Steve Smith The Great Wall of Australia

Steve Smith: The Great Wall of Australia

Australia have regained back the Ashes following a magnificent double century from the world’s top Test batsman. Steve Smith is the highest run-scorer in this year’s Ashes Series with an average of 134.20. Smith now has a bating average of 66.26 against England in England. 

 

England captain Joe Root and his bowlers have tried so many different plans to dismiss him, but yet again the former Australian Captain seams to come up with the answers.

Even though Smith suffered from concussion after being stuck on the head via a bouncer from young speedster Jofra Archer at Lords, it hasn’t had any affect on his fine display of churning out runs for his country and he proved that was the case with a fine 211 in the first innings followed by 82 in the second.

Somerset left-arm spinner Jack Leach did have some success against Smith who was on 118 not out but unfortunately he overstepped the bowling crease, so Smith took advantage and made England pay big time.

Some people have already started comparing him with the great Sir Don Bradman who is known as the greatest batsman of all time and was a difficult batsman to dismiss. Smith, who started as a Leg spin bowler, has complete changed his game and has become the world’s best test batsman.   

Smith’s unusual, crab-like technique where he walks across his stumps gives many bowlers a nightmare as they think that he is an LBW candidate, but then he doesn’t seem to miss the ball. He also has great judgement around his off stump and knows which balls to play at. This is why he is so difficult to bowl at, particularly in the Test format. He forces the bowlers to bowl to his strengths and tests their patience.      

If you compare Smith’s technique to players like Root and Virat Kohli, you always feel like both of those players may give you a few more opportunities to get them out as they have a more conventional style of batting which means that you can have more options of getting them out. Smith on the on the other hand may only give you one chance as he has a slightly more unorthodox way of batting. Although, it was a bit surprising that Root didn’t ask Archer to slip in a toe crushing Yorker at the world’s best batsman early on before he got set as it could have been used as a surprise element. Also bringing Leach into the attack early on against Smith could have been another option as Smith doesn’t have a great record against Left-arm spinners.

But England’s challenge of keeping the world’s best batsman at bay is still not over as the final test at the KIA Oval is looming ever closer. 

Coming back to Smith, what is even more special about his performance in this Ashes Series is that it has come after a 12-month ban for ball tampering.  In any sport, it can sometimes be difficult for a professional sportsman, who has come back after a long break to replicate the form in which he showed prior to the ban, but Smith has shown great mental strength to come back and resume his remarkable career thus far.

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England Clinch Maiden World Cup

England Clinch Maiden World Cup

England Win First World Cup Courtesy Of Dramatic Super-Over.

England win World Cup at Lords

Lords was the setting for the most eagerly anticipated matches of the cricket season. England and New Zealand knew that they were just one victory away from rewriting history to become the seventh different na

tion to lift the ICC Cricket World Cup.

It was Eoin Morgan’s side who managed to sneak over the line in the end.

Before the tournament started, England were big favourites to win cricket’s greatest prize. This was based  on their superior form in One-Day International Cricket, post 2015.

The  journey began after Eion Morgan’s side were knocked out of the Group Stages by Bangladesh. Former England Captain Andrew Strauss replaced Paul Downton as the director of England Cricket. His aim was to change the way England approached white ball Cricket.    

Strauss’s first job was to build a squad of players who like to play fearless cricket. So, he started to recruit some young, dynamic players such as Jason Roy and Jofra archer who had been qualified to play for England during April and made his debut in against Ireland in May.  

Archer’s inclusion in the squad added some fire power to the bowling attack as he had the ability to consistently bowl at 140kmph. In terms of his skillset, he had the ability to surprise the batsman with his pace, be it yorkers or bouncers. 

In terms of batting. England approach was to  go hard at the top and make use of the first powerplay. This is where Johnny Bairstow and Roy came to the party. The  two openers were outstanding in terms of getting the team of to a solid start and Bairstow was the second highest run scorer for England with 532 runs behind Test skipper Joe Root who made 556 and was the glue in England’s batting line-up.

What was also crucial for England in this World Cup was the form of all-rounder Ben Stokes. Apart from the controversial boundary in which came via a deflection off his bat, you couldn’t say he did anything wrong throughout the whole tournament.

Let us not forget the insane catch he took near the boundary to dismiss Andile Phelukwayo in the opening game against South Africa in the opening match of the World Cup. This was one of the greatest catches of all time. Only Stokes and nobody else would be able to pull this off.  

The thing about Stokes Is that he has the ability to make a to change a game from any position, be it with the bat, ball or in the field.  If England were going to stand a chance  of winning this tournament, they needed  their talented all-rounder firing on or cylinders and he did not disappoint.

In terms of the spin bowling department, Morgan had a tough decision to go with the attacking option of wrist spin from Adil Rashid, the slow left-arm of Liam Dawson or the experienced off spinner in Moeen Ali.

Morgan decided to stick with Ali and Rashid as the had been England most successful spinners in the past few years.  Ali played in five of England’s eleven matches in this tournament, Rashid played all eleven. Despite being the most expensive bowler for England in the tournament, the Yorkshire wrist spinner picked up three important wickets in the semi-final victory against Australia, including the dangerous Glen Maxwell, to keep Aaron Finch’s side to a chase-able target of 224. 

What is even more special for England based on this victory is that not only was it their first World Cup victory, but also the fact that they were top of the ODI rankings before the tournament begun added more pressure on Morgan’s side to be able to deal with the high expectations of winning it and that too on home soil as like India and Australia.  But the most important thing that Morgan’s side have shown in these past four years is the pride and passion to deliver a series of match winning performances and carry that kind of form into a World Cup when it all matters is just phenomenal and reflects on the hard work that the ECB have put in terms of reviving ODI cricket in England.

This also was their fourth World Cup Final inside 40 years, which sums up England’s abysmal record in World Cups over the years.  

Looking ahead to India 2023, it would be interesting to see what England’s approach will be in the four years leading up to that tournament. Will Eoin Morgan still be in charge?  Can England win back-to back World Cups?

Feature Image: World Cup Trophy found on flickr.com

Tiger Rules Augusta Once Again

Tiger Rules Augusta Once Again

Tiger Celebrates fifth US Masters Title

Tiger Woods ended a 14-year wait to claim his fifth green jacket and 15^th major following a one-shot lead over fellow American Dustin Johnson.

At the start of the final round at one of golf’s most iconic courses, Woods was -11 just two shots behind 2018 Open Champion Francesco Molinari on -13.

This was a jaw-gripping contest between both players with neither player willing to give up their aspirations of wearing the green jacket.

Heartbreak for Molinari as he let slip a 2-shot lead on final day
at Augusta 

The turning point came at the 12^th hole, where Molinari’s T-shot unfortunately landed in the water. Woods’s T-shot however, landed safely on the green.

It was from this point, where the momentum shifted towards the 15-time major champion.      

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Woods birdied three of the next four holes to take a two-shot lead at the top of the leader-board.

It was from there that the five-time champion drove home the advantage and cliched his fifth green jacket and 15^th major to move within three of Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major victories.

"We're creating new memories for them and it's just very special, "I was very lucky to be given another chance to do something that I love to do. I had serious doubts after what transpired a couple of years ago.”
"To come back here and play as well as I did has meant so much to me and my family - this tournament, and to have everyone here is something I'll never forget."It's overwhelming because of what has transpired.'
'Last year I was just lucky to be playing again, the previous dinner I was really struggling, missed a couple of years of this great tournament and to now be the champion... it's unreal for me to experience this.”

TigerWoods Masters 2019 Image  courtesy of flickr.com 

Francesco Molinari Masters 2019 Image courtesy of flickr.com