Wednesday, 1 December 2010

First Test Match Ratings - England

And here are England,

Andrew Strauss - Excellent hundred in the second innings paved over the first innings failure. Looked very comfortable and led the second innings fightback with real leadership. Will take heart going to Adelaide, both form his batting and his side's determination.

8

Alastair Cook - Question marks over Cook? No chance. A record breaking performance for the Essex man, with a gutsy half century in the first innings and an outstanding show of concentration, determination and skill in the second for his double-century. Man of the Match

10

Jonathan Trott - Loose in the first innings, Trott scored a positive hundred in the second off the back of the platform set by the opening pair. Will be one of the key figures during this series and his ability to get under the skin of the hosts makes him one of England's most valuable assets.

8

Kevin Pietersen - Will be seriously disappointed that he didn't go on and get a big score after reaching 40 on the first day. Another loose shot from Kevin undoes all the hard work and question marks still hang over his form. Still think he'll be England's main man in this series and his ability to turn a match on its head in the space of two hours still makes him Australia's prize wicket.

6

Paul Collingwood - Collingwood will be delighted to get to Adelaide, the scene of his Ashes double hundred, after having a Test Match that is best forgotten. Australia will target his weakness driving on the offside throughout this series and it will be up to the Durham man to counter and grind out results as we know he can. Took a couple of sharp slip catches and his back-up bowling is invaluable.

4

Ian Bell - Far and away England's best batsman in the first innings, Bell would have surely gone on to complete his ton if it wasn't for batting with the tail. Looked fluent on front and back foot, Bell looks comfortable in his lower middle order role and seems to have got over his Ashes demons. Really impressive display.

7

Matt Prior - Loose shot in his only innings was softened by the fact that it was his first ball. The Australians are afraid of Prior and so they should be. Aggressive cricketer, who has sorted out his 'keeping deficiences and kept well in this game. Will be a real dangerman, especially as the pitches get faster.

5

Stuart Broad - Bowled well without much luck in the first innings. Perhaps didn't quite work out the right length on this pitch and every England fan is desperate to see the young pace bowler repeat 'that spell' from the Oval just over a year ago. Still he'll be very useful as the series goes on and the Australian's are genuinely wary of not only his talent, but also his competitive nature. At the end of an awe-inspiring Siddle hat-trick with the bat.

6

Graeme Swann - Didn't have his finest game in the Test Match Arena. Australia put alot of pressure on Swann, and in particular Hussey used his feet to great effect. Swann over compensated by dropping too short and he'll be looking to find his best form going into Adelaide. Write him off at your peril.

4

James Anderson - Bowled one of the least lucky spells that I've ever witnessed with the second new ball in Australia's first innings. Despite Finn's impressive figures the Burnley paceman was England's best bowler and answered some of the worries about his style of bowling in Australia. Excellent control throughout the game and if he continues in this vein of form he should pick up a few more scalps.

8

Steven Finn - Ended up with very good figures from the first innings showing that perserverance pays off. Mopped up the tail nicely which will give him confidence going into Adelaide. Not quite sure he bowled as well as his figures suggest but he'll only get better as he gets used to the Ashes experience and the pitches get harder and quicker. Much more to come from Finn

7

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