- NatWest Series
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The NatWest Series is the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England since 2000. The tournaments are sponsored by the National Westminster Bank.
Contents
2000 to 2005: triangular series
The original format of the NatWest Series was a three-team triangular tournament, involving England and two visiting international sides. Each of the three teams would play the other two three times each, after which the two top teams would face each other in a final at Lord's in London. The ten matches would be played at the seven international grounds (Lord's, Edgbaston, Headingley, Old Trafford, The Oval, Trent Bridge and the Riverside Ground), a well as other county cricket grounds such as the St Lawrence Ground (Canterbury), Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), the Rose Bowl (Southampton) and at Bristol.
The first NatWest Series was held in 2000 a year after England hosted the World Cup. The West Indies and Zimbabwe were the two visiting teams, with England and Zimbabwe contesting the first final. England won by 6 wickets, with Darren Gough taking 3-20 and Alec Stewart scoring 97.
It used to be a common occurrence at the end of cricket Test matches for the crowd to invade the pitch to watch the presentation from the pavilion balcony. In the UK this tradition ended in 2001 Natwest Series after a steward was injured in a pitch invasion at a one-day match between England and Pakistan [1]. Invading the pitch can now warrant a £1,000 fine, and post-match presentations are held on the field. During the presentation ceremony at the 2001 NatWest Series final on the balcony at Lord's, Michael Bevan was hit in the face with a beer can thrown from the crowd.[2]
Other notable matches in the series included the 2002 final, where England faced India: England posted a total of 325-5 with Nasser Hussain scoring 115, his only one day century, and Marcus Trescothick also scoring 109, but were beaten by India who made 326-8 thanks to Mohammad Kaif scoring 87 and Yuvraj Singh 69.
In 2005, Bangladesh secured an unexpected victory over Australia in Cardiff, with Mohammad Ashraful scoring a century. Also, that year's final between Australia and England was a tie, with both sides scoring 196 and sharing the trophy.
By the time of the last triangular tournament in 2005, every test-playing nation had participated in at least one NatWest Series.
Tournaments by year
Season Winner Runner-up Third place 2000 England Zimbabwe West Indies 2001 Australia Pakistan England 2002 India England Sri Lanka 2003 England South Africa Zimbabwe 2004 New Zealand West Indies England 2005 Aus and Eng shared Bangladesh NatWest Challenge
For three seasons, from 2003 to 2005, three extra One Day Internationals were arranged for the England team in addition to the NatWest Series.
In 2003, Pakistan came to England for the three match series. In 2004, India played the NatWest Challenge as a prelude to the ICC Champions Trophy held in England that year. The following year, Australia played these matches between the NatWest Series and The Ashes. The ICC began their trial of the "Supersub", 12th man who could bat or bowl and "Powerplay", flexible fielding restrictions in the 2005 matches. The Supersub idea was jettisoned after a year whilst the Powerplay experiment was retained.
NatWest Challenge results
Season Matches Winner Runner-up Result June 2003 3 England Pakistan 2-1 Sept. 2004 3 England India 2-1 July 2005 3 Australia England 2-1 2006 to date
The triangular format was abandoned in 2006, when England reverted to playing separate series against each visiting team (as they had in the Texaco Trophy from 1984 until 1998), but the name NatWest Series was retained. This was attributed to the poor crowds at matches not involving the home team.[3] The NatWest Series includes one or two matches in the Twenty20 cricket format against the touring team. The home team now plays 10 One Day Internationals a season.
In 2006, England played five matches against each of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, losing 5-0 to Sri Lanka and drawing 2-2 with Pakistan.
In 2007, the visiting teams were the West Indies and India: England lost the three-match series against the West Indies 2-1, and defeated India 4-3 in the seven-match series.
2008 Series
In June 2008, England lost the five-match series against New Zealand 3-1 with one match rained off. During a close match 4 at The Oval that NZ won, Grant Elliott was controversially ran out after a mid-pitch collision with Ryan Sidebottom.
In August/September 2008, England beat South Africa 4-0 in the five match series with the final match rained off. Led by new captain Kevin Pietersen, a revitalised England beat an "end of tour" South Africa. In match 2 in Nottingham, SA were bowled out for 83 and England won the day/night match before the floodlights were required.
In the Twenty20 matches, England beat New Zealand in the only match in Manchester in June however the match against South Africa at Chester-le-Street was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
2009 Series
In May 2009, England led by Andrew Strauss beat the West Indies 2-0 with one match rained off. England won both matches, by 58 runs at Birmingham and by 6 wickets, Bristol, respectively. There were no Twenty20 internationals scheduled due to the ICC World Twenty20 event in June.
In August/September England were scheduled to play two Twenty20 matches at Manchester versus Australia. The first match was abandoned during the England innings and the second match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
A seven match series was contested in September 2009 versus Australia after the home team's Ashes series win. The Australians won the first six, at The Oval, two at Lords, Southampton and two at Nottingham, and England won the final match at the Chester-le-Street. The top run scorer in the series was Andrew Strauss, 267 runs for England, who also scored most in the Ashes Test match series. Top wicket taker was Brett Lee, 12 wickets for Australia, who did not appear in the summer's Test series.[4][5]
2010 Series
During the 2010 summer there were three NatWest Series. In June 2010, England played a five match tour series versus Australia, who were in the country to play a Test series Pakistan. England beat the Australians 3-2 winning the first three matches with Eoin Morgan scoring the most runs, 238 runs and Stuart Broad taking 12 wickets on either side.
In July, England beat Bangladesh 2-1 in a three match series. The series was notable as Bangladesh beat England for the very first time in one-day cricket.
In September, England played Pakistan in two Twenty20 matches (not part of the NatWest Series] and a five match one-day match series. This series was played with the backdrop of spot fixing allegations made against Pakistani players during the Test match series against England. England won the two Twenty20 matches at Cardiff.
England then went on to win the one-day series 3-2. England lost the 3rd match at The Oval by 23 runs. The ICC launched an investigation into the match after receiving information that there were scoring irregularities during the England innings. Ijaz Butt the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman suggested that as "a conspiracy" to defraud Pakistan cricket. Butt went on to accuse England players of bad practice, allegations he later withdrew.[6]. Andrew Strauss scored the most runs, 317 runs and Umar Gul took most wickets, 12, during the series.
NatWest Series results since 2006
Season Matches Winner Runner-up Result Twenty20 2006 5 Sri Lanka England 5-0 SL bt Eng 2006 5 Eng and Pak 2-2* PAK bt Eng 2007 3 West Indies England 2-1 Eng 1 WI 1 (2 matches) 2007 7 England India 4-3 no T20 match 2008 5 New Zealand England 3-1* ENG bt NZ 2008 5 England South Africa 4-0* Match abandoned 2009 3 England West Indies 2-0* No series 2009 7 Australia England 6-1 2 Matches abandoned 2010 5 England Australia 3-2* No series 2010 3 England Bangladesh 2-1 No series 2010 5 England Pakistan 3-2 ENG bt PAK 2-0 (not NatWest Series) '* One match no result
See also
References
- ^ Pitch invasion mars Pakistan win - BBC Sport
- ^ Bevan hit in face by beer can during presentations - Cricinfo.com
- ^ ECB to scrap triangular tournament, Cricinfo, Retrieved on 6 June 2009
- ^ Most runs in ENG v AUS NatWest Series 2009 - Cricinfo.com
- ^ Most wickets in ENG v AUS 2009 NatWest Series 2009 - Cricinfo.com
- ^ ICC Confirm Oval ODI was clean
External links
- NatWest Series Cricket - the official website of the NatWest Series
- ECB NatWest Series
Categories:- One Day International cricket competitions
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