Tuesday, December 15, 2009
“Taking on Australia next winter is going to be a huge challenge and one that I am fully committed to. I want to be an integral part of the first England cricket team to retain the Ashes since 1972 and I will be giving myself the best possible chance of achieving that by not playing in the IPL” – James Anderson is joined by Stuart Broad who says his first priority is also playing for England.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
“One of the greatest achievements we were able to do as a team over the summer was that when the going got tough we got closer rather than further apart. When you are in line for an award like this you are keen to win it because it shows what you are doing is quite important to people” – Andrew Strauss is hoping for team success at the Sports Personality awards tonight.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
“I still believe I have a lot to offer England because I’m a six-hitter. I don’t believe there are enough guys in that line-up who can change the game. If you look at the best teams in the world, they’ve got players who score big, destructive runs and nail the opposition” – Owais Shah makes his pitch for continued one-day international selection.
“It is only a start, but if things go on like this, Andrew Strauss may yet be remembered as the captain who made a sought-after designer handbag out of the sow’s ear of England’s one-day team” – Mike Holman on Cricinfo’s Different Strokes Blog. And won’t Strauss look fetching then.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
“Collingwood… woke up with his back problem yesterday after leading his side to victory in the first 20-over match between the two sides on Friday. He had a late fitness test this morning which he failed” – It never rains but it pours, does it? Especially in South Africa…
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
“I will go out like I did this year and the year before that to try and take wickets for Durham. If that sees my name put in the hat to play for England again and I can be of service, I will be happy to do that. But the way it has been explained to me is that England are trying to move on to the next level for their next big series in Australia in 2010. They don’t see me being a part of that and I think I would struggle because of all the international cricket between the last Test I played at the Oval and that first Ashes Test in Brisbane next year” – Steve Harmison keeps his hat in the international ring – but with a sense of realism.
“It’s something I’d like to do – to be captain. But, as a fast bowler, and from the north as well, I suppose I’m very unlikely to get a look-in…” Oh, Jimmy…
Saturday, October 24, 2009
“I can understand fully guys who have been playing four or five years who start thinking ‘I’m desperate for a break’. [And when players start] prioritising their cricket, that’s dangerous… That’s one of the thing we missed out on, going straight into the one-day series rather than celebrating properly and getting the whole nation behind the team and promoting the sport a bit more. I think we missed a trick there” – Graeme Swann thinks the calendar might be getting a bit too crowded.
“It says a lot about him that 35 of his 53 wickets were batsmen in the top six, so he gets top-order batsmen out with the new ball. He is his own person and doesn’t get too analytical about his action, which is a nice, high, strong action. He just likes to talk to other bowlers about bowling. If he does err, he doesn’t spray down the leg-side – he tends to drop a bit shorter. But you can’t be too critical of someone who has taken on such a workload at such a young age” – Middlesex directory of cricket Angus Fraser on the county’s basketball player turned fast bowler Steve Finn, 20, already tipped as a star of the next Ashes. No pressure, lad.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
“If England want to ruin Stuart Broad, it strikes me that they may be going the right way about it… He is a decent bowler and a reasonable batsman – just not an international all-rounder. By thinking that he is, England risk taking his focus away from what he is learning to do well, first and foremost to support frontline bowlers, then to chip in with runs” – Shane Warne continues to audition for the role of England selector.
Cricket Blips: England feed