Andy Pakes looks at the emergence of Australia's James Pattinson and compares him to his England-capped brother Darren.
Sam Holloway looks at why test match cricket is not going to become extinct just yet
Manraj Bahra looks at the subtle differences between the forms of cricket and how teams shouldn't look to pick the same players in all forms.
Sports Editor James Tompkinson looks at the continuing problem of corruption within cricket as the cases of three Pakistani cricketers accused of spot fixing comes to an end
One thing is for sure, if England are to beat India in this ODI series, they are going to have to play very well. Even with the injury problems that they have, India should prove a much sterner test in this series than they did in the longer form of the game. Sachin Tendulkar is still searching for that elusive hundredth international century, and many would back him to complete that milestone in this series. MS Dhoni strikes a mean cricket ball and will definitely be one to watch, whilst the emergence of Rahane as a potentially explosive opening batsmen shows that India have firepower throughout their team.
However, what has been clear in recent years is a change in attitude from England towards whoever they play. It was something that Michael Vaughan started as captain and no doubt something that Alistair Cook will have picked up from his predecessor, and that’s focussing on what England are good at and not worrying about their opposition.
With Kevin Pietersen rested for the series as part of the ECB’s baffling rotation policy, you can’t help feel that Eoin Morgan and Ian Bell have to shine in England’s middle order if they are to post competitive totals. Morgan is without a doubt England’s most exciting ODI talent. His ability to score runs all around the ground is something that no other England player can come close to replicating, and in the last year he seems to have matured into a very intelligent batsmen. Bell’s test match credentials speak for themselves, and if he can turn his sparkling test match form into runs in the ODI arena then India are going to struggle.
Another key player for England in this series will be Jade Dernbach. Dernbach is very much a bowler who thrives in the ODI arena, and that was proved in Wednesday’s Twenty 20 game where his bowling was the catalyst for England’s victory. Dernbach is a very clever bowler and has one of the best slower balls in the game. In the last few days, he has been compared to Darren Gough by certain sections of the media, which is lofty praise indeed. The style is similar, but I think that Dernbach has a very long way to go before he can be considered a worthy comparison to Gough.
Personally, I am backing England to win the five match series. I think that the Indians will put up a better fight than they did in the test match series, but I think that England will prove too good and win the series 3-2. It will take a big effort, but the England cricket team can be likened to an express train at the moment, and I don’t think that India have a barrier strong enough to stop England in their tracks.
The only problem we might encounter is simply the rate at which our batsmen (except Morgan) score runs. India have a great approach to ODIs with players that like to aggressively knock it about, but I can't really see Bell doing what Dhoni does so much. Do you predict that 100th Tendulkar century coming in these ODIs?
In part I agree with you, although I think that England have a nice mix of batting with the likes of Trott, Bell and Cook compared to Keiswetter, Morgan, Patel and Stokes. They all just need to fire and be in good form in my opinion! Not sure about Keiswetter though, still think Prior would be a better option behind the stumps. And yes, I do think that (if he plays), Tendulkar will get his 100th century in this series, he is far too good a batsman and has gone too long without a hundred, it has to come soon!
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