The Australia No3 looked destined for another day-night century at Adelaide after riding his luck but his dismissal gave England a chink of light in the darkThese were meant to be words about an Usman Khawaja century as he finally set straight seven years of Ashes false starts in conditions where he has excelled, a century where the No3 replicated the poise and control that underpinned his masterful ton at the same venue 12 months ago to make Joe Root’s decision to put Australia in look disastrous.Instead, his dismissal four balls after the dinner interval exposed the hosts’ collapsible middle order at the most dangerous time in day-night matches as artificial light took over and the wicket’s additional grass stood...
Jimmy Anderson hopes bowling with a pink ball under lights on a pitch that is not as batting-friendly as it once was can help England against AustraliaThe Adelaide Oval was once a genteel cricket ground – it is now a magnificent sport stadium. Only the arch–traditionalist can quibble about the redevelopment and even they might be convinced by it come Saturday night with 50,000 in attendance and the sun dipping gracefully in the distance. The old scoreboard is still there and so, too, is some of the grass on the hill; the cathedral is no longer visible but there is still an air of tranquillity, which has always been so deceptive.This is where Bodyline boiled over 85 years ago, on...
Stokes’ New Zealand trip is a sideshow – what matters for England in the Ashes is working out how to dismiss Steve Smith and how to counter Mitchell Starc’s pink-ball expertiseLet’s be honest, Joe Root and his players needed the Ben Stokes issue resurfacing this week like a hole in the head. When I wrote at the start of the tour that they should draw a line through his name completely, this was the type of scenario I envisaged.Here are England’s squad battling hard to defend the Ashes and suddenly the agenda changes with the latest will‑he-won’t-he-play saga. Publicly they will say they are 100% focused on the day-night Test that starts on Saturday and squaring the series. But with their...
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...