JN2053 Skills Tests: Video

As part of my university course, I interviewed Everton fan Ell Bretland regarding the Toffees' season thus far. Ell travels around the country with his beloved Everton, and is hoping they can improve on their current league position.

JN2053 Skills Tests: Data

Last night, the Ashes began in Australia. Many see this serries as England's best chance in years to retain the urn down under, with the majority of supporters and commentators happy with the team the selectors have chosen.

However, having looked at the batting averages of England's top six batsmen in the 2010 County Championship, many might question their credentials.

In this graph I have taken the batsmen with the highest batting average from each county in Division One of the county championship. To make the graph fair, I placed a restriction on that the batsman must have batted 15 times to qualify. I did this as otherwise there may have been some anomalies.

On the right hand side of the graph I have shown the batting averages of England's top six batsmen, which are generally lower than those who do not play in the national side.

Despite the England players having such low averages, I believe they are the right men to lead the country in the Ashes. The likes of Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen (who have the two lowest averages on the graph) had their county seasons somewhat curtailed due to injuries and international commitments, and this is reflected in their averages.

The data used for this chart can be accessed here-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/sep/21/county-championship-batting-bowling-averages

JN2053 Skills Tests: Maps

View LEP 15/10/10 in a larger map

As part of my university course, I was tasked with creating an interactive map using stories from the Lancashire Evening Post (LEP). I had to choose four stories from the newspaper, before using a map to show the locations of where each story happened.

When the icons are clicked, a short paragraph about the story will appear, along with links to the LEP website and to other useful sites.

Despite this small section of the map only showing two of the icons, there are two others (just click on the 'View in larger map' link below it).

JN2053 Skills Tests: Audio

Vox Pop Edit by maston91

Preston North End have endured an awful start to the season, finding themselves bottom of the Championship table and six points away from safety. I spoke to the fans before their game against Hull City to find out what had been going wrong at Deepdale.

AFC Fylde 5-2 Radcliffe Borough

AFC Fylde moved back into the play-off positions after taking all three points from an absorbing encounter at Kellamergh Park.

After an enforced two week break, the home side took some time to get into their stride as neither team seemed able to string any meaningful passing moves together. Despite this, Fylde had the better chances as Jamie Milligan twice had long range efforts saved by Nick Culkin, whilst Kevin Townson cut in from the right to test the ex-Bristol Rovers stopper.

The deadlock was finally broken midway through the first half as Townson was felled just inside the box, leaving the referee no choice but to award a penalty, which was coolly dispatched by captain Milligan. However, the lead lasted less than two minutes as David Sherlock latched onto a good through ball to slot past Lewis Edge in the Fylde goal.

This did not deter the Coasters, as Tom Cahill restored their lead after turning in a low Michael Barnes cross. The lead was then doubled moments later as centre-back Phil Doughty won the ball in the centre circle before playing in Townson who made no mistake with the finish.

As half-time loomed young midfielder Mike Nolan stung the palms of Culkin, but there were to be no more goals before the break.

Whatever was said by Radcliffe manager Gerry Luczka in the dressing room had an immediate effect as Adam Roscoe beat Edge at his near post from a near impossible angle. This galvanised the visitors, and they began to control the game, despite not creating any clear-cut chances.

Borough were made to pay for not turning their possession into goals as Townson tapped in his second and Fylde's fourth after a Barnes shot ricocheted off two Radcliffe defenders. That was to be the former Macclesfield striker's final action as he was replaced by Matt Walwyn, whilst Andy Bell continued to make his comeback from injury, replacing Cahill.

It did not take long for Walwyn to make an impact, with the striker picking the ball up just inside the visitors half before unleashing an unstoppable drive from 30 yards which many of the world's best keepers would have struggled to keep out.

With a three goal lead established, Fylde began to relax and the remaining 25 minutes did not bring many chances, although Bell and fellow substitute Matty Kay both tested Culkin before the 90 minutes were up.

Who should be lining up for England in the 2014-15 Ashes?

Following Matthew Wood and Ben Roberts’ discussion regarding who should feature in the Australian side for the 2014-15 Ashes, I thought it only fair to give them some opponents, and draw out my own England side for four years time.

Opening the batting in my side is current vice-captain Alastair Cook, who, despite questions surrounding his technique, has managed to keep his place in the side. Given the ECB’s recent policy of simply picking the most experienced player in the squad to be skipper, the Essex man also gets the nod as captain.

Alongside the skipper is Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth, who is already showing great promise despite only having two full seasons in first-class cricket. After becoming the first man to reach 1000 runs in 2010 County Championship, he is well and truly on the national selector’s radar. He will also be 27 by 2014, and in the prime of his cricketing career, giving him more than a good chance of facing the Aussies in four years.

At three I have chosen Ian Bell, who will still only be 32 come 2014. Despite not having the best record against Australia, he seems to be now eventually becoming a quality international batsman, and by the time he reaches his 30’s he has every chance of being in the top 10 test match batsmen in the world.

James Taylor is my choice at number four. He currently averages over 45 in first-class cricket, and at only 20, he is one of the brightest prospects in English cricket. He has already impressed in the England Lions side and if he continues his good form should be one of the most exciting young batsmen in world cricket by the time 2014 comes round.

Eoin Morgan takes his place in the team at number five. His innovative style of batting has catapulted him into the limelight, and it won’t be long before he begins stamping his authority on the test match stage. At 28, he will be another who should be in the prime of his cricketing career, and he has every chance of being the man the Australians most fear come 2014.

At six I have gone for the slightly controversial choice of Ravi Bopara. Many Australians would be rubbing their hands with glee at the sight of Ravi walking to the crease, but I feel in four years time he will have matured and be more consistently showing the form he showed against the West Indies in the summer of 2009. Also, batting at six should give him slightly more freedom, instead of having to come in when the pressure is on after the first wicket.

England’s wicket keeping position is always up for much debate, but I have gone with Steven Davies to fill the position by the time 2014 comes around. He has established himself in the one-day side after some good performance against an admittedly downhearted Pakistan side, and the fact he has been taken to Australia this year as back-up for Matt Prior shows that he is very much the man the selectors see as Prior’s long-term replacement.

As much as I would love to put Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid in my side, I am going to instead going to give Graeme Swann one final ‘Swann-song ‘ (sorry) and choose him in my side. He will be 35 by 2014 and most probably coming to the end of his career, but spinners always seem to get better with age, and I believe Swann will be no different.

England’s seam department should be fairly similar to what it is now, with Stuart Broad and Steven Finn both looking likely to be top quality international bowlers, whilst with their height they should both do well in Australia. 

The third seamer position goes to Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes, who at 21 is the best young seamer in England at the moment, having already recorded to eight five-wicket hauls in his already short career.

As seems the way, England’s squad usually consists of 16 players, and therefore I have chosen Adil Rashid, Yorkshire’s Jonathan Bairstow (back-up wicket keeper), Hampshire’s Jimmy Adams, Durham’s Ben Stokes and Jonathan Trott, who could very well get a chance in the side if the pressure gets to the likes of Taylor or Bopara.

So there it is, a fine side if I do say it myself. Some familiar names, but also some exciting new faces. I look forward to looking back at this in four years time and giving myself a pat on the back, or most probably asking myself what was I thinking. 

This article can be found at worldcricketwatch.com