Cricket: England....

James Anderson completed his remarkable transformation from Lancashire's second team into an England hero today by writing his name on the Lord's Honours Board with a five star display to help clinch an emphatic opening Test victory over Zimbabwe.

Just over a year since making his championship debut against Surrey at Old Trafford, Anderson became the first England bowler to take five wickets on their Test debut since Dominic Cork claimed seven for 43 at Lord's against West Indies in 1995.

His performance ensured Zimbabwe were dismissed for a lowly 147 and after following on 325 runs adrift, they were bowled out for a second time for 223 to suffer a comprehensive innings and 92 runs humiliation.

Anderson's superb performance, claiming four wickets for five runs in 14 balls to prompt a first innings Zimbabwe collapse of eight wickets for 68 runs, officially established him as England's new young star on his first international appearance in this country.

It's great to finally see some of the young talent making its way into the side,i know it isn't the greatest opposition but nothing better to get your confidence up..Mark butcher also had a good 1st test.Lets hop England can keep it going.!
:bounce:

We have the makings of a decent team, get rid of Nassar and we would have a strong batting order, bring back Nick Knight or bring a specialised wicketkeeper in and move Stewart up the bat at four.

Bout time we had some decent players comming through,Teflon good call with Nick Knight about time he is back in the team...

I know australians dig on the poms.. but tell me this.. why was this years ashes series so woeful on the England's part... does it discourage you guys as fans from watching your side play cricket?

I must admit that the last two test were quite entertaining.

Chris.

Well Chris i just don't know why we were so bad,we seem to start going downhill long before that and hopefully are just starting to climb back..But the top of the hill is still a long way off....

I dont watch as much as i used to,but still manage to catch alot of the highlights...

I would have to say that I am totally addicted to cricket... I even watch games that australia aren't playing in..

I was absolutely astonished to see Teams get into the World cup super six from just pure luck...That is not how a highly regarded tournament such as the World cup is supposed to be run.

The english were shafted.

Going back to your orignal question of why England were so bad during the Ashes.... I think it comes down to fear. We play other countries and take the game to them, when we play oz it's almost like they go out expecting to lose and it reflects in the performance. On our day I still don't think we could take the series, but we are alot better than we have shown against you guys so far.

Well as i said it is looking quite promising with the english game with the new players comming through,what i want to see is them play a decent side now and see how they do..

I remember when I was in london, they had cricket on tv and it seemed very interesting to watch....better than baseball even (but that comes from a person who hates to watch baseball so that could mean very little).

Well a 1 daty match is more interesting than a test match as they have limited overs so they tend to hit out more...

I can only really watch one day matches in full, the tests bore me and I end up watching the highlights.

Originally posted by TeflonDon
I can only really watch one day matches in full, the tests bore me and I end up watching the highlights.

Same here i used to watch it all the time,but the hightlights are enough for me now...

Gone are the days of Botham and the likes that made it worth watching...!

It's just too slow to be interesting, no matter how they revamp it and add all sorts of stats, at the end of the day it's a cricket match!

England's young side rallied to captain Nasser Hussain's words of wisdom and were rewarded for their patience as they wrapped up a second successive innings victory over Zimbabwe.

After claiming 19 wickets in a day to complete an innings and 92-run triumph in the opening Test at Lord's, captain Nasser Hussain felt the need to remind his inexperienced line-up that passages of play like that were "abnormal" and that Test success is usually achieved through hard work and perseverance.

There was little evidence of that during the opening two days at the Riverside as England dismissed the tourists for a lowly 94 to force them to follow on 322 runs behind.

That meant that when play resumed this morning, with Zimbabwe 281 runs adrift on 41 for one, a rapid conclusion to Durham's maiden Test was then expected.

But England's trio of seam bowlers, with only eight Test appearances between them, were given a glimpse of what they can expect later in the summer against South Africa as Zimbabwe demonstrated some overdue resistance to delay the victory celebrations until 4.45pm.

It was a useful lesson for 20-year-old James Anderson, who toiled through 19 overs during the day to claim four for 55, and Richard Johnson, whose belated entry into Test cricket was marked by his six for 33 yesterday but who finished wicketless 24 hours later.

Where Johnson had provided the cutting edge on the previous day, today it was local hero Steve Harmison who made the breakthroughs when it mattered and helped him finish with Test best figures of four for 55.

A good win with some of the younger players doing well..:bounce:

England v Pakistan
Old Trafford
The NatWest Challenge
Pakistan beat England by 2 wkts.

Pakistan innings
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s
Imran Nazir c Solanki b Clarke 33 56 4 -
Mohammad Hafeez c Clarke b Anderson 69 112 8 -
Yasir Hameed c McGrath b Giles 23 44 1 -
Yousuf Youhana run out 8 10 1 -
Younis Khan b Anderson 0 2 - -
Shoaib Malik c Clarke b Gough 24 26 3 -
Azhar Mahmood c Troughton b Gough 16 18 - 1
Rashid Latif lbw b Anderson 1 2 - -
Abdul Razzaq not out 12 9 2 -
Mohammad Sami not out 7 17 1 -
Extras 0b 9lb 6w 0nb 15
TOTAL: 8 wkts , 49.2 overs 208
Fall of wickets: 1-60 (60 Imran Nazir, 74 mins), 2-116 (56 Yasir Hameed, 47 mins), 3-139 (23 Yousuf Youhana, 21 mins), 4-139 (0 Younis Khan, 1 mins), 5-158 (19 Mohammad Hafeez, 18 mins), 6-181 (23 Shoaib Malik, 13 mins), 7-188 (7 Rashid Latif, 5 mins), 8-194 (6 Azhar Mahmood, 14 mins)
To bat: Umar Gul
Bowler O M R W
J M Anderson 10 0 59 3
D Gough 10 1 38 2
A Flintoff 10 2 23 0
A F Giles 10 0 29 1
R Clarke 7.2 0 41 1
M P Vaughan 2 0 9 0

England innings
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s
ME Trescothick c Rashid Latif b Mohammad Sami 18 25 2 -
VS Solanki b Mohammad Hafeez 36 36 6 1
MP Vaughan c Rashid Latif b Umar Gul 27 34 4 1
JO Troughton c Rashid Latif b Umar Gul 6 8 1 -
A Flintoff c Yasir Hameed b Abdul Razzaq 39 55 4 -
A McGrath c Mohammad Sami b Shoaib Malik 33 75 2 -
R Clarke b Shoaib Malik 0 2 - -
CMW Read c Imran Nazir b Shoaib Malik 5 17 - -
AF Giles run out 3 9 - -
D Gough not out 14 30 1 -
JM Anderson not out 6 14 - -
Extras 0b 6lb 6w 5nb 17
TOTAL: 9 wkts , 50 overs
(overs completed) 204
Fall of wickets: 1-45 (45 Trescothick, 30 mins), 2-64 (19 Solanki, 10 mins), 3-96 (32 Troughton, 19 mins), 4-106 (10 Vaughan, 19 mins), 5-152 (46 Flintoff, 43 mins), 6-152 (0 Clarke, 2 mins), 7-164 (12 Read, 10 mins), 8-169 (5 Giles, 9 mins), 9-194 (25 McGrath, 33 mins)
Bowler O M R W
Azhar Mahmood 7 0 24 0
Mohammad Sami 10 2 52 1
Mohammad Hafeez 10 0 41 1
Umar Gul 7 0 33 2
Abdul Razzaq 6 0 22 1
Shoaib Malik 10 2 26 3

England won the toss and decided to bat
Umpires: D B Hair, D R Shepherd


England:
M P Vaughan (capt) , V S Solanki , M E Trescothick , J O Troughton , A Flintoff , A McGrath , C M W Read (wkt) , A F Giles , R Clarke , D Gough , J M Anderson
Pakistan:
Imran Nazir , Mohammad Hafeez , Yasir Hameed , Yousuf Youhana , Younis Khan , Shoaib Malik , Rashid Latif (capt) (wkt) , Abdul Razzaq , Azhar Mahmood , Umar Gul , Mohammad Sami

well theirs the stats we got beat in a thrilling match...

England captain Michael Vaughan paid tribute to his two star performers as he celebrated his first victory in charge on Friday.

His side coasted to a seven-wicket win in just 22 overs after dismissing Pakistan for 185 in the second match of The NatWest Challenge at The Oval.

Lancashire paceman James Anderson led the way with England's first-ever one-day international hat-trick, after taking a wicket with the first ball of the match, before Somerset opener Marcus Trescothick smashed his way to 86 off just 55 balls.

"To lose on Tuesday night and to show character to come back today was very special," said Vaughan.

"I take no credit. I just told them to go out and have some fun, try to play with some character with a smile on their faces.

"Jimmy (Anderson) set the tone with the very first ball - he is a great star for us.

"And for Jimmy to finish off with a hat-trick and Marcus to go out and play like he did was very special.

"Vikram (Solanki) also played very well to get 40 not out in only his second game back."

Vaughan told Sky Sports the victory would give his side an added boost heading into the third and final game of the Challenge on Sunday.

"We will just keep going. We will learn from what we have done today and take some confidence into Sunday's game. It is great to get a win."



Man of the match Trescothick said: "It was just one of those days. The wicket was great, there was beautiful sunshine and I saw the ball clearly," he told Sky Sports One.

"It is one of my best performances. It was a good day and everything come off well.

"I have been playing pretty well all season and it was nice to capitalise on a great day."

Trescothick also paid tribute to opening partner Solanki, who contributed just eight of their 109-run opening stand.

"He was giving me some grief in the middle but all credit to him because it was a very important role for him to play and see it through to the end."

Anderson was rewarded for his remarkable effort of taking England's first one-day hat-trick in 373 matches with a special presentation of a bottle of champagne and the match ball.

He said: "When Goughie was on a hat-trick the roar of the crowd was incredible so the reaction made me get goose bumps when I was running in on my hat-trick. It was just crazy when it came off.

"I was just trying to hit the stumps, that is all you try to do, especially when you are bowling at the number 11. I tried to get all three as full-pitched as possible.

"The ball is coming out well at the moment and I am making the most of it, trying to take as many wickets as I can while I am bowling well."

England suffered a shock four-wicket defeat at the hands of outsiders Zimbabwe as they made the worst possible start to their NatWest Series campaign at Trent Bridge.

A superb unbeaten 96 from the vastly experienced Grant Flower enabled the tourists - beaten by 10 wickets by Ireland a fortnight ago - to gain their first one-day win over England since July 2000 after nine successive defeats.

Thirty-two-year-old Flower, who hit 10 fours in his 151-ball innings, did not give a semblance of a chance as the tourists reached their 192 target with two overs to spare.

It leaves England needing to beat South Africa at The Oval on Saturday if they are not to fall behind in the race to reach the final at Lord's on July 12.

Worcestershire batsman Solanki was the surprise choice to open alongside Marcus Trescothick when England's new-look one-day squad began their month-long programme of matches this summer, keeping Michael Vaughan at number three in the order.

Solanki, the only member of England's side to come along to The Oval on Friday and have a net practice, hit 17 boundaries in his superb 106 and dominated South Africa's attack in a record England opening stand of 200 with Marcus Trescothick off only 193 deliveries.

Their partnership, which overhauled the previous best of 193 between Bill Athey and Graham Gooch against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1986, provided the foundation for England's comprehensive six-wickets triumph with 4.1 overs to spare.

It was also the highest-ever successful run-chase at The Oval, overhauling the 253 for four recorded by England against Australia in 1997, and made amends for their shock defeat by Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge in Thursday's opening match of the tournament.

The England selectors have much to deliberate in choosing their squad for the first Test of the five-match npower series with South Africa - but little time will have been spent discussing the all-rounder's berth.

Most of the talk between the four-man committee, which began on Thursday and culminates in chairman of selectors David Graveney's announcement at lunchtime on Friday, will be about the readiness or suitability of Darren Gough and Graham Thorpe returning at Edgbaston.

Neither is guaranteed to end lengthy absences from the Test scene unlike Andrew Flintoff, who returns to add depth to the batting and controlled aggression to the attack.

Lancashire's Flintoff has missed the last eight Tests, initially through a hernia problem and most recently a freak shoulder injury incurred in the nets at Old Trafford.

The availability of Flintoff, whose performances were integral to England's recent NatWest Challenge and NatWest Series successes, will ensure at least one team change from the XI which completed a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe at Chester-le-Street prior to the one-day portion of the summer.

"Someone is going to have to drop out as Freddie balances the team and has had a top few weeks," said Graveney.

"He has proved himself as a top-quality international all-rounder in the one-day scenario but he would be the first to put his hand up and say he is yet to do it consistently at Test level."

The 25-year-old played the last of his 21 Tests against India 11 months ago at Headingley when he bagged a pair and took one for 68 in an innings defeat. He averages under 20 with the bat and nearly 50 with the ball.

His maturing as a limited-overs international this summer, however - he scored 279 runs and claimed 15 wickets in England's 10 matches - bodes positively for the season's main event against a South African side who look up only at Australia in the world rankings.

Elsewhere, the juvenescence which spread through the one-day party will most likely make way for older heads.

Although Chris Read impressed behind the stumps, Alec Stewart has averaged 66.6 in his last seven Test innings, five of which were against the Australians, and Nasser Hussain regains the captaincy from Michael Vaughan.

The wicketkeeping role will have been debated, no doubt, as the newest selector Rod Marsh has long championed Read but there will have been more fat-chewing over Gough and Thorpe.

"We have some nice problems to discuss," confirmed Graveney. "We have to talk about three specific areas - who is going to bat at number five, who is going to keep wicket and which individuals make up our seam-bowling attack."

They will take expert advice from England and Wales Cricket Board chief medical officer Peter Gregory on Gough, currently in action for Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street, given concerns about whether his knee, which has undergone surgery three times in the past 18 months, can withstand the rigours of a five-day match.

Gough, 32, was named man of the match in Saturday's NatWest Series final victory over South Africa, after picking up two for nine in seven overs.

Without injured duo Andrew Caddick and Matthew Hoggard, the selectors may be tempted to plump for the experience Gough has gathered in taking 228 wickets in 56 appearances, although back-to-back Tests - there are just two rest days between the scheduled finish in Birmingham and the second match at Lord's - will be physically punishing.

Nevertheless, Gough said: "I'm as ready as I'll ever be and getting back into the Test team has always been the ultimate aim. I want to be picked on merit as one of the best fast bowlers in the country - and I think I've proved that in the NatWest Series.

"It's up to the selectors now. I want no favours, no sentiment, but I'm convinced I won't let them down."

Coach Duncan Fletcher recently revealed some reservations about Gough's ability to send down up to 35 overs in consecutive days but the Yorkshire paceman delivered just over half that amount in four spells against Durham on Thursday as he strove to prove his stamina.

With Somerset's Richard Johnson, the bowler who currently tops the first-class averages and took six wickets on his Test debut last month, tormented by knee and groin niggles lately, the selectors may name Gough alongside the former, James Anderson and Steve Harmison and give the medics further time for assessment next week.

Whether Thorpe will earn a recall within a year of temporarily quitting all cricket due to family problems and then reneging on a decision to tour Australia is also far from concrete.

But there has been a gathering clamour for the Surrey left-hander's presence in a middle-order which has appeared vulnerable in his absence and the door appeared ajar when earlier this week, Fletcher revealed he had spoken to Thorpe.

Fletcher said: "Graham is a quality player. Some of his decisions not to tour have been difficult personal ones and, as selectors, we should understand these concerns."

While Robert Key has struggled on the international stage this summer, however, Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath has staked his claim to fill the batting void with two half-centuries against the Zimbabweans in as many innings and may profit if the selectors maintain a policy of not dropping individuals without reason to do so.