Series victory against India was a fillip as was Joe Root’s century but who opens the batting in Sri Lanka is no clearerThe players deserve their rest after a whirlwind five-Test series completed in record time, which has enchanted those able to watch it. The margin of victory, 4-1, compared with 3-1 in 2014, is a bit of a puzzle since India competed far better this time around, especially when the ball was in the hands of their pacemen and the bat in the hands of their captain, Virat Kohli. But by the Oval both those parties had run out of steam.In at least two Tests the outcome was in doubt during the final innings. As a consequence the cricket...
Rashid had had a fruitless series until he dismissed both centurions to trigger England’s final canter to Test victoryEarly on this final day, when it looked as if the fifth Test would drift rather than sprint towards its likely outcome, the idea of filing a column with some series awards had begun to take shape. Adil Rashid was up for at least one. Perhaps Rashid might get Best Walking Around for his “invisible” game at Lord’s, where he walked close to 10 miles from midwicket to deep fine-leg without taking a catch, bowling a ball or batting. He might even have been an outside shot for the coveted Strangest Selection, given his recurrent inactivity and the rage generated in Yorkshire...
England opener is certain to tour this autumn, thanks to selector Ed Smith’s belief that there are better days aheadAt lunchtime of the third day of this Test Ed Smith appeared on BBC Test Match Special and suggested Keaton Jennings would be going with England to Sri Lanka to play in the autumn Test series. England would not want to go with two new openers, Smith said, bearing in mind Alastair Cook’s imminent retirement. To which the most reasonable answer might have been: of course not, you’ll want three of them at the very least.In the process England’s chief selector confirmed two things. First, Jennings is clearly one of the luckiest cricketers ever to spend the large part of two...
If the selectors were taking a gamble back in May they have been vindicated by the resultsWelcome, once again, to the summer of Jos. At five minutes past two, with the skies still bruised and grey, Jos Buttler produced one of those extraordinary shots, where suddenly the basic rules of batting seem to turn a little goofy and sozzled.It came at just the right time too. England had crawled and then cantered their way to 317 for nine in the first innings of this final Test, driven there by Buttler’s resistance alongside Stuart Broad, who batted with tenacity and skill in the morning, only briefly switching into doomed drunken-scarecrow mode just before lunch. Related: Jimmy Anderson facing dissent fine after...
Former captain shares season-best opening stand of 60 and goes on to make 71 in the first innings of his 161st and final TestIt was the sound of Alastair Cook leaving the crease at the Kia Oval that you really noticed. There were three parts to it. First was the weird, involuntary groan as Jasprit Bumrah rushed a ball through Cook’s defences to splay the stumps. It was 4.22pm. Cook had nudged and cuffed and occasionally flashed his way to an autumnal half century on one of those sunny, steady opener’s days where the game is still crisp and starchily in order, there to be tickled into shape, and where, briefly, anything seems possible.Bumrah has been the best of India’s...