Since Ben Stokes took over as captain, the Test side have had all the answers, but there are difficult questions to come in 2023I’ve just been to India with the cricketers from Harrow school, where I coach. There are some very strong players and a bit of depth in the first-team squad at the moment, which means I am lucky enough to be able to rotate players around.I always encourage young players to be all-rounders – you want athletic cricketers who hopefully can contribute with the bat, the ball and in the field – and recently the talent and flexibility in the squad has given me the latitude I need to mix up the side and give more people opportunities....
The idea that defeat would be acceptable as long as we gave it a go never got anywhere near any team I played inDuring the summer, as the Test side being reshaped by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum found immediate success on home soil, there was very much a feeling among knowledgeable cricket people that come their first trip abroad conditions in Pakistan would present much more of a challenge. But this team continues to write their own script, ignoring the conventions of the game, and even the flattest of pitches in Rawalpindi could not restrain them.I have never seen such total alignment between a head coach, his captain, and the managing director, Rob Key, who selected them. I think...
In the end, players who have previously been marginalised, sidelined and discarded came good at just the right timeAfter days of dire forecasts, it was unexpected to even have a T20 World Cup final. Angry cartoon thunderstorms failed to deliver on a night that felt warm and humid enough to bring them on. India supporters had expected to see their team but their semi-final knockout didn’t have the expected hit on crowds, with more than 80,000 still in attendance at Melbourne’s giant arena. As Pakistan fans filed out, post-match presentations offered a manufactured euphoria of ascending Coldplay choruses while gold glitter covered the grass, shimmering like a fleeting nightclub dream. The real euphoria was among the England squad, whose podium...
Coach’s law of nature speech highlights take-as-it-comes approach which has helped propel unlikely run to final“The mistake they make,” Harold Pinter said, “is to attempt to determine and calculate, with the finest instruments, the source of the wound”. He wasn’t talking about cricket (that time) but the words still come to mind watching Pakistan play in this T20 World Cup.Six weeks or so ago, they hammered England by 10 wickets in a Twenty20 match in Karachi. The mood in the stadium after the game that evening was giddy, even a little delirious. A day later, England beat them back, badly, in a 63-run victory that was settled 20 minutes into the second innings and of course the mood changed too....
High security for England’s tour is costing the PCB which is the only board denied huge TV revenues generated by facing IndiaYou may have noticed that there are side-effects to watching England’s series against Pakistan. Some are obvious, like a nascent infatuation with Harry Brook’s inside-out drives. Others, though, are less so. You may experience a nagging urge to switch to Sensodyne toothpaste “because life’s too short for sensitive teeth”, drink Tapal Tea, “it makes teatime terrific”, or start using Osaka Tubular Deep Cycle Premium Batteries. You may even find yourself overcome with inexplicable curiosity about the latest Dawlance Power Wash Challenge, in which members of the public compete on rowing machines to win a washing machine.It’s easy to snigger...