Tour match, Potchefstroom

[Rachael]

Interesting reading entitled "England in trouble in tour match" here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cric...nd/4085973.stm

Originally Posted by BBC

Put into bat, the tourists had expected tough opposition against a side featuring eight internationals.

But after a determined 44-run opening stand, the tourists' lack of match practice was exposed.
None of the Test specialists who missed the recent tours to Namibia and Zimbabwe was able to make much of an impression

As you read the report it becomes ever clearer that this side is no-where near ready to play a Test match: Tresco got impatient and "chased a wide delivery".. Strauss "cut a short delivery straight to [...] gully"... and both Flintoff and Vaughan were out "driving outside off stump".

Strauss Vaughan and Jones all made starts and failed to make an impact: not good.

[Occasional Fan]

It's all a bit of a sorry tale, isn't it? Fletcher bawled the team out at a training session yesterday. I hope he gives them what for this evening as well. Two working days to get themselves sorted out. It can be done, but everyone needs to pull his finger out. In The Other Place, I read a comment that "it's only a warm-up game". Well, so it is: warm them up with a rocket on the undercarriage, Fletch!

[Rachael]

So.. after a diabolical couple of sessions with the bat.. England's illustrious crew attemt to show that they are ready to go on the offensive with the ball... and the early indications are that the final session of the day is going to be even more disheartening than the first two:

M J Hoggard 7.0 2 25 0 
S J Harmison 5.0 1 26 1 
S P Jones 3.0 0 14 0 
A Flintoff 2.0 0 10 0

Harmison, Simon Jones AND Flintoff going at 5 an over.. and 5 of Hoggard's 7 overs going at the same rate... on a pitch where Langeveldt was able to take a 5-for whilst going at 3 an over against (supposedly) better batsmen.

Hmmmm.

[Occasional Fan]

I'm not sure I can stand this. Isn't there a rugby match on or something?

[Zainub]

England are not the only team suffering from the “playing abysmally in warm up games” syndrome, it’s an endemic Rach…

[Rachael]

Bowling					  O	  M	  R	  W
Hoggard					  7	  2	 25	  0
Harmison					 7	  1	 31	  1
SP Jones					 5	  0	 27	  0 (1nb)
Flintoff					 6	  0	 28	  0 (3nb)
Giles						3.2	0	 18	  1

Not sure things are getting any better: Harmison, Jones and Flintoff have all been hit out of the attack... and whilst Giles has a wicket he's going at the same rate as everyone else: whatever happened to having 5-6 warm up games before the first Test?

[Occasional Fan]

I guess there was never time in the schedule for proper warm ups,was there? The Zimbabwe tour was always scheduled at the time it took place, as far as I can remember, and the only thing that we lost in connection with that (apart from pride, honour, etc., but I'll pass over that stuff) was a couple of test matches. So, I suppose we could say that the gap between the last test and the next is a bit longer than was originally planned, but otherwise I do think that a scheduling error might have been made. Still, we have to get on with it ...

Disappointing day all round, I'd say. With the Jones boys coming in as second and third highest scorers for England today, the bowlers might have expected the batsmen to be buying the beers tonight. However, with them leaking runs at 4.6 an over and only Hoggard being significantly below that, they're hardly in a position to press their claim. Time for a bit of a rollicking from Mr Fletcher, I think. Tough luck on Strauss that he has to listen to it with all the other boys, but it was ever thus at school, and he's a big boy now.

"You've disappointed me, boys, and you've let yourselves and the school down. It saddens me, because I know you can do so much better ..."

[Occasional Fan]

Link here to Beny's post on this subject: link.

[Rachael]

Is Flintoff the luckiest bowler on the planet or what? He sends a ball down the leg side and gets a wicket... he then gets a return catch off a short ball... and to cap it all he picks upa 3rd wicket with a guy playing on from a poor ball wide of off stump.

ps. At lunch the bowling reads:

Bowling					  O	  M	  R	  W
Hoggard					 12	  3	 42	  0
Harmison					13	  2	 48	  1 (1w)
SP Jones					12	  0	 43	  0 (1nb)
Flintoff					13	  1	 50	  3 (11nb)
Giles						4	  1	 18	  1

[Occasional Fan]

Well, Rachael, in other contexts we've both said "You make your own luck". He does look good in that particular array of figures, doesn't he?