England veteran showed undimmed resolve in his 157th Test to wring out three cheap wickets in tough bowling conditions Here he comes again then, running in from the Fort End, a flat and disobliging pitch underneath, and a new ball to work with. This is Jimmy Anderson’s 19th year in Test cricket, and his 157th Test, not that any of that seems to make much difference. As his teammate Mark Wood said at the end of the day, Anderson seems to be bowling just as well as ever. This is his fifth tour of Sri LankaHe came here when he was a kid in 2003, for his first Test overseas, and got carted around the SSC, again in 2007, a...
The unorthodox spinner may always attract criticism but against Sri Lanka he has shown the value of his turbulent styleDom Bess is at school. He’s reading out loud in class. He’s never been the most gifted of students, but he tries hard and desperately wants to do well. But now – for some reason – the words aren’t coming out. His classmates snigger. His teacher tells him to keep going. Still the words refuse to come. There’s no escape. Breath quickening, cheeks burning with embarrassment and wet with tears, Bess breaks down.A few years later, Bess and his girlfriend are in Ikea looking at sofas for their new home. His phone rings. It’s Ed Smith, England’s national selector. Bess may...
While the locals lament the Barmy Army’s absence – aside from the odd hardy specimen – the tourists are getting on exceptionally well Galle has been a real fortress of Sri Lankan cricket. The heat, rank turners and some fine spin bowlers have ensured visiting teams last barely three days in a Test match here. England fans, though, have been attending in numbers for nearly two decades since the ground became an international venue. More in hope than conviction that their team will do well, the Barmy Army turns up just to have a good time. You would rather spend the winter in Galle, where the temperature is 35C, than ,at Nomansland in Devon or Bishop’s Itchington in Warwickshire where...
Only after being thrashed at the Oval in 1998 have England stopped treating their Test rivals this month as underdogs – but all subsequent series have been played on equal footingFrom this distance it seems to have been a tricky little start to the tour of Sri Lanka, where England spent three days locked up inside their hotel rooms, then had one half of their only warm-up game washed out by rain. Still, Joe Root has handled these little challenges with more grace, and good humour, than some of his predecessors did. Related: Joe Root backs England's patient approach to bring success in Sri Lanka Continue reading...
If England beat Sri Lanka it will help widen the gap between the top four and the restIt is not really the rain that is haunting the organisers of this World Cup; it is the results. England are about to play the 27th match at Leeds against Sri Lanka in a tournament that has 45 league matches before advancing to the semi-finals.Mathematically just about anything is still possible though Afghanistan would have to beat India on Sunday and win the rest of their games to have the slenderest chance of qualifying. Realistically it is hard to see how any team is going to displace the current top four – and the semi-finals are still over a fortnight away. Continue reading...