Sportblog | The Guardian — England in New Zealand 2019-20 RSS



Its time to admit that Joe Root should not be Englands Test captain | Barney Ronay

England have lost a great batsman in order to gain a poor captain. It doesnt make sense and the semi-honorific status of the Test captaincy needs to be looked atShall we have a debate about whether Joe Root should carry on as Englands Test captain? OK, Ill start. The answer is, no. Of course not. Time to give up, concentrate on being a brilliant batsman and give someone else a go. The end.Unfortunately a question this clear-cut does present some formal problems when it comes to writing a column. It is necessary at this point to whistle nonchalantly and glance down at the open white spaces below this line, like a man in a crowded lift staring with furious feigned...

Continue reading



Abuse of Jofra Archer a reminder that racism remains ingrained in cricket | Jonathan Liew

Perpetrators even within the game have been tolerated, indulged and celebrated so, yes, it is a problemJofra Archer has been an international cricketer for just over six months and has been racially abused twice. Those are just the two incidents we know about. As many people of colour will tell you, for every comment that comes to light, there will have been dozens more that go unheeded: ignored or shrugged off so as not to cause an unseemly fuss, internalised and rationalised as simply the price of doing business as a non-white athlete in 2019. Related: Jofra Archer says he was racially abused in England's defeat to New Zealand Related: England resistance ends as New Zealand wrap up crushing first...

Continue reading