Ashes hero Swann came close to quitting cricket October 22, 2009 ENGLAND Ashes hero Graeme Swann has admitted he was on the brink of quitting the game during a seven-year spell in the international wilderness. Swann fell out of favour with coach Duncan Fletcher after oversleeping and missing the team bus on his first England tour, the 1999-2000 trip to South Africa. It was not until [...]
Heroes of sport that touched England’s great cricket legend October 21, 2009 MY SPORTING HEROESBY IAN BOTHAMMainstream, £18.99 WHEN AN icon such as Sir Ian Botham lists you among his sporting heroes, then you know you have a story to tell. Fresh from the success of his 2007 autobiography Head On, England’s finest all-round cricketer is back with My Sporting Heroes – a light-hearted look at the [...]
Test cricket has priority, says Strauss May 13, 2009 ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss last night hit back at West Indian counterpart Chris Gayle insisting Test cricket should remain the most important form of the game. Strauss sparked the row in the build-up to the first Test at Lord’s last week, criticising Gayle for joining his West Indies team-mates just two days before the series [...]
Centurion De Villiers spurred on by Headingley jeers July 21, 2008 AB de Villiers insisted he was motivated by the boos of the home crowd as he batted the tourists into a commanding position in the second Test against England. The South African hero was jeered by the Headingley fans after claiming a slip catch off Andrew Strauss on the opening day, despite clearly spilling it [...]
Bowling duo face late tests but Flintoff gets the nod July 18, 2008 England will assess the fitness of seam duo Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson before deciding who to leave out for the second Test against South Africa this morning. Andrew Flintoff has been guaranteed his first Test cap since January 2007 but selectors are holding out on naming the XI until they know the fitness of [...]
EPL heralds English Twenty20 shake-up July 17, 2008 A long-awaited English Premier League comprising all 18 first-class counties and two overseas teams will begin in 2010, as part of a radical overhaul of the domestic game. The new competition, which will take place in June and consist of two divisions of 10 teams, was announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) [...]
Flintoff gets the nod for Test return July 15, 2008 Andrew Flintoff is expected to make his England return at Headingley on Friday after being given the all-clear by medics. The all-rounder has not played a Test since the final Ashes match in Sydney in January 2007 after suffering an occurrence to his ankle injury. But the 30-year-old has performed well with both bat and [...]
It’s round one to England despite sleepy Lord’s opener July 15, 2008 Although the scoreboard will suggest the first Test petered out into a tame draw, I suspect England will be the team taking the more positives to Headingley for the start of the second Test on Friday. For the first time in quite a while we have seen England pile on almost 600 runs in their [...]
Smith frustrates England as defiant Proteas scent draw July 14, 2008 England will this morning redouble their efforts to seal victory in the first Test after South Africa produced a defiant performance to force the match into the final day at Lord’s. Having dismissed the tourists for 247 on Saturday and forced the follow-on, England were confident of getting the four-Test series off to a winning [...]
England batsmen fail again November 2, 2005 England will do well to avoid defeat in their opening tour match in Pakistan this morning. They will resume on the final day of three on 39 for six — a lead of just 84 runs. Although the tourists’ bowlers performed well on a misbehaving wicket, England suffered a second successive batting collapse. Andrew Strauss, [...]