This has not really been a contest - it's been a walkover for England thus far, now that's a turn up for the books after India won the Test series.

Flintoff has bowled well, as has Anderson - Cook good ton, and I hope Bell takes this form on tour (if selected).

Not much better than village cricket really, three runs outs.

__________________
Ern

England have played really well this game - much to my surprise!

The only thing that bothers me is that England have a tendancy to play well during the first game or so of a one day series and then proceed to lose all of the other games!

__________________
Mark.

And Mine!

That's true, but I think Collingwood has captained Flintoff on his return well, also Flintoff inspires the side - and Anderson goes from strength to strength.

Maybe Collinwood is the one day captain England have been looking for, he must feel confident after this display.

__________________
Ern

Thats true, the short sharp spells seemed to do the trick. It also showed what England had been missing in the test series - Pace. Flintoff consistantly hit over 90mph and beat all of the batsman for pace.

I cant really complain too much about Englands performance. I though they may have scored another 20 runs but in the end it didnt matter. Bell has also done what I've been saying he must do for ages - convert a good start into a big score!

__________________
Mark.

Maybe it is that "Freddie" thing. Also, Anderson has always been a very good ODI bowler and IMO best left that way. His on-off record in Test cricket should not be taken as a yardstick to judge him for the limited overs game.

Hindsight's a wonderful thing NE.

__________________
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

Our best one day performance for years,can we follow it up though?

Well done to Cook,Bell and Anderson.

Great result and great performances by Cook, Bell, Anderson, Flintoff, Panesar, Broad, Prior (held his catches, apparently the Dravid catch required good anticipation) and Collingwood - an all-round team effort! It was also great to see that Anderson was in such good rhythm, bowling confidently, which allowed him to top 90mph for the first time in a while. I've always thought he could bowl faster than he has been doing, and that extra, controlled pace did the trick yesterday.

Great stuff, more of the same please!

You are quite right about Prior's catch to get rid of Dravid, it was fantastic. What was most impressive is he wasn't reaching the ball, he went with his feet and his hands. I am still far from convinced, but credit where it's due. Not quite sure how you came to the conclusion that Monty had much of a game - nice run out though. Bowling looked really really excellent, Anderson is being a revelation. Please, please, please stay fit!!

He he! I'll stick by it, Shah was very unlucky to be dropped. Unfortunately he always seems to be the guy they drop when someone else returns regardless of how well he did. As far as Bell's concerned; everyone will succeed sometime if you give them enough chances! Bell's task now is to repeat that knock over and over again.

I won't get carried away by this victory as we beat the Windies comprehensively at Lord's only to fail to turn up to the last two!