this was the last world cup of shoaib ahktar, he resign from the cricket now, he was a great bowler, and wish best of luck, and also thanks to participate in the pakistan cricket team

Bravo to you!! You nailed it. But regarding the batting of England, there is one slight hope and please its not that bloke Wright! Its Bopara. I hadnt seen much of him but i guess what started it all for him was his match winning innings for Punjab in the IPL. A couple of test hundreds later, he is englands best batsman. shah, pietersen, collingwood should all resign themselves to ODI'S AND TESTS.

No Way Near to Imran’ Side Pakistan once again justified the tag of unpredictability labeled on them for the last so many years. They seem to have completely lossed that killing instinct which was the hall mark of this supremely talent outfit in the yesteryears. We always expected much better show against this second string Australian outfit, importantly in the absence of gifted Ricky ponting, promising Mitchell Johnson and extremely consistent Michael Hussey. But the way we have given up against them has seriously raised some questions on the future of cricket in our Country. The entire strategical shift is required to retain the decent respect amongst the test playing nations, adjustment of batting line up requires some serious planning and hardwork, you need to have the right players at the right positions to control any given situation. Middle order and opening needs to be strengthened for the future, the only way to achieve the said goal is to nurture the younger lot with the veterans of cricket like Mohammad yousuf, inzamam Ul Haq and Saeed Anwar. I always believed that the make shift arrangements cannot deliver results in the long run, so we should rely on the specialists to do wonders for us. Secondly players should be selected on the consideration of their pure performance in the first class games rather than any preferential treatment meted out to them. . Younis khan should lead from the front by maintaining his consistent run with the bat in every game. As that will be an example for the other players to follow, he should be more innovative, aggressive and flexible in his strategies in accordance with the match situation. Pakistan team should follow the legacy set by Imran khan, wasim akram and waqar younis to salvage their dignity, self respect and honor.

Strauss isn’t regarded as good enough to play for England’s ODI side for nearly a year, during which England win only 4 of 16 matches away from home. He steps in to captain the side in an emergency. He realizes he has to change his approach – going aerial, hitting it hard – and succeeds to the point that, leading from the front, he’s the main batting reason that England win the series. Does that make him a great ODI performer? No. But to say he shouldn’t be within a hundred miles of a one-day side is simply crass. Since assuming the captaincy, Strauss has upped his game, in both Tests and ODIs. Who was the last England captain to do that? Hutton, perhaps?

[Mike: Gooch, certainly. Possibly Stewart. Atherton had had no real record before becoming captain.Arguably Hussain. In other words, most recent ones apart form Vaughan]

Going through the comments, it looks as if indeed the victory is taking shape of a false dawn as you predict. But I guess people just want to enjoy the lone series win Eng got since October, so fair enough, I say! And I don't think anybody is deceived into believing deeply in an Ashes win on the strength of this performance, would take a bizarre reversal of Aus's form for that to happen. A suggestion if you don't mind: sarcasm and irony are dangerous weapons on the net and a lot of people don't get it, so if you must, keep it simple. I for one always love some good ol' British humour and enjoyed reading this, like most of your articles. :)

Hilarious article. Utterly hilarious. Enjoyed it every bit.

I, for one, always love when England loses in any sport. However i think this article is little too harsh. i think Strauss did a pretty decent job. Without a doubt he was England's best batsman throughtout the tour , one dayers including. And put up a dignified show on and off the field . He was definitely better than any of England's batsman and does deserve his place on current form

This is a ridiculous article, considering england are already one of the worst sides in One day cricket, why would anybody want to undermine them further ? That too, by insinuating a controversy by the West Indian team, you are questioning their very integrity to cricket. And what is a purported benefit of this so called 'conspiracy', further weakening an already horribly out of sorts England team ? Why would anybody in their sane mind want to do that ? That is the most stupid piece of insight that I have been privy to, in recent times...

Can we stop blaming Dyson's miscalculation for England's victory in the 1st ODI? The West Indies required 27 to win from 22 balls, with Sammy and Miller in, neither having faced a ball, in the fading light, with Broad and Anderson bowling with their tails up. England were definitely favourites even had the West Indies not gone off for bad light.

[Mike: I don't know that either side were favourites. It was a knife-edge thing, with WI only one run behind on D-L. I'd like to think England would have won anyway, but the end of the match came because WI made an error.]

A very funny and perceptive acticle. I don't normally read more than a paragraph or so of most blogs/posts/articles because they are so mundane they could have been written by my self righteous and religious aunt. Yours is the first I have read in a long while. Only thing missing is any mention of Strauss' inane grin. Keep it up, Sir, you are easily the only writer worth reading on Cricinfo blogs and it is refreshing to see a writer take his own country to the cleaners.