***England vs Sri Lanka*** 4th of 5 ODI Live

Wednesday, July 6, Trent Bridge
Start time 2.00pm (1300 GMT)

Brief per cricinfo.....

Such is the recent history of England's one-day wicketkeeping merry-go-round, it won't take many failures for Craig Kieswetter to find his position under scrutiny. He is meant to be the motor to Cook's rudder at the top of England's line-up but in the games they have played together, Cook's strike-rate of 88.64 is marginally ahead of Kieswetter's 87.60. At Lord's, Kieswetter managed 3 from 13 balls, digging a crater that England were unable to lift themselves out of. At Trent Bridge if he can start with a flurry, Cook and the rest of the team will feel much more comfortable.

Kumar Sangakkara again demonstrated how deeply impressive a character he is with his MCC lecture. Already the fall-out from that speech has "disturbed a hornets nest" back home, according to the state-run Lankapuvath news agency in Sri Lanka. Having been brave enough to pen and deliver such powerful words, a match-winning innings would be the least he deserves.

Team news
England could as easily make four changes as none at Trent Bridge. Twice Graeme Swann has been England's best bowler and both times Cook has been unable to back him up with another slow bowler. If they can trust Samit Patel, on his home ground, with eight overs he could replace Stuart Broad - in doing so bolstering England's late-order hitting - but Broad has been publicly backed by his captain. England's attack lacked incisiveness on flat decks at Headingley and Lord's but a day-night game on a pitch that will offer a bit for the quicks could well remedy that.

England (probable) 1 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 2 Alastair Cook (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Jade Dernbach.

With Dinesh Chandimal proving his ability at Lord's, Sri Lanka have almost all their places in order and will be reluctant to meddle. Thilina Kandamby remains a curiosity but while results stay good he can float under the radar.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt) 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Pitch and conditions
The last two games have been played in the kind of sunny, benign conditions that England find most hostile. Trent Bridge, however, should suit them much better. Swing, a bit of nibble, and the chill of night cricket in Nottingham could well conspire to help England to victory. Added to that there are a few spots of rain about overnight which may not clear in time for the match.



Your say.....

A must win situation for Eng....
Looking at the last two games which SL won comfortably, can't see Eng coming out any better...
but good luck Eng...

Im only a few miles down the road and its humid but the grey clouds and rain are going, looks like being another sunny day but there could be a little dampness about. Stiff breeze but not a wind that would upset teh bowlers or cause slow balls to drift excessivly.
Nothing that should worry the Sri Lankans in the weather at the minute, although its been pretty changeable.

As for the side, it would be bold for England to not try a change. As you say theres many options ...bringing in Bopara or Patel or Tremlett, dropping Dernbach or Broad or Bell or Trott are all things that have been suggested.
But they could easily stick with the side again, all the options have their downsides and theres several players who are difficult to drop. It would also be hard on a young player like Dernbach to be in and out so quickly.

I noticed today that Collingwood has signed up for the big bash, which effectiovly rules him out of the reckoning for a recall as he wouldnt be abel to go on teh winter tour. I doubt England would have looked at him anyway, and whilst I agreeed with him being dropped at the time Im now looking at this side and his county form and wondering .....

SL may end up winning the series 4-1

activereactive wrote:SL may end up winning the series 4-1

Likely.

Patel for Dernbach would be the only change for me. I'd probably consider changing Bell too but am not convinced the other options in the squad would be any better.

I think that would be harsh on Dernbach. What sort of message does that send to him and any others trying to get in the team? If any bowler is to go it should be Broad, but that seems unlikely.

Patel in for Trott for me. Bell at 3.

or

Patel in for Broad.

Cook
Kieswetter
Bell
Pieterson
Morgan
Patel
Bresnan
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Dernbach

not sure if this is the right place for a comment like this, but why is Cook captain???
yeah he is having an unbelievable test series! but he wasnt even in englands ODI team, and now he is captain!!!
Just when we were starting to create an attacking ODI team that looked like it could score 300+ every time we have gone back to players who score too slowly! and will get us 210-250. This is a step backwards for English cricket IMO! And can see another easy win for Sri Lanka today!

Cook isnt really the problem when it comes to slow scoring. If he bats all 50 overs and scores 150+ then he's done his job. I believe our major problems at the moment are Trott for slow scoring, KP for not making big scores and getting out to stupid shots and Broad for not taking wickets.

There is no doubt that Broad hasn't been firing but even then his stats aren't that much different to Dernbach's. For me he adds a bit more with the bat and has the potential to bowl a lot better so gets the nod.

In terms of message sent I'm pretty sure Dernbach knows he is the 4th seamer at the moment so if the composition of the bowling line up were ever to change he would be the one to miss out.

I think its hard to judge Dernbach given the rest of the attack has been poor. Broad was beyond poor in the test series, surely he should be dropped so he can get his form back at county level before we face india?

( response to TomMilagrésDean )


He's ok so far - it's Cook's flippin team who need to be looked at !

My view is that not changing the team would be very stupid and if that happened I'd probably wish a good thrashing on them.

My side depends on the wicket but if it suits the seamers then I'd drop Trott move the batting up one place and play Patel at 6. Cook anchoring the batting and everyone gets on with it and try to score something around 270 plus.

Agree on dropping Trott and bringing in Patel but I think Bell should be at 3. Maybe a flexible batting line up just like every other international side does.

If cook gets out early then bring in Bell

If kieswetter gets out early then send in Pieterson or Patel?

Should Cook be Captain is a question, but its not relevant to selection ofr this game or any other in the series... you have to accpet that he is and will stay so untill he gets caught sniffleing Ryan Giggs' wife or trying to smuggle heroin into the UAE.
Cooks in the side, the rest of the team gets picked around him. Thats one of teh main reasons whypeople questione dthe decision to make him permanet Capatin.

Looking at the black cloud coming over here and assuming its similar up the road I wouldnt swap Dernbach for Patel in a million years.

Surely Trott deserves a run in the side? Considering he is averaging 50+ in ODIs, which is way more than Bell. Bell has 1 ton in 97 ODI innings and has a strike rate very similar to Trott.

I understand that Cook and Trott in the top 3 is a bit of an issue, but surely Cook must be given a chance to prove that he can play a more attacking role at the top of the innings. So far this series he is averaging 57 at a strike rate in the late 80s, so he is doing fine.

Bresnan and Broad are both batting one position too high, but this is always going to be the case unless we can find a genuine all-rounder Broads performance with the bat in ODIs is pretty poor for a number 8.

Our seam bowling unit does not look like taking enough wickets against decent opposition, unless the pitch or overhead conditions assist. Dernbach, Bresnan and Broad, bowling the way he is looks like a pretty friendly attack. I would be tempted to drop one of them and bring in Tremlett.

Question is particularly with the bowling attack, who would come in and instantly improve it. Are there any seriously glaring omissions?

Tremlett is not a one day bowler, never has been. I'd say that Trott gets way too bogged down, case in point all of his innings this series.

If Patel doesn't play then it proves how much the England side is a closed shop

Gregers wrote:If Patel doesn't play then it proves how much the England side is a closed shop

I don't think the style of his run out in the T20 helped, especially with him already having a bit of a reputation. But I would bring him into the side.

Gregers wrote:
If Patel doesn't play then it proves how much the England side is a closed shop

Or that theres no real call for two spinners and that hes not good enough to be in as a specialist batsman.
Bopara has an equal claim to the number 6 slot to get in a "batsman who is happy to hit around ant the end and who can bowl as a 6th option" if thats what you feel is missing from the side. Id suggest his medium pace mayt be more effective in this game.

But neither is exactly inspiring, and youd have to drop a batsman who "deserves" to be in the side to get them in. Dropping someone like Broad for Patel would be eyebrow raising at best no matter how badly hes been playing. England are struggling enough to take wickets without relying on a spinner who isnt a frontline bowler or particulalry threatening as the 5th option and being pretty much garunteed of 10 overs.
Brining in someone like Tremlett who is going to threaten even the senior Sri Lankan batsmen in any conditions could solve teh wiocket taking issue. But he doenst have a good reputation as an ODI bowler, and I dont know if hes been working with the coaches on his variations and plans for this format. If he did come in its more liekly to be for Dernbach than Broad ( whos pretty wedged in the side regardless of form) to avoid having a stupid tail ( again regardless of how badly Broads batted recently)

cooky needs to be more inspiring with his captaincy

England has gone back to the Pre-StraussFlower era of slow start, wickets, even slower build up, and a poor end style of playing ODI cricket. The single most important decision in that direction was appointment of Alastair Cook as the team's ODI captain. Trott and Bell alongside Cook is the perfect mix for such a disaster of a strategy.
Morgan or Pietersen, or bowlers in helpful conditions can provide a win or 2 in between, but England in the near future, seem to be poised for some tough times in ODIs.
I guess England supporters have to sourte of live with it for some time, untill Cook develops his ODI game, or the experiment is shelved, or they find a quality finisher alongside KP and Morgan, at 6 in place of either Trott or Bell.

msp83 wrote:England has gone back to the Pre-StraussFlower era of slow start, wickets, even slower build up, and a poor end style of playing ODI cricket. The single most important decision in that direction was appointment of Alastair Cook as the team's ODI captain. Trott and Bell alongside Cook is the perfect mix for such a disaster of a strategy.
Morgan or Pietersen, or bowlers in helpful conditions can provide a win or 2 in between, but England in the near future, seem to be poised for some tough times in ODIs.
I guess England supporters have to sourte of live with it for some time, untill Cook develops his ODI game, or the experiment is shelved, or they find a quality finisher alongside KP and Morgan, at 6 in place of either Trott or Bell.

To be fair its not the style they are trying to play with. They are trying to play the way they tried in the world cup. The problem is when your players arent playing well enough then the whole thing falls apart. Strauss and Keiswetter were batting rapidly with Trott to glue it together and stop a collapse, followed by a series of attacking batsmen to pick up again but who have the ability to stay in if required, nothing has changed in theory with Cook coming in...just the execution has been poor.

The bowling is every much as part of the problem as the batting. The 240something total at least gave them something to bowl at, but England havent posed a wicket taking threat in this series so far.
Lets just see how things go today bowling first on a grassy pitch. This is Dernbachs chance to prove he was worth a go. And Broads chance to justify his existance. And Andersons chance to show his T20 showing wasnt a fluke.

I think the cool(er), damp conditions could benefit England this time.

Cook won the toss and opted to bowl, so maybe Jimmy, Stewie and co fancy a go at Sri Lanka?

Anderson stirkes early again on a green pitch.

dyrewolfe wrote:I think the cool(er), damp conditions could benefit England this time.

Cook won the toss and opted to bowl, so maybe Jimmy, Stewie and co fancy a go at Sri Lanka?

Positive action by Cook to insert them in first. Maybe a bit too bold as I dont fancy the chase under lights. Can we knock sl over for a low score ?

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

msp83 wrote:England has gone back to the Pre-StraussFlower era of slow start, wickets, even slower build up, and a poor end style of playing ODI cricket. The single most important decision in that direction was appointment of Alastair Cook as the team's ODI captain. Trott and Bell alongside Cook is the perfect mix for such a disaster of a strategy.
Morgan or Pietersen, or bowlers in helpful conditions can provide a win or 2 in between, but England in the near future, seem to be poised for some tough times in ODIs.
I guess England supporters have to sourte of live with it for some time, untill Cook develops his ODI game, or the experiment is shelved, or they find a quality finisher alongside KP and Morgan, at 6 in place of either Trott or Bell.

To be fair its not the style they are trying to play with. They are trying to play the way they tried in the world cup. The problem is when your players arent playing well enough then the whole thing falls apart. Strauss and Keiswetter were batting rapidly with Trott to glue it together and stop a collapse, followed by a series of attacking batsmen to pick up again but who have the ability to stay in if required, nothing has changed in theory with Cook coming in...just the execution has been poor.

The bowling is every much as part of the problem as the batting. The 240something total at least gave them something to bowl at, but England havent posed a wicket taking threat in this series so far.
Lets just see how things go today bowling first on a grassy pitch. This is Dernbachs chance to prove he was worth a go. And Broads chance to justify his existance. And Andersons chance to show his T20 showing wasnt a fluke.

Don't think its just about execution, more than that, its about the personnel.
People say Strauss improved his ODI game and his Strike Rate went up. while this is not untrue, Strauss, before his captaincy comeback, already had a strike rate above the mid 70 mark. Cook's case is pretty different. likewise, its not really easy to have play Cook, Bell and Trott in the same team. Bell at 6 is the sureshot way to disaster. Bell is a quality player, and He has the shots. He's much better playing at 3. But then Jonathan Trott can't bat anywhere but 3.
You need the skills to execute them. This England team is styled to play the Pre-StraussFlower era ODI cricket.

great start for england 10-2 and the ball is swinging around

Hopefully give England a decent target to fetch. Doesn't look like it at the minute though, 11-3.

Great start but we need to remove Sangakarra before he gets settled...

Here comes Broady...

Wow! I come back to find Sri Lanka 25-4, with the top 3 plus Kandamby gone. Only Sangakkara left as a real threat.

Cook's decision definitely vindicated, so far. Jimmy Anderson on fire at the moment.

Hope I haven't just jinxed England with this comment...

Randiv ahead of Angelo? Are they protecting Mathews from the new ball? Don't think I've seen it many times. Bowlers have been promoted before, but that was to give it a thumping, think its the first time someone is out to protect a batsman in an ODI.

liverbnz wrote:Hopefully give England a decent target to fetch. Doesn't look like it at the minute though, 11-3.

Stuart Broad could change that...

Is Angelo being punished for the Go Slow in the last match?

FINALLY STUART!

msp83 wrote:Is Angelo being punished for the Go Slow in the last match?

I took it as they see Matthews as more of a finisher so they're trying to keep him for the heave-ho at the end - if possible.

So Angelo is out there in the middle at last!. And Stuart Broad gets a wicket!!!.

Randiv gets a bit gung-ho after hitting Broad to the boundary and gets a thick edge which goes straight to the keeper.

Broad's first wicket of the series and SL are 57-5. They're going to struggle to set a decent total now, unless Sanga plays an almighty innings.

Sanga and Angelo are looking good, England's bowling has gone a bit soft.

England's best bowler is on though, and Lanka will do very well to deny Graeme Swann.
It has to be a cautious approach from Lanka, the last recognized pair is out there.

Just got in and wow at the score, and saw Patel on the pitch and got excited. SUB fielder? Great.

Broad took a wicket as well? Well thats his place secured for another year.

200+ could be tough to chase on this pitch I reckon. England should have tightened their grip when they had Sri Lanka 57-5.

Sri Lanka might have got it right with Angelo afterall. Randiv stayed out there till Jimmy Anderson was done with his spel. Broad may have got a wicket, but neither he nor Dernbach looked that threatening, and by the time Swanny was brought on, Mathews was in.

I still think we should open with Cook and Bell. Cook is obviously going to open as the captain, and Bell is a classy player with all the shots, able to bat through and accelerate like a Mahela Jayawardene. Trott can come in if Cook goes early, but if Bell goes we can look to bring in Pietersen.

Kieswetter can come in late at 6 and give it a biff, and then Patel possibly coming in at 7 as the 5th bowler, but in which case I'd look to make KP, Trott and possibly Bell as well work on their part-time options.

Edit: World Class catch from Bresnan off his own bowling. We needed a strike bowler to come on and deliver and Bresnan's taken Matthews.

Great catch

well we may be poor but sl out of the sun are as poor as we are in it.

to be honest they're rubbish outside of their top 4.

One again one of them manages to hang around and prevents them looking like utter idiots again.

liverbnz wrote:200+ could be tough to chase on this pitch I reckon. England should have tightened their grip when they had Sri Lanka 57-5.

easier said then done when one of their decent bats gets in.

All out 174, definitely advantage England. Not much scoreboard pressure and even if the pitch is tricky England can just bat at their own pace.

Now to watch England make chasing this look hard...