England all-rounder marks 50th cap by giving West Indies a taste of his indefatigable brawn and a natural ability to get the ball hoopingAt 9am the England supporters had swamped the public spaces outside the Kensington Oval, perusing the market stalls, taking on early fluids and jostling for pictures in front of the cover-driving statue of Sir Garfield Sobers.Inside the so-called mecca of Caribbean cricket another all-rounder was also being celebrated. In the pre-match huddle Ben Stokes received his 50th England cap from his former county teammate Steve Harmison, who once planted his personal flag in the region when blasting Michael Vaughan’s side to a series win in 2004. Related: Jimmy Anderson helps revive England against West Indies on sluggish...
The ECB’s approach may seem light beside Australia’s to ball-tampering but it is time to look forward to the last summer of cricket as we know itIt is now possible to move on. To the relief of those in charge of the England cricket teams – Trevor Bayliss, Ed Smith, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan – Ben Stokes and the man who became the doosra in all this, Alex Hales, are eligible for selection for all forthcoming matches. There will be no complications for the national selector when he announces the tour parties for the West Indies on Monday. Related: Ben Stokes and Alex Hales fined by ECB over Bristol incident but cleared to play Continue reading...
Cook? Jennings? Bairstow? Stokes? Fourth Test against India finds England in a state of flux with only Joe Root inked in for October’s tourOne up with two to play makes you the favourite to win. Yet on the eve of the fourth Test in Southampton the India team, though 2-1 down in the series, seem the more settled. For the first time in Virat Kohli’s reign as captain he has indicated he intends to play the same side in consecutive Tests. Meanwhile England, despite their lead, remain a team in a state of flux. Related: Joe Root defends dropping Ollie Pope for Moeen Ali Related: Virat Kohli says momentum is with India as tourists name unchanged side Continue reading...
Roar at catching India’s captain on 97 shows England all-rounder’s relief at being back centre stage for the right reasonsWho writes your scripts? So asked Graham Gooch of Ian Botham at the Oval in 1986 after the all-rounder picked up a wicket with his first ball back in Test cricket after a 63-day ban for admitting to smoking dope.This was one of many scene-stealing moments in Botham’s outstanding career, making New Zealand’s Bruce Edgar Test victim No 355 and, therefore, equalling Dennis Lillee’s world record before, just 11 balls later, making it his own when Jeff Crowe (match referee for this current series with India) was pinned lbw with a ball that jagged back in. Related: Virat Kohli inspires India fightback...
No English cricketer has got so rich so fast but the all-rounder’s figures do not add up to a career as successful as it should beA few months ago a study was published warning against the use of hand dryers in public lavatories because of the high density of airborne human waste particles. Turning on a hand dryer hugely accelerates the rate at which these circulate the room. So, to take a topical example, when Madonna lingers sensually over the jet from a hot-air dryer in the iconic video to the No 1 hit Get Into The Groove she is basically bombarding her own face with particles of human excrement, blowing accumulated toxic faecal matter directly into her eyes, nose,...