England vs India, 2007 ODI series, England player ratings

An efficient and clinical victory in the final ODI at Lord’s gave Paul Collingwood his first series victory as England captain. England deserved the win, and some questionable umpiring should not take away from the magnitude of their achievement: the Indian team’s experience – of one day cricket in particular – dwarfs that of the young England squad.

Paul Collingwood ****
In the first couple of games I was not entirely convinced by Colly’s captaincy, but he has improved and grown into the role as the series progressed. His field settings and bowling changes have been good, the latter often triggering wickets at key moments. Captaincy has not affected his abilities in other spheres: he scored 274 runs at an average of 68.50 and was probably only denied a century at Leeds by the weather, and took eight catches.

Alastair Cook **
Alastair Cook had a quiet series, and his role in the one-day side must now be in doubt after being dropped for the last match. Although his century in the first game helped set up victory there, he failed to get past 50 again and was twice out for a duck.

Matt Prior ***
England’s wicket-keeper can be fairly secure of his position for the time being, but he must show consistent improvement in the next few months if he is to be a long-term prospect. Averaging only just above 20, he never passed 50. With a batting line-up as strong as England’s is at the moment this does not a cause for too much concern, but Peter Moores will be keeping a close eye on him this winter. The lack of a central contract this winter is telling.

Ian Bell *****
This was the series in which Belly came of age, making the number 3 position his own. He has looked uncomfortable at the top of the order for a long time, and finally seemed able to balance the demands of scoring quickly and occupying the crease. Scoring 474 runs (a hundred more than his nearest rival, Sachin Tendulkar) at an average of 70.33, he hit an astonishing 46 fours and 4 sixes and was deservedly named Man of the Series. He is no slouch in the field either, and took 4 catches.

Kevin Pietersen ***
KP had a quiet series by his own standards, recording only two half-centuries at an average of 41.80. He often seemed to be in awe of India’s spinners, and it was only at Lord’s that he seemed to be scoring with the ease that we are familiar with. His place is in no doubt and in a way it is encouraging that England can win without relying on his talents, but he will be looking to make an impact at the Twenty20 cup and in Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Owais Shah **
Shah’s series average of 49.66 flatters his performances. Almost three quarters of his runs came from his unbeaten 107 at The Oval, and he is yet to carve out a role for himself in the team. He is a classy player, but does not yet seem to be able to respond appropriately to situations in which he finds himself. He will be given more chances, and must capitalise on them if he is ever to escape his current purgatorial existence. My two star rating is perhaps a little ungenerous.

Andrew Flintoff ****
In the four matches his ankle allowed him to play, Freddie showed why England are so desperate for him to make a return to full fitness. His failure with the bat (in part mitigated because he had only two opportunities to strap his pads on) should not take away from his success with the ball – 10 wickets at an average of 14.40 and the second best economy of the series (both teams included).

Ravi Bopara ****
If Shah’s figures flatter him, then Bopara’s do not do him sufficient justice. Scoring only 81 runs from four innings, he showed his enormous potential in an epic match-winning performance with Stuart Broad. All commentators seem to agree that his most valuable attribute is his coolness under pressure, and that added to his skills with both bat and ball make him a likely contender for future greatness.

Luke Wright ***
A cameo performance from Luke Wright showed plenty of promise. Wright is not about to replace Flintoff as England’s all-rounder of choice, but his 39 ball 50 in his maiden ODI shows that he can be a destructive batsmen.

Stuart Broad ****
Broad showed himself to be a useful ODI bowler, although it is his batting at Old Trafford for which he will be remembered in this series. As a bowler he offered some vital control at the beginning of the innings, conceding runs at 5.17 an over, a figure that is more impressive when you remember that he did most of his bowling in the powerplays, and against bastsmen like Ganguly and Tendulkar. He is not the finished article yet, and we can only hope that he continues to mature.

Dimitri Mascarenhas ****
England’s most economical bowler, Mascarenhas also managed to take 6 wickets with what seems – to my untrained eye at least – to be an unremarkable medium-pace. He is a fantastic advert for the virtues of a solid county background, and his lower order batting doubles his worth as a player. I can’t see him making it into the Test side any time soon, but he could help England to further one-day success.

Chris Tremlett **
Only playing two matches, Tremlett did not have enough time to show his true worth as a bowler, but at an economy of 7.64 perhaps that was for the best. His raw pace will always be a challenge for batsmen, but without sufficient control he will not prosper in one-day cricket.

Monty Panesar ***
Frustratingly, Monty’s ODI performances continue to lag behind his Test achievements. He must present more of a threat to the batsmen and not just try to contain them. Unless Flintoff can stay fit England are in dire need of a wicket-taking bowler. Stats trivia: Monty was the only England player not to face a single ball during the series.

And last, but very definitely by no means least
Jimmy Anderson *****
Like Ian Bell, Anderson has in this series become the player that he has been promising to become for some time. He took fourteen wickets – twice as many as the leading Indian bowlers – at a very respectable average of 22.57, and often set England on the road to victory with his fiery opening spells. He proved himself to be a handy fielder too (the result of a long apprenticeship as twelfth man perhaps?), taking three catches and displaying an energetic approach unusual in a fast bowler. He must have been a strong contender for Man of the Series.

My apologies to Jon Lewis, whose one performance I did not see, and therefore who has no rating. I like him though, so I’ll give him *** just for being a nice bloke.

England vs India, 6th ODI, The Oval

In a nail-biting contest at The Oval India clinched the narrowest of wins to level the series and set it up for a tense match at Lord’s this weekend.

England’s top order failed, but strong batting from Bell and Pietersen put them back on track. Two run outs – one of them the subject of some controversy when Umpire Peter Hartley reversed his decision after seeing a replay – seemed certain to restrict England to a mediocre score until debutant Luke Wright blasted a 50 from 39 balls. Shah added to India’s woe with an unbeaten 107 from 95, featuring 2 sixes, but it was Dimitri Mascarenhas who again stole the show with 5 consecutive sixes in the final over.

India needed to bat brilliantly to stay in the series, and they did so from the very beginning of their innings. Tendulkar and Ganguly put on 150 runs for the first wicket, and Tendulkar was again prevented from celebrating a century when he drove a Monty Panesar delivery into the welcoming hands of Paul Collingwood.

India’s run chase was relentless however, and despite a wobble in the middle of the innings they never allowed the run-rate to get much above 6 until the final few overs. In the end it was Robin Uthappa who saw India home with just two balls spare. His 47 was inventive and bold, and he looks very comfortable batting down the order.

Another fantastic match then, with great performances from both sides. England must be cursing the absence of Flintoff: 10 tight overs from him may well have sealed the series, although had he been included then Luke Wright would not have been played and England might not have broken the 300 mark in their innings.

This series has been a fantastic advertisement for one day cricket, and it is a pity that it has not been on free-to-view tv. With the amount of support for both teams in this country, it could really have really been a summer to remember.