Graeme Swann’s career at a glance

Nothing lasts forever, no matter how great it is. Graeme Swann’s retirement came as a shock to many, but ever since his recovery from his elbow operation, he hasn't performed at the match winning standard we were once all so familiar with. There has been contrasting reactions to the timing his retirement. Should he have stayed to try to help an England bid to hault further capitulation? Don’t forget that there was no guarantee that he would maintain his place in the side. I’m in agreement with Geoffrey Boycott, labeling Swann’s retirement as ‘honest’ and ‘brave’. I think it’s easy for the armchair viewer to speculate why a player retires. I've heard many calling the news as cowardly, with the view that Swann has lost his bottle against the aggressive Aussie team and media. I think Swann’s retirement is a result of physical reasons, as he mentioned in his press conference, but also a result of complete lack of confidence in the competitive and intense environment of the Ashes, where players are exposed at their most.

England’s Ashes Pacemen Struggling for Form

England’s chances of winning the second Ashes Test in Adelaide this coming week look increasingly slim after their fast bowlers toiled to a forgettable draw against a Cricket Australia XI in Alice Springs. Following a quite humiliating 381-run defeat in the first Test in Brisbane, there was hope among cricket betting fans that England would regain some sort of credibility in their between-Tests fixture.

The England Method

England’s test team have an uncanny ability to not lose. Currently they have gone 12 matches without a loss and against this Australian team they look like they are set to continue the trend. You would think that to go unbeaten in so many matches,  they would have played a high standard of cricket, but in my opinion they have been below their best since losing the number one ranked spot in test cricket. So, how have England maintained their unbeaten record?

To win a test match, a team must take 20 opposition wickets. England makes this incredibly difficult. Their top order is resilient and will happily bat all day. Cook and Trott are two of the best in the world at just occupying the crease. Trott’s consistency is remarkable and Cook rarely gives his wicket away after getting a start. Despite this they have struggled in the current ashes series with Trott being horribly out of form and the pressure of captaincy is finally having an impact on Cook’s batting performances. I’m sure this is a rare blip and they’ll be back to their best soon.

Ashes 3rd Test Review

After a heavy defeat at Lords and finding themselves 2 – 0 down in the series, Australia needed to bounce back in the 3rd test at Old Trafford and bounce back they did. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, their batsmen dug deep and fully applied themselves. Chris Rogers proved himself for the first time in the series, making a well constructed 84, falling agonizingly short of what would have been his maiden test century. Steve Smith also applied himself well and like Rogers, his dismissal came before he reached his hundred. Although these two innings were good they were dwarfed by a certain Michael Clarke. Struggling early on, Clarke got off to a slow start but only grew in confidence. He gave a lesson on how to play Graeme Swann during a fascinating battle between the two. Down the pitch and over mid off, then on the back foot cutting through backward point. True class. The Australian captain made 187 before chopping the ball onto his stumps from a short ball by Stuart Broad to give him his 200th wicket. Then came Haddin and Starc. Their enterprising partnership put runs on the board quickly to take the score up to 527.

The Team of Contradictions

I love the current English Cricket Team for its inherent contradictions.

The thinnest guy in the team is called Broad;

The ugliest guy is called Swann;

The slowest fielder is Trott;

The guy who is 'behind' the stumps is called Prior;

The guy whose father's name is John is called Peter-son;

And the guy who is named Monty goes in with his clothes on.

No doubt, this cricket team deserves to be led by a Cook.

Akashdeep Agarwal for DieHard Cricket Fans

India vs England - The Dhoni Backfire

The dinner menu for MS Dhoni this week will be a nice large slice of humble pie.

India were back on track in 'The Revenge Series', having been drubbed in England and Australia in last year they got their home formula nicely sorted:

• Prepare a pitch with less life than Valle de Luna
• The batsmen smash a total of 500+
• The spinners do the rest

I am Dhoni, hear me roar. © AFP

And there you have it, twirl the ball in the same place all day long and wait for mistakes, it worked gloriously all throughout the nineties and even Australia couldn't do anything about it. The Ganguly era was a rare time when India learned to compete overseas, but last years 8-0 saw a revert back to old school tactics to at least make sure that they could wallop teams in their playground and feel a bit better about life.

Only it wasn't enough, not for a 'frustrated' MS Dhoni. 

He wanted more. The test match dragged on until the fifth day thanks to Alistair Cook, who is the real deal. The spinners had to bowl mammoth spells, and unlike the lion hearted Kumble who used to do it without fuss, our captain was