Sunday, February 22, 2009

My First Wicket(Post)...'PAUL COLLINGWOOD'-'Real London Bridge'

Hello!! Atlast i have entered into the blogging world.my posts will be mostly about cricket.so i have chosen to write about 'Paul Collingwood' who represents English cricket team.it is tough for me to choose the player for writing my first post..i have choosen 'Paul' because i like his approach to the game.

'Patience' and 'Cool' are some of the adjectives i can say for Paul Collingwood when he is batting.Because he is the player whom the English team needs in the 'hour of crisis'..Pauls domestic carrer started by playing for DURHAM County cricket club, granted first-class status in 1991, it is English cricket's 18th/ newest first-class county.

He is the 'Right handed' middle order batsman who can bowl some seam ups in the middle overs.He represented England in the year 2001 due to his good performance in the domestic circuit limited overs cricket(ODI).He was not a permanent member in the English side until he scored magnificent ODI debut century against Srilanka in 2002 VB series in Australia..so he got selected in the squad for the 2003 world cup..then because of his improved performance in the years following the 2003 world cup he became he permanent member of the English ODI team.
But he gained a test place only after 2 years of ODI cricket.He made his test debut in late 2003 against Srilanka(i.e December 2nd).

BEST BATTING PERFORMANCES:
IN ODI'S:
I was very much impressed with the way he batted in the match against Australia in the 2007 Common Wealth Bank series..It was the First Final of the best of 3 finals...and Australia scored 251 in their allocated 50 overs at MCG..they were 170 for 1 at one stage in 33 overs..because of Paul's fielding effort(stunner at covers removing ponting & direct hit from point to get rid of M.Clarke) and as well as some tight English bowling.

Chasing under the lights at MCG was bit a difficult thing..and chasing 252 against the likes of McGRATH and LEE was even tougher..England started chase with the worst possible start.they were 14-3 at one stage.. and here comes Paul Collingwood along with Bell,they played some good hard cricket and had a partnership of 134 runs..Bell got out when the score was 148..Collingwood played some good strokes through mid wicket area..and using his sweep shot well against spinner HOGG..He scored 117* and England won the decisive match by 4 wickets and they goes on to win the series.He is the 'man for the crisis'..Great team man..so only i quote collingwood as 'REAL LONDON BRIDGE'

IN TESTS:
His 202 at ADELAIDE against Australia in 2007 Ashes series..but they lost the test by 6 wickets and lost the series 5-0

UPS AND DOWNS :
As far as ups in his carrer ..he was appointed as a England ODI captain in 2007 following a world cup exit in super 8's.
But he only captained for 4 to 5 months..before he resigned as a captain to concentrate on his individual game.

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
*Wisden Cricketer of the year 2007
*Holds the record of scoring a hundred and taking 5 or more in a ODI match(112* and 31/6 against Bangladesh)