Forget the muscle-bound moustachioed pace triumvirate, it was the slight balding man who was behind England’s downfall in BrisbaneOften as not you can pick a cricketer from their build and bearing. Mitchell Starc, gangly, wiry, spry, could only be a fast bowler, just as David Warner, bullish, stocky and thickset, looks a natural batsman, and Tim Paine, slight and impish, has the cut of a wicketkeeper. But then there’s Nathan Lyon, who has the kind of everyday physique that gives hope to those of us who don’t get paid to play sport, and the unassuming appearance of someone you might bump into down the pub. Your mate’s mate. If you were trying to guess exactly what business Lyon has at...
Ben Stokes’s decision to head for New Zealand and play some one-day cricket would only be worth it in the highly unlikely event he is to play for England in the third Test at PerthAs General Bernard Montgomery once said – and I think rightly: “In my profession you have to mystify the enemy.” Well, Andrew Strauss, England’s cricket director, may have achieved a modicum of success in this department. The only problem is that his own side are even more confused.On a tour of Australia the passion of every Test has a tendency to give way to pantomime in between matches. We have gone from head-butts to Heathrow within the space of 24 hours. No sooner had Strauss done...
Amid the head-butt controversy and being target of jokes over bedroom wall posters, the batsman defied it all to help break an 87-year-old recordCameron Bancroft had quite the Monday morning. Waking up, the Australian batsman’s head was all over the back pages. Not for keeping that head during the previous evening’s half‑century, but because Jonny Bairstow had decided to give it a nudge with his own. As we later learned, this is the Englishman’s preferred style of greeting.Bancroft then went out to the middle to finish the job he had started with David Warner, collecting the 170 they needed for victory, overtaking an 87-year record for the highest unbeaten opening partnership in a successful Test chase. An exceptional press conference followed,...
There is of course a line you do not cross but if you can get a batsman’s mind not 100% focused on what is his primary job then it’s fair game for meJonny Bairstow is an engaging cricketer who I know well from my time at Yorkshire. It was simply his quirky sense of humour that led to the clash of heads with Cameron Bancroft four weeks ago and resulted in a great Ashes Test victory for Australia ending with a storm in a teacup.World cricket is a year-round circuit during which players need to unwind over a few beers. Stories are swapped, tactics discussed and jokes are exchanged between opponents. In this instance, before Bancroft was even picked for Australia, a...
Steve Smith and David Warner outsmarted England’s attack in the first Test, the tourists will need clear heads and is Alastair Cook merely out of form?Stuart Broad said before the series that England would play on the egos of the Australia batsmen by denying boundaries. But the egos never landed in Brisbane. The exaggerated patience of Steve Smith, in the first innings, and David Warner, against the second new ball, symbolised an Australia performance that had an unexpected brain:brawn ratio. With the exception of two short spells of ferocious pace bowling, they took control of the match through stealth rather than aggression. They did not just outplay England; they outsmarted them too. They are far more flexible than many realised,...