West indies vs England ODI series

Live streaming:
Cricwebcast
cric7
Cricshow
Crictime

Live Coverage: SkySports 1 (HD1)
Audio Coverage: BBC Radio 4 LW, Five LIve sports Extra
Highlights: Cricket-Online

EnglandCricket is not responsible for content on external websites.

Schedule
1st ODI: 20 March (Guyana, 1330 GMT)
2nd ODI: 22 March (Guyana, 1330 GMT)
3rd ODI: 27 March (Barbados, 1330 GMT)
4th ODI: 29 March (Barbados, 1430 BST)
5th ODI: 3 April (St Lucia, 1930 BST)

US ready to embrace twenty 20 cricket?

The USA is set to launch a Twenty20 tournament to be held in New York in October. American entrepreneur Jay Mir, the president and CEO of American Sports And Entertainment Group Inc, has drawn up plans for a twenty20 tournament which is made up of six teams. The ‘American Premier League’ is said to be a six team event, with Premium Pakistan, Premium Indians, Premium West Indies, Premium World and Premium America teams in the pipe line. Inzamam-ul-Haq confirmed to cricinfo that he and 7 other players in the ICL have been approached to join the APL.

England must act quickly over Prior performances

England slumped to a 20 run loss in the second ODI to West Indies, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul making a superb 112 not out. However, it could have been a completely different situation if Prior had not dropped Chanderpaul on 27. A mistake that was punished with some style from the West Indian. That drop followed a series of poor performances behind the stumps from the Sussex keeper and surely now England must act. There is little room to include Prior as just a batsman, so his keeping may well justhave lost him a place in the side.

Sports Pundit IPL Fantasy League

The IPL is set to get started on the 10th of April. With strong support for the IPL to be hosted in England, the excitement is increasing for the multi – million dollar twenty20 competition. Sports Pundit will give you the chance to further enjoy the tournament and win prizes with the IPL fantasy Cricket league which has just launched.

Flower power could revitalise England’s one day fortunes

If Andy Flower is to get the England job full time, then realistically he will need to win this series against the West Indies. On the evidence of the twenty20 defeat early this week, he will have his work cut out. Flower already has the backing of senior players within the dressing room, but still has some work to do to convince his superiors that he is right for the job.

Aussie influx could damage Ashes chance

Stuart Clarke is the latest and most high profile Australian international to join a County team this season. Kent this week announced that they are to sign Aussie Pace-man Stuart Clarke as their overseas signing for the first part of the year. He is the eighth Aussie to sign for a county for the domestic season just before the summer’s ashes series. The decision taken by the counties has attracted mixed reactions.

England lacking genuine twenty 20 big hitters

England’s defeat in the twenty20 match to the West Indies raised more doubts about the capability of England’s batsmen in the shortest format. Shock Debutant Steve Davies top scored with 27 while the rest fell in tame fashion, including 3 run outs. This defeat is a worrying sign for England ahead of the summer’s twenty20 World cup and changes need to be implemented to this side if it is to taste glory.

England continue slide down test rankings

Reliance Mobile Test Championship:

Teams          Matches     Points     Rating
1 Australia           38……….4777……..126
2 South Africa    41……….4921……. 121
3 India                  43……….5071……. 118
4 Sri Lanka          34……….3680……. 108
5 Pakistan           22……….2197……. 100
6 England            47……….4624……. 98
7 West Indies    31……….2752……. 89
8 New Zealand  30……….2426……. 81
9 Bangladesh     23……….. .0………….0

England’s recent test series defeat to West Indies sees them slide down the International Test Rankings to Number 6. Following the Ashes win in 2005, England have won just 4 out of 15 test series to drop from number two to number 6 in the world in 3 and a half months. Despite possessing the second most points, the number of matches in which the points have been obtained has seen them fall below Pakistan, who are currently starved of test matches. The Australian’s continue their dominance of the test arena and rightly on top, with the gap between Australia and England widened to 28 rating points.

It is a worrying fall from England ahead of the summer’s Ashes series. With the Australian’s continuing to excel despite key retirements, England need to quickly address this slump if they are to challenge the Aussies. A two-nil series win against West Indies in May will see England regain the number 5 position.

Player Test rankings

Hotspot a welcome addition to faltering referral system

After witnessing the shambles of the referral system on day 4 of the 5th test match between West Indies and England, it is a welcome relief that the hotspot will become part of the system. A number of key decisions brought mixed reactions with many disagreeing with the off-field Umpire’s decision. The main problem of the system is highlighted by the edges; something the system currently can’t yield a clear result. This issue also brought up the astonishing verdict that many of the off-field umpire’s don’t understand their role in the referrals.

Queens Park Oval: Flat but a result pitch

The fifth test will take place at the Queen Park Oval Stadium in Port of Spain Trinidad. Good news for England is that this pitch similarly, to other West Indian tracks, is flat but is likely to offer assistance to the bowlers. The last 10 ten International matches played on this track have all yielded results, the last match to finish as a draw was back in 1997.