Sun shines but England will need to shine even brighter

At the time or writing the sun is shining, Murray is still in Wimbledon, Surrey have just won another County match and England are 3 – 1 up in the one day series. At the one dayer at the Oval Australia did exactly what we expected them to, i.e, bounced back with a strong performance, reminding us that they are very much a ‘power’ that has far from faded!!

Ponting and Clarke batted in the most aggressive and professional way and justified their World Class status, certainly in one day internationals. England’s first four batsman gave an area of concern, possibly because the Australians had three bowlers bowling well and at a pace of over 90 miles and hour. England naturally are never happy at losing but Bill Gordon’s wicket at the Oval was as good as you could ever get when chasing a total of 290.

Yardy and Bresnan are two of the ‘less glamorous’ selections and yet both showed they merited a place in the team with fine performances. Some aspects of modern cricket have improved but generally we don’t ‘do repetition’ as well as we used to. Taking pace off the ball, and variations, are an important part of bowling in limited over cricket, but they still have to be delivered accurately, especially in power plays.

Many of this Australian team will be up against England in the Ashes this winter so let’s make sure they get used to England putting it up ‘em. Put the train back on the rails please lads!!!