England, led by a South African partnered by a South African  and whose star player is a South African, had to rely on a brilliant innings from an Irishman to achieve a well deserved victory over Australia in the first of of a six game one day series.

Set a target of 268 by Australia in their 50 overs, England opened with captain Strauss and new discovery wicket keeper batsman Craig Keiswetter. Strauss hit two fours in the opening over but was out soon after for just 10 runs with England on 16.

It won’t be the innings Strauss wanted, as his position as limited overs captain is under scrutiny following Collingwood’s brilliant captaincy when England won the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies. The England hierarchy will keep faith in him for a while yet, but Strauss is in desperate need of a decent score soon.

Pietersen, England’s third South African on the day, came in to share a partnership of 50 with Kieswetter but again fell short of his own high standards, getting out for just 29. When Kieswetter went for 38 and Paul Collingwood quickly followed for only 11 England looked in serious trouble at 97 for 4.

But they needn’t have worried. Up stepped Eoin Morgan to share partnerships of 95 with Luke Wright and 71 with Tim Bresnan to take England to the brink of victory. Bresnan fell for 27 with England just five runs short of victory, Michael Yardy clipped a single to get Morgan back on strike and the Irishman duly wrapped up his century and victory with a four.

It was a mature innings from the man who is fast overtaking Kevin Pietersen as England’s premier batsman, at least on the one day stage, and it is surely only a matter of time before he becomes a regular in the Test side.

England take a 1-0 lead in the series, with the second game scheduled for tomorrow in Cardiff.

There are questions to be answered still, however, not the least the issue of who should captain England’s limited overs side. Strauss remains undisputed Test captain, and rightly so, but he will be feeling pressure over his role in this team. Without runs he is a liability as an opener and there are several players waiting in the wings to take his opening place. That would mean a new captain would have to be selected, likely to be Collingwood despite his claims he isn’t interested in captaining the one day side again.

The other question mark is over the wicket keeper batsmen position. There’s no doubt that Kieswetter is up to the job whereas Test player Matt Prior has found himself out of the side due to lack of runs. Kieswetter is the better batsman, Prior, at the moment, the better keeper. But whereas you can learn to keep wicket, you cannot learn to be a better batsman than than the skills you were given. Is Prior’s tTest place under threat then? Time will tell.

For now, England can celebrate taking the lead in this series and will look to push on in Cardiff. Strauss, though, is going to have to play better.

You may have missed the fact that Wimbledon begins on Monday thanks to the World Cup, but those annoying gaps between matches in South Africa can soon be filled with the rather more tranquil scenes on offer from the grass courts of SW19.

All British eyes will, of course, be on Andy Murray as we look for a first male British winner since Fred Perry in 1936. Does he have a chance?

No, of course not. Especially this year as his form and, seemingly, mental attitude has been appalling since he reached the final of the Australian Open. On the clay surface he has suffered defeats in early rounds and even though the switch to grass at Wimbledon it looks to me like his confidence has been shot to pieces, despite his public denials that this is the case.

That grass is Murray’s favourite surface is somewhat misleading anyway. 12 of his 14 titles have been won on hard courts, only one having been won on the green stuff. His semi final appearance in last year’s tournament was the best he has achieved at Wimbledon, though he will point out it has been steady progress from his third round, fourth round and quarter final losses in previous years.

We’d all like Murray to pick up a first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon but much like Henman before him, I don’t think he has what it takes to ever win one, let alone under the incredible pressure he is always under at this tournament. No amount of screaming or showing off of biceps will change my mind.

The form man going into Wimbledon is without doubt Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard’s fifth French Open title was won just a couple of weeks ago. You can’t count out Roger Federer either, winner of this tournament on six occasions, including last year. His star has fallen somewhat, having won only one title so far this year, albeit the Australian Open in which he defeated Murray.

There are, of course, a few others to consider. Robin Soderling and Juan Martín del Potro to name just two. But those of you hanging your hopes on Murray will be disappointed and probably quite early on in Wimbledon’s fortnight. . At least you’ll have the World Cup to cheer you up. Or maybe not…

Pietersen: Just not up for it

The only thing that’s certain when one of cricket’s top teams plays Bangladesh is that Bangladesh will lose – unless it rains. The questions I want to try and answer here are – what’s the point in a team as poor as Bangladesh even playing in these Test matches and what’s the point in the better teams playing Bangladesh? Who learns anything?

Geoffrey Boycott was asking the same questions on Test Match Special after the first Test at Lords. He came to the conclusion that it can’t be good for an emerging nation to continually lose at Test level. I agree. Bangladesh, obviously, don’t.

Yet it must damage confidence, will, desire and just puts an air of negativity amongst the players. There will always be the argument that testing yourself against your betters allows you to grow and improve and that is true to an extent. But surely you have to have a hope of inflicting defeat on your opponent for that to be the case.

For Bangladesh, playing against the likes of England and Australia is counter-productive. It’s a test, sure, but only of their player’s will to continue turning out for their nation.

And what of the better team? Today saw the start of the second Test between England and Bangladesh at Old Trafford – what will England get out of it? You would perhaps think that a chance to really swing the bat and rack up a huge score would inspire, but it’s the opposite. Just look at Kevin Pietersen for example. He can hardly be bothered playing.

Far from allowing the batsmen and bowlers to expand on their skills it deadens them. There is no challenge, no risk, no fear of defeat. And so they become lazy. Witness the morning session today – Strauss and Trott gone in just four balls. Why? They simply did not bring their A game. Credit must go to the Bangladesh bowlers, of course, they did their jobs well. But I believe England allowed them to do so by simply not being ‘up for it’.

It is hardly worthy preparation for an Ashes series Down Under either.

Mr Boycott’s suggestion that Bangladesh should not be troubing the international elite but should instead by facing County sides around the world until they are more prepared to handle the rigours of the full Test arena. It’s not a bad idea, but it’s not the money spinner that various cricket boards would want. Ah, money again. Always crops up doesn’t it.

A better idea would be to create a second tier of international sides. Bangladesh, Zimbabwe (when possible), Ireland, Scotland all battling it out for promotion to full Test status for the following 12 months perhaps. It has its flaws but could be worth a try to help the lesser nations find their feet within the game.

Given enough time, of course, Bangladesh could establish themselves as a serious cricketing nation. As could Ireland, Scotland et al. But why not help them along the way with a better structured international set up. Just a thought…

Do you agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments.

England have finally won a world limited overs title with a thoroughly deserved victory over Australia in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup. We’ll let a single picture do the talking.

CONGRATULATIONS ENGLAND

Michael Hussey has just this minute sent Australia into the ICC Twenty20 World Cup final with an astonishing 60 in just 24 balls.

Hussey hit six sixes and three fours as he helped his side chase down the impressive 191 set by Pakistan. Australia looked in dire trouble at 62 for 4 until Cameron White hit a good 43 – with five sixes of his own – before being caught by Hafeez off the bowling of Aamer. It could all have been over there but Hussey was having none of it. In at number seven, he came out swinging, determined to get Australia over the finish line.

He duly did that, the winning runs coming off another massive six to give Australia a three wicket win.

Described on Sky Sports as the greatest Twenty20 match ever, it sets up an England v Australia final on Sunday in Barbados. While Paul Collingwood’s men would have been feeling rightly confident following a 100% winning streak from the Super Eight stage, they must now be feeling doubt set in after Australia’s display tonight.

Nevertheless, England have been good themselves and the final should make for a cracking game of T20 cricket. We’ll be watching it – hope you can join us!

What do you reckon – best run chase you’ve ever seen? So says Jonathan Agnew on Test Match Special. Is he right? Let us know what you think in the comments.