Strange things happen at this ground and, despite a sensible strategy after winning the toss, India fell apart in the third TestIt’s 11.23am and Virat Kohli is jogging down the Headingley steps. The sky is a watery grey, the air is thick with cheers and boos and India are four for two. In his 15-year career as a batter and captain, Kohli has pretty much seen it all. He has played international cricket in 17 countries, overcome adversity of every sort, faced down every kind of challenge in every format. But he has never won the toss at Headingley before.Maybe this matters, and maybe it doesn’t. But there’s something about this place that seems to play tricks on the mind....
Strange things happen at this ground and, despite a sensible strategy after winning the toss, India fell apart in the third TestIt’s 11.23am and Virat Kohli is jogging down the Headingley steps. The sky is a watery grey, the air is thick with cheers and boos and India are four for two. In his 15-year career as a batter and captain, Kohli has pretty much seen it all. He’s played international cricket in 17 countries, overcome adversity of every sort, faced down every kind of challenge in every format. But he’s never won the toss at Headingley before. Related: Anderson cuts through India before Burns and Hameed prosper for England Continue reading...
As drama plays out on the field, the experience of Azeem Rafiq highlights a glaring failure to combat institutional racismFailure tastes like the bathroom floor after a night out. It floods like a blush from the ears to the fingertips, sending you burrowing for sanctuary. It haunts, pouncing in the night. But what turns misfortune into something far worse? What if it is just the vagaries of luck? A momentary lapse of concentration? Who decides what, and who has failed?Is failure winning the toss – at last – in overcast conditions at Headingley and choosing to bat, and then being bowled out for 78, India’s ninth-lowest total in history? Continue reading...
As drama plays out on the field, the experience of Azeem Rafiq highlights a glaring failure to combat institutional racismFailure tastes like the bathroom floor after a night out. It floods like a blush from the ears to the fingertips, sending you burrowing for sanctuary. It haunts, pouncing in the night. But what turns misfortune into something far worse? What if it is just the vagaries of luck? A momentary lapse of concentration? Who decides what, and who, has failed? Related: England’s cricketers privately query £2.1m bonus for ECB executives Related: Azeem Rafiq: ‘It brings back a lot of hurt to be around cricket people’ Continue reading...
Much has been made of their gamesmanship but the tourists exercised smart tactics and had 11 potential matchwinnersIt is said that you cannot win a Test match in one hour but that you can certainly lose one in the same period. If that is true, England proved that you cannot win a Test match with aggression alone but you can certainly lose one through mindless aggro in a red-mist session.The most remarkable thing about India’s win at Lord’s earlier this week was that it was not one freakish innings or spell that turned a losing position into a winning one. Barring the 89-run stand between Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, aided and abetted by England’s tactics, the game was won...