The England bowler devised delivery to dismiss Australia batter, but cannot have expected police assistancePerhaps the best part of the big Stuart Broad set-piece on the second morning at Edgbaston, one of those moments where the wind seems to change, the dogs miaow, the birds fly backwards through the sky and the clock strikes Broad o’clock, was the introduction of mimicry, physical comedy, improv into the usual routine.Broad was always going to do this at some point. He’s a montage bowler. Every Ashes has its sequence, from failing to walk, to Brisbane T-shirts, to hands-over-the-face human-meme stuff at Trent Bridge. This time the talk will be mainly about the dismissal of David Warner, because this has been the chief pre-series...
Doubts have crept in after England lost Jack Leach while Pat Cummins’ side enjoyed ideal preparation for the first Test at Edgbaston in their defeat of IndiaUntil a couple of weeks ago I was pretty confident about England’s chances of winning the Ashes, but a combination of Jack Leach’s injury and watching Australia win the World Test Championship final has got all sorts of doubts creeping in. Still, I can’t wait for the series to start and I’m delighted that it’s happening at Edgbaston, home of the raucous Hollies stand. It’s going to be buzzing and Ben Stokes’s team will absolutely love that sense of occasion.The visitors will get plenty of stick, which won’t be anything new for most members...
Bowler was largely unknown when he arrived on international stage at the age of 32 but his weapons could threaten England“Scotty Boland, he’s now my favourite player. He always has been, but he continues to be my favourite.”Sure the Australia captain, Pat Cummins, might have displayed some confusion about time and continuity. But his sentiment was what mattered, after another decisive bowling burst from the Victorian quick opened up Australia’s path to victory against India in the World Test Championship final. Continue reading...
Idling tempo while batting in World Test Championship against India felt unfamiliar compared to Stokes’ all-action approachLunchtime at the Oval, and Australia are six-wickets down with a lead of 373. Alex Carey’s at one end, 41 not out off 61 balls, Mitchell Starc’s at the other, 11 off 19. It’s already over a hundred runs more than anyone’s ever scored in the fourth innings to win a Test here, and that particular match was way back in the 1902 Ashes, when Gilbert Jessop blazed his 76-ball hundred. The pressing question then, the one everyone was chewing over in the food and drink queues, was ‘what’s next?’ A burst of attacking cricket, a tumble of tail-end wickets?What we got, instead, was...
Indian fans believed Shubman Gill was wrongly dismissed but the laws are clear – although that won’t stop the argumentsAs the second session wound onwards on the fourth day of the World Test Championship final, the Oval was a cheerful place. On a perfect, warm afternoon, the bays that were largely full of India supporters erupted after every boundary as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill made a bright start to a massive run chase.Soon it was much less bucolic, with a fair share of those fans shouting “Cheat!” at the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green. Others lined up to give him a gob-full as he climbed the stairs through the crowd at tea. Fielding in the gully, Green’s crime had been...