Nixon and Broad World Cup watch 2007
England v West Indies - Super 8's (21/4/07)
England ended their World Cup campaign with a thrilling win over he West Indies and it was the Leicestershire pair Stuart Broad and Paul Nixon who both had a major say in winning the match.
Broad hit the winning runs from the penultimate ball and Nixon thrashed a thrilling 38 from 39 balls as the pair became the first two Leicestershire players to represent England in a World Cup match.
Having won the toss and electing to bowl, Michael Vuaghan must have been regretting this decision as the West Indies, and Chris Gayle in particular, went on a rampage in the early overs. Gayle made a superb 79 from 58 balls and smashed 22 from one Liam Plunkett over and the Durham seamer did not know what him as he conceded 71 runs from 7 overs! Stuart Broad ended Gayle' assault with a smart catch at third man off Flintoff and Brian Lara, playing his last ever match for the West Indies, was unfortunately run out for 18. Marlon Samuels weighed in with a breezy 51 as the England bowlers struggled to contain the home nation but Broad, despite going for 11 from his opening over, bowled pretty well after that, conceding 32 runs from his 6 overs and his figures were very economical compared with the majority of the other England bowlers. Michael Vaughan of all people was the most effective with his spin as he took 3-39 from 10 overs as the West Indies totalled 300 all out.
England's reply got off to a poor start as Andrew Strauss was removed for 7 but Vaughan and Bopara, promoted to three, took the score past 100 before the young Essex man fell for 26 after being run out by Bravo. Vaughan, after a poor World Cup, finally found his feet, hitting a great 79 from 68 balls before also being run out by Bravo and that first one day hundred still eludes him! Kevin Pieterson saw Paul Collingwood, Andrew 
Flintoff and Jamie Dalrymple fall cheaply around him but found the perfect partner in Paul Nixon. After completing another excellent century, Pieterson was clean bowled by Jerome Taylor for exactly 100 and it was left to Nixon to up his tempo. Despite seeing Plunkett dismissed cheaply, Nixon thrashed four identical 4's from one Taylor over as Stuart Broad joined him at the crease and put England firmly in the driving seat. But when Nixon was clean bowled by Dwayne Bravo in the final over, England were down to the last man and it was upto Stuart Broad, who from the penulitmate ball, launched Bravo into the deep off side for two runs and to win the match for England!
So, a thrilling end to England's World Cup campaign and it was a very proud moment for all Leicestershire fans to see tow of our players winning the match! Overall though, England were poor during the World Cup and with Duncan Fletcher on his way out and former Sussex coach Peter Moores on his way in, a new era is dawning for English cricket and changes in direction and selection will be needed to turn England's fortunes in a positive way.
England v South Africa - Super 8's (17/4/07)
England crashed out of the World Cup with a humiliating defeat to South Africa. England's batting and bowling was simply shocking as the Proteas booked their place in the semi finals.
Engalnd totalled a paltry 154 all out from 48 overs as Andrew Strauss top scored with 46. Ian Bell, Michael Vaughan (yet again!), Kevin Pieterson and Andrew Flintoff all fell cheaply and only Paul Collingwood (30) and Ravi Bopara, with a battling 27 not out, offered any middle order resistance. Paul Nixon's fine run of form with the bat ended by scroing just 1 from 2 balls as Andrew Hall destroyed England by returning brilliant figures of 5-18.
More humiliation was to follow, as the Proteas knocked off the target, just shy of 20 overs! Skipper Graeme Smith, who usually takes a shine to Leicestershire bowlers, smashed 89 from only 58 balls. The 'amazing' Saj Mahmood produced an incredible spell of bowling, incredibly bad! The Lancashire 'bowler' conceded a collasal 49 runs from just over 4 overs and it is surely now time to wave good bye to him and introduce Stuart Broad for the final match versus the West Indies.
Shortly afterwards, Duncan Fletcher announced his resignation as head coach, surely a case of walking before he was pushed. His reign contained many highs and many positives but England's form over the last year or so has been a disgrace and changes in direction and selection at the top were drastically required. Now Michael Vaughan should follow and retire from all forms of international cricket as he is simply no longer up to world class standard.
England v Bangladesh - Super 8's (11/4/07)
One of the most excrutiatingly boring matches in years saw the underwhelming England defeat Bangladesh by 4 wickets.
It had all started so well for England, as they bowled out Bangladesh for 143 with just over 12 overs remaining in their innings. It was only Saqibul Hasan that provided any resistance with an unbeaten 57 as Saj Mahmood and Monty Panesar each claimed 3 wickets.
A disastrous start for England saw Ian Bell out without scoring before Michael Vaughan (30), Andrew Strauss (23) and Kevin Pieterson (10) followed in quick succession to leave them struggling at 79-4. A mini cameo innings of 23 from 21 balls by Andrew Flintoff upped the dreadfully slow run rate briefly before Ravi Bopara (0) followed Flintoff back to the pavilion.
It was left upto Paul Collingwood and Paul Nixon to finish off the job for England that they had made such hard work of. The run rate continued to be incredibly slow as Paul Collingwood's 23 came from 74 balls. Paul Nixon was more fluent though and continued his fine World Cup with 20 not out from 39 balls - an innings which included yet another six for the Leicestershire wicketkeeper.
So the match was won with just over 5 overs to spare but it was a poor performance and completely uninspiring and if England put in this kind of performance against South Africa next week then the result could be embarrassing.
England v Australia - Super 8's (8/4/07)
A Kevin Pieterson century was not enough to stop England crashing to a heavy defeat at the hands of Australia in Antigua. Pieterson (104) and Ian Bell (77) as were the only batsman (apart from Ravi Bopara's 21) to reach double figures.
Once again, Michael Vaughan failed, as he played on to Shaun Tait for just 5 and the incoming Andrew Strauss was removed by Tait in indentical circumstances for 7 shortly after. Then Bell, who was moved up to open the innings, and Pieterson put on 140 together and both played beautifully before a collapse reduced England to 247 all out. Bopara once again impressed with his battling mini innings and Paul Nixon managed to smash Glenn McGrath for a six to cow corner and tried the same again from the next ball but skied it and was caught by former team mate Brad Hodge for 8.
Australia stepped in to bat with their usual confidence and despite the loss of Adam Gilchrist for 27, they never looked in trouble as Matthew Hayden made 41 and the brilliant Ricky Ponting top scored with 81 before being run out by Paul Collingwood. It was upto Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds to see the Aussies home with 55 not out and 28 not out respectively and their victory was completed with 16 balls to spare.
Once again, the failure's of Vaughan and Flintoff were evident once again and the batting order needs a shake up ahead of Wednesdays 'win at all costs' match with Bangladesh. Flintoff needs to be pushed up the order to open as a pinch hitter and Vaughan, who unfortunately has to play has captain, should be moved down to six or seven to take off the pressure. Saj Mahmood was out of his depth and needs to be replaced now and who better than our very own Stuart Broad, surely the wicket taker to answer England's prayers!
England v Sri Lanka - Super 8's (4/4/07)
Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara produced a brilliant stand of 87, that took England to within a whisker of victory, but it was not quite enough as Sri Lanka won by 2 runs in one of the greatest matches for many years. Nixon made a brilliant 42 from 44 balls which included a massive reverse sweeped six off Muttiah Muralitharan in the closing stages and Bopara scored his made ODI half century with 52 from 53 balls as he played quite beautifully.
After winning the toss and putting Sri Lanka into bat, England actually bowled quite well for once as they restricted the Sri Lankans to 235 all out as Saj Mahmood (yes Saj Mahmood!) picked up 4-50 and Andrew Flintoff 3-35.
England's reply started in dismal fashion as Ed Joyce (10) and Michael Vaughan (0) failed yet again but Ian Bell (47) and Kevin Pieterson (58) shared 90 for the third wicket before Bell was very unucky to be run out by Jayasuriya. Then the collapsed started as Pieterson was caught and bowled by Muralitharan, Collingwood was trapped lbw by the impressive Fernando for 14 and Flintoff skied one Malinga off Fernando again for just 2. Nico and Bopara came together with the game virtually dead at 133-6 but some sensible batting and good running saw the pair excellently keep the runs ticking before an assault in the last five overs. Once Nixon had gone in the penultimate over, Bopara continued to sway the match in England's favour but as the last ball loomed, England and Bopara needed three from it and as Fernando ran in to bowl, the young Essex man gave the bat an almighty swing but missed and was clean bowled.
Despite defeat, England showed up well despite the failings of Joyce and Vaughan yet again and surely Andrew Strauss must now come back into the side for Sunday's must win showdown with Australia. It was a wonderful match and it looks like England have found a new young gem in Bopara and a new 'old' gem in Nixon!
England v Ireland - Super 8's (30/3/07)
This win for England over Ireland should not disguise the fact that the performance was simply not good enough and once again it was Paul Collingwood who came to the rescue.
Batting first, England got off to a poor start as Ed Joyce fell for just 1 against his countrymen, after misjudging a ball from Boyd Rankin, being clean bowled. Michael Vaughan once again provided another useless performance after being cuaght behind by Niall O'Brien off Rankin once again for 6. Ian Bell then followed up with 31 and although tht doesn't sound too bad, quite frankly it was a poor innnings. His 31 runs came from a massive 74 balls and this innings was not acceptable for a number 3 batsman. Kevin Pieterson (48) and Andrew Flintoff (43) helped Collingwood push the score up and Paul Nixon's cameo role with 19 from 15 balls provided good entertainment. In the closing stages, Collingwood was denied a century by some smart fielding from Trent Johnson and was run out for a magnificent 90 from 82 balls as England totalled 266-7.
At 11-2, with the losses of Jeremy Bray and Eoin Morgan, England have finished this game off and won by a huge margin, but, as ever, this was not to be. Niall O'Brien's superb 62 kept the Irish right in it up until the closing stages after some shoddy bowling and skipper Michael Vaughan decided after failing with the bat that he should try himself as a bowler! In fact it was Vaughan, who claimed the wicket of Niall O'Brien and Monty Panesar (2-31) who were the most economical. Ireland went from 139-6 to 197-7 thanks to Trent Johnson's 27 and some late hitting from Andrew White 38 kept Ireland in the match up until the 49th over when the Irish were bowled out for a brave 218. Jimmy Anderson's and Saj Mahmood's inability to bowl yorkers was one of the reason's Ireland were still in with a sniff and it was only when Flintoff came back on that we saw that bowling and the effects were evident immediately as Flintoff mopped up the tail to claim 4-43.
OK. It was a win but the opposition was remember (and no disrespect) only Ireland who's team is made up from mostly part-time cricketers! Serious questions need to be raised about Michael Vaughan's future as he simply does not look up to it and Ian Bell has not looked suitable for one-day international cricket. Anderson and Mahmood need to take more wickets and I would bring back Jon Lewis for the latter in the next match versus Sri Lanka on Wednesday, who will prove a much stiffer test than Ireland.
England v Kenya (24/3/07)
England qualified for the Super 8's with a comfortable win over Kenya in St Lucia. Despite skipper Steve Tikolo's 76, Kenya could only manage 177 all out from a rain reduced 43 overs as Jimmy Anderson, Paul Collingwood and the returning Andrew Flintoff all claimed 2 wickets each and Paul Nixon produced a marvellous bit of fielding to run out Lameck Onyango in the final ball of the innings.In reply, England started shakily after losing Michael Vaughan for just 1 and Ian Bell for 16 but some sensible batting from the ever impressive Ed Joyce (75) and Kevin Pieterson 56 not out won the match for England. After Joyce's dismissal. the 'finisher', Paul Collingwood hit a breezy 18 not out to see Engalnd home with 10 overs to spare.
A much improved performance by England, admittedly against not one of the better sides in the torunament, will hopefully put them in the right mindset for their next match against Ireland on friday in the start of the Super 8's.
England v Canada (18/3/07)
An unconvincing win for England was overshadowed by off field indiscipline and the tragic death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. Andrew Flintoff was fined, stripped of the vice captaincy and left out of the Canada match after breaking an England curfew by being out drinking into the early hours of Saturday morning following the New Zealand defeat. 'Freddie', according to the News of the World, after taking a pedalo out to sea at 4am he had to be rescued when it capsized. A group of other England players and staff, including Paul Nixon and Jeremy Snape, were also fined for the sole reason of breaking the curfew and knowing the professionalism and matureness of these two players, I doubt we would have ever heard anything about this if it had not been for Flintoff's apparent antics. Woolmer's death was announced during the match and came after the initial news that he had been discovered unconscious in his hotel room. It was a very sad day for cricket, as Woolmer was one of the finest coaches in World Cricket for many a year and his skills were particularly evident when he was the coach of Warwickshire in the mid 1990's who at the time were so well drilled and almost unbeatable.
The match itself gave England the chance to put the New Zealand defeat behind them but even though victory over Canada was secured, the performance would not filled supporters with too much confidence in the team. England made 279-6 from their 50 overs but they really should have posted well over 300 as once again Michael Vaughan made a start but was out for 45 and he really should have been looking to score his ODI century for England. Ed Joyce top scored with 66 and Paul Collingwood scored a quickfire 62 not out but it was Paul Nixon who showed the batsman how it should be done with a brilliant 23 not out from just 8 balls! The Leicestershire wicketkeeper hit 4 fours amd a six and his batting has been a major plus point for England during the World Cup. Canada's reply got off to a shaky start as two early Liam Plunkett wickets had them at 65-4 but stand of 96 from Ashif Mulla (58) and Abdool Samad (36) gave the Canadians hope. Desmond Chumney and Sunil Dhaniram both chipped in but thy ran out of overs and finished at 228-7.
The England bowlers should have been looking to bowl out the Canadians but they were far too expensive and Jamie Dalrymple, who conceded 21 runs from 3 overs, should surely now find is place under threat as a part-time spinner and part-time batsman. Coach Duncan Fletcher described Dalrymple as England's 'first choice' spinner recently and with Monty Panesar continuing to shine, you have to question Fletcher's sanity after making such a comment!
England v New Zealand (16/3/07)
England put in poor show in their opening match of the World Cup as they crashed to defeat to New Zealand.
Batting first, England never really got going after Ed Joyce, Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell fell early on and despite a semi recovery from Paul Collingwood (31) and Kevin Pieterson (60), they were never going to post a competitive total. Enter Paul Nixon, who played with style and bravery to remain unbeaten on 42 from 41 balls at the end and he was given fine back up by Liam Plunkett who scored 29 not out. Nixon and Plunkett's partnership gave England a tiny glimmer of hope as they totalled with, an overall disappointing, 209-7.
Despite the setback of the early losses of Lou Vincent, Stephen Fleming and Ross Taylor, it was Scott Styris and the ever impressive Jacob Oram who steered New Zealand to victory with 9 overs to spare. Styris made 87 not out and Oram, who showed he can play more sedately, made an unbeaten 63.
After impressing in the latter stages of the Commonwealth Bank series, normal service seems to have now resumed for England, and it appears that their heroics in Australia merely papered over the cracks.
