One-day success, Ashes revenge and Alastair Cook: My 2017 predictions January 4, 2017 ICC Champions Trophy June’s tournament is being staged in this country and England and have been drawn in Group A alongside Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand. The hosts are a strong side in their own conditions and have been playing some really impressive one-day cricket over the past 18 months or so, scoring in excess [...]
MS Dhoni quits as India one-day and Twenty20 captain just 11 days before England series January 4, 2017 India are set to have a new skipper for this month’s limited-overs contests against England after MS Dhoni relinquished his captaincy of the one-day and Twenty20 sides. Dhoni, 35, resigned after almost a decade of success at the helm in which he led India to an unprecedented hat-trick of World Twenty20, World Cup and ICC [...]
Jonny Bairstow, that World Twenty20 final and Virat Kohli: Chris Tremlett’s guide to the best of 2016 December 21, 2016 England player of the year It took Jonny Bairstow a while to find his feet in Test cricket but he has dug England out of trouble on many occasions this year. The 27-year-old didn’t score a century in his first 21 Tests but racked up three during 2016 as well as eight half centuries. He [...]
Calls for Alastair Cook to quit as Test skipper after latest England flop December 20, 2016 England skipper Alastair Cook insists he will take time to consider his future after conceding that stagnation has crept into the side this year as the harrowing series in India climaxed with another spectacular implosion. The tourists were hammered by an innings and 75 runs after being dismissed for 207 as India completed a 4-0 series [...]
Trevor Bayliss won’t try to influence Alastair Cook as England captain ponders future in wake of difficult India Test series December 19, 2016 England head coach Trevor Bayliss insists he will not attempt to influence Alastair Cook’s decision whether to stay on as captain as their dispiriting Test series in India nears its climax. The tourists must bat out the final day of the fifth Test in Chennai on Tuesday to avoid a 4-0 defeat after India amassed 759-7 [...]
England facing fight to avoid fourth defeat in a row after KL Rahul’s 199 puts India in control on day three of final Test in Chennai December 18, 2016 England all-rounder Ben Stokes struck a resigned note after opener KL Rahul’s 199 put India into another commanding position on the third day of the fifth and final Test in Chennai. The tourists for once neutralised India captain Virat Kohli, only for Rahul to conjure his own mammoth knock and usher the hosts to 391-4, [...]
Alastair Cook asks beleaguered England for one final push as Liam Dawson is primed for Test debut December 15, 2016 England skipper Alastair Cook has vowed to restore some pride as his side bid to escape from the fifth and series-concluding Test with India, which starts in Chennai on Friday, unscathed. The tourists trail the world’s No1-ranked Test side 3-0 following a long and arduous tour, while Cook continues to be dogged by constant speculation over [...]
The doom-mongers are wrong, it’s not all gloomy for England December 14, 2016 There seems to be quite a lot of negativity being written and spoken about English cricket at the moment and quite honestly a lot of it is a load of rubbish. Yes, England have been hammered by India and defeat in Mumbai was their seventh Test loss of 2016. A further setback during the fifth [...]
Constant speculation over Alastair Cook’s future as skipper is “pain in the backside”, says Trevor Bayliss December 13, 2016 England head coach Trevor Bayliss has labelled fervent speculation over the future of Alastair Cook as Test captain as a “pain in the backside”. Cook confirmed in the wake of his side’s thrashing by India in the fourth Test in Mumbai that the scale of defeat, which gave the hosts a 3-0 series lead, inevitably [...]
Alastair Cook to consider future as England captain after talking up readiness of Joe Root to lead and India drubbing December 12, 2016 England skipper Alastair Cook admits the severity of his side’s hammering during the fourth Test in Mumbai and series drubbing against India will force him to consider his future as captain. Cook, who has led England since 2012, plans to hold talks with director of cricket Andrew Strauss in the New Year and, should he [...]