COOK'S BACK IN FORM, NEEDS TO IMPROVE ON CAPTAINCY

Alastair Cook's form has tremendously improved after being sacked from ODI's.. However, the England test team are still losing lots of series.

There is a danger that by listening too intently to the braying of his detractors, English cricket will forget what it has got. Not just a batsman who saved, and then helped win, this Test, but also a captain whose leadership is in no way as woeful as it is made out to be.

Ever since Cook got sacked from ODI's, his form has improved. This is a fact. He averages 48.54 in tests now, and when he was in ODI's he had meagre averages in both ODI's and Tests(23.34 and 29.81 respectively). Maybe it is because he has been relieved of ODI captaincy. He can now focus way more on Test cricket, in Cook's words "the classic cricket". Many great cricketers have been evolving under Cook's captaincy, such as Joe Root and Ben Stokes. And not to forget that he has become a calm man. If you notice, he is watching the ball better, and his shots are more fluent. He made the record of England's leading run scorer in Tests after he was removed from ODI's. That should tell a lot about Cook to himself, that he is more of a test player. So it is vital that he stays in place for the Ashes this summer, and vital that the furies swirling around English cricket do not take a debilitating psychological toll on the man who is the glue holding this team together.

England’s deterioration as a Test team can be dated to the moment Cook began to struggle. After the India tour in 2011, Cook began to merge into the world of luxuries, and lose concentration on cricket. As a result, England's test team became chaotic, and the ODI team was even more. ECB did the right thing by sacking Cook. Although the ODI team is floundering now and then, they are set under the leadership of Eoin Morgan.

Yet if today was about the batsman, tomorrow was about the captain. As an opener he has no ochallenge in this country — but there are plenty who would excel his tactics in captaincy. He needs to watch out for those people, for his captaincy is hanging thinner than a stick. ALthough he has made amends in his form, the test team as a whole is still floundering, though less then before. This should be a wake up call for Cook, to rethink his strateies as well as approach the game differently. But he has no contention in the opener aspect because of his form, and if he just rethinks his captaincy method then there will be no stopping Alastair Cook. 

The Start Of The Ashes

THE START OF THE ASHES

One of the most awaited tournaments in the cricketing world had a funky start.

The Ashes urn was born with a newspaper headline. 

On 29 August 1882 Australia defeated England in a cricket match played at Kennington Oval,London. There was a great deal of dismay felt by the English about this loss and a few days later an obituary notice appeared in the Sporting Times which read:

"In affectionate remembrance of English Cricket which died at the Oval on 29 August 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. RIP. NB. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." It was the first time the term “the ashes" had been mentioned.

It had previously been arranged that a cricket team captained by Ivo Bligh would tour Australia in 1882-1883 and this team became the English hope of victory. Before leaving England for Australia, Bligh pledged to bring back "The Ashes of English cricket.

Three main Test matches were played. The first was in Melbourne and was won by Australia. The second was also in Melbourne and won by the English. The third match was in Sydney and was again won by the English. After this it was generally acknowledged that the English were the victors.

After the conclusion of the Test series, a match was played in Sydney in which a United Australian Eleven defeated The Hon. Ivo Bligh's Eleven by four wickets. This seems to have given rise in Melbourne to some debate about whether it should have counted as a Fourth Test.However, The Sydney Morning Herald made it very clear that this game was not part of the international "rubber" which had in fact been won by England. There were also other matches played between the English and the individual State cricket teams over the tour.

The urn was made during the 1882-83 tour. It is a very small red terracotta urn in which some believe could be a perfume bottle. Two labels are pasted on it: the top label says "The Ashes"; the lower label is a verse cut out from Melbourne Punch magazine of 1 February 1883 which reads:

"When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

The welkin will ring loud,

The great crowd will feel proud,

Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

And the rest coming home with the urn."

A NEW PAKISTAN

A NEW PAKISTAN

They have changed immensely since the Bangladesh series.

                                                                                                     

SOURCE OF PIC: ESPNCRICINFO

                                    

The Pakistan team has shown immense improvement. 

As Shoaib Malik slammed the final six over midwicket, the fans cheered like they each had received a million dollars. As the SL players trudged back, you could see the disbelief in their eyes. You could also see the happiness in the Pakistan player’s eyes. Forget the series, even winning a match seemed impossible for Pakistan. But it all changed with this tournament. Mohammed Hafeez sprung back into form, Ahmed Shehzad finally clicked, and the bowlers did outstanding, especially Yasir Shah. Even the match they lost, they lost to Kusal Perera’s brilliant fifty, not Sri Lanka. After his fifty, SL collapsed and  But most of all, Azhar Ali’s captaincy changed.

When Azhar Ali became a captain after the World Cup, he looked confused. A man who was dropped from the ODI squad, suddenly came back as a captain. And with a new captain, Pakistan became chaotic. Without Misbah and Afridi, Pakistan was flabbergasted on what to do. Bangladesh took full advantage of that and creamed them. Azhar Ali’s form drastically improved, but the team was in chaos. Pakistan did okay in the tests, winning 1-0, but Bangladesh made it no cakewalk, and denied an easy whitewash. Pakistan cricket was in confusion. Then came a shining light. The Zimbabwe tour.

In my opinion, Zimbabwe was the reason behind Pakistan’s success. They took the risk that no other team took, and even after being attacked once, they still continued. Pakistan had been suffering without international cricket at home for 4 years, and although PCB found a temporary home, Sharjah, it was not home. So when Zimbabwe stepped up, Pakistan found their bright light. They had found water in a lost desert. Many, many things came out of the tour. Relief. Joy. And mostly, determination and confidence. The determination to go on, the confidence of winning.

Pakistan has not just changed in ODI’s. T20’s, it is too early to decide, but they have changed in Test’s too. A BIG change. When Pakistan were to tour Sri Lanka, it became a certainty that they wouldn’t win one game. But look at the comeback they made. They won a test, but Sri Lanka won the next one. The third one, Sri Lanka dominated for three days. Pakistan showed their mettle then. 377 to win, Pakistan made it look like a cakewalk. Shan Masood and Younis Khan dominated SL’s bowling, and took Pakistan home easily. That victory made many records; highest successful chase for Pakistan, highest successful chase in Sri Lanka, second highest in Asia, and sixth highest in all cricket. But there was another historic reason; it marked a new time in Pakistan cricket.  

Now, Pakistan are owning the ODI series, almost got Champions Trophy qualification, and will most likely win 4-1. In the beginning of the tournament, they looked to gift a whitewash to Sri Lanka in both Test, ODI, and T20. We’ve seen their mettle in Test and ODI, now we have to see it in T20. One thing is for sure; the Men in Green are not little speck to brush aside- they’re lions. 

Will Pakistan Win The Series 4-1 and the T20 series?

If Yes, Then Comment Yes

If No, Then Comment No

If You Don't Know, Then Comment IDK

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