Before he was caught in the T20 World Cup semi-final off a ball he didn’t hit, the Australia opener proved his mettleIn the end, the story didn’t entirely deliver for David Warner. But in the end, it delivered enough. For what has felt like so long in the compressed world of short-course cricket, Australia’s opening bat has been out of form, out of runs, out of time, and eventually just out. The one thing he hasn’t been is out of patience. Warner’s reservoir of self-belief is profound enough to hide Loch Ness’s secrets. When he faces a struggle, he endures it until it passes. As he has creaked and stuttered after a couple of difficult stints in the IPL, he...
The unspoken, unexamined decision of the Indian Premier League to ignore one country has turned the dressing room into a proxy battlefield, the auction into a theatre of warLast week, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced it is in the process of organising the first official England tour of Pakistan in 15 years. This is, self‑evidently, the right thing to do. Since England’s last visit in 2005-06, Pakistan have toured this country eight times for various tournaments and series. From the ECB’s perspective, their decision to brave the pandemic and send a team this summer may well have proven the difference between financial ruin and mere recession.And so naturally the decision to consider the possibility of maybe, potentially, exploring...
Not since 2005 has the ECB sent a touring team to the country but it is hard to see how they can decline this invitationThe likelihood of England’s cricketers participating in a tour of Pakistan for the first time in more than 15 years is now strong. Wasim Khan, the chief executive of the Pakistan Board, sent his invitation on 12 October, which has been welcomed with all the usual provisos by the England and Wales Cricket Board.However, a situation has been reached where it is very hard to see how the ECB can decline that offer barring unforeseen developments (of which there have, admittedly, been a disturbing number of late). Related: ECB reveals new County Championship structure and South...
What did England discover in this series? That their 85mph seamers play well in home conditions?So there we have it. A Test summer billed as English cricket’s financial salvation, organised at considerable expense and to a staggering degree of logistical precision. A summer, too, in which England would seek to hone an attack that could lead them to victory overseas. It was with a certain bemusement, then, and not a little anticlimax, that shortly after 5.30pm a global television audience was treated to the sight of Dom Sibley jogging in to bowl his club-level leg-spin. Related: Jimmy Anderson reaches the magical 600 and Pakistan bat out for a draw The low-flying debate over Archer’s best role for England has often...
In the constant chaos of Pakistan cricket the captain and head coach have instilled defiance and promiseA couple of weeks ago the world of Pakistani cricket was rocked – OK, mildly nudged – by the latest incendiary YouTube post by Javed Miandad, the 63‑year‑old legendary former Pakistan captain. Raging at Imran Khan, his former teammate and now the country’s prime minister, Miandad fumed: “You act like God now. You have no idea of what is happening in the country. You don’t care about the country. The board has ignorant people in it who don’t know the basics of cricket. I say to the people of Pakistan – rise up!”Over the weekend, Miandad executed an abrupt volte-face. “If I have offended...