Village England Fail Again

My village team often get off to a good start, only for the middle order to throw it away in a vain attempt to maintain the early momentum when they should be consolidating the team's position. The tail-enders then haul the team towards a respectable position (guess where I bat), before the opposition batsmen ensure we all get to the pub early.

The England team continue to remind me of my cricketing experience this summer. Bell batted positively, while Strauss played what I should be describing as a captain's innings. In an attempt to justify his position in the side as batsman rather than an all-rounder, Flintoff continues to bat 2-3 position higher than he should and he continues to bat is if the innings was 20 overs or so older. In fact England only started batting well when they were 7 wickets down with Mahmood and Collingwood and then Anderson and Collingwood, who ensured that we reached 169. About a 100 short, but still the right side of total humiliation. Bell, Strauss, Collingwood(not out) and Anderson reached double figures and Mahmood had the next highest score of 8. The other six batsmen could only muster 13 runs between them.

Inevitably the Austrailian batsmen not only ensured that the players could hit the bar early, they also ensured that the England team can spend more time with their families.