It’s been a long time since England had such a great year of cricket. They convincingly beat Zimbabwe in a best of three test series. Then they went on to win a triangular tournament involving Zimbabwe and the West Indies . They have beaten the West Indies 3-1 in a test series too.
After losing the first test England fought back with real spirit to win the series 2-1 against Srilanka. This is England’s fourth consecutive series win and if they continue playing this well they will surely regain the ashes.
And now England routed Pakistan by an innings and nine runs in the first test. And if they continue playing this well they will surely regain the ‘ashes’from Australia.
England has experienced a sudden cricket renaissance just after a year being blasted by the press as the world’s worst team.
England have had a perfect beginning to the cricket season;. Over the last two years or so England have performed extremely well and have fully deserved their successes. This series against Pakistan is a “warm up” practice for the real battle or if you like the main show later – vs Australia for the Ashes. And the Australians after their recent defeat by the Indians would not find their tour of England easy.
England’s bowling is fairly strong and can wreck any opposition; in Caddick and Gough they have perhaps one of the best bowling pairs in the game today. These two as an opening pair have taken 189 wickets in 24 tests they have played together.
England Team:
Nasser Hussain: A stylish batsman and a outstanding brilliant fielder, Hussain guided England to four consecutive Test series wins while suffering a poor form with the bat. These he has accepted gracefully and together with coach Duncan Fletcher has turned England into a winning side with great team spirit.
Michael Atherton: An opening batsman of rare talent and patience, Atherton captained England a record 52 times before Alec Stewart subsequently took over . Although his career has not been without controversy, he has always played well for his country and, batting with Graham Gooch and then Alec Stewart at the top of the order, he has often been the catalyst for England Test wins.
Andy Caddick:With his tall and well built stature is built to bowl. He is capable of moving the ball both ways, at a sharp pace. He uses his shoulder well to extract menacing bounce.
Robert Croft: A deadly competitive cricketer, Croft made his debut against Pakistan in 1996 and a successful tour of New Zealand saw him included in the Ashes squad for the following summer. Made a match-saving 37 at Old Trafford against the South Africans in 1998.
Datten Gough: He has been the most effective in the strike bowler. At his best, he can bowl with extreme pace and control. The fine work continued from Goughie – 10 wickets on the unfriendly tracks of Pakistan representing the best return from a seamer in the three – Test series. And he repeated his fruits on the spinners’ tracks in Sri Lanka. Instrumental in England’s series victory, he picked up 13 wickets in their second and third Test victories. He was declared player of the series.
Alec Stewart: One of England’s most talented players over the last 10 yearsis the grand old man of English cricket. Stewart may now be in the second innings of his international career but, with 14 Test centuries and 35 fifties to his name, his record speaks for itself.
Graham Thorpe: A reliable middle order, left-handed batsman and a brilliant fielder. A attacking batsman whose seven centuries in Tests is a poor return considering he’s passed the 50-mark on 26 occasions before falling short of three figures. A fine century in the opening Test in Lahore gave England an outside chance of a win and his unbeaten 64 in the pitch darkness of Karachi will go down as one of the great match-winning innings.
Marcus Trescothick: Fifty and a century in the first Test in Sri Lanka took Trescothick from the potential of good to very good indeed, and he has been in the peak of form for Somerset this summer. Always looking to attack and pile up early runs to disrupt the opposition attack. Left-handed opening batsmen who offers a fitting combination to the right-handed Atherton and seems to have a good mix of attack and control.
Michael Vaughan: Making his England debut on the tour of South Africa last winter , he is not only a natural cricketer but noted for his temperement too. He is considered as a captain of the future.
Craig White: White bowls at menacing pace, occasionally crossing the 90 mph deliveries of colleague Darren Gough. This season, he clearly has the opportunity to get his batting average higher than his bowling average, a rare thing for an England all-rounder since the days of Botham.
Matthew Hoggard: He’s genuinely quick and has the ability to swing the ball both ways. . He seems to have benefited from the experience of the tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka despite not playing much in the tests.
Ryan Sidebottom: A left-arm seam bowler capable of swinging the ball both ways. His place in the squad is due to the back injury affecting county colleague Matthew Hoggard who has excelled on England’s last two tours without playing a Test – so Sidebottom is really a name for the future more than the present.