Collingwood was wrong

Tonight Paul Collingwood would probably be recapping what has possibly been the worst 24 hours of his life. First the ODI defeat to New Zealand which see’s them take a 2-1 lead in the series with one to play. Secondly he’s been made a fool out of over his decision not to withdraw the appeal and thirdly he’s now been banned for four matches after bowling a slow over rate.

Paul Collingwood, in my opinion, should of withdrew the appeal and let the New Zealand batsman carry on. He didn’t. Elliot, the batsman was given out. In came Mills after the wicket of the captain. Mills hit 25 from 27 balls to see New Zealand home. Had Collingwood with drew the appeal England might have won.

The question that everybody wants answering is “Will Paul Collingwood still be England captain after his ban?” I would of thought so but… will the ECB wont to keep him?

Pietesen will take charge while Collingwood is in his ban. I really can’t see Pietersen being a good captain.

I’m surprised they didn’t opt for possibly Bell.

New boy shines in Australia victory as Ponting closes in on milestone

Ever heard of Shaun Marsh before? To be honest, I hadn’t until the son of former Australian batsmen Geoff Marsh struck a very impressive 81 as Australia beat the West Indies by 84 runs in the first one-day international between the two sides.

Batting first, the Australians posted a more than competitive score of 273 for the loss of eight wickets. As well as Marsh – who was opening the batting – Brad Haddin and Mike Hussey weighed in with 50 and 44 respectively. A quick word about Hussey – he really does have an amazing record at international level. In one-day cricket he averages an impressive 55.30 and in 25 test matches, he averages an almost unbelievable 68.38. It really is incredible that he only made his test debut three years ago, aged 30. I’d like to see what the cricket odds are on him finishing with an average if above 70 when he retires – that would be quite something.

Anyway back to the game itself. Chasing 274 to win, there was never any real hope of the West Indies winning. Especially when they found themselves 29-3 early on. Already they had lost two of their potential ‘match winners’ in Gayle and Sarwan and things were looking bleak. Shivanarine Chanderpaul left a huge hole in their middle order as well – he was missing with an injury.

Bravo and Ramdin weighed in with 30-odd each, but it wasn’t enough for the home side. A late cameo from Darren Sammy gave more respectability to the West Indies score but he was soon dismissed for 35 as they were bowled out for 189 in the 40^th over. Nathan Bracken helped himself to four wickets along the way.

One of these wickets caused a great deal of unrest within the crowd. When top-scorer Sammy was bowled by Bracken, the batsmen believed it had done so off the wicket-keeper’s pads. Television replays went onto show that the dismissal was legal and Sammy was clearly bowled. Despite this, the home crowd reacted angrily to what they thought was a wrong decision. Play was stopped briefly as various objects were thrown onto the field.

I’m guessing that there was a great deal of frustration in the crowd’s actions. They had, after all, on their way to another defeat against Australia. Something they have experienced a fair amount – with the exception of the recent Twenty20 – over the last few weeks.

There was something significant about this Australian victory though. Something that showed they have a great balance of youth and experience in their line-up.

The two top-scorers were men that were occupying postions normally assoctated with the retired Adam Gilchrist and the injured Matthew Hayden – both huge players for Australia in one-day cricket over the last few years.

Marsh opened the batting in a very aggressive manner, much like Hayden would have done. Haddin – who has taken over as keeper from Gilchrist – also weighed in with a quick-fire 50. It was the sort of innings that Gilchrist was famous for and, for me, shows that Australian cricket is moving into its next generation very healthily indeed.

Particularly in the batting department, there seems to be a conveyor-belt of talent for the Australians. When the likes of Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist have retired – the likes of Phil Jaques, Haddin and now Marsh have performed admirably. Matthew Hayden hasn’t been in the side recently either and he hasn’t exactly been missed. There is an abundance of talent in Australian cricket and there are plenty of players that, if given the chance, would shine for their country. It is a depth that I – as an England fan – am extremely jealous of.

One man that has skippered his way through the recent changes to the Australian side is Ricky Ponting and the next one-day international, which takes place tomorrow, holds added significance for him. It will be the 300^th time he has played a one-day game for Australia. Looking at the record books, this would lead me to suggest that you place a cricket bet on Ponting scoring some runs.

This is because – on his 150^th, 200^th and 250^th ODI, he scored a century on each occasion. He also marked his 50^th ODI with a half-century. Pretty interesting wouldn’t you say?

As for this next game between Ponting’s side and Australia – well, it takes place tomorrow in Grenada and although it is boring and predictable, I have to go with another Aussie win. They won convincingly in the first game and the likes of Michael Clarke, James Hopes and Ponting didn’t even make an impact on proceedings – worrying stuff for the Windies. Let’s just hope they at least put up a fight this time.