Against South Africa, Ben Stokes hit possibly the best of his five Test centuries, an innings of real craft in attack and defence, to put England in a strong positionFor Ben Stokes the demands of international sport have always been specific and rarefied. Your everyday Test cricketer faces a fairly simple two-stage examination. First up is: am I good enough? All being well this is followed pretty quickly by: how long can I keep doing this? Repeat, fingernails scraping against the door frame, for as long as humanly possible.Stokes belongs to a more elevated caste of cricketer, those for whom vibrant, relentlessly seductive talent has never been in doubt. But whose task is instead to find a rhythm and a...
England’s white-ball buccaneers start against Bangladesh on Thursday aiming to capture the hearts, minds and disposable income of the massesOver to you then, Morgs, Stokesey, lads. No pressure. Just remember to play without anxiety, without pressure and without the fear of losing. Particularly – and this is very important – when you’re most anxious, when the pressure is on and when you really can’t afford to lose right now.After a buildup of unusual intensity the Champions Trophy is upon us, with England’s team of white-ball buccaneers kicking off things against Bangladesh at The Oval on Thursday morning. The early signs are of course good. Players, coaches and surrounding hierarchy have had a distinct unity of purpose about them for the...
Stunning performances with bat and ball for Rising Pune Supergiant are signs of a player flourishing in a domestic scene stronger than some international matchesJignesh runs a bottle shop off the Caledonian Road, a short walk north of King’s Cross. He keeps a TV by the till, to kill time between customers. It only ever seems to be tuned to one of two things: Indian soap operas and Indian cricket. He talks about the sport as much as English people do the weather. If there’s a game going, he will have the IPL on. So at this time of year the commentators are always chatting away, part of the backing track to his little corner of the city, along with...
The all-rounder was smashed to all parts by Carlos Brathwaite in the World Twenty20 final and the Caribbean fans are unlikely to let him forget it in a hurryThe first of three one-day internationals between West Indies and England takes place in Antigua on Friday. For one of the teams the Champions Trophy, which is being held in Birmingham, Cardiff and London in June, looms large. This is a good time for preparation.England have hosted the Champions Trophy twice in the past 13 years – in 2004 and 2013 they were runners-up at the Oval and Edgbaston, respectively, after they had seemed well-placed to win both games – and somehow they are the hosts again in 2017. Related: Sam Curran...
Like Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff the all-rounder craves to be taken seriously, but the decision to give him an official leading role may backfireIn 2017 at least the pundits and the pollsters have got something right. Joe Root is the new England captain, which is no more surprising than Stephen Fry hosting the Baftas or Huw Edwards delivering the news. At last there is an outcome that is reassuring and predictable.There are always some gloom-mongers out there (I may join them in a minute) pointing out that Root has seldom captained at first-class level – neither had Michael Vaughan or Nasser Hussain when they took on the England captaincy; that the country’s best batsman will be diminished by the...