Sri Lanka v England, 4th ODI, Colombo, 10th Oct

Less buffet, more headless batting by Sri Lankans.

holcs wrote:

doctorspin wrote:So where did this decent, tightish bowling from England appear from?

We stopped picking shi1te like Saj and Plunkett.

At which point the buffet was closed.

I was going to say "Harmison retired".

Plunkett and Mahmood have - at times - shown some good stuff in ODIs. Just not enough of the time. Perhaps that's the value of experience that a now-fit Anderson and Sir Wiley Fox of Sidebottom bring to the party.

It allows a young tyro like Broad to come in and learn his trade in spite of going at over five an over without it being a massive issue due to the senior bowlers keeping it tight.

Mahmood and Plunkett never had that kind of leeway - they had to lead the attack, against Australia no less, even though they were junior players just starting out.

And unlike the 2006 series we havent bowled 25-30 wides per innings either.

FFS, did we really do that?

No no-balls from England all series.

Then again, Flintoff has always been the major culprit, so perhaps it's not that big an achievement.

doctorspin wrote:WTF happened to this forum? I couldn't get it...time-out error for ages...you bunch of cnuts.

Oh, and well played England...peerages all round IMHO.

Seemed to meltdown for about 15 minutes around 18:00.

Then it was back, and still it is back.

Dello wrote:

doctorspin wrote:WTF happened to this forum? I couldn't get it...time-out error for ages...you bunch of cnuts.

Oh, and well played England...peerages all round IMHO.

Seemed to meltdown for about 15 minutes around 18:00.

Then it was back, and still it is back.

Right, I see; which cnut was responsible for that then?

Brief server problem?

I blame the Frenchies...

Severing ties with us in preparation for the rugby

JKLever wrote:I blame the Frenchies...

Fits the cnut profile well enough. I'll go with that then.

Dello wrote: Back-to-back ODI series wins for England against teams that actually play cricket for a living - I can't remember the last time that happened.

If you discount the victories over South Africa & Bangladesh in 2003-4 and triangular competitions the last time England beat 2 Full Member sides home and away must be the six consecutive victories (3 apiece) over West Indies in England and New Zealand away in 1991-2 prior to the WC.

Wow - that's a long time of being rubbish.

Nicely done, AD.

England have been rubbish at ODI's for a loooooooong time. I can't quite believe that we've actually beaten SL at home.

Well, after the first match that was a turnaround to match those of our football and rugby teams in recent months!

A series win in the subcontinent is always an achievement, and to do so without Freddie and without any sort of contribution from KP until today even more so. Although the pitches have been tough to score on, the young bowling attack has stepped up a level and it looks like we've successfully filled the spinner who can bat slot as well.

Top order has been generally disappointing but the pitches have to be taken into account. The team's starting to really take shape, as opposed to relying on 2 or 3 stars and a revolving door selection policy for the rest of the side.

beamer wrote:Well, after the first match that was a turnaround to match those of our football and rugby teams in recent months!

A series win in the subcontinent is always an achievement, and to do so without Freddie and without any sort of contribution from KP until today even more so. Although the pitches have been tough to score on, the young bowling attack has stepped up a level and it looks like we've successfully filled the spinner who can bat slot as well.

Top order has been generally disappointing but the pitches have to be taken into account. The team's starting to really take shape, as opposed to relying on 2 or 3 stars and a revolving door selection policy for the rest of the side.

Aye, agree with that.

The top order is just about the only area of concern right now

Played, England.

Important step forward taken by England today. Winning an ODI series at home followed by an away win on the sub-continent. Augurs well for the future.

Really well played England and they deserve the series! SL need to do some serious work.