Chris Tremlett: Why Zak Crawley’s double century was my cricket highlight of 2020 December 22, 2020 How a player starts their international career can be defining, so my cricket highlight of 2020 was a young man laying down a marker. Zak Crawley’s double century for England in the third Test against the West Indies during the summer was really impressive. A performance like that should fill the 22-year-old Kent batsman with [...]
Cricket stars Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent given Freedom of the City of London December 15, 2020 Cricket stars Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent have been awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Former West Indies fast bowler Holding, 66, and Rainford-Brent, 36, the first black woman to play for England, are being recognised for their anti-racism advocacy as well as their sporting achievements. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the pair will [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: ATP Tour omits Alexander Zverev from new campaign, Bundesliga courts private equity, Matchroom signs Campbell Hatton December 10, 2020 The ATP Tour launched its new marketing campaign this week, and tennis fans didn’t need Hawk-Eye to notice there was someone missing. Stars of the men’s circuit Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal naturally featured prominently in the promotional material. So did some less well-known names, including world No34 Hubert Hurkacz, No37 Jannik Sinner [...]
Successful Indian Premier League 2020 underlines that competition remains king December 3, 2020 Cricket’s Indian Premier League ended with the Mumbai Indians beating the Delhi Capitals in a rather one-sided and lacklustre final last month. Yet while the showpiece event failed to deliver, it couldn’t take the gloss off a remarkably successful tournament in the UAE. Uday Shankar, president of Disney Asia Pacific, which owns broadcaster Star Sports, [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Yashenkov makes fan pledge ahead of election; global golf tour moves step closer; and Cazoo trumpets Hundred deal December 3, 2020 It’s a big weekend for rugby in Europe, and not just because of the final round of Autumn Nations Cup fixtures. On Friday, Russian challenger Kirill Yashenkov is hoping to topple incumbent Octavian Morariu and be named president of Rugby Europe. Yashenkov has vowed to double the organisation’s budget and create more opportunities for elite [...]
Chris Tremlett: England and Dawid Malan soar to new heights in T20 series whitewash of South Africa December 2, 2020 England, inspired by Dawid Malan in phenomenal form, overpowered South Africa in the Twenty20 series that finished yesterday. As expected, they looked a class above the hosts and used all of their experience to overpower them with their batting. South Africa weren’t bad at all and showed fight, but it was a comprehensive 3-0 victory [...]
From today: With Archer on form, England can show they’re the Twenty20 team to beat in South Africa November 27, 2020 I’m looking forward to seeing England in South Africa over the next fortnight, with a three-match Twenty20 series up first. This is about building for next year’s World T20 and, on paper, I’d certainly pick the tourists as favourites for the series, which starts in Cape Town on Friday. With fans still absent it’s not [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Cricket meets hip-hop; Germany exports VAR; and the ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’ goes global November 19, 2020 Cricket and hip-hop aren’t obvious bedfellows but they cosied up this week when South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi joined Jay-Z’s talent stable Roc Nation. Ngidi, South Africa’s player of the year in one-day and T20 internationals, is the first cricketer to sign with Roc Nation Sports. Roc Nation has snapped up mostly American athletes, [...]
English cricket fans set to be welcomed back to grounds for full summer of international action November 18, 2020 English cricket chiefs have announced a full programme of international action — with fans in attendance — for next summer. England’s men’s will play India in a five-Test series starting August, following white-ball matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The women’s side will host one-day and Twenty20 series with South Africa and New Zealand, while [...]
Coronavirus: The County Championship might have to be sacrificed this summer for good of the game, says Angus Fraser March 26, 2020 The County Championship might have to be sacrificed this summer so that domestic cricket can come out of the coronavirus pandemic in the strongest possible position, according to Middlesex’s managing director of cricket Angus Fraser. The start of the cricket season has been pushed back from 12 April to 28 May at the earliest by [...]