Jofra Archer tears into Bangladesh openers – notably with a fierce delivery that trims the off-bail of Soumya SarkarIt was a good day to hang up the washing in Cardiff. After 48 hours of miserable weather in the Welsh capital the sun was finally out, while a strong wind blew in from south-west that would have your smalls dry in no time.At Sophia Gardens – or the Cardiff Wales Stadium as it is being called during this World Cup – these conditions played very much in the favour of those charging in from the Cathedral Road End, most notably England’s shiny new toy, Jofra Archer. Related: England beat Bangladesh by 106 runs at Cricket World Cup – live! Continue reading...
People supporting cricket is the important thing and when they come to World Cup games it is our job to entertain themWe let ourselves down against Pakistan. As Eoin Morgan told us after the match, we cannot allow standards to slip in the field because it can make the difference. And it really did. Mistakes can happen. Sometimes they can build up over the course of an innings and put people even more on edge, which makes it snowball further.But in this instance I don’t believe that was the case. It was just a general sloppiness and pretty frustrating after we put in one of our best showings against South Africa. Related: England are hosts but this Cricket World Cup...
The win over South Africa could not have gone much better for England – and that catch galvanised an unexpected amount of interest in the Cricket World CupIt was not only the England team who were grateful to Ben Stokes in the victory over South Africa. So was everyone in the offices of the England and Wales Cricket Board, which is eager to promote this “once in a generation opportunity”.The board can – and has – contrived lots of well-meaning gimmickry in an effort to galvanise interest in the 2019 World Cup. But all of its efforts were utterly outstripped by the eight-second clip shown on Thursday’s Ten O’Clock News of Stokes taking that catch to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo on...
From Australia and South Africa choking at home to India’s 2007 shock and England’s woes, half a dozen CWC nightmaresThe year 2007 changed cricket, a transformation that pivoted on India’s performance in its two international tournaments – their early exit from the 50-over shindig and their triumph in the inaugural Twenty20 one. In a Caribbean World Cup that opened with four groups of four from which only two teams progressed, the competition’s defining day was not its concluding one – when Australia emphatically beat Sri Lanka to secure a third successive crown – but its fifth, on which Pakistan and India crashed to cataclysmic defeats, against Ireland and Bangladesh respectively. Pakistan’s tournament was then engulfed by tragedy with the death...
The all-rounder came in when England were wobbling but his calm assurance set up a big total and then he took a wonder catch and the last two South Africa wicketsAccording to the ICC the average age of people who have bought tickets for this World Cup is 40, but one would never have known it on Thursday morning. It felt as ife there were 25,000 children spilling out of the tube stations and pouring up Harleyford Road towards the Oval.Everyone who cares feels a bit like a little kid again on days such as this, especially now England have a team worth getting childishly excited about. So the stands rang with that very particular sound, unique to a cricket...