground in England, others say the world. Whatever the debate it is clear that money does buy happiness to an extent.

As we drove into the manicured grounds down a road that seemed to go on forever, past a set being build for Midsomer Murder’s and towards the real village of Dibley of course it started to rain. We’ve gone 743 days without a drop and as soon as we arrive at the cricket it starts.

We parked up and set up camp on the boundary rope, finding every emergency blanket known to man in CMF’s little car. Of course I was being all masculine in my t-shirt and shorts and flatly refused any garments to warm me up. Despite the cold, and rain, the setting was unbelievable. It could not get anymore English unless someone put a red phone box up and thatched the roof of the scorebox. Oh, they have.

Somehow the ECB Unicorns had managed to wangle a deal to play a couple of their games here this season in the Clydesdale tournament. Last season we had seen them record a record breaking victory at Arundel against Sussex, chasing down 325 in less than 40 overs. So hopes were high for a repeat performance against Nottinghamshire, last season’s County Champions.

This season the Unicorns haven’t started so well. Played 4, lost 4 isn’t ideal, although the visitors were actually bottom of the league coming into this game on net run rate. But are they expected to win? After all they are a “development” side and all of their best players will be picked off by the counties. But what do I know. What I need is the opinion of a cricket expert. “Who’s that coming over the hill….” None other than the belle of Test Match Sofa and SPIN magazine’s own Lizzy Ammon, who as you know also writes for the GTC Media stable. So tempting her with one of CMF’s Melton Mowbray Pork Pies she gave me her take on the situation.

ECB Unicorns lost to Nottinghamshire by 7 wickets- Wormsley – Sunday 18th May 2011
This was a game of missed chances. After a short break for rain early in the Unicorns innings they failed to capitalise on a decent base laid down by openers Campbell and Thornley who put on a steady 64 before Campbell was plumb LBW to Franks. Knappett joined Thornely in the middle and whilst they never accelerated the scoring, they did keep the rate ticking at 5 per over.

By this stage we were into course 3 and 4 of our 12 prepared especially for the occasion. Fiery Hot pickled onions were indeed just that, and probably that nice when put in Pimms along with the other bits of fruit and veg but CMF didn’t mind or care.

Thornely was the star of the show for the Unicorns looking steady and poised for his hundred. But he fell just three short. Or did he? Confusion reigns supreme on this one. Conspiracy theorists amongst you will love this.

- According to the announcer, Thornely carried his bat through the innings, scoring 97 not out in what must have been a frustrating last over not to get the strike or his hundred;

- According to the BBC website, Thornely was bowled by Pattison off the last ball of the innings for 97 having faced 122 balls and hitting 9 four. CricInfo’s scorecard also concurs with this but has him scoring 9 fours and a six;

- According to CricInfo’s match report Thornely scored 97 before being bowled by Pattison with two overs to go when the score was on 187 having faced just 95 balls. Lett was then bowled by Franks off the final ball;

Confused? Yep so are we.

The interval was short and sweet but still enough time to find out that West Ham were 2-0 up and cruising to victory that would leave them to fight another day. It was also amusing to see some of the wide variety of spectators at the ground. A Leslie Philips double was wandering around with red trousers on, cravat and a “hellooo” for all the ladies. A strange looking woman who simply “refused to use the portaloo” and said to her husband she would go up to the “house” to find one. We were sitting amongst the cast of Keeping Up Appearances meets Green Green Grass Of Home with a bit of To The Manor Born thrown in.

Anyway, Nottinghamshire had some simple maths to do. They needed exactly 5 an over plus one run and if truth be told they never looked in trouble. The two openers, Akil Patel and Mark Wagh (Waghie to his mates on the boundary ropes) put on 72 for the first wicket before they both went within an over and a run. But that brought Australian Adam Voges and Samit Patel to the crease who both plumdered run-a-ball fifties to put Notts on the verge of victory by the 30th over.

If only the same were true of the Hammers. After finally getting a data network I looked onto BBC minute by minute just in time to see Wigan score a winner and thus relegate the mighty Irons. Boy, that must have been some team talk at half time.

Ali Brown struck the winning runs with 6 overs still remaining and we trooped back to the car to warm up. A full 10/10 for the setting, 6/10 for the game but a massive 11/10 for the spread. Top marks CMF and not a tub of low-fat Humus and carrot sticks in sight.

We’re there – we’ve made it to the end of the World’s longest competition. Granted there’s been some dull group games but on the whole I think it’s been a cracking tournament.

And actually it couldn’t have been scripted better that the final is between Sri Lanka and India.

Murali’s swansong and Sachin looking for his 100th 100 on home turf. Murali is bowing out of international cricket altogether and Sachin is stopping playing One day stuff after this world cup. I know we all have a tendency to go a bit dewey eye’d when players finish off their careers but the word “great” really is appropriate in the case of these two.

The Semi Finals were interesting and a bit odd. NZ didn’t really match up to Sri Lanka’s balanced and talented side but for NZ to get to the semis is impressive and they are, rightly, very proud of their WC campaign. Pakistan put up a fight in the “match of the century” but were let down by their usual mentalness with the bat and the fact that they dropped Sachin 4 times. You don’t drop Sachin 4 times and win a game of cricket – or at least you shouldn’t.

Sri Lanka appear to be in better form than India heading into this all-Asian final although I’m not sure they’ve been properly tested yet because of the way the groups were set out and because their game against Australia was rained off.

Dilshan and Sangakkara are in resplendent form both having amassed in excess of 400 runs and Upul Tharanga has posted 393 runs.

It’s the view of most of the hacks that which ever side bats first will probably win this final. And looking at the sides it will be the top 3 or 4 batsmen that win it or lose it. Both sides have a bit of a tail and a slightly shakey middle order. It’ll be Tharanga, Dilshan, Sangakarra, Sehwag, Ghambir and Tendulkar that hold the key to this game I believe.

India will almost certainly call up Ravichandran Ashwin in place of the injured Ashish Nehra meaning that they will have three spin options with Singhs Harbhajan and Yuvraj in the side as well. Sri Lanka will likely stick with Dilshan, Muralitharan, Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis as their spin options. The two man danger seamers are Malinga with his ugly hideous but effective action and Zaheer Khan for India. Both of these men can be lethal and dessimate anything but the best batsmen with their ability to vary their lengths and get some reverse swing.

Another crucial aspect could well be the fielding. Sri Lanka are a much better fielding side than India who are a bit “old school”.

I’m not sure I’m brave enough to predict who’s going to win but if there’s any justice in the world it will be Sri Lanka because I believe they are a more balanced side and better in the field. Plus it would be a lovely end to Murali’s international career.

Whatever happens – I wouldn’t miss this one if I were you.

And they don’t really get bigger than this one.
It’s Pakistan versus India on which will take place on Wednesday 30th March in Mohali. To say there’s no love lost between these two sides might be somewhat understating it.

Yesterday a dismal West Indies were massacred by Pakistan in Mirpur losing by 10 wickets inside 21 overs.

Chris Gayle played a glorious shot for 4 in the first over and from there it disintegrated. They slumped to 16 for 3. Chanderpaul and Sarwan steadied the ship a little before Sarwan played a shot that he should be slapped for and pretty much all hope was gone. They were skittled for 112 Chanderpaul left stranded on 44 not out.

In reply, the Pakistan openers set about the job professionally and efficiently and slightly uncharacteristically. Although to be fair they were up against an average bowling attack (and that’s being kind).

Whole thing was a non-event really. I genuinely hope West Indies cricket can rebuild and make some moves towards being a team a bit more reminiscent of the glory days of Holding, Garner, Greenidge, Sobers, Marshall etc etc etc. It’s heartbreaking to see what disarray West Indian cricket is in although there have been some signs of improvement but you could be forgiven for not knowing that after this dismal display. They didn’t look like a side who should even be at the World Cup never mind in the quarter finals.

Earlier today, the hopes of 1 billion Indians were kept alive as they beat Australia in an absolute thriller at Ahmedabad.

It was Yuvraj Singh’s day again. What a World Cup he’s having.

Australia made 260 mostly thanks to a screw you ton from Ricky Ponting. You really can never write Ponting off as a player.

260 was defendable on a slightly slow pitch. 53 from the God Sachin got them to 94 -2 – a solid base for them to push on from. There was a traditional mini Indian collapse which put Australia back on top for a bit but it was Yuvraj Singh who struck a measured, sensible innings which contained some glorious shots who saw them home in the 48th over.

Tomorrow is South Africa vs New Zealand in the 3rd quarter final. No one sensible thinks that NZ can win this, their bowling attack particularly is no match for the likes of Steyn. But actually the difference is really going to be noticed in the quality of the spinners. Peterson, Botha and Tahir have much better stats than Nathan McCullom and Daniel Vettori and this pitch might turn.

The ICC have pretty much got their way, the format was designed so that none of the “lesser” nations could really qualify. And they haven’t.

The group games did provide some glorious moments and they’ve been summed up by the wondrous Daniel Norcross – founder of testmatchsofa here

The quarter finals start tomorrow – Wednesday 23rd March with Pakistan v West Indies in Mirpur.

Pakistan: Sadly, for reaons for we’re all aware of perpetual doubt is cast over the Pakistan team. Surely Kamram Akmal can’t be in the side for his Wicket Keeping skills? He can’t be the best wicket keeper in the whole of Pakistan?

They have incredible propensity to implode but when it all comes together they are world beaters. They just ended Australia’s unbeaten run of 90 million World Cup games (ok ok not that many – it just feels like it).

Shahid Afridi is a loose and loose cannons get but he has the ability to take a game away from the opposition with the bat and his bowling can trouble less technically correct batsmen (a la windies).. Umar Gul

The West Indies are just not able to finish a game off. In actual fact, it’s probably them that should have the choking mantle but they’re too cool for that. They collapse quicker than my sons badly built lego tower. The thing is though, you can never write off a side that contains Pollard, Gayle, Sarwan, Bravo. It only takes one of them to come off in their own inimitable style and they can post a really high first innings total. Chasing a score doesn’t appear to be their forte and their bowling is not striking fear into any of other 7 qualified teams.

It’s a bit of a mystery why Chanderpaul wasn’t in the side for their last 2 games, he’s exactly the sort of steadier you want in the middle order. Rumours are he’s lost it a bit – I’m not sure if that means with the bat or in his swede.

I’m not sure the Mirpur pitch is going to suit their style – they’ll need to play the slow pitch sensibly and do a bit of nurdling. This isn’t really their style.

It will certainly be an upset if Pakistan don’t win this one, but it does rather depend on which Pakistan side shows up on the day.

After winning the toss and electing to bat on what looked like a pretty good Chennai pitch, they got off to a steady although not explosive start with Mr dependable Trott again in the runs. Once he fell to a soft chip to mid-wicket in the 29th over the wheels fell off. Debutant Devendra Bishoo rattled through our middle order taking 3-34. It was only thanks to a solid 44 from Luke Wright (I never thought I’d write those words) that we got ourselves to a defendable 243 all out in the 49th.

In reply, Chris Gayle unleashed the beast on us and they had 50 on the board in 5 overs. Strauss made some good decisions about how to use his bowlers including opening up with Swann but leaving one over right until the end.

James Tredwell ended up with the man of the match award after taking 3 wickets in 4 overs to shift things England’s way again. Skipper Darren Sammy carried on from where Gayle had left off swinging his bat around.

The Windies fancied a go at mirroring England’s innings and found themselves 151-6 but a good 49 from Andre Russell took the windies to within striking distance of the target.
Russell should have been out caught by Trott in the deep but it was deemed a 6 on referral because his floppy hat hit the boundary advertising “rope”. I think every England supporter at that point thought that it was gone but this England side just never know when they’re beaten. Russell was out soon after only adding 5 to his total.
There were twists and turns all over the place but eventually a suicidal 2nd run by Benn saw him being run out by a throw from Trott at fine leg and England had taken all 10 wickets and won by 18 runs.

You have to say there was some hopelessly braindead cricket from both sides throughout the game but it was utterly joyously entertaining. The ICC should give the England squad a special award for single handedly saving 50 over cricket.

HOWEVER, we haven’t definitely qualified and will have to wait for the remainder of the Group B games. These are the scenarios

We definitely qualify if:

South Africa beat Bangladesh on Saturday

Bangladesh beat South Africa and India beat the West Indies on Sunday

We exit if:

Bangladesh beat SA on Saturday AND West Indies beat India on Sunday.

But we’ve given ourselves a fighting chance but we know how to make life difficult for ourselves.

Canada won the toss and sensibly chose to bat first on a pretty good deck – they were bowled out for a pretty respectable 211 in the 46th over. 3 of the Canadian top 3 made very good starts, Hiral Patel the opener striking a nifty 54 off 45 balls but the Aussie attack of Tait and Lee and spin of Jason Krezja were too much for the Canadian middle and lower order.

In reply, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson put on 183 in the opening partnership and by then it was a mere formality. Haddin fell with the score on 183 and Watson with the score on 185. Ponting was rubbing and examining the finger he broke during the Ashes and seemed to be in some discomfort. He gave his wicket away at 207-2. Michael Clarke and Cameron White left to see it home for the Aussies in the 34th over.

Tomorrow is England’s must win game over the West Indies. There’s a real question mark over the health of Shazhad so it’s likely that Jimmy has been given a reprive on this expected leaving out from the side. You just never what you’re going to get with the Windies. Gayle either gets 1 or 100 (you know what I mean) and Pollard and Bravo (Darren) are laws unto themselves but there are about 4 of them that can single handedly take the game away from the opposition if they come off. It’s not going to be a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. Windies bowling is weaker than their batting so we really need to attack it from the outset.

Here’s a brief round up of what happened over the weekend (days 22 and 23) and today – Day 24 and what this means for qualification (if I’ve done my maths correctly)
Day 22: South Africa threw off the choking tag by beating India by 3 wickets in Nagpur with 2 balls to spare. Thanks to Sachin’s 99th international hundred, India got themselves to 266 -1 before his wicket fell. At one point they were definitely on for 350+ – as it was they did their own brand of choking and collapsed to 296 all out. In reply Proteas the top order all played their part in getting South Africa towards the total but all failed to push on to get a big score and it was left to Faf du Plessis and Robin Peterson to finish the job off.

Day 23: New Zealand beat Canada by 97 runs. The Canadians actually gave a respectable ish account of themselves with the bat but they were chasing a huge 358.

Day 23: Australia made slightly hard work of beating Kenya. In the end they won by 60 runs but the Kenyans gave a pretty good account of themselves even though Australia never seemed to get out of second gear. In reply to Australia’s 324/6 (including first sight of Mike Hussey at this World Cup), Kenya posted 261/9 in their 50 overs.

Day 24: Bangladesh gave themselves more than fighting chance of getting into the quarters by beating the Netherlands by 6 wickets with 52 balls remaining. The Netherlands were bowled out for a measly 160 in the 47th over and they were knocked off quite easily. Imrul kayes had another great game – carrying his bat for 73.

Day 24: Pakistan beat a sorry Zimbabwe by 7 wickets in a rain affected game in Pallekele. Zimbabwe got to 151 for 7 in 39.4 overs before their innings was declared over (due to the rain) – Pakistan were set 162 to win in 38 overs which they did comfortably thanks mostly to 78* from Asad Shafiq.

We’re moving into the business end of the group stages: Group A is pretty straightforward, the 4 to qualify will almost certainly be NZ, Pakistan, SL and Australia.
Group B is more complicated (by nature of being a more open group) – As it stands England are in 5th with 5 points. England HAVE to beat the Windies to stand any chance of going through – even then they’ll have to wait until Sun because if Bangladesh beat SA and the Windies beat India they won’t make it and Bangladesh will take the 4th slot! (the other 3 being SA, India and Windies).

If the Windies lose both their games and Bangladesh win and South Africa win one of their remaining games then the Windies go out.

Essentially group B has got exciting. Group A is a yawnfest.

In pursuit of England’s modest total of 225, the Bangladesh top order made a solid start before the dangerman Tamim Iqbal was bowled by Bresnan in the 9th over with the score on 52. The required run rate for Bangladesh was only just over 4 and the other opener Imrul Kayes played a sensible and measured innings that keep the scoreboard ticking but didn’t take unnecessary risks. Kayes and Shakib Al Hasan in a partnership of 82 took the score to 155 -4 before Kayes was run out with a nice bit of work between Shazhad and Prior. The breakthrough had been made. Wickets then fell with the score on 162, 166 (twice) and 169. With the score at 169-8 with still 57 runs needed to win, England were very much in the box seat. But Mahmudullah and tailender Shafiul Islam weren’t ready to be beaten. Their partnership of 58 saw the Bangladeshis secure a shock victory over a team who’d tied with India and beaten South Africa.

Ajmal Shazhad back into the side was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3 wickets with 3 absolute jaffas, Bresnan bowled 10 tight overs picking up 1 for 35 and Swann also bowled with some accuracy and containment despite having a tantrum or two (what we call “doing a Ricky”). The real worry is James Anderson who really cannot find the right line or length out in the sub-continent. He bowled 9 overs for 54 – expensive.

Tell you what didn’t help matters – and that was bowling 23, yes 23, wides.

What was also confusing was why we had only picked one spinner. In the media yesterday there was a good deal of speculation that we might even go with 3 “front-line” spinners. Either Flower completely mis-read the pitch (highly unlikely for a man of Flower’s experience) or they just don’t want to pick Yardy, Tredwell or Wright irrespective of the conditions. Which makes you wonder why they are even there.
England’s innings was confusing and chaotic and badly thought out in relation to selection, reading of the pitch, execution of shots.

Seemingly no one apart from Strauss and Flower thinks Prior should be opening. Given it’s those two who pick the order, he did open and got out stumped. It’s hard to even explain how dozy piece of cricket it was. He wandered out of his ground to be stumped by a very quick witted Rahim.

Jonathan Trott – mr dependable dug in, on a difficult pitch, to play a sensible innings before he caught off the bowling of Adbur Razzak.

Eoin Morgan – the wristy ginger ninja – back in the side showed us his class scoring 63 off 72 balls before a fantastic catch by Imrul Kayes sent him packing.

After Trott fell with the score on 5-182 we crumbled like crumbly thing being bowled out in the 49th over for 225.

It was a pretty poor effort with the bat although credit must be given to the Bangladesh bowlers who inticed some of the poor shots we played and were helped by a pitch that we may have mis-read and which they hadn’t.

So now we almost certainly have to beat the West Indies to qualify for the quarters and Bangladesh have given themselves a fighting chance of qualifying.

In the other match of the day in Group B Ireland lost to the West Indies. Keiron Pollard found his form smashing 94 to help the West Indies to a total of 275. In reply, they lost Stirling early but Ed Joyce steered them into a solid position with his 84 before he was bowled by Russell with the score on 177 in the 38th over. From there a steady procession of Irish batsmen went out to the crease and back to the pavilion. Little Georgie Dockrell had an attempt at a last flourish but it wasn’t enough or soon enough and Ireland were all out at the start of the 49th over for 231.
Ireland now have to win both their remaining games and hope results go their way in order for them to qualify.

Tomorrow is a biggie – India vs South Africa.