England Story (pre-patch)

[Imager36]

Felt like jumping on the story-bandwagon, and I'm going to go with a game I have already started and am about a season and a half into. Before I start with the real thing, I'll give you an idea of what some things are for. At the end of every match, I will rate every player with either a good match, a poor match or an average match. These are related to the overall performaance in the match, and normally there will be 4 of 2 types and 3 of the remaining one. If a player gets good, they get a point, average = 0 points and bad = -1 point. If a player gets man of the match, they get an extra point. At the end of a series, I'll add them all up and have a man of the series, as well as being able to keep track of the disappointing players. Starting in the third season, I'll do a player of the year. I'll start by giving a brief summary of what's happened so far.

Test Series
Beat West Indies 2-0
Lost Ashes 3-0
Beat South Africa 1-0 (Shock)
Lost to Pakistan 4-0 (Bad result)
Drew with Bangladesh 1-1 (Got complacent)
Beat West Indies 3-2

ODI Series
Beat West Indies 3-0
Lost to Australia 7-0 :eek:
Lost to South Africa 3-2
Lost to Pakistan 5-0
Beat Bangaladesh 2-1 (Wasn't making the same mistake twice)
Lost to West Indies 3-2 :eek:

The Story So Far...
I started with what could be considered a real-life England side, but after failing to win an Ashes test, I played an experimental XI for the 5th game. This was made of good players in county cricket in the first season, and led to the discovery of J.Benn and N.Adam, talented batsmen from Glamorgan and Hampshire respectively. These two are part of the current Test side.
I also tried Adil Rashid at the same time, and he did well and has also cemented his place.

The One Day side, I know, requires a great deal of shaking up, to be done during the next tour of Australia. This season alone, Adam, Benn, Samit Patel and Hugh Jones, a promising wicketkeeper from Sussex who was also discovered in the Ashes trial, have all failed, and they are unlikely to feature again this year.



The following squad has been selected to travel to Australia to regain the Ashes for our country.

P.Horton (Opener)
P.Franks (Opener)
M.Prior (Wicket-Keeper)
N.Adam (Batsman)
J.Benn (Batsman)
K.Pietersen (Batsman)
A.Pettifer (Batsman)
G.Hansen (Batsman)
G.Perham (Batsman)
A.Rashid (All-rounder)
J.Clare (All-rounder)
A.Flintoff (All-rounder)
J.Harris (Bowling All-rounder)
R.Sidebottom (Bowler)
J.Anderson (Bowler)
D.Pattinson (Bowler)
M.Panesar (Bowler)
S.Broad (Bowler)


Broad, Flintoff, Harris and Clare have all tried before, but have failed. These recalls are due to good work in county cricket.

Franks, Pettifer, Hansen and Perham have not been extensively tested in the test arena, but they did well in the 2 experimental tests against the West Indies.



In first Innings batting order, here is the team selected for the first test.

P.Horton (c)
M.Prior (wk)
K.Pietersen
J.Benn
N.Adam
G.Hansen
A.Rashid
R.Sidebottom
J.Anderson
D.Pattinson
M.Panesar

[Imager36]

1st Test Vs Australia, 2010
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3597/story1sttestaus2010.jpg

Very disappointing match for England. The worst part was the second innings batting, as we didn't ever look like challenging the total that the bowlers had managed to win us.

Good Game:- Pietersen, Pattinson, Sidebottom, Rashid
Average Game:- Horton, Prior, Hansen
Bad Game:- Benn, Adam, Panesar, Anderson

Only one change to the side for the second test, with J.Benn out and P.Franks in, and opening the batting. Because of this, Prior will come in at 3, and Pietersen at 4.

[Chasjs]

How does the squad selection work for touring other countries, in particular the SA tour as it's back to front.

Also, does anyone know if there's a difference between this before and after the patch?

[Imager36]

How does the squad selection work for touring other countries, in particular the SA tour as it's back to front.

Also, does anyone know if there's a difference between this before and after the patch?

For Touring, you get one squad for tests of 18 and one squad for one dayers of 15.

At home, you get one squad per test of 12 and one squad for one dayers of 15.

[Chasjs]

ah, thanks, time to beat the South Africans

[Imager36]

2nd Test Vs Australia, 2010
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/6091/story2ndtestaus2010.jpg

Better game all-round here for England, but still a couple of bad performances thrown in. It looked like we would lose for a while, as Australia were 135-0 in their second innings, but Rashid and Panesar took 5 each and skittled them.

Good Game:- Panesar, Pietersen, Adam, Franks
Average Game:- Rashid, Prior, Hansen
Bad Game:- Horton, Pattinson, Sidebottom, Anderson

Resisted making any changes for the third test, even though Horton had a bad match and is having a bad year.

3rd Test Vs Australia, 2010

The attachment shows the disasterous third test, which I forgot to print screen as it was so poor.

Good Game:- Pattinson, Panesar, Pietersen, Horton
Average Game:- Hansen, Rashid, Sidebottom
Bad Game:- Franks, Prior, Adam, Anderson

Hansen is likely to be dropped for the next test, but I'll do that one tomorrow.

[GrahamB]

Bad luck in the third test. We all have shockers from time to time. ;)
Looks like you have a long tail in your batting.

[Imager36]

Bad luck in the third test. We all have shockers from time to time. ;)
Looks like you have a long tail in your batting.

I think they just all had a lucky innings at the same time :p

In real life, the last 4 have a combined first class average of 41.44, and rashid has an average of 33.18

[Chasjs]

So frustrating. Outplaying SA and I'm still losing 2-1 after 3 tests

Lost the first by 23 runs while attempting to chase 413. Almost got there. I had an hour left to get them but Panasar got out on 12 leaving Flintoff stranded on 97*.

Won the 2nd easily, should've been by an innings but Cook and Strauss had to go out to get 13 runs, surprisingly neither spoiled their average.

The 3rd test went in the final session with all 3 outcomes a really possibility, unfortunately Steyn and Morkal steered SA home with 15mins remaining for a 3 wicket win.

It may be time to drop Vaughan, he's averaging 27 for the year now and only scored 1 100 and 3 50s. But he's on better form than Bopara. Think I might give him one last chance.

One to go, hoping to save the series.

[zub2009]

Good effort, you can still level up.

[Chasjs]

I did it, just realised that I have a year to plan for the Ashes now.

And how come England play the Windies for a second year running at home??? Better question, why is it a 5 match series. Surely with the Ashes during the winter taking up all the time usually used for touring there should be 3 series' and play some sides like Sri Lanka and Pakistan who it feels like we haven't played in ages.

Are these the actual fixtures for England next summer IRL???

[Imager36]

4th Test Vs Australia, 2010(Hansen out, Perham in)
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4255/story4thtest2010.jpg

Nice to get a good win under the belt after the loss in the third test. Pattison was injured in our first innings (4 weeks), making the win even more suprising and satisfying. The match was almost summed up by the consecutive partnerships of 189 between Franks and Prior and 148 between Franks and Pietersen; there was no let-up for the Australian bowlers.

Good Game:- Franks, Prior, Pietersen, Panesar
Average Game:- Anderson, Perham, Sidebottom, Pattison (1 decent innings, injured for the second)
Bad Game:- Rashid, Adam, Horton

Straight swap for the last, final, descisive game. Broad in for the injured Pattinson.


5th Test Vs Australia, 2010
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7947/story5thtestaus2010.jpg

Great second innings bowling to skittle Australia for only 140, Hughes and Hussey were the only ones to put up any sort of resistance whatsoever, and they managed a partnership of 61 in the middle. The runs were peanuts, and after two slow first innings and the game and series looking like they would end up draws, the bowlers did it and the batsmen did not fail. Ashes regained.

Good Game:- Anderson, Panesar, Franks, Perham
Average Game:- Pietersen, Broad, Rashid, Adam
Bad Game:- Sidebottom, Prior, Horton

[Imager36]

Here come the series ratings, in order of points scored:-


K.Pietersen 4
M.Panesar 3
P.Franks 2
D.Pattinson 1
G.Perham 1
A.Rashid 0
G.Hansen 0
S.Broad 0
R.Sidebottom -1
M.Prior -1
J.Benn -1
P.Horton -2
N.Adam -2
J.Anderson -2


My main one day objectives in Oz are firstly to win a match but mainly to find a squad with which I would be comfortable in the upcoming Sub-continent world cup.



Radical changes have been made to the squad to play Australia. Bearing in mind possible injury, there are 7 players we have removed from the squad because they are almost definites to play in the 2011 sub-continent world cup. These players are Sidebottom, Pattinson, Rashid, Panesar, Pietersen, Horton and Bopara. We felt that players performing at county level should be given a shot at joining them. Therefore, the squad is as follows:-

Openers
P.Franks
K.Durrant
N.Compton

Batsmen
J.Trott
A.Pettifer
G.Hansen
A.Edmonds

Keeper
M.Prior (also captain)

All-rounders
J.Clare
L.Wright
T.Smith (bowling)
J.Harris (bowling)

Bowlers
I.Arif
A.Law
J.Austerfield




After much pondering, we are proud to announce the team for the first ODI against Australia in probable batting order:-

K.Durrant
P.Franks
M.Prior (c) (wk)
J.Trott
A.Edmonds
G.Hansen
L.Wright
J.Clare
T.Smith
J.Harris
I.Arif

Just in case anyone noticed, they might have realised that the team contains no spinner (not even part-time). The ECB would like to assure you that both Law and Austerfield will get their chance before the end of the tour.

[Chasjs]

I like the way you put squad selections as ECB SC announcements, nice touch. I sort of do a similar thing in my game. I've noted down a huge squad of 36 players from which I'll select the 18 players to attempt to retain the Ashes down under. It seems I've gone the other way in my selection though, Vaughan, Trescothick, Strauss, Collingwood, Flintoff, Harmison and Bell are all in it.

On wicket keepers, I see you've pretty much kept Prior all the way through. I started off with him but he lost all his form just before the Ashes. Foster was on great form so I brought him in to play and he did really well and has kept his spot for the tests so far while Prior just played one dayers. However, against Bangladesh I brough Davies into the squad. He played 1 T20 and 2 ODIs and got scores of 71, 83, and 37 respectively. Despite him being aggressive his strike rates aren't what I would expect in an T20 and ODI but the games were all low scoring. Even though I lost the series 3-0 due to not keeping up with the rate he opened the batting really well. So my question is, have you considered him?

I think he could the the first choice keeper for a long time. As long as I finish the West Indies off early on he might get the chance to prove himself on the test stage and stake his claim for an Ashes place.

And how come there are no warmups for the Ashes down under. It's pretty annoying.

[Imager36]

So my question is, have you considered him?

I think he could the the first choice keeper for a long time. As long as I finish the West Indies off early on he might get the chance to prove himself on the test stage and stake his claim for an Ashes place.

And how come there are no warmups for the Ashes down under. It's pretty annoying.

Just like to say, before I really answer the question, that I haven't really been to confident in Prior. He has played most of the test matches, granted, but up until this upcoming match, he has not played an ODI before, as I have been giving a sustained trial to Hugh Jones, a Sussex regen, but he has now failed and I would like to make sure that I have a decent batsman in the world cup. The reason which I have not tried Davies in the shorter form of the game is because he has had a terrible record this season (18.29 to be precise).

I have, however, tried him in a 'trial' test match, which I put at the end of any home series which I have already won. He got 56 runs in 2 innings, so nothing awful but it did not make me stand up and take notice, and is worse than Prior is consistently getting. If Prior does not impress in this series, I'm not really sure who will be going to the world cup, it may just be Prior and Jones.

[Chasjs]

Ah, in contrast, in my game his batting averages for 09 and 10(as of 21st July) are
First Class 39.84 55.25
One Day 31.55 38.56
T20 31.00 51.33

Pretty impressive. His strike rates at county level are also pretty quick. He's above 60 so far this year.

Looks like he's gonna get a test match or 2 because I'm 2-0 up against the Windies after thrashing them by an innings twice.

[Imager36]

1st ODI Vs Australia, 2010
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/6429/1stodiaus2010.jpg

Very disappointing start to the series. Mainly a combination of the teams ineptitude and my bad batting, but then again, I never could win batting first. Franks, Trott and Smith did quite well in the batting, but no-one converted, and the bowlers never really had a chance.

J.Harris out - A.Law in.

2nd ODI Vs Australia, 2010
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5143/2ndodiaus2010.jpg

Although this one seems pretty awful, it felt like we did far better than in the first match. Law did nicely, with 39 coming off his 10, and Prior and Clare did the best in the batting.

L.Wright out - J.Austerfield in.

[Chasjs]

Just finished the Austrailia tour, lost 5-0 twice... ever get the feeling your bowlers are using tennis balls, yeah, exactly like that. Harmison and Flintoff were the only bowlers to take a half decent amount of wickets. Did exactly what you've done in the ODI series, rested Pietersen, Broad, Anderson and Flintoff because there 'already on the plane' and Collingwood because he's injured. Brought in Shah, Rees and Morgan. Now you can imagine my shock when it doesn't let me pick another squad before the World Cup... Not best pleased... I'm already terrible at ODIs, now I have to play without 6 of my best players. Odds are I'll be out in the groups.

[GrahamB]

Just finished the Austrailia tour, lost 5-0 twice

Boy, that's what I call revenge! :eek:

[Chasjs]

Boy, that's what I call revenge! :eek:

Well I'm rubbish at ODIs but the test series as well...
I knew it was a bad idea giving em a good 2-0 thrashing:) back in England. They were angry enough in the ODIs that followed.


It is nice to see at least one person doing well down under.

[zub2009]

well played in test

[Imager36]

3rd ODI Vs Australia, 2010
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6738/3rdodiaus2010.jpg

(Just been away on long weekend, back now)

Again, a poor result against Australia. Not sure any of these'll be getting on the plane :p. Clare and Austerfield did okay with 3 each, but both failed to stop the runs.

The fact that Arif was the second best batsman tells you almost all you need to know, as Clare did very well, being the best player on my side by a long way.

G.Hansen, A.Edmonds out - N.Compton, A.Pettifer in

[Imager36]

4th ODI Vs Australia, 2010
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/4529/4thodiaus2010.jpg

Great batting from the central man of the innings, P.Franks, posting his highest ever one day score to give us a fighting chance, and the bowling was superb, with Clare's 2-22 taking only 5 overs. Austerfield and Law both did okay, with 2 each, but Law will have to do very well to be taken to the world cup, as these are his only wickets from 3 matches.

No changes to the team, but Compton will open, giving him a chance to impress in his favourite position as Franks moves down the order after a superb innings which has booked his ticket.

5th ODI Vs Australia, 2010
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/4292/5thodiaus2010.jpg

Bad bowling by every bowler, with Clare and Austerfield being the best but not by much. The batting was okay, and with better bowling we could have easily made a total.

The wickets were mainly due to needing larger amounts of runs every over.

Compton may now make his way into the world cup squad as a third opener, and Austerfield as a third spinner.


#EDIT - It didn't let me pick another squad either, bad bug. I've now gone from having a chance as a dark horse of the competition to needing a miracle to make it out of the groups.#

After the light of this bug, it seems that I have to beat 3 teams to progress. The most likely are Ireland, Bermuda and Bangaladesh, as I feel that Australia, India and Pakistan are unlikely to roll over.



In light of recent events, the first XI for the match against Australia will be:-

P.Franks
N.Compton
L.Wright
J.Trott
A.Pettifer
M.Prior (c) (wk)
J.Clare
T.Smith
J.Harris
I.Arif
J.Austerfield

We know that there have been two changes from the last ODI, but Law was not bowling well enough, and Wright is needed as a 6th bowling option to help fill overs.

[Imager36]

World Cup ODI Vs Australia, 2011
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4757/2011wcaus.jpg
Austerfield and Arif bowled well, and Trott and Prior batted well, but the match should not have gone on for so long. We were poor in most areas, and Australia should have finished us off far more quickly.
No changes for the Pakistan match.

World Cup ODI Vs Pakistan, 2011
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4902/2011wcpak.jpg
Poor performance again from the lads batting first. Started nicely with Compton and Wright putting on 78 for the 2nd partnership, but wickets fell regularly and we could not mount a score of around 250 that we were aiming for.
Bowling was poor, as Clare, Wright and Harris proved, but Arif and Smith did okay. The Pakistan batting was far too good.

The next match could prove to be the descisive one, as it is against the minnows of Bangladesh, who are about as good as my makeshift team are.

Harris, Pettifer out - Law, Durrant in

[Imager36]

World Cup ODI Vs Bangladesh, 2011
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/2945/2011wcban.jpg

Yeah, I lost that one as well. Can't wait to get my proper team back. Now I have to hope for a freak result against the unbeaten India.

Wright out - Edmonds in. That's all that needs to be done (fake confidence)

World Cup ODI Vs India, 2011
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/6343/2011wcind.jpg

Okay, even I knew that that would happen. We did so well for the first part of our innings that I had some confidence, but the inevitable collapse was, well, inevitable, and happened.

Seeing as there is almost no point to them and I'm fed up of this squad, I'll skip the Bermuda and Ireland matches, and go into next year.

[Imager36]

Next up is India at home. Great.



Yeah, we're sorry about that world cup situation too. But it's time to make amends! Here is the 12-man squad for the 1st test against India.

A.Strauss
P.Horton
M.Prior
K.Pietersen
N.Adam
G.Hansen
A.Pettifer
A.Rashid
R.Sidebottom
J.Anderson
M.Panesar
D.Pattinson

Typically, the youngster Franks who we were championing last season has disappeared. Anyone who's seen him drag him to lords please.


Adil Rashid is the man to be left out for the first test, leaving us with 4 bowlers.