The Phantom Ram Story

[The Phantom Ram]

Hello all, this is my first attempt at a story so please let me have any comments.

My game is version 8.11 and I am on Normal level.

[The Phantom Ram]

Mike Wedderburn – '… Liverpool took one step closer to securing …
Alex Quinn – 'Mike, sorry Mike. I am going to interrupt you there. We are getting news of an emergency press conference organised by the ECB, the English Cricket Board, that is about to start now at Lords. I believe we can take you to the press room in Lords now where we have our man, Charles Colville. Charles… Charles?'
Mike Wedderburn – 'Alex, it looks like we have not got the link set up yet. This is quite unprecedented and our sources tell us that the news about to be confirmed will effect cricket as we know it in this country.'
Alex Quinn – 'That is right Mike, we believe what you are about to hear, live and exclusive on Sky Sports News could affect test cricket. Although we don't know what it is we know that Giles Clarke, the Chairman of the ECB, David Collier, the Chief Executive and the England coach Peter Moores will face the press. We expect Giles Clarke to read a hastily prepared statement and not take questions. Actually, I believe we can now speak to Charles Colville at Lords, the home of cricket. Charles?'
Charles Colville – 'Alex, yes I can hear you. Can I just say that the media room here is currently a scene of complete and utter chaos. We, the written, television and the radio media, were all here in anticipation of The Ashes tour fixtures for 2009 being announced this afternoon. This conference, which I believe will start in about three minutes, has come as a result of an emergency meeting between Giles Clarke, David Collier and David Morgan, the acting chairman of the ICC. A meeting between Clark, Collier and Peter Moores followed.'
Mike Wedderburn – 'Charles, it's Mike here.'
Charles Colville – 'Mike, good morning.'
Mike Wedderburn – 'Charles, what is the mood like there?'
Charles Colville – 'Mike, we are amid a state of absolute confusion. Everyone is trying to second guess what this is all about. Current suggested topics could be Zimbabwe's future in world cricket or the possible refusal by the ECB of Australia playing at Lords next year. I must say though that this is all just conjecture and my instinct tells me it is big. I think…'
Ray Peters (ECB Press Officer) – 'Ladies and gentlemen, can you please take your seats. Mr Giles Clarke will now read a statement but unfortunately will not take any of your questions at this point.'

[DonaldC]

Following with interest!

[The Phantom Ram]

Giles Clarke - 'Thank you for bearing with us on this difficult day. I shall now read the prepared statement. It is with my uppermost regret that I need to inform you that the England Team Doctor, Dr Graham Williams, yesterday approached me and David Collier to confirm that during the entire period of his 12 year tenure with the England Cricket Team he supplied players with performance enhancing substances, along with their sanctioned vitamins. We fully believe that the players who have represented England during this 12 year period were fully unaware that they were taking these performance enhancing substances. The ECB also confirms the both Mr Peter Moores and the previous coach, Mr Duncan Fletcher were unaware of this wrong doing. Dr Williams employment with the ECB has been terminated with immediate effect and we, at the ECB, are currently speaking to our solicitors. After taking advice from the ICC we have also taken the decision not to select any player who has played for England, in either Test Matches or One Day Internationals, during this 12 year period - for England again. I want to emphasise we are not accusing players of deliberate wrong doing but feel we need to take this stance both for the future of International Cricket and the reputation of the ECB. I can confirm that Dr Williams has only ever had dealings with the full England team and therefore the players who will no longer be considered for selection are;

Chris Adams, Uzman Afzaal, Kabir Ali, Tim Ambrose, Jimmy Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ian Blackwell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alistair Brown, Mark Butcher, Andrew Caddick, Glen Chapple, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Alistair Cook, Dominic Cork, John Crawley, Robert Croft, Jamie Dalrymple, Richard Dawson, Mark Ealham, Andrew Flintoff, Jamie Foster, Paul Franks, Jason Gallian, Darren Gough, Steve Harmison, David Hemp, Graeme Hick, Matthew Hoggard, Geriant Jones, Simon Jones, Ed Joyce, Robert Key, James Kirtley, Chris Lewis, Jonathon Lewis, Mal Loye, Darren Maddy, Sajid Mahmood, Dmitri Mascarenhas, Anthony McGrath, Phil Mustard, Paul Nixon, Jimmy Ormand, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pieterson, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Prior, Mark Ramprakash, Chris Read, Martin Saggers, Iain Salisbury, Chris Schofield, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Chris Silverwood, Ed Smith, Jeremy Snape, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Marcus Trescothick, Jamie Troughton, Alex Tudor, Shaun Udal, Michael Vaughan, Alex Wharf, Craig White, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.

These players, all currently contacted to their counties are not banned, just not considered for England selection. They will still be available to their counties. Peter Moores has also confirmed that he will step down as England Coach with immediate effect. This resignation has been accepted by the ECB, albeit with regret, but again we want to emphasise we fully believe that Peter Moores is guilty of no wrong doing. After much deliberation we have decided that Steven Wild, current coach of Derbyshire CCC, will be appointed the new England Coach. This appointment has been made because Steven Wild has recently entered the English game and has not come into contact with the people at the heart of this scandal. It will be his job to take us through the summer fixtures against New Zealand and South Africa and beyond. Steven Wild will not continue with his role at Derbyshire along side his role with the English cricket team. I understand that this news will leave you wanting to ask many questions but due to our legal position I can confirm I am not currently in a position to answer them.

[Themer]

Oh no no Shaun Udal but he had so many years for England in him :P
Good Start could be interesting

[The Phantom Ram]

Alex Quinn – 'So Mike, massive news there. First of all while we consider the news, what do we know about Steven Wild? Well. Steven Wild has only spent 3 months in charge at Derbyshire and in that time has not won a game in the county championship but he has been credited with transforming the fortunes and the future of the under achieving county. Prior to this season he has worked with the counties age teams having never played professional cricket. Mike, he'll have his work cut out won't he?
Mike Wedderburn – 'I really don't know what to say, this news, and the action the ECB have taken shocks and saddens me in equal measures. He, Steven Wild I mean, is on a hiding to nothing though. He is thrown into a job that even he would probably admit he isn't qualified for. To make it worse he does it without the likes of Freddie, Kevin Pieterson and the best captain in the world, Michael Vaughan. It is madness, absolute madness, and it will set the cricket in England back 30 years. I think we can go to Angus Fraser of the Independent newspaper and veteran of 46 test for England over at Lords. Angus hello.'
Angus Fraser – 'Mike, Alex.'
Alex Quinn – 'Angus, you have had 10 minutes to digest what you have heard. What do you make of the statement read out by Giles Clarke?'
Angus Fraser – 'Alex, first of all I probably need to be careful what I say here. I last played for England in 1998, during Dr Williams' time at Lords. Am I being called a drug cheat? I don't know at the moment.'
Mike Wedderburn – 'Angus I can see that this affects you personally and I can understand you are upset with what you have heard. Where does English cricket go from here?'
Angus Fraser – ‘Mike, I honestly don’t know. We will go into the test match with New Zealand on 15 May with eleven players making their debuts, it is a no win situation. We are currently ranked 3rd in the test rankings but I can see us dropping like a stone.’

[Sureshot]

How fantastically different!

[The Phantom Ram]

Alan Brazil – ‘Ronnie, I can now go over to Jack Bannister on the line. Jack, morning. How are you?
Jack Bannister – ‘Alan, Ronnie, good morning. Alan, I can tell you I am still in a state of total shock. What happened yesterday, for me, is the biggest news in Cricket, ever. Ronnie, how do you feel about this?’
Ronnie Irani – ‘Jack obviously I have got to be careful. My solicitor is looking into this for me, but for the game it is massive. We now have a coach who has coached in 3 first class games and will have 11 guys, god knows who, making their debuts in a fortnight.’
Alan Brazil – ‘Jack, Ronnie, if this is true and the Doctor guy has been feeding the boys pills, have the ECB done the right thing?’
Jack Bannister – ‘Catagorically yes. It is unfortunate on the boys involved, especially the young players like Broad, Anderson and Bopra who will have had long careers ahead of them. But if they have received an advantage through drugs then this is the only answer, for me anyway.’
Ronnie Irani - ‘But Jack we had no idea. No idea we were taking anything other than vitamins. No idea at all.’
Alan Brazil – ‘Well Jack we are going to a break now but thanks for joining us. We are getting texts in from our listeners Ronnie wondering how bad you would have been, without these!’
Ronnie Irani – ‘That’s well below the belt.’

[The Phantom Ram]

Steven Wild (England Coach) – ‘Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Obviously you are all keen to hear the England squad for the game against New Zealand next week so I will get straight in and name my twelve.

Firstly my captain will be Scott Newman of Surrey, the rest of the squad will be Grant Hodnett (Gloucs), James Hildreth (Somerset), Joe Denly (Kent), Billy Godleman (Middlesex), Steve Davies (Worcestershire), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), James Harris (Glamorgan), Adam Shantry (Glamorgan), Naqqah Taqir (Warwickshire), Mark Davies (Durham).

They’ll be a few names that are maybe new to you but these are all quality players who would have test futures anyway. What we do need to remember is that some of these boys have come into this position – through no fault of their own – a lot earlier than we would have liked. We have got 7 test matches this summer and obviously we need the public and the press to re adjust their expectations.’

[DonaldC]

:D liked the TalkSport bit... Interesting squad, I've never heard of Grant Hodnett, but the rest are all obviously decent players. Not sure about Godleman. When ever I've seen him, he looks a bit dodgy. Still, he's only 19, so fingers crossed.

[The Phantom Ram]

Here is your handy guide to the 12 players who hold the very future of English cricket in their young hands

Scott Newman (Surrey) – 28 years old, 0 caps – Surrey opener who at 28 will be the oldest player playing for England. Has scored 152 runs at 30.40 this season.
Grant Hodnett (Gloucs) – 25, 0 – Gloucestershire opener who impressed new coach Steven Wild on the opening day of the season with his innings of 159. Has scored 273 runs at 68.25 this season.
James Hildreth (Somerset) – 23, 0 – Cultured middle order batsmen from Somerset with a top score of 105 this season. Has scored 220 runs at 55.00 this season.
Joe Denly (Kent) – 22, 0 – Hard hitting opener who has a big future in the test side. Has scored 257 runs at 32.12 this season.
Billy Godleman (Middlesex) – 19, 0 – Middle order batsman who has struggled for form this season. Has scored 135 runs at 33.75 this season.
Steve Davies (Worcestershire) – 21, 0 – Young wicketkeeper who can also open, but could have a long term future in the test side at 6. Has scored 320 runs at 53.33 this season.
Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire) – 23, 0 – All-rounder who bowls slow left arm. Has 86 runs at 43.00 and only 1 wicket at 36.00 this season.
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – 20, 0 – Another spinning all-rounder who bowls leg spin. Has 117 runs at 39.00 and 3 wickets at 19.67 this season.
James Harris (Glamorgan) – 18, 0 – The youngest member of the squad. The fast-medium bowling all rounder has 24 runs at 12.00 and 6 wickets at 34.67 this season.
Adam Shantry (Glamorgan) – 25, 0 – Left arm fast medium bowler who has 16 wickets at 16.87 this season.
Naqqah Taqir (Warwickshire) – 24, 0 – Fast medium bowler who has 28 wickets at 19.86 this season.
Mark Davies (Durham) – 27, 0 – Injury prone fat medium bowler who has 9 wickets at 25.22 this season.

[The Phantom Ram]

:D liked the TalkSport bit... Interesting squad, I've never heard of Grant Hodnett, but the rest are all obviously decent players. Not sure about Godleman. When ever I've seen him, he looks a bit dodgy. Still, he's only 19, so fingers crossed.

Glad you are enjoying it. This is the first game I have played so any tips of players or things you would like to see in the story, let me know.

[acook]

What about Paul Horton, Michael Carberry, Varun Chopra, Dawid Malan, Luke Sutton, Peter Trego, Graham Napier, Saqluain Mushtaq and Nayan Doshi?

[acook]

Enjoying this story a lot. Keep up the good work.

[Themer]

Nice start everyone on the list has masses of potential. Patel is a brilliant lower order batsman.

[The Phantom Ram]

What about Paul Horton, Michael Carberry, Varun Chopra, Dawid Malan, Luke Sutton, Peter Trego, Graham Napier, Saqluain Mushtaq and Nayan Doshi?

Cheers, I shall keep my eye on them. I am also looking at Alex Gidman, Michael Munday and Neil Edwards.

[The Phantom Ram]

In five days Scott Newman will begin, publicly at least, the biggest job of his profession. Not only that but he does so having never played test cricket and he will lead out a team who have never played test cricket either. Scott Newman has for a long time been a ‘promising’ opener with Surrey without ever making that extra push for the England side. Now, at the age of 28, not only has he got the call up that he has craved since he first picked up a cricket bat but he is going to captain the side. Newman, also has the added pressure of taking over from the most successful captain in English test history – Michael Vaughan – under the scandal that has rocked world cricket. Yesterday I met Scott Newman at Loughborough where the England team are training together, and indeed meeting each other. He was relaxed about the prospect of leading out his country.

[The Phantom Ram]

Teams - Newman (capt), Hodnett, Denly, Hildreth, Godleman, Patel, Rashid, S Davies (wk), Tahir, Harris, A Davies

Fulton, Bell, Hay, Taylor, Hiini, McCullum, Vincent, Oram, Franklin, Gillespie, O’Brien.

New Zealand win the toss and bat.

A fantastic first session for England who have reduced New Zealand to 140-5 at lunch, thanks in the main to an opening spell from Tahir of 9-1-43-3. Tahir dismissed Fulton, Bell and Hay – the top three batsmen in the New Zealand order. Eighteen year old Jamie Harris also weighed in with 2-25 leaving McCullum 9 not out and Vincent 0 not out at the crease.


The afternoon session was more evenly split with New Zealand making a further 104 runs or the loss of only McCullum and Vincent. This took them to 244-7 at tea with the batsmen in, Oram 18* and Franklin 16*. Jamie Harris had took a further wicket to go in with 3-37.

New Zealand Innings ends on 295 all out (Franklin 48*, Taylor 42, Harris 6-59, Tahir 3-112)

At the end of day 1, this young England team can reflect on a job very well done. They end the day on 35-1 with Hodnett the man out for 10, lbw to Franklin. At 260 behind the whole team can be very proud of what they have achieved. None more so than 18 year old Glamorgan bowler, Jamie Harris who ended with figures of 6-59. Have England found a new bowling hero who can perhaps replace the likes of Harmison, Hoggard, Sidebottom and Anderson?

[Themer]

Good job, Harris went well, shame Tahir couldn't carry on his work from the first sesson

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 2 – England go into day two confident of pushing on and forcing the game further in their favour.

The first session of this second day goes to New Zealand as England only add 84 runs for the loss of 3 further wickets, taking them to 119-4. The England batsmen, Newman 26, Denley 33 and Hildreth 9 all struggled to press on. Godleman 22* Patel 14* now have the responsibility that shouldn’t be given to players as young as 18 and 23 respectively. The pick of the New Zealand bowlers were O Brien 1-30, Franklin 2-22 and Oram 1-24.

Another session that went to the Kiwi’s with England only adding a further 72 runs for a further 2 wickets, taking them to 191-6. I think the way the New Zealand bowlers have dominated the day so far is due to the inexperience of the England batsmen. The men out were Billy Godleman who fell to Jacob Oram just two runs short of his half century and Sam Patel who went for 17, lbw to Gillespie. The men at the crease now, Rashid 23 and Steve Davies on 14 must try and reduce the deficit before the tailenders start to come in.

The final session of day 2 went firmly to England with 103 runs added for the loss of wicket keeper Steve Davies for 42. England, who were buoyed by the performance of 20 year old Adil Rashid who comfortably moved to 82 not out, are now only one run behind with three first innings wickets remaining. Rashid, who despite batting at 7 is primarily a bowler who will contribute with the bat but he sure impressed today. Jacob Oram took the wicket of Davies to move to 3-67. 294-7.

[Themer]

Good performance Well Done

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 3 – England, led from the front by 20 year old Adil Rashid and 24 year old Naqqah Taqir, will look to press home their current slight advantage at the crease today. At only one run behind the New Zealand total and runs for these last three wickets is a bonus.

England Innings ends on 386 all out (Rashid 109, Tahir 56, Oram 3-89, Franklin 3-96) with a lead of 91.

Lunch on day three and New Zealand, 5 overs into their second innings are 8-0 and looking to get back into the test. The talk of the ground though is the young spinner, Adil Rashid, who scored a fantastic century on his debut.

England go in at tea with a firm grip on the test thanks to wickets from Davies, with a spell of bowling that brought back memories of Angus Fraser, Tahir and Harris. New Zealand on 122-3 must now hope that Hiini 44 and Hay 35 can continue at the crease.

A good session for New Zealand saw them add 88 runs for only 1 wicket lost. Hay continued at the crease to reach 70. At 210-4 and with Hay and McCullum in, New Zealand must now be classed as favourites to put the game beyond England. Pick of the England bowlers were Davies who continued to go at a run an over with figures of 17-8-17-1 and Patel who took his first test wicket.

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 4 –Possibly the best days weather for the latest day in this enthralling test as the England youngsters are matching their experienced New Zealand counterparts.

A fantastic morning session as New Zealand carefully added another 98 runs, by lunch, for the loss of no further wickets, at 308-4. With Hay (106) and McCullum (68) at the wicket New Zealand look capable of taking the game away from England. Hay in particular had knocked Tahir to the corners of the ground.

New Zealand Innings ends on 380 all out (Hay 112, Hiini 83, Harris 5-72, A Davies 2-45)

The afternoon session went to England, first of all Jamie Harris ripped through the New Zealand batting line up taking a further 4 wickets for 32 leaving him with innings figures of 5-72 and match figures, on debut, of 11-131. England then batted out the remaining 4 overs of the day for 10 with out loss. This leaves them with a target of another 280 runs.

Day 4 ends with England on the brink of a famous victory. A closing total of 114-1 leaves them 175 runs away from the win with 9 wickets still remaining. The only wicket to fall was that of captain, Scott Newman, for 23. Both Hodnett on 61 and Denly on 33 look set to guide England home.

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 5 – It is official, England have a new cricketing hero. Jamie Harris the 18 year old from Glamorgan has match figures of 11-131, and is likely, if as expected England win this test, to be named man of the match.

The morning session closed with England adding 72 to their overnight total, for the loss of only Denly for 37. England now only require 103 to win the first test. Some of the New Zealand bowling and fielding shows that the Kiwi’s may know that this test has slipped away from them. Grant Hodnett is only 4 runs away from joining Adil Rashid in scoring a century on his debut.

Unexpectedly this test will go into the final session thanks to the careful and steady batting of the England side. Another 88 runs were added for the wickets of Godleman on 18 and Hodnett for an impressive 102. With Hildreth (66) and Patel (12) at the crease and only 15 runs needed the win must surely be a formality.

End of England Innings 291-4 (Hodnett 102, Hildreth 74*, O’Brien 2-70)

England win by 6 wickets.

Jamie Harris – Man of the match

[The Phantom Ram]

I know people are looking at my story but feel free to post and let me know if you are enjoying it, whether there is anything else you would like to see in the story or any players you think may be suitable for my 'new' England.

[The Phantom Ram]

I am not one for praising cricketers, especially cricketers as young as those selected for the 1st Test Match against the New Zealanders. I feel that young cricketers are given too much praise, to young, when they should still be hungry to work at their games. That said, the eleven cricketers who have just played for England should be proud, as should their mothers, and fathers, and families. They have helped lift the gloom that had surrounded English cricket and the drugging scandal. The likes of Hodnett and Rashid, who both scored centuries on their debut plus Hildreth who looked extremely confident for his 2nd innings knock of 74 not out, look like they could have long test careers. They play sensibly, get themselves in and get a score before opening up and playing their strokes. On the bowling side, I like the idea of two spinners and three seamers, obviously it helps that Rashid and Patel can contribute with the bat. That said it was Jamie Harris who has attracted, and rightly so, the majority of the plaudits. With 5 wickets on debut in both innings he looks to have the ability to take 400 wickets for England and at only 18, surely he can only get better. He will also climb the batting order up from 10, and I believe, looking at the way he plays he can bat as high as 7 and become the teams 3rd genuine all-rounder.

[Simbazz]

Very clever idea, looking forward to its long run :D

[The Phantom Ram]

Very clever idea, looking forward to its long run :D


Cheers. It should last because I have the story written (I write it as I play) up til the end of the third South Africa test.

I needs bowlers though!

[The Phantom Ram]

England, as you would have expected have named an unchanged squad for the second test against New Zealand due to start on 23 May. It is expected that Adam Shantry of Glamorgan will again be the 12th man as England are likely to keep the same attack of 3 pace bowlers and 2 spin bowlers.

Squad named for second test against New Zealand.

Scott Newman (Surrey) – 28 years old, 1 cap (capt), Grant Hodnett (Gloucs) – 25, 1, James Hildreth (Somerset) – 23, 1, Joe Denly (Kent) – 22, 1, Billy Godleman (Middlesex) – 19, 1, Steve Davies (Worcestershire) – 21, 1, Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire) – 23, 1, Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – 20, 1, James Harris (Glamorgan) – 18, 1, Adam Shantry (Glamorgan) – 25, 0, Naqqah Taqir (Warwickshire) – 24, 1, Mark Davies (Durham) – 27, 0.

[qpeedore]

This is really sweet. It's making me consider doing a story of my own...but I sometimes have a problem with commitment so I'll have to write a bunch of matches first and then start posting.

I'm enjoying reading this story.

[The Phantom Ram]

This is really sweet. It's making me consider doing a story of my own....

Go on, do one. People obviously read them (this once has had over 430 views) and it will make it busier on here. What sort of story are you thinking of?

but I sometimes have a problem with commitment so I'll have to write a bunch of matches first and then start posting.

I'm enjoying reading this story.

Me to, I have played all of the New Zealand ODIs and 3 of the South Africa tests and am writing as I play. Glad you are enjoying it.

[qpeedore]

I'm split on which one to do.

I could do a West Indies one, trying to get them back to the top of the rankings, as I'm West Indian and I love my team even though they disappoint me at times.

Or I could do one on my current Middlesex game. I don't really want to start over a Middlesex game for a story and I already have an idea for a story on it. I must say that playing this game has made me a fan of them...I didn't know a thing about county cricket before ICCIII! I simply HAD to continue playing with Middlesex in ICC08.

I'm leaning toward the Middlesex one. You're doing internationals. Maybe a county one would be cool. I know that if I write well, people would read it. I think I'll start on it today!

[The Phantom Ram]

I think I'll start on it today!

Good on you, I will follow it.

[The Phantom Ram]

What are the old England doing?

As England enter a brave new world of test cricket with an inexperienced team, it is worth taking a minute or so to go around the counties and look at how the players who, with out the drug scandal, would surely be still playing for the test team. Starting in the obvious place takes you to Manchester and Andrew Flintoff – His batting is setting Old Trafford alight with his return from injury. His 4 county matches have brought him 515 runs at 73.57. His bowling is not so great with 10 wickets at 48.80. Staying at Old Trafford, James Anderson has found life back at county level and his 15 wickets have come at 43.87 a piece. He has struggled with his run up and the early season weather has not suited his late swing. Across the Pennines Michael Vaughan has been welcomed back at Headingly like a returning hero but has struggled to capitalise on the faith afforded to him. He has only 125 runs at 31.25 for Yorkshire. Matthew Hoggard has acquitted himself well and of the pace bowlers he has been the most successful with 15 wickets at 24.00. Further north at Durham, Paul Collingwood had started the season well before his rib was broken by Steve Harmison in the nets. His 112 runs came at an average of 56.00 but his part time bowling has not been successful with his 3 wickets costing 48.00 each. Also at The Riverside Steve Harmison, much to the surprise of many has found county life difficult. The pace bowler who normally returns home with a flurry of wickets only has 8 at 43.00. At Trent Bridge, Nottingham have been boosted by the unexpected availability of two of their main bowlers, Stuart Broad has started his career at Trent Bridge with a bang. In 4 matches he has 138 runs at 23.00 and 18 wickets at 33.61. He would surely have reached 100 caps without the drug scandal and his is perhaps along with the likes of Bell, Tremlett and Bopara the saddest story in this scandal. Ryan Sidebottom has been left in the shadow of Stuart Broad somewhat but has still managed 14 wickets at 36.00. Over at Edgbaston Ian Bell is impressing with his batting that has seen him score 2 centuries in his 475 runs at an average of 67.86. He has also taken 9 championship wickets at 22.67. His team mate at Warwickshire, Tim Ambrose, has returned to Birmingham in form scoring 267 runs in 8 innings, at 33.37. His form behind the stumps has helped keep the Edgbaston faithful onside. The England hero, Monty Panesar, known as the Sikh of Tweak, has returned to Northamptonshire as if he had never been away. His 25 championship wickets have cost only 23.36 thanks to the spin friendly County Ground. If the Barmy Army could pick just one player to bring back to the England reckoning, Panesar would surely be the man. On the south coast Kevin Pietersen is struggling after coming out of the test limelight. Despite passing 50 on 4 occasions he is yet to make a century in the championship and has only 307 runs at 38.37. A move to the lucrative IPL has been muted for KP. At Essex, Alastair Cook, like Pieterson is struggling at county level. His 237 runs this season have come at only 33.86. He looks very different from the player who was considered a future England captain. At Lords, where this scandal broke only a few weeks ago Andrew Strauss has struggled more than any of the England batsmen. He has a top score of 19 and with only 54 runs in 5 innings at 10.80, it is rumoured he may be dropped by Middlesex. These are not all of the players currently being overlooked by England, but they are the 14 names that would most likely have played in the seven tests this season. Instead they are touring the towns and cities of England plying their trade in front of a handful of spectators.

[qpeedore]

I like the updates. Very nice.

[The Phantom Ram]

Day One - Newman (capt), Hodnett, Denly, Hildreth, Godleman, Patel, Rashid, S Davies (wk), Tahir, Harris, A Davies

Fulton, Bell, Hay, Taylor, Hiini, McCullum, Vincent, Oram, Franklin, Gillespie, O’Brien.

With both teams unchanged from the first test it is England who win the toss and decide to bat.

The morning session went to New Zealand who dismissed 3 England batsmen for only 86 runs. Ian O’Brien was the hero with 3-11 off 10 overs. The England openers made 17 before Hodnett fell for 8. Hildreth made an entertaining 27 and Patel, strangely promoted to four only made 6. The pressure is now on Newman (39) and Rashid (3).

England bossed the afternoon session with 116 runs added for the loss of only Newman. Newman had made a steady 50 when England needed it. The cause has now been picked up ably by Rashid (58) and Godleman (44). At 202-4 England will be the happier at the tea.

Close of Day 1 – New Zealand tore threw the England middle order to just get the upper hand at the end of day 1 at 280-8. Rashid (65), Godleman (51), S Davies (4) and Tahir (6) all fell with O’Brien (5-50) and Oram (3-61) taking the wickets. England’s hopes of reaching 350 now rest with young Joe Denly who batting at 7 may run out of partners.

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 2 – A cloudier day than yesterdays bright sunshine but hopefully the batting of Denly will bring brightness to the crowd.

England will be much the happier at lunch as they added 113 runs with Denly moving to a fantastic century. Harris was only the batsman to fall for a gutsy 41. England will now view any run between centurian Denly and number 11 Davies as a bonus.

England Innings ends on 421 all out (Denly 119*, Rashid 65, Newman 54, Godleman 51, O’Brien 6-86, Oram 3-84)

As we reach tea we have another break where the England dressing room will be happier than their visitors. After moving their own innings onto 421, they have taken 2 of the New Zealand wickets for only 73 runs. The wickets to fall were Fulton to Harris and Bell to A Davies.

Close of Day 2 – New Zealand close on 181-4, 240 runs behind the England total. The session was evenly matched with the batsmen adding 97 runs for 2 wickets. Taylor and Hiini were the men out for 28 and 35 respectively. Harris was again the pick of the England bowlers and certainly appears to be a star in the making

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 3 - Rain interrupted the morning and afternoon session but England will still be happy with their work as they reduced New Zealand to 316-8. Hay proved the only obstacle for the batting side with a gritty 110. For England their was the promise of Rashid 2-52 and Patel 2-58, bowling quality spin in tandem.

New Zealand innings ends on 414 all out (Hay 157, Gillespie 73, Rashid 3-84, Harris 3-116)

Close of Day 3 – England saw their lead eroded by a 9th wicket partnership of 156 by Hay and Gillespie but then overcame a difficult 3 overs before the close of play. England lead by 22 runs with all their second innings wickets remaining.

[Themer]

Good Updates, Looks like Harris is doing well.

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 4 – A better day weather wise. If either of these teams want to win this test match they will need to get on with it.

England got over the early disappointment of losing both openers, before 25 runs were on the board. Luckily Hildreth played an anchor role to Patel’s stroke play leaving England on 105-2. Gillespie was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with figures of 2-29.

The loss of both Patel, on 80, and Rashid, on 33, just before tea turned the session, and maybe the match in New Zealand’s favour. The 121 runs that England did put on came for the loss of three wickets – all to Jacob Oram. The fate of the match rests in Godleman and Denly’s hands.

Close of day 4, the batting of Billy Godleman and Stephen Davies, who put on 80 for the 7th wicket has probably taken this game away from New Zealand and just kept the glimmer of hope open for England. Their total of 324-7 leaves them 331 ahead going into the final day. At one nil up in the series risks do not need to be taken but it will be interesting to see when England declare.

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 5 – Another sunny day and a pitch that, luckily for England, will favour the bowlers, possibly seam more than spin. England will look to make some quick runs before declaring as early as possible.

England’s innings 378 all out (Patel 80, Hildreth 58, Godleman 57, S Davies 56, Oram 4-67, Gillespie 3-121)

New Zealand come in at 52-1 at lunch on the final day, still needing another 334 to win after England’s lusty blows had took them to 378 all out. Bell was the New Zealand batsman out, ran out.

At tea the game looks to be petering out into a draw with New Zealand on 159-3, still 227 behind. This is despite a promising spell of bowling from England’s new spin twins, Patel and Rashid who dismissed the New Zealand big scorers, Fulton on 68 and Hay on 50.

Close of Day 5 – A couple of wickets (for Davies and Harris) just before lunch counted for nothing but pride as New Zealand defended their innings to 235-5 to secure a draw. Greg Hay’s innings of 157 was enough to win him the man of the match award.

Match Drawn

[The Phantom Ram]

They say a week is a long time in politics. Well, four weeks in cricket can be an absolute age. It was four weeks ago that the press, me amongst them, gathered at Lords to hear what turned out to be the biggest cricket story ever. Since then England players past and present have threatened legal action before remembering that they aren’t actually being accused of anything. Steven Wild the new young coach has picked a team and guided them through two, relatively, successful tests (it is worth remembering that it is New Zealand and not South Africa or Australia). The team led on the field by Scott Newman are playing with the exuberance of youth – they have an average age of 22 – and look exciting. After all the likes of Denly, Rashid and Harris would have surely played for England one day any way. My worry is that these young players are playing like, well, young players. On 12 occasions the young England batsmen have passed 50 but on only 3 occasions (Rashid, Hodnett and Denly) has this been converted to a century. This will come with experience but it remains to be seen whether pitching this young side into battle was the right thing to do.

[The Phantom Ram]

As expected England named the same 12 players for the 3rd and final test against the New Zealand team. It is rumoured that Adam Shantry of Glamorgan may replace Naqqah Tahir of Warwickshire. Tahir has only taken 2-259 since his opening spell of 3-43 in the first test and is likely to be rested.

Scott Newman (Surrey) – 28, 2 (capt), Grant Hodnett (Gloucs) – 25, 2, James Hildreth (Somerset) – 23, 2, Joe Denly (Kent) – 22, 2, Billy Godleman (Middlesex) – 19, 2, Steve Davies (Worcestershire) – 21, 2, Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire) – 23, 2, Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – 20, 2, James Harris (Glamorgan) – 18, 2, Adam Shantry (Glamorgan) – 25, 0, Naqqah Tahir (Warwickshire) – 24, 2, Mark Davies (Durham) – 27, 2.

[The Phantom Ram]

5 June 2008 – England versus New Zealand 3rd test

Day One - Newman (capt), Hodnett, Denly, Hildreth, Godleman, Patel, Rashid, S Davies (wk), Shantry, Harris, A Davies

Fulton, Bell, Hay, Taylor, Hiini, McCullum, Vincent, Oram, Vettori, Gillespie, O’Brien.

New Zealand win the toss and bowl. Both teams make one change with Daniel Vettori coming in for Franklin and Shantry coming in for Tahir. Weather across the next 5 days doesn’t look great, with rain threatened today. The toss could be important as the pitch is already looking good for spinners.

England took it steady after losing Grant Hodnett for 4 with only 12 on the board. When the rain came at lunch England were on 73-1 with Newman on 37 and Hildreth on 27. O’Brien took the wicket of Hodnett and finished the session on 1-18.

With only 37 minutes of the afternoon session available, England did what they could and added 30 without loss. Newman passed 50.

Eng of Day One - England had dominated the session until the penultimate over when Gillespie removed both Hildreth, for 89, and Newman for 83. This left England on 193-3

[The Phantom Ram]

With the pitch already looking like it will encourage spin bowling, the England supporters will be looking forward to seeing Rashid and Patel bowl in tandem. Before then though England will be looking forward to adding to their overnight total of 193-3. The weather promises to be cloudy but dry.

End of England Innings 271 all out (Hildreth 89, Newman 83, O’Brien 4-81, Gillespie 4-83)

The first session of the second day firmly belonged to New Zealand as they took 7 England wickets for 78 runs with O’Brien and Gillespie the bowling heroes. New Zealand then negotiated the last two overs without loss.

An entertaining session saw New Zealand make 103 runs for the loss of 4 wickets taking them to 108-4, 163 runs behind England. Jamie Harris was again the hero with a spell of 3-40. Shantry also took his first test wicket.

Close of day 2 – England finished the day on a massive high taking a further 4 wickets in the session for 111 runs. Jamie Harris got his 3rd 5 wicket haul and was the best bowler on show. New Zealand will resume on 219-8 tomorrow morning, still 52 runs behind.

[G-Reb]

Hey
great story you have going here. very interesting and has a good spin on it.

I started to do my own story i got through the first series bout found it quite boring i might try to do another one.

But great stuff looking forward to the next entry

[The Phantom Ram]

Day 3 – Another cloudy day in store with the possibility of rain after lunch. England will look to wrap up the New Zealand tail with as much of their 52 run lead in tact. With the wicket still looking to favour spin it is a surprise that Newman has only given his spin twins 2 overs.

End of New Zealand Innings 261 all out (Oram 74, Hiini 47, Harris 5-85, Shantry 3-59)

The first session of day 3 went firmly to New Zealand. With the bat they added 42 runs for the last 2 wickets, bringing them to within 10 of England’s first innings total. They then ripped through the England top order removing Hodnett, for 21, Newman, for 6 and Hildreth for 1 with only 42 on the board.

For the first time this England team have been totally outplayed for an entire session. New Zealand took another 6 wickets for the addition of only 97 runs. So far in this innings only Joe Denly has made over 30 and the current lead of 149 will not be enough for the England team to bowl at.