England Ashes debutants are rare at Brisbane but they have tended to prosper and Joe Root’s side will be lifted by Australia’s unusually cagey selectionsTo say that Brisbane has not been a happy hunting ground for England cricketers is an understatement on a par with “Jacob Rees-Mogg would quite like to leave the EU”. England have not won there since the team with just three flaws – “can’t bat, can’t bowl, can’t field” – was victorious in 1986. Then the Gabba was a proper cricket ground. In the afternoon the smoke and smell of the barbecues on the boundary edge would add to the atmosphere in this outpost city. Now it is a stadium, a symmetrical bowl in which dismissed...
England’s star all-rounder is not on the plane and is not going to play – and given he is irreplaceable the management needs to focus on a Plan B with the first Ashes Test under a month awayThere is less than a month to go before England step out into the cauldron of the Gabba to begin their Ashes defence and with the squad touching down in Australia this weekend, you have to wonder whether now would be a sensible time to fully pen a line through the name of Ben Stokes.Ever since Stokes was arrested in Bristol at the end of September the England and Wales Cricket Board has kept his Ashes place open. Yes he is currently unavailable...
Using your sporting ability and showing mutual respect while defeating an opponent shows up those who prefer crass trash-talkHow badly do you want it? That’s a question to be directed at an opponent in the form of a challenge, stated or implied. Does that challenge have an acceptable limit? In their different ways, and with very different responses, the Australian cricketer David Warner and the English footballer Troy Deeney both asked the question this week. Related: Australia’s David Warner promises ‘hatred’ and ‘war’ with England in Ashes Continue reading...
England put their trust in a group who know each other but they are light on openers and must also hope their talisman’s right hand heals in timeWhen the selection of Ben Stokes for the Ashes tour becomes headline news, something’s up. At the moment we are assuming – no more than that – Stokes will be available for the start of it. Sadly that depends on the investigations of the Avon and Somerset police and the state of his right hand. Related: Ben Stokes named in Ashes squad despite broken finger and arrest Related: England chase 357 to beat West Indies: fourth ODI – live! Continue reading...
The selectors pick their touring party to Australia this week, a task made tougher by losses of fitness and form among key contendersThe selectors meet and decide their Ashes squad this week – the names of England’s tourists will be announced at 10am on Wednesday – and maybe they deserve some sympathy. Their task is tricky and familiar to anyone who has agonised for hours over a jigsaw puzzle only to discover that there are some key pieces missing.Those selectors have already been in the firing line from Durham’s chairman, Sir Ian Botham, who is enraged by the way so many of his county’s talented cricketers are heading south in pursuit of greener, First Division pastures. Botham has hinted that...