Reflection On Day 2 of Patron's XI (XIV?) V England

The good news is that England did exactly what I hoped; they managed to bowl out the Patron's team and give themselves some much needed batting practice. The bad news is that the tourists finished the day on an abysmal 39 for 6 after the decision to alter the batting line spectacularly back-fired.

The purpose of this match is to provide practice for the England team before the Tests. The closer conditions are to Test cricket, the more meaningful the practice. However, the decision to allow all 14 players to participate in the match immediately undermined this. Matt Prior must be puzzled by the selector's decisions. He has not kept wicket and was forced to bat at 10 in the 1st innings where he rescued England with an impressive 63 ball 50. His reward was to be forced to open the innings. Why? He usually bats at 7 for Sussex and surely won't ever be asked to open the innings in a Test match. Unsurprisingly he failed to cope with the Patron's new ball attack and after Alex Loudon (mystifyingly promoted to 3) also perished, England's middle order was exposed. No need to press the panic button just yet, but failures from Vaughn, Pietersen and Jones leave them all with just one more match to find their form.

Interestingly England's hope of setting a reasonable target rests heavily on the players who will be keenest to impress: Collingwood and Bell. Come on chaps, England expects ...