Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Fielding foul-ups and broken rules mar England's start to the World Cup| Rob Smyth

It was a day of dropped catches and poor fielding as England endured a shaky start to their World Cup campaign

1 'After me, after you' in the field in the 31st over

England had hinted at unusual sloppiness in the field early on but this was the first major howler. Ryan ten Doeschate slogged Graeme Swann up in the air, but Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson, running in from long-off and long-on, left the ball to each other. The ball plopped gently to the ground and Swann gave both evil looks. Ten Doeschate, on 47 at the time, went on to make a glorious 119 which pushed England all the way.

2 Anderson going for over seven runs per over

Jimmy Anderson's control of line and length were immaculate during the Ashes, but he bowled poorly at times ? most notably in his eighth over, which included two no-balls for high full tosses, the second of which flew down the leg side to the boundary. Anderson ended with figures of 10?0?72-0, the worst by an England bowler in a World Cup match since 1987.

3 Embarrassing breach of fielding rules

Stuart Broad bowled the Dutch captain Peter Borren with a fine yorker in the penultimate over. Borren walked off and had reached the boundary when he was told the delivery was a no-ball. Not because Broad had overstepped, but because England had failed to obey the most basic rule: to have four fielders inside the circle. Paul Collingwood was the guilty man; Broad hoofed the turf in disgust.

4 Swann dropping a basic chance in the deep and almost another rules breach

The final over of the Netherlands innings was particularly farcical. Borren was given another reprieve when he sliced Anderson to third man, where Swann dropped the most routine of chances. The ball barely touched his hands. Anderson then had to stop in the process of bowling the next delivery, because England again did not have the necessary four men in the circle.

5 Failing to make the most of the batting powerplay

The batting powerplay is supposed to benefit the batting team, as the name suggests, yet England frequently find it more a hindrance than a help. They took it from the 41st to 45th overs. Whereas the Netherlands smacked 50 from their five overs, England managed only 34 for the loss of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. It turned a comfortable run-chase into a bit of a nailbiter.


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/feb/22/england-cricket-world-cup

Olivier Magnan Paul Mara Andrei Markov Kevin Marshall

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