England’s most destructive opener made quick work of Mitchell Starc and co and was unlucky with his dismissalTen minutes after the end of this ultimately rather brutal eight‑wicket semi-final defeat of Australia Adil Rashid was down by the boundary signing autographs for a throng of England fans. As he posed for another selfie Jason Roy appeared behind him, wrapped him in a bear hug and carried him off up the stairs, both feet off the ground, to the safety of the England dressing room.It was that kind of day. With England batting second on a clammy afternoon, and starting to thrum up through the gears at 25 without loss, Roy had already begun to do extraordinary things. Related: England thrash...
Everything has fallen into place for Aaron Finch’s side and history only adds to their serenity before the semi-finalAustralia are a team who should look rattled. They are playing the hosts and favourites in a semi‑final at a supposed fortress. Awaiting in the World Cup final at Lord’s are New Zealand, who should have beaten them at the same venue a couple of weeks ago but for a rearguard from the first drop, Usman Khawaja. Now Khawaja is gone with a hamstring strain and, Shaun Marsh, who was his backup, has a broken wrist from a training mishap. Marcus Stoinis has more torn muscles than a butcher’s shop but the all-rounder is supposedly going to play. The squad have two...
Excellence and resilience over the years led to John Arlott coining a term in Australia’s honour which tilts the World Cup semi-final in their favourMy youngest is three weeks old now, just enough already to know the best and worst of English cricket. She was born right around the time they beat Afghanistan, came home on the day they lost against Sri Lanka, and her first match – the one I watched while she sat on my lap – was that bleak and dispiriting defeat against Australia at Lord’s. “No, no this team are different,” I said when Eoin Morgan flapped a catch to fine leg and his side were 26 for three, “really, they can still win this”. She...
Our World Cup semi-final is more than just a game but we have tasted do-or-die cricket and emerged with wins we neededWeeks like this are what you dream of as a kid growing up. A World Cup semi‑final against Australia, and with it the chance to take our place in the final at Lord’s on Sunday, is why you take up the sport and put in all the hours of hard work.Thursday at Edgbaston is the big one. You can talk about treating it as another game, but as England players we know it is more than that. We accepted this when we put ourselves in a must-win scenario for the last two group games. Related: England’s World Cup batting...
Infamously prickly, can-explode-will-explode India captain has been a man becalmed but there are hints the rage is returningHow are we doing? Hanging in there? I’m talking specifically to the cricket fans, a collective who will truly deserve their participation medal when the World Cup reaches its conclusion next weekend. Sure, football lovers may claim their work suffered when England’s women made it to the semi-finals. Wimbledon aficionados will soon be bragging that they’ve done nothing but secretly stream tennis on their phones for two weeks. To followers of the Cricket World Cup, however, they are as the mayfly.Even the most highly trained of box-set bingers would struggle to keep up with a regime of 58 eight‑hour games (yes, I’m including...