Michael Vaughan: Swann needs to take early wickets on day three

Test previews / Michael Vaughan / 27 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Chin up. Graeme Swann has a smile after a good individual performance but there's plenty of work still to do.

"It may just be worth taking a chance on England at [3.7] with a view to laying off at [3.0]. This isn’t a pitch that’s easy to get used to and the two men currently at the crease –Dinesh Chandimal and Suraj Randiv - will have to start all over again. So a couple of early wickets could well be on the cards."

Michael Vaughan tells us just why England find themselves in such a precarious situation at the moment and how Graeme Swann needs to strike early when Sri Lanka resume their innings on the morning of day three.

First things first. I've got no problem with the way England went about picking their XI. They chose the side that they thought gave them the best chance of winning the match and Samit Patel bowled well, taking two wickets on Test debut, which is a decent return. He misjudged the flight of a good delivery when he was batting but didn't look out of his depth at any stage. He didn't fare any worse than most of the England's batting order.

England's problems lay elsewhere. Firstly they let Sri Lanka off the hook last night - Monty Panesar twice dropping Mahela Jayawardene, who cashed in after being given two lifelines. You wouldn't expect any less from a player of his calibre. We'll have to wait and see just how important those extra runs he scored will be but they could end up making all the difference.

Secondly, England made a right hash of batting on what looks a pretty decent wicket. The England of a year ago would have posted 350 and put pressure on Sri Lanka, who would then be playing catch-up. To not match Sri Lanka's total on a decent wicket against a bowling line-up that is conventional and solid but lacks any true world-class performers was nothing short of criminal. Rangana Herath is a good spinner who doesn't bowl too many bad deliveries but England have made him look like Muttiah Muralitharan if his figures of 6/74 are anything to go by.

Andrew Strauss' side looks mentally scarred from that series against Pakistan. And if they were guilty of being too defensive and focusing too much on just on not getting out in the UAE, this time they've gone the other way and batted too aggressively. Erratically at times. There's been something of a mental failure, no doubt about that.

The only positives to come out of today's proceedings as far as England are concerned were that Ian Bell looks in good touch and that Graeme Swann bowled beautifully. The only reason they're still in with a chance of winning this match at all is because the Notts spinner took the prize scalp of Mahela Jayawardene, as well as the wickets of Kumar Sangakarra, Lahiru Thrimanne and Thilan Samawareera. He'll need to take quite a few more and do so pretty early on in the proceedings if England are to limit the hosts to anything that they could realistically chase.

It may just be worth taking a chance on England at [3.7] with a view to laying off at [3.0]. This isn't a pitch that's easy to get used to and the two men currently at the crease -Dinesh Chandimal and Suraj Randiv - will have to start all over again. So a couple of early wickets could well be on the cards.

I see that a finish on day three is currently trading at odds-on and that may be worth laying. Sri Lanka may yet bat for another session and if someone like Alastair Cook or Jonathan Trott gets in they could hang around and just bat time, knowing that the longer they stay at the crease the more of a chance they have of chasing a total. Nothing silly, the runs will come naturally. We've seen those two play like that before and if they build a couple of good partnerships that may well be enough to take the game into day four.

Given the way the England top order (Bell excluded) managed to find ways to get out, I'm not sure any of them deserve my money behind them for second innings top bat honours! But Jonathan Trott rarely fails twice in the same match and if it's patience that is required to play a big innings here, then he's the man to side with.

1pt Back England at [3.7], lay off if they trade below [3.0]
1pt Lay Test Match end Days One, Two and Three @ [1.98]
1pt Back Jonathan Trott to be England second innings top batsman @ [5.0]

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Michael Vaughan: England batting line-up needs a re-think

ODI preview / Michael Vaughan / 27 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Ian Bell needs to face as many balls as possible in the form he's in

"Where I think England need to have a re-think is in the batting order. Ian Bell is the most in-form batsman in the side at the moment so we can’t have a repeat of Saturday afternoon where he was watching from the sidelines. He should definitely play and he should open the innings."

Michael Vaughan on why Ian Bell belongs at the top of the order and how Samit Patel needs to start giving something back.

A new era for England's ODI team starts on Tuesday when Alastair Cook leads the side out for the first time since being appointed the full-time ODI skipper.

Stuart Broad got his own T20 captaincy off to the worst possible start with England's lacklustre display in a heavy defeat on Saturday, as predicted in this column. Both will have wished for a slightly easier opposition than this well-drilled Sri Lanka side that contains a handful of highly-talented match-winners.

The first thing Alastair Cook needs to do is make sure he gets the right balance in the side. My guess is the team will look like this: Cook, Kieswetter, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Morgan, Patel, Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson. That's a good-looking side on paper and I've got no problems with the bowlers or the all-rounders. Where I think England need to have a re-think is in the batting order. Ian Bell is the most in-form batsman in the side at the moment so we can't have a repeat of Saturday afternoon where he was watching from the sidelines. He should definitely play and he should open the innings.

The best ODI openers fall into two categories. Firstly, guys like Adam Gilchrist or Virender Sehwag who hit big from the word go and can clear the ropes. And secondly, players like Sachin Tendulkar and Mark Waugh, who are masters at finding gaps in the field through sheer timing and throughout their careers perfected the art of building an innings; a little more cautious at the start and then accelerating as they start to really get their eye in. Ian Bell is very much in the latter category of course and England need to juggle the order around somehow so that he does open the batting.

I also think Kevin Pietersen needs to bat at three. A top three that contains Cook and Jonathan Trott is perhaps a little too pedestrian for my liking. They'll get you runs because they're both fantastic players but the rate at which they get them is a bit of a concern and if they eventually get out, it puts pressure on the middle-order to have to score very quickly before they've had a chance to really get themselves in. Few players in the world can score as quickly as KP when he's on-song and England need him at the crease during those crucial first 15 overs.

Samit Patel is a super prospect and I've spoken in this column before about how he has all the talent in the world to be anything he wants in this game. His weight and general fitness has been the only thing that has so far stopped him from achieving his ambitions so it was slightly disappointing that, in his first match back in the side, he lost his wicket by virtue of being lazily run out. The selectors have been patient with Patel but he needs to put in a couple of eye-catching performances throughout the series to reward the faith they've put in him.

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Monaco Grand Prix: Championship needs a Hamilton win

Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 25 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

Lewis Hamilton at Monaco last year

“It’s a downforce track, and there are no high speed corners in either race. The gap between my car and Vettel's will be closer.”

He drove superbly in Barcelona but Lewis Hamilton is 41 points behind Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship. Ralph Ellis believes this weekend's Monaco race is a chance for the Brit to turn his season around.

Monaco has always been the Grand Prix of the season. There's just something about the glitz and glamour of the street race that captures your imagination.

If you've ever driven into Monte Carlo on holiday you'll know the feeling. Come down the windy road wrapped around the hillside, and suddenly you find yourself going through the tunnel leading towards the harbour where the multi-million pound yachts are moored. You're on the track. Can you resist opening the window a bit more to let the air rush through, and putting your foot down to go that bit quicker? Not a chance.

The event ticks every box of what Grand Prix racing should be all about. It oozes excitement, drips with wealth, with the luxury boats and blue sky as a stunning backdrop. It's the one race of the season you watch on the telly and think: "I wish I was there."

Just to add to the iconic feel, this Friday sees the general release of the movie Senna, a moving tribute to the man who was king of the Monte Carlo circuit, winning a record six times around its twisty, steel-lined streets.

But this year Formula One wants more than just a glamour movie from Monaco. If there's ever been a time when the sport needed to grab our attention with its Blue Riband event it's now. Five races in, Sebastian Vettel has won four of them and has a 41 point lead in the Drivers' Championship. He's [2.0] favourite to make that five wins in six. The season is in danger of being over before it's barely started.
So Monaco, with its twisty street circuit where a driver's ability is more crucial than his car, needs to come to the rescue. And more especially so does Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren star drove a fantastic race in Barcelona last week to push Vettel all the way to the finishing line. But the result pretty much summed up how you fear his season will progress. Good, but not good enough. Monaco probably represents the only chance to turn that round.

Sunday's race will be followed by another street circuit in Montreal, and Hamilton says that's two chances to collect 25 points. "It's a downforce track, and there are no high speed corners in either race. The gap between my car and his will be closer," is his verdict.

Let's hope so, and not just because you can back him at a very healthy [6.0] to follow his words with actions. Pirelli's new tyres have added some good action to this season, but the battle has to happen at the front of the race and not just through the middle ranks to make it interesting.

In short we need one of Monte Carlo's champagne moments. And Hamilton is probably the only man who can make it happen.

Five things you might not know about Ayrton Senna

1. Born in Santana, a region of Sao Paulo, in March 1960, his father Milton da Silva was a wealthy landowner. Mother Neide Senna da Silva's family were originally from Italy. He took mum's name when he started racing as da Silva was too common
2. As a child he was a brilliant gymnast, but he developed an interest in motorsport after his dad built him a Go Kart using a lawnmower engine.
3. He was South American Karting champion and twice runner up in the world championships, but his first move into motor racing was halted when his parents insisted he return home from a trip to England to work in the family business. Thankfully for the world of Formula One he rebelled a few months later and returned to Europe
4. During his life he insisted on keeping secret his charity work for poor children in Brazil. He had actually donated millions, and the fund he founded with sister Vivianne has now invested more than 80million dollars in various long term projects.
5. He was a keen fisherman

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