England outclass South Africa to reach Champions Trophy final

England outplayed South Africa with both bat and ball to beat them by 7 wickets with 12 overs to spare; and in doing so booked their place in the ICC Champions Trophy final.

When England won the toss and chose to field on the muggiest day of the year; and then to find out that Dale Steyn had failed a fitness test for South Africa, you thought this just might be England's day.  The ever-reliable James Anderson got the ball to swing from the first ball. He got it swinging both ways to brilliantly set up Colin Ingram to be trapped lbw fifth ball of the innings.

Some inspired captaincy from Alistair Cook meant Steven Finn (in for Tim Bresnan who was awaiting the birth of his child) bowled the second over of the day instead of Stuart Broad.  It worked a treat as danger man Hashim Amla was caught behind to a good low catch by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler to leave South Africa reeling at 4 for 2.  Buttler went to have a great match behind the stumps and ended up with six catches.  He is only the 7th ever cricketer to take six catches in an ODI.

South Africa never recovered as poor shot selection from key batsman coupled with tight bowling from England left South Africa reduced to 80 for 8.  The middle order had no idea how to read James Tredwell's spin bowling.  It was his lack of spin that caused the batsmen a problem, they kept expecting turn but the straight ball was catching them out.  Tredwell took 3 for 19 off 7 overs to receive the man of the match award.

Nothing summed up South Africa's dire situation like Ryan McLaren's "run out".  The ball deflected off McLaren's pad to Jonathan Trott at first slip.  McLaren had come so far down the wicket attempting a shot, that when Trott threw the ball at the stumps, McLaren was run out.  Had it gone the keeper it would have been a stumping because McLaren was not actually attempting a run.

The one positive for South Africa was the 95 run 9th wicket partnership between David Miller and Rory Kleinveldt.  They more than doubled the score from the 80 for 8 when they came together and made the highest scores of the innings - Miller with 56 runs and Kleinveldt with 43.  Stuart Broad broke the partnership and took two wickets in consecutive balls to wrap up the innings at 175 runs.

South Africa still have the tag of chokers, having never won a knockout match since 1998.  Today was slightly different as this was a South African side missing pivotal players such as Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn.  Nevertheless, the manner in which South Africa collapsed was criminal.  It didn't look like they knew it was a 50 over match at times.

With no pressure in terms of run rate, England steadily started their run chase.  Cook made only 6 and became the first wicket to fall with the score on 22.  South Africa might have had a glimmer of hope when Bell was caught behind having made 20 making it 41 for 2.

The Trott masterclass dashed any hopes South Africa had.  Trott has received some, in my opinion very unfair, criticism for his supposedly slow strike rate.  This is a man who today made 82 not out from 84 balls. Trott's strike rate in this tournament is nearly 90 and he averages nearly 70.  For years England have been crying out for someone to anchor the innings to make full use of the 50 overs.  The longer Trott stays in, the better his strike rate.  Having a new ball from each end in ODIs now means you need someone to play almost a Test innings rather than the pinch hitters we have become used to seeing.

Joe Root continued to impress making 48 runs. He got out playing an innovative shot you could sense he just wanted to practice.  Eoin Morgan will be pleased to have finished unbeaten on 15 as he has struggled for runs this tournament.  Trott scored the winning runs by hitting a four in the 38th over.

England will now face either the form team, India, or the only team to have defeated England in the tournament, Sri Lanka, at Edgbaston in the final on Sunday.  England shouldn't worry too much who they will face, but instead focus on themselves.  Finn still doesn't seem at his best, and the middle order might become exposed against spin.  Even if Bresnan or Swann are available for the final, I wouldn't want to change a semi-final winning side.  Tredwell performed brilliantly and Finn gives a better balance to the bowling attack if the ball doesn't swing.  A very professional performance by England today and we're now one match away from our first ever 50 over trophy.

Warner antics leave Aussies in disarray

In case life wasn't tough enough for the Aussies on the field, David Warner's antics are making life tough for them off the field too.

After England's victory over Australia at Edgbaston, Dave Warner was involved in an "unprovoked attack" on Joe Root at a Walkabout bar at 2am Sunday morning in Birmingham.  Some have questioned why Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Joe Root were out at 2am in the middle of an International tournament.  That does not really concern me.

The bigger question has to be what was Dave Warner thinking?!  Rumours are that Joe Root was larking around with a beard and wig, next Warner came over and punched him on the chin.

This is not acceptable behaviour in any walk of life, let alone sportsmen.  So much is said in the media these days about sportsmen and women setting an example to youngsters, whether that is cricketers for claiming dropped catches or footballers for diving.   For Warner to react in such a way is completely irresponsible.  Australia left Warner out of the match against New Zealand today as a result of his actions.  This comes only weeks after Warner was fined £3,700 for abusive posts on Twiiter to Australian journalists.

It will be interesting to see what further action Cricket Australia take against Warner.  In March, coach Mickey Arthur saw it fit to drop vice captain Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja for a Test match against India for failing to complete and submit their feedback on team management.  I wonder what Arthur deems fit in this situation?

All this comes at a time when several Australian legends are already becoming exasperated with their failing side.  Shane Warne hinted that the number of openers in the Ashes squad indicates Australia don't know what their best side is. Imagine what the greats like Steve Waugh, David Boon, Glen McGrath and Warne make of the Warner incident.  All these men fought hard on the pitch, but never lost their cool with their opponents off it.

It's a shame for the Australian side that with the Ashes imminent people are talking about an individual's negative behaviour instead of the battle that is the Ashes.  Michael Clarke must now be suffering with a major headache to go with with bad back after today.

England beat Aussies in ICC Champions Trophy Opener

England won the first of many encounters against the Aussies in the upcoming months thanks to an outstanding bowling performance resulting in a 48 run victory over the Aussies.  This was an eagerly anticipated match, but void of key players.  Kevin Pietersen was ruled out before the ICC Champions Trophy began, Michael Clarke was missing due to on-going back problems,  Graeme Swann was ruled out due to a back spasm on the morning of the match and Stephen Finn was dropped due to poor form.  

England won the toss and chose to bat on a glorious, sunny day on what looked like a very dry Edgbaston pitch.  Alistair Cook hit the first delivery from Mitchell Starc for four to be greeted by massive cheers from a packed Edgabaston crowd.

There was chaos in the third over when both Cook and Ian Bell ended up at the same end. There was an appeal for a run out, then overthrows and all this occurred on a no ball. The result was 2 runs and a free hit.  After that moment of frenzy, Cook and Bell batted steadily to bring up 54 runs at the end of the first 10 overs.

England lost their first wicket when Cook was caught behind by Matthew Wade off Shane Watson for 30 in 12th over with score on 57.  This brought in Jonathan Trott. The two Warwickshire Bears, Bell and Trott, made the most of home advantage and read the Edgbaston pitch very well.  They went to have a 111 run partnership off 132 balls.  During this time, Bell brought up his 50 off 70 balls.  The England run rate hovered around the 4.8 mark and the two batsmen never appeared to be in much difficulty.  You were left waiting for an increase in runrate that never came.

The partnership ended when Trott was out for 43 off 57 balls with the score on 168 in the 34th over.  Trott's innings had remarkably only included a single boundary.  Bell was out shortly afterwards for his highest England ODI score at Edgbaston, 91 runs, when he was bowled by James Faulkner.  Bell's 91 came off 115 balls and contained 7 fours.

The score was now 189 for 3 in the 38th over. England needed to re-group now having lost two set batsman.  But unfortunately England failed to do this.  Joe Root was dismissed with the score still on 189.  Much was expected of Jos Buttler after his 47 not out from 16 balls in the last match against New Zealand, yet he only managed a single run.

England had a mini collapse to go from 189 for 2 in the 38th over to 213 for 6 in the 44th over.  England lost wickets at critical stages when they should have been looking to build on their great start.  Thankfully, an unbeaten 56 run partnership between Tim Bresnan and Ravi Bopara from 35 balls got the score up to 269 for 6 from the 50 overs.  Bopara has been given several chances from England over the years so it was a good to see him deliver. His 46 not out came from 37 balls and contained 3 fours and the only six of the entire England innings. Bresnan chipped in with 19 off 20 balls contains 2 fours.

At the interval, 269 may have seemed 30 short of where England might have expected to finish given the start they got.  However, a good start from England's bowlers would put an inexperienced and short of form Aussie team under pressure.  James Anderson and Stuart Broad did not disappoint.

A brilliant display of bowling meant the Aussies did not score their first boundary until the 4th over.  Broad picked up the first wicket when Dave Warner (9) was caught behind to a fine diving catch by Buttler making the score 17 for 1 in the 6th over.  Broad and Anderson bowled unchanged for the first 10 overs as Australia struggled to 35 for 1.

The good work was continued when Bresnan and James Tredwell came on to bowl.  Tredwell bowled a maiden in the 14th over to be followed by a wicket maiden from Bresnan in the 15th over.  Bresnan had the skill to reverse swing the ball very early on in Australia's innings.  Previously, England's weakness in bowling was the 10 overs made up by the part time bowlers. This time, Root and Bopara bowled 2 for 54 off their combined 10 overs.

As there was no weak link in England's bowling, when Australia lost the wicket of Adam Voges to be 127 for 4 in the 33rd over, it seemed very unlikely that they would reach their target of 279.  Stand in captain, George Bailey offered some resistance with 55 from 69 balls, and James Faulkner hit out towards the end when the result was in no doubt to finish unbeaten on 54 from 42 balls.  Faulkner hit the only six of the Aussies innings.

When Anderson took the wicket of Mitchell Marsh, he overtook Darren Gough to become England's leading ODI wicket taker. By the end of the match Anderson had 237 ODI wickets.  Anderson finished with 3 for 30 from his 10 overs and would have been a contender for man-of-the-match had it not been for Bell's innings.

England might have hoped to bowl Australia out.  Instead they lasted the 50 overs to finish on 221 for 9 mainly due to Faulkner's innings.  This was a comprehensive ODI victory for England over a fragile Australian side and an important psychological win for England with The Ashes imminent. Despite all the positives for England, to progress in the Champions Trophy and when faced with tougher opposition, there are areas to work on; such as the middle order batting and how to push on the score.  However, first blood to England in an Ashes summer is hopefully a sign of things to come.

Middlesex Panthers pounce to thrash Leicestershire Foxes

Leicestershire Foxes unbeaten run in the YB40 competition came to a dramatic end as Middlesex Panthers beat them by 10 wickets with 9 overs to spare.

Middlesex won the toss and elected to field.  Leicestershire welcomed back Niall O'Brien from International duty with Ireland, and Jigar Naik came into the side for James Sykes to play his first YB40 match of the season.

Josh Cobb, who had scored 3 YB40 centuries from 3 innings prior to today, hit the first ball of the innings for a four.  Then when he repeated the feat with the first ball of the second over, a decent score looked to be on the horizon.

Leicestershire were still looking good when they reached 50 without loss in the 7th over. Cobb was bowled by James Harris next ball.  Greg Smith hit the last ball of the 10th over for the first six of the innings.  Smith and O'Brien had a 47 run partnership before Smith was caught behind by Adam Rossington off the bowling of Tim Murtagh, making the score 102 for 2.

That is when Leicestershire's problems really began.  Leicestershire went on to lose 3 wickets in the space of 9 balls to go from 102 for 1 to 103 for 4 in the 17th over  In this frantic few minutes, O'Brien (who ended up as top scorer with 41)  was caught by a sharp catch by former Leicestershire player Chris Rogers, and Joe Burns was out for a duck.  Both wickets fell to Gareth Berg.

This meant Matthew Boyce and Shiv Thakor really needed to steady the ship.  They only managed to move the score to 133 for 5 in the 25th over before Thakor was out for 12.  Boyce followed 2 overs later for 22 to make it 138 for 6.

Michael Thornely batted well, bringing up Leicestershire's 150 with a six in the 29th over.  Wickets continued to fall but the lower order played their shots with Naik, batting at 10, hitting a Six too.  Thornely was eventually out for 39 from 40 balls.  The innings concluded when Naik was caught for 14 off 13 balls from the pentiultimate ball of the 40 overs.  Leicestershire finished 220 all out.  Middlesex's 5 frontline bowlers all picked up 2 wickets each and went for less than 6 an over.

Defending a small score, Leicestershire could have been off to the started they needed. Leicestershire only conceded a leg bye from the first over.  Anthony Ireland then had Paul Stirling playing away from his body and the ball carried to second slip only for Smith to drop it. Stirling then hit the next 3 balls for consecutive boundaries to send an ominous warning of just how costly that drop would be.

Middlesex didn't really offer Leicestershire any other chances throughout their innings.  50 came up for Middlesex in the 7th over, same as Leicestershire, but they soon rushed to 100 without loss in the 12th over.  No matter who bowled for Leicestershire, Stirling and Dawid Malan had the measure of them.  Anthony Irleand suffered the most with his 4 overs going for 43 runs.

Stirling made 50 from 29 balls which he went on to convert to 132 not out from 96 balls and contained 19 fours.  His 100 came from 71 balls. Malan ably supported Stirling making 80 not out from 86 balls and contained 7 fours and a six.  Malan had reached 50 from 58 balls.  Middlesex put Leicestershire out of their misery when Stirling with a four from Naik's last over. Middlesex had reached their target of 221 in the 31st over with no wickets lost.

The manner of Leicestershire thrashing after earlier results in the YB40 competition has come as a surprise.  The batting is a concern.  As soon as Cobb was dismissed, the batting looked fragile and lacked composure.  Then when it came to the bowling, Stirling and Malan made it look like they were batting on a different pitch.  However,  3 wins from 4 is still good.  Leicestershire have no matches until next Sunday's YB40 match away at Scarborough.  Let's hope today was just a blip and recharging the batteries will produce the right result next week.

Fantastic Foxes stun Somerset Sabres

The last time Leicestershire Foxes played the Somerset Sabres was the 2011 T20 final, which of course Leicestershire went on to win. That along with both teams being unbeaten in YB40 competition set up a tantalising match today.

Leicestershire won the toss and Josh Cobb put Somerset in to bat.  With glorious sunshine, this was a somewhat surprising decision - especially when Somerset amassed 323 runs from their 40 overs for the loss of 3 wickets.

Somerset's opening pair of captain Marcus Trescothick and Peter Drego put on a partnership of 120 runs in 16 overs.  The signs of a big score were there from the beginning when Trego hit a six in the 4th over and Trescothick did the same in the 6th over. Trescothick was first to his 50 in the 13th over and was closely followed by Trego who reached 50 in the 15th over.  Trescothick was bowled by Rob Taylor for 57 off 45 balls.  His innings included 4 fours and 3 sixes.

Arul Suppiah scored 20 off 18 before being bowled by Cobb.  Trego was then supported by Alviro Petersen. Somerset reached 210 for 3 in the 30th over and you could sense they were ready to really turn the screw.  Trego reached his hundred off 90 balls and included 12 fours and a six.  Trego was eventually caught by Matthew Boyce off the bowling of Nathan Buck for 118 runs.

There was no reprieve for Leicestershire as next in to bat was Jos Buttler.  Buttler's innovative batting with shots all round the ground produced 54 runs from only 25 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Petersen went on to make 63 not out. His partnership with Buttler was unbeaten and consisted of 82 runs as Somerset racked up 323 for 3 from their 40 overs.  Heads were beginning to drop in the field towards the end of that innings as Somerset made 113 off their last 10 overs.

The consensus round the ground in the interval was that the final partnership really hurt Leicestershire and it was just too many runs.  I said to someone myself, "Maybe if Cobb gets a hundred...but it's still too many runs." I'm delighted to say I was right about the century, but wrong about the result.

Leicestershire had to get off to a good start in terms of both not losing wickets and keeping on top of the run rate to get near the target of 324.  So when Cobb hit 2 fours in the first over, more of the same was demanded by the crowd. - and how he delivered!

Cobb reached his 50 off 35 balls with 10 fours in the 9th over. Cobb was ably supported by Greg Smith and Leicestershire reached 112 after 10 overs.  Smith soon reached his 50 too.  It came off 27 balls with 8 fours and a six.

Cobb went on to record back-to-back YB40 centuries as he brought up his ton from only 62 balls. It included 16 fours and a six.  A decent sized crowd were really backing Leicestershire now with almost every run being clapped.  Leicestershire were still going at 10 an over and brought up 200 in the 20th over.

Cobb eventually fell for 130 runs (from 87 balls) with the score on 235 to a good Yorker from former Leicestershire bowler Steve Kirby. Cobb's innings included 20 fours and a six.  Two further quick wickets, Joe Burns (1) and Ned Eckersley (5) meant the game was still in the balance.

Smith went on to record his ton in the 27th over off 68 balls, again with 16 fours and a six just like Cobb.  Matthew Boyce was out for 11 leading to Shiv Thakor to come to the crease.  A run a a ball 18 from Thakor with him hitting the winning runs in the 39th over completed a memorable victory for the Foxes.  Smith finished as the highest scorer, unbeaten on 135 from 109 balls with 18 fours and a six.

Chasing down 324 is not an easy task for anyone, let alone such a young Leicestershire team.  Boyce was the oldest player in the eleven at the grand old age of 27 today.  Batting with maturity applies to most of Leicestershire's batsmen today, and captaincy is obviously suiting Cobb very well. The young team shows great promise in the one-day format.

Let's hope Leicestershire make it 3 wins from 3 when they take on the Unicorns at Wormsley tomorrow.  It's a shame we don't have any bank holidays in June or July, because the two May bank holidays have brought great weather and two great victories for the Foxes.

Foxes off to YB40 Flier

Leicestershire thrashed Gloucestershire by 115 runs to get their YB40 campaign off to a winning start.  Gloucestershire won the toss and decided to bowl first. They must have soon regretted that decision as both Leicestershire openers, Niall O'Brien and Josh Cobb, went on to score centuries.

Wicketkeeper O'Brien was first to his hundred.  It came off 79 balls and included 12 fours and a six.  O'Brien was caught for 104 and had taken the score to 193 with Cobb at this point.  Leicestershire reached the 200-run mark in the 27th over.

Josh Cobb reached his hundred from 89 balls and included 8 fours and 3 sixes. Leicestershire kept losing wickets at regular intervals and failed to reach the 300-plus score that many supporters thought was on after the opening stand from O'Brien and Cobb.  Leicestershire made 289 from their 40 overs with Cobb finishing as top scorer with 104.

289 turned out to be plenty as Leicestershire ripped the heart out of Gloucestershire's batting order.  Robbie Williams trapped New Zealander Hamish Marshall lbw in the second over and the Gladiators never recovered. Gloucestershire were reduced to 44 for 5 in the tenth over due to accurate bowling and great fielding. O'Brien took a good diving catch to remove Alex Gidman and there were run-outs from Rob Taylor and Matthew Boyce.  

Cobb returned the best bowling figures of 3 for 34 from his 8 overs to add to his contribution with the bat.  It is easy to forget that Cobb is only 22 years old. He batted with great maturity and captained the team well.  Cobb seems to continue to improve in every match.

Gloucestershire managed to delay the inevitable until the 35th over and were 174 all out. Leicestershire's win was all the more pleasing for two reasons.  Firstly, this match was coming on the back of Leicestershire only yesterday losing a 4-day LVCC to Gloucestershire by nine wickets; and secondly Leicestershire fielded a young team with only two players over 30.

A promising start by Leicestershire in the YB40 on the same day that Leicester City made it to the play offs, and Leicester Tigers won, completed a very successful day for sport in Leicester.

Leicestershire 2013 season preview

To say Leicestershire didn't have the best of seasons last year is an understatement. After being T20 Champions for the third time in 2011, expectations were high for 2012. Finishing 7th in Division 2 of the LV Championship, 6th in their group for the CB40, and bottom of their group for the T20 Championship was not the plan.  However, losing key players from the 2011 campaign was a major reason for this.

I am feeling optimistic about the 2013 season though. Jigar Naik has made a full recovery from the terrible ankle injury that caused him to miss most of the season and Leicestershire have made some good signings over the winter too.

Seamer Anthony Ireland and Australian Joe Burns bolster the squad.  Whilst Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan bring further International class to the squad.  Al Hasan, currently ranked the world's number one ODI all rounder, is quite a signing for Leicestershire.

Josh Cobb played with Al Hasan in the winter for the Dhaka Gladiators in the BPL. The team included other International stars like Chris Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan.  The Gladiators went on to lift the BPL trophy.  This overseas experience can only add to an already promising career for the Foxes youngster.

Time will tell how the Ronnie Sarwan situation will affect Leicestershire. Sarwan's unexpected recall to the West Indies team after almost 3 years of being overlooked came as a surprise. This could significantly affect Sarwan's availability for the 2013 season.

Providing the snow stays away and we actually get something that resembles cricket weather, I feel Leicestershire have a strong enough squad to improve in all formats of the game compared to last season.