Pak vs Eng Test Series 2012: Pakistani off-spinners eye for a Clean Sweep…

With the dawn of 2012, no one expected that World’s #1 test team England will fall like nine pins in front of the fraught Pakistan team in UAE. The magical bowling of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal thrashed the English batting line up, where the introduction of ‘teesra’ a new delivery by him, made everyone stunned. Using of ‘teesra’, as hinted by Saeed Ajmal was considered as a deception and many English batsmen just gave a cheesy smile to it. English batsmen thought that it is just a hoax to let their morale down and to confuse them before the match. However, the bewildering bamboozle of ‘doosra’ and ‘teesra’ bowled by Saeed Ajmal made their mockery into a loud cry. No one expected that there is a secret arsenal hiding in the hands of the Pakistani off-spinner.

Although, Pakistan has won the series by 2-0, the third and last test is just round the corner. Pakistan team is quite hopeful to take the world’s number one test team to task by winning the third test match on the Arabian Soil. English team has already faced too much criticism and trying to recuperate from their current position. Pakistan team, on the other hand, after experiencing so many reprehensible incidents in the recent past, is quite committed to take the front seat. Let’s hope the magic of off spinners continue in the following 3^rd test match to be played in Dubai and Pakistan wins the match by 3-0.

 

Best partnerships of England in one day cricket

The English cricket team has never won an ICC event in the one day format of the game. That, however, does not mean their players have not produced good partnerships for their country. The 250 run stand between Strauss and Trott for the second wicket is the best for England in the list of best one day partnerships for England. Strauss again partnered with Flintoff, the explosive English all-rounder, to produce a 226 run stand for the 4^th wicket. If they can keep up such a good record consistently, their first World Cup win might not be far away.

Partners	Runs	Wkt
AJ Strauss, IJL Trott	250	2nd
AJ Strauss, A Flintoff	226	4th
GA Hick, NH Fairbrother	213	3rd
AJ Strauss, PD Collingwood	210	4th
GA Gooch, DI Gower	202	2nd
ME Trescothick, VS Solanki	200	1st
GA Gooch, CWJ Athey	193	1st
ME Trescothick, AJ Strauss	192*	1st
CJ Tavare, AJ Lamb	190*	3rd
GA Hick, N Hussain	190	3rd

Best partnerships of England in test cricket

One of the earliest teams to have graced the cricket field, England, has a great record in test matches. The top test cricket partnerships for them include 411 runs between May and Cowdrey. That is followed by a 382 run stand between Len Hutton and M Leyland. All the entries in the top ten best partnerships in test matches for England are above the 300 runs mark, which not only gives us an indication of the quality if the team but also shows that they have been playing cricket for quite a long time now. These partnerships have helped England achieve the status they enjoy today among the cricketing nations.

Partners	Runs	Wkt
PBH May, MC Cowdrey	411	4th
L Hutton, M Leyland	382	2nd
WJ Edrich, DCS Compton	370	3rd
JH Edrich, KF Barrington	369	2nd
L Hutton, C Washbrook	359	1st
GA Gooch, DI Gower	351	2nd
IJL Trott, SCJ Broad	332	8th
RT Robinson, DI Gower	331	2nd
AN Cook, IJL Trott	329*	2nd
JB Hobbs, W Rhodes	323	1st

2011 ICC World Cup squad of England cricket team

One of the favorites for 2011 ICC World Cup is England as they have been performing at their best with a strong batting line up and bowling. In year 2010, England cricket team with their astounding performance won the ICC T20 championship. So the hopes are high among the Britain fans that their team would appease the nation by claiming the 2011 ICC World Cup. One interesting fact about English team is that they are the one who came up with the game of cricket and yet haven’t won the cricket World Cup. The presence of brilliant players like Pieterson, Bell and Luke has ensured that England is going to be a tougher side for every opponent in 2011 ICC World Cup. Let’s have a look on the England cricket team squad for 2011 ICC World Cup:

1)      Andrew Struass (Capts)

2)      James Andreson

3)      Ian Bell

4)      Tim Bresnan

5)      Stuart Broad

6)      Paul Collingwood

7)      Eoin Morgan

8)      Kevin Pietersen

9)      Matt Prior

10)   Ajmal Shahzad

11)   Graeme Swann

12)   James Tredwell

13)   Jonathan Trott

14)   Luke Wright

15)   Michael Yardy

Dream cricket team of England

English soil is considered as the mother of Cricket where England has produced some distinguished cricketers of all times. History of English Dates back in mid 19^th Century and its cricket grounds are considered to be the best cricket stadiums in the World. English Cricket since its inception is always a hard nut to crack for its opponents whether it’s Australians in the Ashes or Pakistan in 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Keeping in view the historical perspective of the English Cricket team and recent performances by some English Cricketers, a Dream team for England is drawn out, which includes some great English players from the past and also a promising bowler from the present team.  The team is as follows:

• Geoffrey Boycott (Opening Batsman)
• Graham Gooch (Opening Batsman)
• Jack Hobbs (Top Order Batsman)
• Nasser Hussein (Middle Order Batsman)
• David Gower (Middle Order Batsman)
• Ian Botham (All rounder)
• Andrew Flintoff (All Rounder)
• Alec Stewart (Wicketkeeper)
• Bob Willis (Fast Bowler)
• Paul Collingwood (Fast Bowler)
• Graeme Swann (Off Spinner)

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