Ben Duckett’s Test career appeared to be finished in 2017 but his busy 98 at Lord’s embellished a stirring comeback storyIt was actually a vodka and lemonade, not that it really matters. Everyone assumes that the drink Ben Duckett tipped over James Anderson during the ill-fated 2017-18 Ashes tour – the drink that looked like ending his international career for good – was a pint of beer. To a large extent, I think, this is because Duckett basically looks like a pint drinker. You can almost see it nestled in his meaty hand: one arm resting on the wood-panelled bar, the other showing you a picture of a new sports car on his phone.And for years this is how Duckett...
Ben Stokes’s declaration on day one was a mistake but it was not a fatal one and a lack of match practice really undid themA close finish in Test cricket is an Agatha Christie, a whowunnit with umpteen suspects. When the difference between the sides is slim, you can attribute it to almost anything: Usman Khawaja’s 13-hour vigil, Pat Cummins’ cool-headed cameo, Ben Stokes’s befuddling declaration, Jonny Bairstow’s frustrating fumbles, Nathan Lyon’s eight wickets – or a pitch that was tailor-made for him. The old farts among the fans were too quick to blame it on the boogie. But it wasn’t Bazball wot lost it: it was Bazball that, as so often, defeated the draw.The declaration attracted the most scorn,...
This first Test is reminiscent of 2013 as David Warner gave Australia a flying start before Broad delivered one of his Ashes specialsSmoking Jesus. Take a moment to collect yourself. If you were watching that final day at Edgbaston, you deserve to let your nerves unspool. They must be clenched to raging little clusters of data. Do some deep breathing. Take your shoes off and walk on the lawn. Fists with your toes. Even if you’re not invested in either team, close Test cricket can make you sick, when awaiting each delivery feels like you’ve just chugged a large chocolate milk before jumping on Magic Mountain.If you’ve paid any attention to coverage over the past five days, you might have...
As Australia won the first Ashes Test, England did not act like a team that had just lost a game they probably should have wonOf course it all came down to the declaration didn’t it? Just like the man on the radio phone-in said it would. Ben Stokes’s bold/braindead decision (note to subeditors: I’m on deadline, so please delete as appropriate) to call his batsmen in early in the first innings turned out to be a truly inspired/idiotic bit of captaincy. Joe Root was on 118 at the time, and Ollie Robinson had 17, the two of them were rattling along and common sense dictated they should be left to get on with it. But Stokes thought differently.Well, the handful...
Five tempestuous, hysterical days ended with Australia playing the old-fashioned way until desperation won the dayEveryone talks about big first hours. That’s because first hours need all the hype they can get. Nobody needs to sell the last hour of a Test match. And particularly not a Test on this epic, colossal, orchestral scale, a Test that shook you from its very first ball and never stopped shaking.Take the devastating tension of a tight Twenty20, the ebb and grapple of a really good one-day international, and then make it big. Stretch it out over almost a week. Throw in some random weather phenomena, enough booze to fill the Caspian, batters forced to bowl and bowlers forced to bat. Cricket: good....