Kevin Pietersen Passes First Test With Apparent Ease

Kevin Pietersen could not have asked for a better start to his England captaincy, after a solid England performance resulted in the 6-wicket defeat of South Africa at The Oval.

The 28-year-old’s first match in the captain’s role saw the home team outclass his native country throughout.

Recalls for Harmison and Broad added some much needed power to the bowling lineup, and their inclusions were justified based on this performance. Read more

England Win in Nottingham to Beat New Zealand 2-0

England (364 all out) beat New Zealand (123 and 232) by an innings and 9 runs.

England were expected to claim victory in this home series against the black caps and did so, in comfortable fashion. The tide of the series turned when New Zealand threw away a position of incredible strength at Old Trafford in the 2nd test to lose incredulously and they never recovered. England struck all the powerful, key blows after Read more

England Pull Off a Dramatic Record Breaking Win

Old Trafford: England (202 & 294-4) bt New Zealand (381 & 114) by six wickets

In what seems like the only pocket of the country not touched by the bank holiday rain, England sealed an unlikely win against New Zealand to lead the 3 match series 1-0 with a game to play. This was the 5th highest 4th innings total ever chased by England to win a test match, and the the highest ever at Old Trafford. How sad that this will be the last test match at the ground for some time after such a topsy-turvy, absorbing and unpredicatable game. Had this been an Ashes game it would surely be considered one of the best matches of all time. Read more

England v New Zealand: The 2nd Test, Day 1. Can somebody bring some floodlights?

At the end of day 1 of the 2nd test at Old Trafford, there was the inevitable chorus of boos that greeted the announcement that no further play would be possible. After just 54 overs on a mucky and grey Friday in Manchester, Simon Taufel and the recently reinstalled Darrell Hair called it a day. You would struggle to argue for the merits of cricket to say, an American friend who doesn’t know much about the sport- Read more

England v New Zealand: First Test Ends as a Draw

The first test between England and New Zealand has ended as a draw at Lords.

New Zealand started the day 2 runs behind England, at 40-0 in their second innings. With England desperate to force a result from the regularly interrupted match.

England started well, removing Redmond and Marshall in quick succession. Redmond was caught at first slip by Strauss off Anderson, Read more

England’s Middle Order Collapse - Surely Not?!

England have been bowled out for 319 in their first innings in the 1st test against New Zealand - a lead of just 42.

With a match full interruptions due to rain and bad light - and surely heading for a draw - England failed to open up a good first innings lead, despite being 120-0 at one stage.

Read more

England Test Squad announced for 1st Test

Well after all the build up and anticipation regarding the possible return of Andrew Flintoff to the England fray, his injury nightmare continued and he pulled up with a side strain and will be out for at least the first 2 tests. The squad has just been announced, and as predicted here on CLD Sport, Matthew Hoggard i Read more

Freddie to return at the home of cricket?

Find some ice. Crack open a bottle of Pimms and dust off your finest sun hat- the cricket summer is here. The First International Test at Lords is set to commence next Thursday the 15th of May, always an indication that we have arrived at the English summer season. Though no doubt with this being England, rather than glorious sunshine, dodgy hats and sunburn, we may well get infuriating rain, umbrellas and a chesty cold. England play New Zealand having beaten the Read more

My first, my last, my everything…

It’s 1.15 am on the morning of my 23rd birthday. I’m lying on the sofa in the living room watching the third day of New Zealand versus England. My girlfriend is lying partially across me, sleeping soundly. I’m watching my favourite sport in it’s best format (test match) but I find myself channel flicking. I’ve become strangely hypnotised by a rundown of ‘the greatest pop disasters’ on a music channel, with that Howard fella from the Halifax ad’s singing a Barry White cover. Our log fire has finally fizzled out and it’s becoming cold in the room, and Howard has made way for the Cheeky girls on holiday. Normally my attention span towards cricket is pretty good but this is an exception- it’s dull.

A benign pitch, a slow run-rate (just scratching over 2 an over), and Bob Willis on the mic combine to nullify any entertainment.

Even some of the players look Read more

New Zealand vs England- The Tour so far.

At about the midway stage of the New Zealand tour, it seems like a good time to provide a bit of analysis on how the England team are progressing, and to look forward to the upcoming three match test series.

The Twenty20 matches should probably be glossed over with a pretty light brush. The format is great fun, and a big draw for people not into the intricacies of test match cricket, but at International level, it isn’t taken too seriously, and rightly so. The Indian Cricket League may change all that, however. But England’s thrashings of New Zealand aren’t of much importance and certainly weren’t an indicator of form going into the 50 over matches.

The 3-1 one day series defeat was very frustrating after the good wins against India and Sri Lanka. England’s batsmen’s running in the early games was surprisingly poor, the bowling attack looked wooden and inflexible, and we were outplayed by a New Zealand side who knew their limits, and stuck to them.

Ryan Sidebottom apart, England’s seam attack bowled Read more

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