The England captain’s carefully plotted rise is a reflection of the ECB’s central planning but cricket’s fragmentation into different leagues and franchises may bring that era to a closeWhen he was 15 Joe Root drew a sketch of a cricket stadium and wrote on it, “today was the day I realised I would become a world-class batsman”. He still has that picture. Presumably he keeps it somewhere special, only bringing it out now and then, maybe when he’s doing an interview.You may have read the novel A Confederacy Of Dunces, in which John Kennedy Toole’s furiously hopeless anti-hero Ignatius J Reilly spends some of his spare time going to the cheesiest, schmaltziest romantic movie matinees in downtown New Orleans in...
Selectors have plenty to ponder for Australia with batting issues, such as whether Joe Root will come in at No3, and a fast- bowling pack lacking varietyThe handbrake on Ashes speculation has been released with the conclusion of the Test series against West Indies. This may not be a good thing but it is inevitable. Even Trevor Bayliss, usually so wary about looking too far ahead, seems eager to enter the fray with observations about who he would prefer to bat at three and the likely provenance of the tour party. After the Lord’s Test he said the squad was likely to comprise only players chosen in the past 18 months, which is bad news for any blind-side runners around...
Final Test of England’s summer carries greater interest than may have been anticipated, with hosts’ inexperienced batsmen under scrutiny and West Indies’ expectations raised after their Headingley heroicsThe final Test of the summer is upon us on Thursday and, glory be, it is still possible to skip down St John’s Wood Road with a sense of eager anticipation. That happy scenario was beyond most people’s expectation when they first studied the fixture list.The assumption was that all the significant Test cricket would be done by now and the focus would be on the scrap for tour places for Australia. The second tourists of the summer, ranked ninth in the International Cricket Council’s table, would not be able to cope. But, as...
England captain went for the win in second Test but played into West Indies’ hands while displaying an overreliance on Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson“Same squad, different performance” is the message from the selectors after England’s startling defeat at Headingley. With surprising speed they announced the same 13 names in their squad for the decisive Lord’s Test against West Indies, which starts next Thursday. The most relieved man will be Tom Westley, who failed twice in Leeds, an outcome that inevitably reduces his chances of making the squad for Australia.The Lord’s Test has everyone salivating after West Indies’ brilliant five‑wicket triumph, which leaves the series level at 1-1. Indeed within 24 hours Test cricket around the world has been given...
West Indies’ struggles show the problem with the big three’s grab for resources, while teams generally struggle to battle back in matches these days. Joe Root will be happy, thoughFor anyone who lived through the period of domination by West Indies, which lasted about 15 years from 1976, a certain amount of self-pinching has to be done on the eve of a Test match. Yes, we do really yearn for West Indies somehow to find the resolve, the skill and the luck to ensure a good contest at Leeds.Shrewd Yorkshire folk have already come to their conclusion. The ticket sales for the first three days of the Headingley Test are healthy enough. Beyond that no one is prepared to commit...