‘Safe pair of hands’ Chris Silverwood brings continuity rather than innovation to England head coach role October 7, 2019 The appointment of Chris Silverwood as England’s new head coach is one which sees the England and Wales Cricket Board’s hierarchy backing continuity, rather than innovation. Silverwood has stepped up from his role of bowling coach, which he has performed for the last two years, to fill the shoes of Trevor Bayliss in an act [...]
The Hundred launch: Enthusiasm and confusion defines response to the ECB’s great hope October 3, 2019 The England and Wales Cricket Board’s great hope made its much-anticipated launch in a chilly warehouse on Brick Lane this morning. After a great deal of fanfare and a glitzy, clumsy marketing campaign The Hundred, a 100-ball competition with eight new franchises which begins next summer, took its first steps, full of optimism yet tinged [...]
Chris Tremlett: Exciting times ahead as England opt to blood youngsters on New Zealand tour October 2, 2019 The end of the domestic cricket season has come and as the nights draw in I must congratulate Essex on a well deserved win in the County Championship. Somerset started the campaign like a train, but Essex were simply more consistent, losing just one game all season to their competitors’ three. Rain proved to be [...]
Ben Stokes and Steve Smith’s redemption stories offer sponsors an alternative to virtue signalling September 23, 2019 The dust may have settled on an exhilarating Ashes series that saw Australia retain the urn, but for the sponsors of each team’s star player it is just the beginning of what will likely become an increasingly lucrative relationship. Steve Smith was almost single-handedly responsible for preventing England from reclaiming the urn, while Ben Stokes [...]
Chris Tremlett: Graham Thorpe can succeed Trevor Bayliss but tactics and selection are more important than new coach September 18, 2019 England’s win in the final Test at the Oval on Sunday may not have made a difference to the destination of the Ashes, but in other ways it still had a profound effect. It ensured they ended the summer on a positive note, with a different feeling, and reminded everyone just what they are capable [...]
England 2-2 Australia: Joe Root leads hosts to victory at The Oval to draw the Ashes September 15, 2019 England have produced two draws this summer, and while the first might ultimately be looked back on more fondly as it brought a trophy, the second carries plenty of meaning too. In July England won the World Cup without winning the final in normal time. Today they lost the Ashes despite not losing the series. [...]
England’s horror film batting makes a mockery of The Oval’s pleasant conditions to spurn fifth Test opportunity September 12, 2019 Many horror films begin with an opening period of calm serenity. A group of fresh-faced innocence teenagers go to a cabin by a lake. A family check into a remote, eerie, cobweb-filled mansion. A group of friends head off on a road trip across the barren countryside. Initially the characters go about their lives with [...]
World Cup winner but Ashes failure: Trevor Bayliss leaves England with lopsided legacy September 11, 2019 Tomorrow’s final Ashes Test match at The Oval marks the end of Trevor Bayliss’s four-year tenure in charge of England and, naturally enough, the landmark has prompted an assessment of his body of work. The man himself rates his time in charge as a five out of 10 – a straight-down-the-middle judgement which is fairly [...]
England must press the reset button and use their Ashes disappointment to drive a new era September 9, 2019 Not so long ago England were the best Test cricket side in the world. The story of how they went from world No7 in 2009 to the summit just over two years later has been retold recently, first through the gripping film The Edge and now with the release of former England captain Alastair Cook’s [...]
England can’t have any complaints, Australia have been the better side from day one and thoroughly deserve to win the Ashes September 8, 2019 It’s a shame that England are ending an incredible summer on a disappointing note but there can’t be any debate that Australia 100 per cent deserve to win this Ashes series. They have been the best side from day one. Having won at Edgbaston, they dominated the second Test at Lord’s, where they would have [...]