England unveil new Adidas cricket kits

Adidas have become the new kit supplier to the England cricket team after taking over from Admiral. The kits were made available on the 23rd April, and the deal includes three main strips. A white test kit, a red Twenty20 kit and a blue ODI kit. After finding success with supplying the Australian cricket team, the German manufacturer has now widened their cricket reputation after this 5-year deal with England. The kits all feature the last est apparel technology, which players believe will greatly enhance the cricketing performance. Kevin Pietersen said “to beat opposition, you need to have those one-per-centers, and Adidas gives us that”.

Some controversary has been caused however, by the new test jumpers which are not designed like the traditional “woolies” that England have worn for many years. On the other hand, purists should not be put off too much by the changes because the new test whites are as white as ever!

The kits all feature CLIMACOOL® technology, which “uses advanced moisture management fabrics and ventilation channels to keep the body cool, dry and comfortable.”

England will first be seen wearing the kits this summer, which starts off with an other New Zealand test series.

The new England Adidas cricket kits are avaliable to purchase at http://store.ecb.co.uk

English domination…but not quite

This year has seen the top four English Premier League sides all reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Manchester United beat Roma last nite 0 - 2 in Rome, and are almost certain to be able to book a place in the semis when the Italians visit Old Trafford.

Arsenal face Liverpool tonight at the Emirates in an all English tie, and Chelsea face Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

So, the fact that 4 of the 8 teams in the final stages of the competition are English just shows the strength of the Premier League. Now it really can call itself the best league in the world, and it would be correct in doing so. With great players and high attendances, the Premier League is the ultimate dream for every aspiring footballer, whatever nationality they may be.

Why then is the English national team lying in a miserable 11th place in the world, and persistently producing displays that are capable of sending people to sleep?

What you have to bear in mind, is that only about 30% of the Premiership’s players are English, and so many foreign players are being taught, coached and guided by English clubs and their facilities. Consequently, there are not enough spaces for a large amount of English players to be playing at the highest level in their country, especially when teams like Arsenal are often fielding an eleven without one single English player.

You could assume that the players making up the English team are simply not good enough then. But that doesn’t really go down with me to be honest. If you look player by player in the national squad, then you will see players that are always playing for their clubs at the highest level, some are even these clubs best players. For example; Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Owen, Ferdinand and Cole. The big names just keep on coming.

And also, the English team now have one of the world’s most highly rated managers in world football in Fabio Capello.

I think the reason why England are so poor, is because they are made of players that are more interested in playing for their clubs than their country. They can easily live off their huge Premier League salaries and not give two hoots about their national duties.

I think its unfair just to say there is no effort at all from these stars when it comes to playing for England, it’s just the motivation is not quite there. It’s a shame how a country can sustain the world’s greatest league with the world’s greatest players, but really struggle when it comes to the International side of the game.

Surely, their needs to be a limit on the number of foreign players playing for these rich Premier League sides…But as long as the League keeps making heep loads of cash, then why would anybody at the FA change anything? After all, there were plans made for making the Premier League even less English, and to play games all over the world.

Somehow, when it comes to Internationals, England need to sort themselves out, and I hope the new Italian manager Fabio Capello can do just that.

Admittedly, its nice seeing so called “English” teams dominate such a huge competition like the Champions League, but wouldn’t you rather boast about the successes of our national team?

Rose Bowl set for major development

Hampshire Cricket’s Rose Bowl Development plans have been given the go-ahead by Eastleigh Borough Council.

Plans include an increase of the capacity, a new hotel with hospitality boxes overlooking the ground, permanent stands with roofs to cover spectators, improved food choices and ambiance, increase in the number of permanent toilets, improved broadcasting facilities and the addition of a further 9-holes to the surrounding golf course.

The estimated cost of the project has been set at £45million, and keeps the rose bowl on the road to becoming an English test ground.

 

The Current Rose Bowl

Dons taste success again

The 1988 FA cup final saw underdogs Wimbledon famously overcome dominant football giants Liverpool. A first half goal from Lawrie Sanchez, and a penalty save from Dave Beasant, was enough to clinch victory in front of 98,000 spectators under the old Wembley’s iconic twin towers.

But in 2004, under the leadership of Pete Winkleman, Wimbledon FC moved from Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park to Milton Keynes and adopted the National Hockey Stadium as their home. A Few months later the club’s name was changed to MK Dons, which includes reference to Milton Keynes but keeping the nickname from Wimbledon.

The re-allocation and name change as a whole went down badly amongst fans, and many criticised Winkleman’s plans as being similar to American style sports “franchises”. Consequently, a certain number of supporters decided create a new team called AFC Wimbledon, who would go on to start in the lower leagues and work their way up the football hierarchy.

As for MK Dons, the club agreed to return trophies and memorabilia to the London borough of Merton and make no historical claims to being related to Wimbledon FC. However, legally they are still a continuation of the old club.

On the pitch however, the Dons have been flying high in League Two and are currently 3 points behind Peterborough with two games in hand.

And Yesterday saw their return to Wembley, this time in the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy rather than the more prestigious FA cup. A late controversial converted penalty and a strong header saw the Dons overcome their fellow League Two opponents Grimsby, by two goals to nil.

It may not be quite be the FA cup, but this victory for the Dons shows that they are back on the way to success, and with an almost certain promotion to League One on the cards, plus a brand new all-seater stadium, the future for the Dons is looking bright, after a difficult decade for the club’s history.

Summer season is coming

I don’t know about you, but I am certainly looking forward to the sporting summer season this year; and it now feels like it is getting closer and closer.

As domestic football cups come near to their end, as you start to play tennis just wearing tees, as the groundsmen are working hard on the cricket square and as the days get longer and warmer, one thing is for certain is that the summer is fast approaching.

This summer, the England cricket team face New Zealand and South Africa in both test and one day forms of the game, and British tennis will await Andy Murray’s appearance at Wimbledon, as Scot challenges the world’s best players under Centre court’s new roof. In Golf, the 137th Open championship takes place at Royal Birkdale and European and American teams gear up for one of sports greatest events; The Ryder Cup. Also, the main stay of Lewis Hamilton’s second attempt at the Formula 1 world title will take place.

So, overall, it looks like an exciting season coming up, and its almost on our doorstep.

Sehwag misses out on record

Opener Virinder Sehwag, today missed out on a golden opportunity to go past an individual score of 400 and break Brian Lara’s test world record, after the Indian batsman started the new day on 309 not out. He had already broken the record of the fastest ever triple-centry in test cricket but was dismissed early on today, with only adding an extra ten runs to his score. Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid became only the 6th ever person to achieve 10,000 test match runs as he added 111 runs to a large Indian 1st Innings score. However, South Africa did claw themselves back into the match as they dismissed the lower order cheaply. Still, a draw is the only likely result for this match, as 1st innings scores of 540 and 627 show what a batting paradise the wicket must be.

Scorecard from Chennai

Stats - This game has been a game of big scores, and when there are big score we start talking stats. First of all Sehwag’s 319 was the 14th highest score in test history; here are the top three:

Brian Lara (West Indies)     400*

Matthew Hayden (Australia)     380

Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)     374

Second of all, Rahul Dravid became only the 6th person to reach 10,000 test match runs; here is the elite list of members he joins:

 

Brian Lara (West Indies), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Allan Border (Australia), Steve Waugh (Australia) and Sunil Gavaskar (India)

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