Team of the Week: Lyth and Faf put their sides in charge

It was a funny old week involving mountains of runs and an England fightback. Joe Root built up steadily across the week, culminating in a rare ODI century and even rarer triumph for Cook's men at Headingley. Ajinkya Rahane struck a splendid century in India's winning cause before falling for a third-ball duck in the final match. Durham played Nottinghamshire twice, emerging victorious both times, taking them into the Royal London Cup final against Warwickshire and also potentially deciding the fate of the Championship title.

That now seems destined for Yorkshire, who beat Roses rivals Lancashire by an innings at Old Trafford with a record innings score of over 600. Adam Lyth scored 251 and Adil Rashid an unbeaten 159, together with his eight wickets, as Lancs subsided on home territory.

Another double-centurion was Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams. He put on 253 with Michael Carberry for the first wicket as the county consolidated their promotion place in Division Two. Leaders Worcestershire suffered a second consecutive defeat, this time to an energised Derbyshire, for whom Wayne Madsen contributed 56 and 98 and newly-bearded all-rounder Wes Durston a career-best spin haul of 5-19.

Angus Robson, Sam Hain, James Taylor and Usman Khawaja each reached three figures in the Championship yet fail to make my team of the week thanks to dismal showings in their other innings, but Glamorgan's Chris Cooke ended his first-class century drought in style. His 171 kept his county in the match early on, then Graeme Wagg's 116 not out ensured a draw with Kent, although he was assisted by the fact that all eleven Kent players had a bowl on the final afternoon!

Two red-haired Durham all-rounders also make my Eleven. Paul Collingwood struck 123 runs and claimed a 3-26 in the Championship fixture while Ben Stokes thrashed an excellent 164 in 113 balls in the 50-over semi-final. No doubt he gained confidence from his 3-47 and batting cameo for England, following his three successive ducks earlier in the series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar's brilliant 2-14 in England's trouncing at Edgbaston also merits a place ahead of Dale Steyn and Thisara Perera.

My wicketkeeper is Alex Barrow. While still only 22, he has been in the shadows of Kieswetter and Buttler for a few years at Somerset, hampered by an inability to score runs. However, against Northamptonshire, he made a career best 88, including eighteen boundaries, without which the Taunton side may well have witnessed the visitors' first Championship success of the season.

I conclude with the outstanding batting sequence of the week, served up by South Africa's Faf du Plessis. He scored 126, 121 and 96 as the Proteas won the triangular ODI tournament in Zimbabwe. With just one more boundary in the final he'd have become the first man ever to score four centuries in an ODI series. Gutted! However, he did aggregate an impressive a record 464 runs in the five games and until last week had never reached three figures in 50-over cricket. What a way to break through!

And so my team reads:- Lyth (Yor), Adams (Ham *), du Plessis (SA), Madsen (Der), Cooke (Gla), Collingwood (Dur), Stokes (Eng/Dur), Rashid (Yor), Durston (Der), Barrow (Som +), Kumar (Ind).

Raina and Ravi blow England away at Cardiff

I've just got back from Sophia Gardens where India made it three out of three ODI victories in the past year or so. They even took the final wicket just minutes before the rain pepped up - timing as impressive as that of MS Dhoni's batting. Maybe the BCCI should pay me handsomely to attend all their games around the world as I was in Cardiff for those Champions Trophy successes, too. Please get in touch, guys, and don't forget to include travel expenses!

It wasn't all plain sailing for India today. Jimmy Anderson and Chris Woakes bowled beautifully in the first ten overs, the latter rewarded by the wickets of Dhawan and poor Kohli, thumping a great off drive straight at the only fielder in the arc, Alastair Cook. After his earlier new-ball struggles, Rohit Sharma began to settle and, with Rahane, built a useful third-wicket partnership.

However, it was oves 38 to 41 which destroyed England. Woakes' second spell began with an over in which he conceded twenty runs, including two sixes from Suresh Raina. The next over seemed to go on forever as Chris Jordan served up no fewer than five wides, each greeted by even greater derision by the massed ranks of India fans in the Foster's stand. Jordan's stuttery run-up seemed even more forlorn by the end. Meanwhile Raina flayed all bowlers and reached three figures before holing out to Woakes on the cover boundary. His was the star innings but credit to his captain, too. Dhoni seemed to crawl in comparison but he produced some delightful shots and excellent running to reach fifty at more than a run a ball. It was inevitable that Ashwin and Jadeja would take their side past 300. and so they did.

I did despair when the rain started to fall just as Cook and Hales were on their way to the middle. They did a smatr about-turn with the Indian side still on the pitch. The weather forecast had been dismal but the skies turned slightly less dark and England's innings did finally get under way half an hour late, giving me time to see the ICC World Cup trophy on display in the Fan Zone!

Cook hit the first two balls for two on the leg side but he and Hales, batting in an ODI for the first time after the Bristol washout, played, missed and edged frequently against Shami, Mohit Sharma and Kumar. They were well ahead of India's scoring rate until things went wrong in the eleventh over. Shami had Cook LBW and bowled Bell whi inexplicably left a straight ball on his off stump. Root was beaten by a Bhuvi nip-backer, leaving Hales and Morgan to sink into a slough of despond. Even the introduction of spinners Ashwin, Jadeja and Raina failed to ignite them into going for their strokes.

When Hales and Buttler fell in quick succession, Duckworth-Lewis had England miles behind, and the required target of 295 from 47 overs was also lookig more and more remote. Dhoni rotated his attack frequently, the result being no opportunity for England to build any momentum. Sixes from Woakes and Tredwell came far too late and the death knell came mercifully for the home side elevn overs and about an hour early when Tredwell swung Ashwin to Jadeja.

India were best for batting, bowling and, I should add, fielding and they seemed to feed on the growing noise and energy from the boisterous but never menacing fans in orange, white, green and blue. Swann, Vaughan et al can't point the finger solely at Cook and Bell, as most of the others failed to deliver on the day. Bad day at the office? Maybe. Jordan must surely be dropped but perhaps he others deserve another shot. Meanwhile, Indian confidence must be a helluva lot higher than it was a few weeks ago, although I'm afraid I don't have tickets for the remaining ODIs. Find me on Facebook, Duncan and Ravi: Mike Smith's the name. I take cheques.

Team of the Week: Big Hitters and Bouncers

Daryl Mitchell is having a great season to match that of his county, Worcestershire. This week he carried his bat for 167 in the defeat of Gloucestershire, his fifth century of the Championship summer, and struck a brisk 36 against Derbyshir ein the Twenty20. Dwayne Smith didn't hang around, either, in thumping 110 not out for Barbados against St Lucia in the CPL. He also recorded a duck but I'll politely forget that ever happened....

My number three did nothing spectacular but credit to Jonathan Trott for reaching three figures for the first time since his traumatic withdrawal from the Ashes tour and early season relapse. His successor in the England middle-order Gary Ballance also weighed in with 110 in the otherwise embarrassing loss at Lord's to India. He enters my team of the week thanks to his graft which put most team-mates to shame.

There were lots of rapid 80s and 90s in the Caribbean and the final Blast group fixtures. Ramdin, Samuels, Hastings, Westley, Whiteley and Finch peppered boundaries but they were totally outdone by Luke Wright. With Sussex facing a target of 220+ by table-toppers Essex, the ex-England T20 all-rounder refused to give in and went onto smash 12 fours and 11 sixes in an unbeaten 153. It was not only the fourth highest T20 score ever but it won the match - even if Sussex failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Darren Stevens is no stranger to my team of the week, and in he comes again. A 38-ball 67 for Kent in the Blast victory over Sussex and nine wickets in the surprising Championship win over Surrey made him one of the top all-rounders. John Simpson rarely makes the headlines in his own county let alone the cricketing world. However the Middlesex wicketkeeper top-scored in each Championship innings, aggregating 171 runs in a losing cause against Yorkshire's very useful attack.

Dale Steyn looked back to his best for South Africa against Sri Lanka last week, with match figures of 9-99, while that man Bhuvneshwar Kumar again frustrated England with both bat and ball. His seam and swing netted 6-82 in the first innings, giving Anderson, Plunkett and Broad a lesson in how to bowl in helpful seam conditions. Kumar notched another half-century, too. In the second innings it was Ishant Sharma who proved to be the star performer. His 7-74 wasn't statistically as impressive as Ryan Sidebottom's 7-74 for Yorkshire but in the context of Test cricket, it was superb.

Finally I've gone for another quick, Stuart Meaker. He had a great start for Surrey this Spring before injury and competition for places kept him out of the team. This week he was back with a vengeance, claiming eleven wickets against Essex in the Championship and 4-30 in the T20 win over Middlesex. Sunil Narine and James Tredwell came close (the latter playing for both Kent and Sussex!) but no spinner this week.

Sharma the charmer cooks the hookers

There was a time back in the '80s and '90s when England's opposition always seemed to raise their game at Lord's and come away with victory, even if they got hammered elsewhere. India did it in 1986 when a combination of Dilip Venhsarkar's unbeaten century, Kapil Dev and a mean spin spell from Maninder Singh secured a five-wicket win.

However, until this week's encounter, the home team had turned things around and contrived to lose only once in sixteen attempts, since the heady days of McGrath, Lee and Warne. Is it the pitch, England getting better or a greater familiarity with HQ making it less of an event? I don't know, but after all the criticism of the Trent Bridge groundsmen preparing a five-day batting paradise, the greentop seemed ready-made for Anderson, Broad, Plunkett and Stokes. A shame that quartet didn't fulfil the roles set out for them!

On the first morning, they were pilloried for bowling too short instead of going fuller to invite the edged drive. Four days later, it was short-pitched stuff which won the match - for India. Delicious irony there, I feel. Nevertheless, without Ajinkya Rahane's excellent 103 - ended just as magnificently by Anderson's caught-and-bowled - things may have panned out rather differently. He helped add 150 crucial runs for the last three wickets. On Friday and Saturday, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was supreme, yet Yorkshire duo Ballance and Plunkett somehow earned England a slender first-innings lead.

Three partnerships dominated India's second outing: 78 for the sesond wicket (Murali Vijay and Pujara), 79 for the fifth (Vijay again and Jadeja) and 99 for the eighth (Jadeja and Kumar). The only real triumphs for England came when Plunkett bowled Kohli for a golden duck, but that Jadeja-Kumar effort really kicked Cook and co in the teeth.

The 319-run target would, if successful, have been England's best ever at home. They had four sessions in which to achieve it but, remember, the Lord's pitch was not prepared for a fifth day runfest. This was surely the stage for Alastair Cook to demonstrate why he has been, until recently, one of the world's best Test batsmen. Could he, Ian Bell and Matt Prior, with that wise head on young shoulders, Joe Root, play sensibly and marshal the less experienced players and sneak that much-needed triumph?

Sam Robson fell early but Cook and Ballance seemed to be sticking to the script. Then came the first horror show, as they and Bell were each despatched for just two runs. Root and Moeen Ali proceeded to steady the ship and even contributed a three-figure partnership. Then came arguably Ishant Sharma's greatest spell of his career. In terms of numbers, anyway. That he ended up with a remarkable 7-74 owed more to cretinous playing of bouncers by batsmen who frankly should have known better.

After being softened up by Mitch Johnson last winter, you'd have thought the array of coaches would have ensured England had practised against the short ball in the intervening period. Perhaps they could be forgiven for thinking Shami, Kumar and Sharma offered little danger in that area but this was not the time to put on your Twenty20 brain and swing the bat instead of ducking or swaying away from the ball.

The Jadeja-Anderson 'handbags' sideshow delivered an appropriate denouement as the Indian fielder ran out the England number eleven to wrap up a 95-run win and hammer another nail into the captaincy of Cook. Prior was so shell-shocked by his own performance that he made himself unavailable for the Third Test. A genuine injury or a touch of the Swanns? To their credit, Cook and Peter Moores stood their ground and declared their faith in the squad (Kerrigan apart). The opener has endured poor sequences before and was very nearly dropped for the Ashes series which ultimately made his name. That he is now the skipper makes him a little more secure, and axing him mid-series would surely signal a white flag to MS Dhoni.

I can't imagine Cook's future and the series result resting on Jos Buttler's call-up. He may be an aggressive batsman but then so is Prior. There's no evidence from Lancashire that Buttler's keeping has noticeably improved either. However, the media are playing up his talismanic qualities although if Cook and Bell play it cool and do what they have done so many times before, the turnaround will come. If India go 3-0 up by next month, or two up with one to play, that will probably be the time to sign the death warrant of Cook's leadership, but not before.

Instead of Anderson and Broad it has so far been all about Kumar and Sharma, and Dhoni must be laughing. Something tells me he won't be quite so celebratory by the end of next week.

Team of the Week: Bhuvi and Jesse Ryding high

For the week ending 18th July, there were some difficult choices, with the First Test at Trent Bridge, Championship and the two major T20 tourneys in full swing. Marcus Trescothick struck another first-class century but his T20 woes continued. Good on him for adding wicketkeeping duties to everything else given Kieswetter's nasty facial injury. Will Tavare of Gloucestershire's first innings 135 was balanced by a duck so my openers are Murali Vijay and Chris Gayle. The former showed Alastair Cook how to build an innings while Gayle was in fine form for Jamaica, including a 63-ball 111 against St Lucia.

Joe Root's ability to score heavily in Tests was demonstrated once more, keeping out teenagers Sam Hain (109* for Warwickshire) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (99 for Worcestershire). Essex team-mates Ravi Bopara and Jesse Ryder were also extremely consistent. The former England Test batsman top-scored in each Essex innnigs in the win againast Hampshire, then made useful T20 runs. Ryder also enjoyed a good all-round Championship match before combining a five-for and half-century in the two biff-bang fixtures.

Gloucestershire's Will Gidman aggregated 164 runs against Derbyshire and also bowled tidily to earn a spot as my number six, just ahead of Tom Smith, who added another six to his impressive wicket tally for Lancashire. Top 'keeper is Alex Wheater who produced a 107 in adversity for Hampshire.

Luke Gregory stepped up to the plate magnificently for Somerset. His 6-47 helped create a healthy first innings lead against Northants then, with te bottom side threatening to create an upset, who delivered another five-for. Bhuvneshwar Kumar simply has to hold down the number nine spot, scoring a pair of 50s and taking 5-82 for India. Jimmy Anderson may have won the Man of the Match award but for me his bowling wasn't good enough to make my team of the week. Instead I've finished off with two spinners. Jeetan Patel claimed 7-77 in total in Warwickshire's defeat of Durham, followed by 4-19 in the T20 versus Yorkshire.

To end with, Saeed Ajmal has signed off his fabulous spell with Worcestershire with seven more wickets and 73 runs. Where on earth is the county going to get the necessary wickets without him? At least his departure means a space for someone else in my celebratory Elevens!

My team: Vijay (Ind), Gayle (Jam), Root (Eng), Bopara (Ess), Ryder (Ess), Gidman (Glo), Wheater (+, Ham), Gregory (Som), Kumar (Ind), Patel (War), Ajmal (Wor)

Enfgland v India 1st Test: Is Cook the new Willis and Kumar the new Kohli?!

Alastair Cook described the Trent Bridge pitch as 'unique'. I bet that's not the word he and his bowling team-mates called it behind closed doors! Three incomplete innings, no rain and rather scorecards made for a 'unique' Test match, but it failed to provide any real idea of who might win this much-anticipated series.

On the first day, Jimmy Anderson was moaning about the pitch and, when he bowls almost 60 overs for four wickets and spends almost four hours at the crease as a number eleven batsman, he had justification. Not only did he play his part in a world record tenth wicket partnership (with Joe Root) but Bhuvneshwar Kumar became only the second number nine to score two fifties in a match and himself shared a century final wicket stand with another number eleven half-centurion, Mohammed Shami (previous first class battig average of around nine!).
Then there was the debutant Stuart Binny, batting at eight, whose 78 effectively ensured the series opener would fizzle out into a draw and its comical climax.

Speaking of which, those final few minutes provided the amusing spectacle of Alastair Cook bowling an over of donkey dropper spin and then slow-motion Bob Willis impressions before bemusing Ishant Sharma into glancing him into Prior's gloves and giving the England captain his first Test wicket! Match batting averages 5 and 82, bowling averages 6 and 42.5. Which is the number eleven and which the opener?!

It wasn't all about the lower order batting heroes. Anderson may have won the Man of the Match award but we should remember the skill and patience of genuine willow wielders like Murali Vijay and Joe Root. The Indian number one delivered the runs such a low and slow pitch cried out for, starting with 146 and then 52 on the fourth day. The Yorkshireman demonstrated his trademark resilience in England's first innings, leading to that 198-run stand with Anderson and an undefeated 154. Dhoni, Ballance, Pujara and Robson each passed fifty once, but only Vijay and Kumar did so twice.

Cook wasn't the only one floundering for runs. The last-session shenanigans contained time-wasting at least as comical as his bowling, and made sure that England would not need to bat again. He could ill afford to don pads, emerge to face MSD or Dhawan and face the ignominy of being LBW for a duck! Pity poor Virat Kohli. The new Indian superstar did bat twice, and on such a benign pitch, was able to scrape together a paltry nine runs from 37 balls. Of course he is better than that, as is Cook. They will surely score runs later in the series, possibly even Lord's, although it's Root who has the best pedigree at HQ.

I'm glad Simon Kerrigan has been recalled to the squad and has the chance to redeem himself after a poor spell at The Oval last summer. Ironically he has done little to merit inclusion on 2014 stats but, with Panesar giving Luis Suarez a run for his money for sporting pariah, I don't know who else the selectors could turn to for left arm spin. Moeen Ali claimed four victims but was painfully profligate at times. As for the seamers, Anderson got the MOTM but Stuart Broad's economy rate of under two was remarkable on a bat-friendly track, and Kumar turned up the only five-for.

Whether or not Anderson opens with Robson and Kumar with Vijay, the ECB will be desperate not to repeat the Nottngham-style pitch preparation so it'll probably be wrapped up inside three days with Kerrigan and Ali taking twelve wickets between them. And Cook finishing things off with eight wickets in the guise of Swann, Murali and Shane Warne.

Team of the Week 9th May: AB, PJ and DM get A*

A good spread of top performances this week, with wicketkeepers and slow bowlers to the fore. First name on my team sheet is Worcestershire captain and opener, Daryl Mitchell. This is his tenth summer with his home county, and it must be one of his best starts to a first-class season. I once saw him fall two runs short of a triple-century at Taunton but when set he is one of the best county openers around. Against Glamorgan, he was last man out for 109, then unbeaten on 151 in the second innings, taking his career average close to 40 and season average well into three figures. Durham's Mark Stoneman has been around almost as long, but with less success. However, his 131 did much to keep Durham in the match against Yorkshire and certainly eclipsed debutant Kumar Sangakkara, whose first outing for his new county lasted only two balls. Good practice for the Sri Lanka tour then!

Mike Yardy showed the way for Sussex with a first innings century against Lancashire but I've gone for Kent's Brendan Nash at number three. He shared a 197-run partnership with Rob Key, scoring the same number of runs (126) but at a much brisker rate. The Aussie-born West Indian international is proving to be one of Kent's best signings of recent years.

It doesn't matter where AB De Villiers plays; he'll produce the goods on any pitch, in any country, in any format. As the IPL shifted from the UAE back to India, the Bangalore number five took advantage and smashed an 89 and 53. He's still way behind the current leading scorer in he tournament, Glen Maxwell, though. Shane Watson has flattered to deceive in recent years but it was with his bowling that he made the headlines his week, including a hat-trick against Kolkata and taking another three wickets against the Sunrisers.

Back in Blighty, another Aussie, Phil Jaques, outscored his fellow Notts batsmen in the draw against Somerset. However, team-mate Samit Patel made 132 arguably when it mattered most, on the opening day. He took a couple of wickets, too. The same wicketkeepers always seem to appear in contention. Chris Read hammered 17 boundaries in 96, alongside the aforementioned Jaques and Patel, James Foster propped up the Essex batting, and Tim Ambrose delivered a fine 167 for Warwickshire. He pipped Ned Eckersley to a place in my team of the week; the Leicestershire batsman donned the gloves in O'Brien's absence and also struck 110 runs.

On the bowling front, spinners took the plaudits, and not only in the IPL where Pravin Tambe was once more Mr Economical for the Royals. He doesn't quite make it this week, displaced by a couple of slowies in the Championship. Kent's young Alex Riley (4-77 and 5-78) and Glamorgan's nothing-like-as-young Dean Cosker (5-39 and 4-94) deserve the selections at a time of year when seamers usually hoover up the wickets. The final bowling spot goes to Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Sunrisers Hyderabad. His 4-14 against the Royals was his best in a T20 contest, and in the 2014 tournament so far has conceded fewer than 6 an over across eight games, and nobody has taken more wickets. Not bad for a fast-medium pacer!

To re-cap: Daryl Mitchell (Worcs), Mark Stoneman (Dur), Brendan Nash (Kent), Phil Jaques (Notts), AB De Villers (Banga), Samit Patel (Notts), Shane Watson (Rajas), Tim Ambrose (Warks, +), Adam Riley (Kent), Bhuvi Kumar (Hyder), Dean Cosker (Glam)