Friendly Match vs John Avery Howzat XI, 1st June 2008, London Fields
How Is That?
by Chris Skinner
England warmed up for the 2009 Ashes will a resounding win over an Australian side that promised much more than it delivered.
Winning the toss, England’s injury prone all-rounder captain opted
to bowl first on a damp looking pitch, a selection validated by a fine spell
of Celtic swing bowling, Simon Jones Grant Strachan finished with four
fine wickets including the opposition’s skipper. He was well supported
by the pacy and erratic Steve Harmison Ty Graham who also picked up
a wicket.
Debutant James Anderson Misha showed promise and mixed four balls
with venomous bounce and Hoggard Carl trundled in with two good wickets
and a tight line after a woeful first over, costing him 22 runs. With the
tail exposed, the excellent skipper snatched two miserly wickets, including
one from a ridiculous slower ball, to prevent any hope of a late rally. The
opposition’s batsmen had often looked 'in' but with 8 dismissed clean
bowled, maybe their shot selection could be questioned. Tim Ambrose
Robin Astley also did a great job, conceding just 2 byes in the entire innings.
Chasing 127, England's South African born opener went totally crazy. A fifty
partnership was reached with Alistair Cook Matt T on just 2, Straussy
Alec finally out for 90 of an innings score of 99. It was a devastating knock,
full of crunching drives and one flat six that was only just rising above
shoulder height 10 yards after passing the boundary. Naturalised Englishmen
Owais Shah Dave W, Matt Prior Troy and Kevin Pietersen
Shannon helped the team over the line, the latter sending the ball crashing
over the ropes several times on his way to an unbeaten 21.
Given the importance of the occasion, the match was played in excellent spirit throughout, the cheery Aussies even sharing some lunch and a few beers with their innate superiors.
Here's the scorecard:
Howzat XI Batting:
| Name | Scoring | How Out | Bowler | Runs |
| Avery | bowled | Grant | 4 | |
| Allan | bowled | Grant | 2 | |
| Byrnes | bowled | Grant | 21 | |
| Brewie | bowled | Ty | 3 | |
| Shea | bowled | Misha | 36 | |
| Crawford | bowled | Grant | 0 | |
| Devine | bowled | Carl | 28 | |
| Doherty | bowled | Skinner | 6 | |
| Franklin | lbw | Carl | 0 | |
| Youngy | not | out | 3 | |
| El Ansary | caught Ty | Skinner | 6 | |
| Extras | 13 | |||
| 126 from 22 overs | ||||
London Fields Bowling:
| Name | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Average |
| Ty | 5 | 1 | 1 | 24 | - |
| Grant | 6 | 1 | 4 | 15 | - |
| Misha | 4 | 0 | 1 | 41 | - |
| Carl | 4 | 0 | 2 | 37 | - |
| Chris | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | - |
London Fields Batting:
| Name | Scoring | How Out | Bowler | Runs |
| Alec | bowled | Devine | 90 | |
| Matt T | caught | Crawford | 2 | |
| Dave W | lbw | Byrnes | 2 | |
| Shannon | not | out | 21 | |
| Troy | not | out | 6 | |
| Robin A | dnb | - | - | |
| Chris S | dnb | - | - | |
| Misha | dnb | - | - | |
| Ty | dnb | - | - | |
| Carl | dnb | - | - | |
| Grant | dnb | - | - | |
| Extras | 8 | |||
| 130 from 22 overs | ||||
Howzat XI Bowling:
| Name | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Average |
| Avery | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | - |
| Young | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | - |
| Crawford | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21 | - |
| El Ansary | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | - |
| Byrnes | 4 | 0 | 1 | 25 | - |
| Devine | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | - |
| Alan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | - |