Unchanged England bat first
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Andrew Strauss won the toss for the third match in a row, but this time decided against inserting Australia despite heavy cloud cover on a dank day at the Rose Bowl. After the failure of England's two run-chases at The Oval and Lord's, that have left them 2-0 down with five matches of the series to come, Strauss chose for England's under-performing batsmen to set the agenda this time. We'll soon discover whether his change of policy is wise, according to website cricinfo.
Both teams named unchanged sides, which means there is no place for Adil Rashid in England's bowling attack, despite his impressive performance on ODI debut at The Oval last Friday. With Stuart Broad and Joe Denly both ruled out, Eoin Morgan retains his place in the middle-order, alongside Owais Shah, whose contributions so far have included treading on his own stumps in the first match, and some of the most chaotic running imaginable in the second.
For Australia, Brett Lee will be handed the first use of a pitch that looks as though it ought to have some early spice in it, and given the damage he has inflicted so far - not so much in terms of wickets but momentum - it's an opportunity he will relish. So too will Mitchell Johnson, who produced a fine allround contribution, first with the bat then the ball, to turn the tide of the Lord's match on Sunday. If Australia prove even a fraction more competent at orchestrating a run-chase than England, then they will fancy their chances of taking a 3-0 lead to Nottingham later this week.
England: 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Ravi Bopara, 3 Matt Prior (wk), 4 Owais Shah, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Luke Wright, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson
Australia: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Cameron White, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Callum Ferguson, 6 Mike Hussey, 7 James Hopes, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Hauritz, 11 Nathan Bracken
England innings:
AJ Strauss not out 41
RS Bopara c
Hopes b Bracken 10
MJ Priorc Hopes
b Johnson 0
OA Shah lbw b Johnson 8
Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1) 3
Total: (3 wickets; 14.5 overs) 62
Both teams named unchanged sides, which means there is no place for Adil Rashid in England's bowling attack, despite his impressive performance on ODI debut at The Oval last Friday. With Stuart Broad and Joe Denly both ruled out, Eoin Morgan retains his place in the middle-order, alongside Owais Shah, whose contributions so far have included treading on his own stumps in the first match, and some of the most chaotic running imaginable in the second.
For Australia, Brett Lee will be handed the first use of a pitch that looks as though it ought to have some early spice in it, and given the damage he has inflicted so far - not so much in terms of wickets but momentum - it's an opportunity he will relish. So too will Mitchell Johnson, who produced a fine allround contribution, first with the bat then the ball, to turn the tide of the Lord's match on Sunday. If Australia prove even a fraction more competent at orchestrating a run-chase than England, then they will fancy their chances of taking a 3-0 lead to Nottingham later this week.
England: 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Ravi Bopara, 3 Matt Prior (wk), 4 Owais Shah, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Luke Wright, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson
Australia: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Cameron White, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Callum Ferguson, 6 Mike Hussey, 7 James Hopes, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Hauritz, 11 Nathan Bracken
England innings:
AJ Strauss not out 41
RS Bopara c
Hopes b Bracken 10
MJ Priorc Hopes
b Johnson 0
OA Shah lbw b Johnson 8
Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1) 3
Total: (3 wickets; 14.5 overs) 62