Australia opener’s century and mad axeman’s charge lit up a fine game but the World Cup has not been designed to thrillThe rain was interrupted by a cricket match on Wednesday, rather a good one actually, and played right through without the umpires even having to look heavenwards.Nonetheless, painterly clouds hung constantly over the Quantock Hills and a chill blew off them, suggesting this bout of traditional English summer weather is not going far away soon. I was grateful for the Quantocks, and the clouds. Otherwise I might have had no idea I was in Taunton. Related: Mitchell Starc sinks Pakistan’s pursuit of Australia after David Warner century Related: Michael Holding responds to ICC ‘censorship’ after criticising umpires Continue reading...
The win over South Africa could not have gone much better for England – and that catch galvanised an unexpected amount of interest in the Cricket World CupIt was not only the England team who were grateful to Ben Stokes in the victory over South Africa. So was everyone in the offices of the England and Wales Cricket Board, which is eager to promote this “once in a generation opportunity”.The board can – and has – contrived lots of well-meaning gimmickry in an effort to galvanise interest in the 2019 World Cup. But all of its efforts were utterly outstripped by the eight-second clip shown on Thursday’s Ten O’Clock News of Stokes taking that catch to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo on...
Victory for England, fireworks from Chris Gayle and a Sri Lankan meltdown: our pundits set out their forecasts for a month and a half of ODIsVic Marks Australia. England may have the batsmen but Australia, if they’re fit and firing, have the bowlers in Starc and Cummins, plus a highly motivated Warner and Smith. Two other reasons: they have won five out of 11 World Cups. I’m usually wrong. Related: Boos, hairbands and Cricket World Cup predictions – The Spin podcast Related: West Indies' Jason Holder: ‘Hopefully we can bring the people of the region closer’ Related: The Spin | A brief history of the Cricket World Cup Related: Gareth Batty’s guide to the Cricket World Cup grounds Related: The...
These are early days in the players’ careers but there is already evidence they possess the requisite talent, technique and temperament to push for promotionsThere may be a couple of imposters in this Test series who go by the names of Shadab Khan and Dominic Bess. They have broken into their respective teams purporting to be spin bowlers but, fiendishly, they appear to have designs on being proper batsmen.It is a path well-trodden, of course, with two modern examples in Steve Smith of Australia and England’s Kevin Pietersen. The former transformed from jokey leg‑spinner to the world’s No 1 batsman – albeit banned at present – while the latter began life sending down off-breaks in South Africa before realising his talents lay elsewhere....
Bowler took advantage of classic Leeds conditions with three Pakistan wickets in a display that defied talk of Test omissionAs a wily old pro Stuart Broad has long since learned to deal with the ups and downs that come with being a subject of critique. But after the captain who handed him his Test cap 10 years ago called for him during the week to be dropped he was not going to let it lie. Related: Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson put England on top against Pakistan Related: England v Pakistan: second Test, day one – live! Continue reading...