Pietersen Steers England To Victory

Paul Collingwood scored 112 not out and took 6 for 31 - I think best ever all round performance in one day international i think.

Mohammad Ashraful 94 from 52 ball was really bright side for Bangladesh.. He has potential to be great player...

The losses does make this series the most invigorating for a while. I just laugh when I see head lines like "Kanaruins" and others of the like.

It doesn't take much for the British media to bring out the knives though. Once Australia start winning more matches, the media will turn on its captain, like it always does. I seem to recall a few seasons back when England were said to be at the top of their game and then lost the same series 5-0 or 4-1.

The loss to the Bangies was awful, but even a lack of match practice is no excuse for such a huge loss.

All that being said though, I want England to do well. I want them to do so well that there confidence will be sky high, and then I'll enjoy it even more when they come crashing down to earth.

Bring it on I say!

why is it 'poor bangladesh'? they have absolutely nothing to lose and theyre a fairly new team- they have to start off somewhere..why not with the big boys? bangladesh need to play more one day matches lol its funny how theyve only ever won like a couple of matches but theyve been against pretty class teams. comical!

Well i never said they should be scarped out lol. But they are taking too long to show any class in there team... I just wish they would have got much better facility and coaching from ICC.... By the way i love it when we have more teams playing...

The auzzies have just bounced back and beat England today. Australia got about 269 for 5 (I think) with Symonds top scoring on 70 odd. Can't remember what we were bowled out for but last I saw we were about 160 for 8 so it was pretty much over. We'll be back.

Australia finally won their first match of the NatWest Series, beating a misfiring England side by 57 runs under floodlights at the Riverside.

Invited to bat first, Australia produced a score of 266-5 with the recalled Andrew Symonds contributing a bright 73 off just 81 balls.

England then got off to a dreadful reply to be 6-3 and never recovered, finishing their innings on 209-9.

But Darren Gough hit a spirited 46 not out, the best score from England.


*****Here we go again********

But i think england did bad thinking by letting Aussie bat first...

Yeah, that wicket was good on one of the warmest days all season. We shoulda let them fry in the heat while we set our score, rather than let them do it.

It reminded me of Enlgands previous captain, good old Nassar Hussain, in the last Ashes series when he sent Australia into bat in Brisbane. It was a perfect batting pitch, and Australia went on to make something like 500+. Ablsolutely slapping the Poms.

I think Australia is still sluggish, we got plenty of players that still need to fire.

Yeah you're right, although all Englands players are gonna have to be in form if we're gonna beat you aussies. Should be a good series.

One of India's past greats commented recently, and to a degree I agree with him, that Australia's dominance is not just because of the style of Australia's game, but because the quality of the opposition is not great.

A resurgence of the English team is what the game needs. There needs to be better competition. If India can keep up, as they are very strong with Dravid, Sehwag, and a host of others can keep in form, then it can create better competition.

I think the problem is that there is not enough teams at the top of their game. South Africa are a shadow of their former selves, since Hansie Cronje I think. West Indies are really poor, a besides Lara and Gayle, and Chanderpaul, they have no great fast bowlers of their golden era's calibre.

I'm a fan of New Zealand, they just don't have the depth to match other teams if they have a few injuries. I used to love watching Zimbabwe until their whole player dispute, they lost good players like Streak, Grant Flower, but I love Titenda Taibu (that's gotta be the best name in cricket).

I hope England can take it to the Aussies, heavan knows we need a competitive series to rejuvinate the game.