Life in a biosecure bubble brings the challenge of finding motivation in empty grounds for introverts and extroverts alike The doom-mongers said this summer could be the end of cricket as we knew it. They were talking about The Hundred, obviously, not a pandemic, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Rather than Welsh Fire and Manchester Originals, we got biosecure bubbles and umpires with wet wipes. Instead of inuring ourselves to five-ball overs or becoming instant experts in the strategic use of the timeout, we have been given a host of other unexpected details to obsess over.Who knew, for instance, the player with the sweatiest back would suddenly have such a vital role in the team?...
The coverage of Sunday’s England v Pakistan T20, the first match on the BBC in two decades, will be very different to the days of Peter West and Tony LewisNostalgia is the comfort blanket of our times. The BBC knows this, which is why it spent lockdown pacifying or existential angst with golden replays of the Olympics, Wimbledon and West Indies tours. When it shows Sunday’s England v Pakistan T20, the corporation’s first live cricket TV broadcast in two decades, there will be a quiet sigh from older viewers, of something finally being put right with the world.Cricket and the Beeb used to be wedded to each other. For 60 years – it first showed the game on TV in...
What did England discover in this series? That their 85mph seamers play well in home conditions?So there we have it. A Test summer billed as English cricket’s financial salvation, organised at considerable expense and to a staggering degree of logistical precision. A summer, too, in which England would seek to hone an attack that could lead them to victory overseas. It was with a certain bemusement, then, and not a little anticlimax, that shortly after 5.30pm a global television audience was treated to the sight of Dom Sibley jogging in to bowl his club-level leg-spin. Related: Jimmy Anderson reaches the magical 600 and Pakistan bat out for a draw The low-flying debate over Archer’s best role for England has often...
In the constant chaos of Pakistan cricket the captain and head coach have instilled defiance and promiseA couple of weeks ago the world of Pakistani cricket was rocked – OK, mildly nudged – by the latest incendiary YouTube post by Javed Miandad, the 63‑year‑old legendary former Pakistan captain. Raging at Imran Khan, his former teammate and now the country’s prime minister, Miandad fumed: “You act like God now. You have no idea of what is happening in the country. You don’t care about the country. The board has ignorant people in it who don’t know the basics of cricket. I say to the people of Pakistan – rise up!”Over the weekend, Miandad executed an abrupt volte-face. “If I have offended...
The England man has eschewed social media so far, but will not be short of offers to increase his profile and earnings nowThere was a mildly jarring moment during the second day of Zak Crawley’s sublime 267 against Pakistan when Wasim Akram, on commentary for Sky, joked about how excited it would make Neil Fairbrother. Fairbrother is the agent to a number of England’s cricketers and Crawley is among them; the point being that the youngster’s arrival on the Test stage with such a dreamy performance will see his commercial value skyrocket. Related: Zak Crawley's huge double-century lifts England and floors Pakistan Related: Mature Jos Buttler quietly plays the innings of his life for England | Jonathan Liew Continue reading...