Cricket Comment: Ditch Cook, but it won’t cure one-day misery September 3, 2014 WEDNESDAY was a sad day. In probably the most one-sided one-day international between top teams that I’ve ever seen, England were not just beaten but annihilated by India by nine wickets. It was embarrassing. A fresh low point in an already dreadful series has led to more pressure on Alastair Cook who, once again, faces [...]
Cricket Comment: Tormented Cook suddenly faces another must-win match August 28, 2014 AFTER the high of a Test series win, it’s been another week to forget for England captain Alastair Cook. Stinging public criticism from a former team-mate was followed by a thumping one-day defeat against India, and suddenly tomorrow’s next match has taken on must-win status. Graeme Swann may well have had a point when he [...]
Cricket Comment: India shake-up is no surprise as one-day series England’s to lose August 20, 2014 IN ALL sport winning is a habit and, though the personnel will be slightly different, the emphatic manner in which England won the Test series means it will be extremely hard for India to reverse that trend in the one-day series, which starts on Monday. England must be cock-a-hoop at the 3-1 Test series victory, [...]
Just how bad were India against England? India’s worst test cricket defeats in numbers August 18, 2014 Just how bad were India yesterday? Thousands of disappointed cricket fans with tickets to the fourth day that never was have had to rapidly conjure an idea better than work to fill their day today, as the final test between England and India ended early thanks to one of the worst capitulations in Indian [...]
We’ve got the best new-ball duo in Test cricket, says Cook August 14, 2014 ENGLAND skipper Alastair Cook insists the expected availability of seamer Stuart Broad for the fifth Test against India at the Oval means he will again be able to call upon two of the best new-ball exponents in world cricket. Broad took part in England’s training session yesterday sporting a splint on his nose, which was [...]
Cricket Comment: Reaching Ashes without loss is England target August 12, 2014 A THIRD successive Test victory this week to round off the series and beat India 3-1 at the Oval would be a terrific way for England to cap a transformative few weeks, but it’s not vital. Defeat would puncture a fragile feel-good factor that has developed, but a draw would still be enough to take [...]
Cricket Comment: England still facing uphill task to win series July 31, 2014 IMPRESSIVE though it was, yesterday marked England’s first victory for almost a year and talk of them now steamrolling India and winning the series is premature. Positives weren’t hard to come by, though, so let’s enjoy those first. Alastair Cook got big scores and won the match, and nobody is questioning his captaincy skills. He [...]
Spread betting on cricket July 24, 2014 IT’S NOT a great time for England captains at the moment. Steven Gerrard retired from international football duty earlier this week and now a large number of cricket fans wish Alastair Cook would do the same. Cook has been in woeful batting form of late, a 45 against Sir Lanka back in early June the [...]
Cricket Comment: Fear of failure crippling England means selectors must break cycle July 22, 2014 I DON’T want to hammer England’s selectors. They generally get it right. There is a huge gap between county and Test level and not everyone is able to bridge it, yet they tend to choose well. But they really must grasp the nettle right now and remove captain Alastair Cook. England cannot get any worse. [...]