Cricket: 2006 Commonwealth Bank ODI Series

[Casey's Angel27]

I think he has... not too sure... been playing Halo 2 on the xbox and just flicking over for updates...

[Go_The_Doggies]

i've been watching it all day..well watching and listening..but i can't remember.

[Steelers]

Source: www.cricinfo.com

Pietersen out of tour with fractured rib

If England thought their tour could not get any worse after two months without a victory, they were wrong. Kevin Pietersen, the one batsman who had challenged the Australia bowlers throughout the Ashes and in the first one-day match, is flying home with a broken rib, further reducing England's chances of breaking their winless streak.

Pietersen was on 73 when he advanced down the wicket to a short ball from Glenn McGrath and missed his attempted pull. The ball cannoned into his ribs and after a couple of minutes of regaining his breath and attention from the physiotherapist, he batted on to reach 82.

But in one last show of determination, a clearly uncomfortable Pietersen fought the pain to face questions about his tour-ending injury. Sitting in an awkward, rigidly upright position and speaking softly, Pietersen described his feelings at missing out on the chance to help England fight back in the CB Series. "Distraught. Absolutely distraught," Pietersen said. "It's not how I planned it out. I'm just distraught to be leaving this trip without any victories."

Although the official word was the fracture would keep him out for five to six weeks, Pietersen was hopeful of recovering faster and insisted there was no chance it would keep from playing in the World Cup. "I just have to bide my time," he said, "but I'm a pretty quick healer and I'll get myself as fit as I can as quick as I can."

Pietersen added that, although he had been hit several times in the ribs, this parting shot from McGrath hurt the most. "When it hit me I couldn't breathe for a couple of minutes and I knew it was a little bit more serious than the previous times. It restricted my breathing and strokeplay."

But asked the injury might prompt him to rethink his tactic of charging fast bowlers, Pietersen's reply was blunt and emphatic. "I don't think it'll stop me in the future." He even spoke to McGrath on the field at the end of the game to thank him for the challenge he had presented during the Ashes.

Although Pietersen's part in the England show is over for now, he was confident the team could push on without him and even had the temerity to suggest England would be a threat to Australia in the World Cup. "It's not a one-dimensional team at all and I'm sure the guys who take my spot will do a great job," he said. "If we can pick up little key things that improve our game 10, 15, 20% ... the World Cup is a knockout competition."

[Steelers]

Source: www.cricinfo.com

Australia seal another easy win

Australia 2 for 243 (Ponting 82*, Gilchrist 60, Clarke 54*) beat England 8 for 242 (Pietersen 82, Flintoff 47*, Bracken 3-46) by 8 wickets

Australia's perfect home summer continued with England's tour of woe as Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting set up a crushing eight-wicket victory in the opening CB Series game. If England expected any relief after the Ashes whitewash and the Twenty20 demolition they were severely disappointed and they managed to leave the MCG with more severe bruises.

Kevin Pietersen felt the most pain after receiving a cracked rib from Glenn McGrath, which ruled him out of the rest of the series, and Andrew Flintoff suffered further on a demoralising trip by giving up 11 runs of wides in the opening over of their defence.

The Australian team does not need such generous donations and Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden piled on the misery during a 101-run opening stand that ended in the 16th over. Despite picking up both openers quickly, England barely had time to celebrate their minor achievements before Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke fulfilled their roles in an unbeaten 125-run partnership that earned the success with 4.4 overs remaining. The result continues their impressive winning streak over the past two months and gives Michael Vaughan an understanding of what lies ahead.

Vaughan won the toss in his first ODI for 18 months as he returned from a serious knee injury, but it was one of the few highs during a disappointing contest. "When it rains it pours," Vaughan said. Pietersen made a courageous half-century and England reached 8 for 242 with help from Flintoff, who returned to form to belt 47 from 38 balls. England's best player of the Test series continued his strong performances, but Pietersen's desire to dominate McGrath led to the end of his tour.

Attempting to force the pace, Pietersen was on 73 when he charged the bowler - it was a popular tactic during the Ashes - and attempted to swivel the ball to the legside. He missed, was almost bent in half by the impact and collapsed to the ground out of his crease. He returned to safety swiftly, spent a couple of minutes with the team medical staff and was taken for a scan after his dismissal that revealed more bad news.

The blow troubled him as he continued his innings and he fell to a slightly mistimed heave to deep mid-on for 82 from 91 balls. Pietersen arrived with England needing a boost after Vaughan's departure for an encouraging 26 and he provided it once he settled. He registered his fifty with a six over mid-off from White, who he later pounded for two rope clearances in consecutive balls, and combined with Paul Collingwood (43) for a crucial 95-run partnership from the discomfort of 3 for 73.

Flintoff built on their gains with a bright contribution after struggling during the Tests. With Vaughan in charge he was able to relax with the bat, although he did not enjoy the same feeling with the ball. While Nathan Bracken's three wickets and two each to McGrath and Mitchell Johnson combined for a fine home-team performance, England struggled from the opening exchanges.

It was Flintoff who had a strong say in his side's early lack of direction when he started the second innings with a spray of 11 runs, none of which came from the bat. His first ball was a wide and another two went for five wides when they were not intercepted by Paul Nixon, the debutant wicketkeeper.

Australia were showing off a new uniform in baggy-green colours and the opening batsmen made sure the first outing was as successful as the previous five Tests under the famous cap. Gilchrist and Hayden sped away during the stand that quickly downgraded England's total from testing to easy.

Gilchrist pounded a string of boundaries in front of the wicket during his 60 - the six he launched over long-on off Flintoff was the best - as England's hopes of a first win drowned. Benefiting from sloppy early bowling, Gilchrist took advantage while the start was slower for Hayden, who returned to the team after missing the Champions Trophy when Shane Watson was preferred.

Hayden edged Monty Panesar on 28 and Gilchrist finished with seven fours from his 61 balls in an innings that ended when he nicked Jamie Dalrymple. Ponting made sure the loss of his two frontmen was barely a blip and he eased the side to victory with an impressive 82 off 96 balls. Clarke's 54 not out was a useful contribution alongside his captain as a new tournament started with an old result.

[Steelers]

Source: www.cricinfo.com

Gilchrist - England's first over was telling

It was not quite a Steve Harmison wide-to-second-slip moment, but Andrew Flintoff's first over of the opening CB Series match at the MCG was an embarrassing start to England's limited-overs bowling efforts. A wide outside off stump, a leg-side wide that went for four and another that went to the boundary outside off gave Australia 11 from the first over - and none off the bat.

It was a clear indication that not all the demons England carried through the Ashes series had been exorcised and Australia were keen to continue hurting the tourists as much as possible. Adam Gilchrist, who faced Flintoff's wayward deliveries, said Australia would aim to use England's weaknesses to further humiliate them.

"That first over was quite telling of maybe their mindset at the moment," Gilchrist said. "That's a big bonus for us, a little launching pad to work from. They're relatively inexperienced in comparison to a lot of teams around the world at the moment. They didn't quite get it right and they allowed us a little bit of freedom to free our arms up and hit over the top a little bit."

In comparison to some Gilchrist innings, his "little bit" of hitting over the top was just that; seven fours and one six helped him to 60 from 61 balls. But Australia required only four batsmen to reel in England's 242 and it rarely looked like wickets were around the corner, further evidence that England lacked the killer instinct required to challenge Australia.

"Any team that's been on the receiving end of losses like they have, their confidence is going to be dented and morale is probably a bit low," Gilchrist said. "Their body language probably shows that. The challenge for us is not to let them come out of that and it can happen in an instant, particularly in one-day cricket, so there's still plenty of motivation and incentive for us."

But Kevin Pietersen's tour-ending rib fracture will almost certainly lessen the chances of England breaking their two-month winless streak in Australia. Ricky Ponting said although England's other top-order batsmen were capable of making a big score "on their day" the injury to Pietersen, who top-scored for England with 82, was a massive boost to Australia.

"That's a really big blow to them," Ponting said. "He looked really good today. He has been right through the summer their best batsman and looked very comfortable today. I think a lot of their one-day cricket's based around him so they'll miss him a lot."

Ponting was keen for Australia to keep improving ahead of the World Cup, but he admitted there was little more his fast bowlers could have done to restrict England further. "Our bowling in particular was excellent," he said. "It was a really good wicket, probably one of the fastest outfields I've seen at the MCG for quite some time. It was pretty conducive to high-scoring."

After all the praise lavished on him - justifiably - during the Ashes, Stuart Clark was the one fast man who proved costly. His ten overs went for 58 and it was the newest face in the attack, Mitchell Johnson, who impressed the most with 2 for 34. England will not take heart from the fact that after such a strong bowling performance, they still have Brett Lee to worry about, when he recovers from the chest infection that kept him out of the CB Series opener.

[Steelers]

Source: www.foxsports.com.au

KP distraught over injury


Going home... Pietersen's injury puts him out of the series

STAR England batsman Kevin Pietersen is "absolutely distraught" to be leaving Australia without a win and with a series-ending fractured rib.

England's terrible tour of Australia continued when Pietersen was struck in the right ribcage while charging Glenn McGrath during Australia's eight-wicket win in the tri-series opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last night.

Pietersen had trouble breathing after the knock and will fly home most likely over the weekend after being advised to rest for between three and five weeks.

The injury to its best batsman leaves a massive hole in England's plans at trying to mix it with Australia and New Zealand over the next month, especially after he made a fine 82 yesterday and starred during the Ashes series despite Australia's 5-0 clean sweep.

Although he remains confident of playing in the World Cup in the Caribbean, which starts in March, Pietersen was devastated at being forced out of the tri-series prematurely.

"Distraught. Absolutely distraught," he said.

"It's not how I planned it out. I planned it out to give it a real good go and to draw a line after what happened after the Ashes and to play as best as I can for this team to try to take positives and ... assist us taking home some victories."

Pietersen was injured when struck in the midriff while charging McGrath when on 73.

He was clearly hampered by the blow and after receiving some on-field treatment, batted under duress until he was caught on the boundary.

The 26-year-old said he was "pretty sore", but knew immediately this blow was more serious than previous ones he had endured through his career.

"I've been hit a few times and I've gone 'Oh yeah, that will be all right with a bit of ice', but when this one hit me I couldn't breathe for a few minutes and I knew it was a little bit more serious than the other ones," he said.

"It did restrict my breathing and my strokeplay, which was frustrating because I wanted to get a hundred out here at the MCG."

Pietersen has regularly charged McGrath this summer in an attempt to break the veteran's line but had no plans to change his aggressive approach.

He was also confident he would recover in time to play in the World Cup.

"I'll be getting myself as fit as I can. I've never played in the World Cup before so I'll be in the Caribbean if selected," he said.

"I'll just have to bide my time but I'm a pretty quick healer, so I'll get myself as fit as I can as quick as I can and I'll be champing at the bit to get out to the Caribbean."

England selectors will decide over the next day whether to replace the hard-hitting batsman for the tri-series.

Potential replacements include Vikram Solanki and Ravi Bopara, while Paul Collingwood appears likely to move to No.4.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney is scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce England's preliminary 30-man squad for the World Cup.

Pietersen's absence this series robs England of one of its few strong assets in limited overs cricket, as he and all rounder Andrew Flintoff are the only genuine match-winners in Michael Vaughan's side.

Pietersen is easily England's most accomplished batsman in one-day internationals, with 1,582 runs from 42 matches at an average of 56.50 and a strike-rate of over 95.

He also scored 490 runs in the recent Ashes series, at an average of 54.44.

"I would have preferred to have scored half the runs and to have had a load of victories under my belt," he said.

"I'm just distraught leaving the tour without any victories."

The injury is also another dreadful blow for England's one-day side, which has lost 20 of its last 27 matches.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his players thought Pietersen was just winded when he was hit.

"He looked really good throughout today and has been right through the summer their best batsman," Ponting said.

"A lot of their one-day cricket is based around his batting, so they'll miss him a lot."

[Go_The_Doggies]

Poor guy. I thought he might be injured for the game against us on tuesday..and then when 1 of the commentators said hes out for the who series I was like :O

I feel quite sorry for him tbh.

[Future Star]

Poor KP...

But, Glenn McGrath should be assured a spot in the World Cup team now, lol.

[Titanium_BD1103]

Indeed... and yes it's a shame we lose KP because of competition purposes, and his game style, but TBH... if he wants to charge at a great bowler like Pigeon, you are going to have to pay the consequences...

GREAT WORK by the Aussies last night, good strong batting, and a nice cameo by Gilchrist once again... I can't believe I was even listening to those questioning him when he was getting ducks at the start of the summer, I hope they are eating humble pie now... I told them he'd be back..

As for England, that was pathetic... no not the bowling, the fielding was... I mean if you dive, you shouldn't dive over the ball, if you try to field, then at least aim the ball, and if you throw and can't throw well... use the relay throw.. all very simple things, but it seems England have lost the plot.

With no KP and continual disappointment, they look in for a very long summer, with the only saving grace being Vaughan starting to make some moves and Monty showing continual consistent skill and enthusiasm... the rest should go home now and not come back if they keep playing the way they are.

Lets hope NZ is more of a contest tomorrow... Vettori and Bond against our boys... I can't wait...

[SuperCliffy#01]

Yeah bad luck to KP but that is cricket, but i don't feel sorry for the poms, as far as i am concerned it is a thing of beauty when we smack them any tim any day.cya. :fence:

[Poida]

Gilly I hope can maintain the form he has at the moment.
Good win but was too easy

[~Wild Child~]

[QUOTE=Paddy]Gilly I hope can maintain the form he has at the moment.
Good win but was too easy[/QUOTE

Hope Pieterson has a quick recovery

Paddy, I agree...it seems to take all the excitement out of the game..when there is little or no competition. Hope the other teams step up. It will make for a better Series

[Poida]

[QUOTE=~Michel~]

Gilly I hope can maintain the form he has at the moment.
Good win but was too easy[/QUOTE

Hope Pieterson has a quick recovery

Paddy, I agree...it seems to take all the excitement out of the game..when there is little or no competition. Hope the other teams step up. It will make for a better Series

Yeah the test series i had same view on but 5-0 is rare to achieve.
Competition is what One dayers should be about.

[Steelers]

Source: www.cricinfo.com

Bopara to replace injured Pietersen

Ravinder Bopara, the Essex batsman, has been called up to the England squad for the Commonwealth Bank Series as a replacement for the injured Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen broke a rib while batting during England's eight-wicket defeat in the first ODI of the CB series against Australia at the MCG. He was on 73 when he advanced down the wicket to a short ball from Glenn McGrath and missed his attempted pull. The ball cannoned into his ribs and after a couple of minutes of regaining his breath and attention from the physiotherapist, he batted on to reach 82. The injury was expected to sideline him for five to six weeks. Ed Joyce was tipped to take Pietersen's spot in the XI.

"Ravi has been brought in because he is a middle-order batsman who impressed in his time with the Academy in Perth earlier in the winter," David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, told Reuters. "He has also been a regular with Essex during their one-day successes in recent years and we decided that he was the best option available.

"We are happy with the top order of Strauss, Vaughan and Bell and we also see the injury to Kevin Pietersen, while unfortunate, as offering a great chance for Ed Joyce to stake his claim for a place in the ICC World Cup."

[Future Star]

Bopara?

Never heard of him.