World Cup hangover: England bowled out for 85 by impressive Ireland on day one at Lord’s July 24, 2019 After the ecstatic high, the crushing low. The dramatic nature of England’s first World Cup win lent itself to prolonged celebration, but after 10 days of jubilation the hangover hit hard at Lord’s, with Ireland arriving to break up the party and bring them back to earth with a bump. England’s Test batting has long [...]
‘It’s a powerful, symbolic moment’: Chief executive Warren Deutrom on Ireland’s Lord’s Test match against England July 23, 2019 Wednesday is a significant day for Irish cricket: a third Test match in the country’s history, a first against England, at the Home of Cricket, on television and in the midst of a swell of interest in the sport, thanks to a recently concluded World Cup and an approaching Ashes series. For Warren Deutrom the [...]
‘It’s not just a nostalgia trip’: The Edge director Barney Douglas on the deeper message behind his England cricket film July 18, 2019 Now is not a bad time to be releasing a film about England’s cricket team. With a remarkable World Cup win still fresh in the mind and a home Ashes series around the corner, Barney Douglas, director of The Edge, hopes his work can benefit from “the swell of cricket euphoria” gripping the country. The [...]
England cricket chiefs must build on the foundations laid by remarkable World Cup win July 15, 2019 In January the England and Wales Cricket Board released a 35-page document entitled Inspiring Generations, which set out the governing body’s five-year plan to drive youth participation and diversify cricket’s fan base. One of the six priorities outlined was to “inspire through elite teams”. Sunday’s remarkable events at Lord’s have handed the ECB an opportunity [...]
England beat New Zealand by the skin of their teeth in dramatic finale to win the Cricket World Cup July 14, 2019 There’s a cliche in sport which says you couldn’t write it. Generally that’s a fallacy: over thousands of games most situations have seen airtime. But the fashion in which England won the Cricket World Cup was something unique. It would be stretching the mind to conjure up the events which somehow came to pass in [...]
England put their aggressive mantra into practice to thrash Australia and reach the World Cup final July 11, 2019 It’s one thing to talk about positive intent, batting mantras and aggressive game-plans. It’s another to put them into practice on the biggest stage. Today England faced Australia, the most successful World Cup team in cricket history, who had never lost a semi-final in seven attempts – and they smashed them off the park to [...]
Chris Tremlett: England have what it takes to deal with the pressure and end this week with a World Cup July 10, 2019 New Zealand’s semi-final win over India today showed just how fine the margins are in knockout cricket. At the halfway stage not many would have backed them, but Kane Williamson and his side played the situation perfectly to reach Sunday’s final at Lord’s. Now all the attention turns to Edgbaston, where England face Australia tomorrow [...]
Australia v England: Semi-final balanced as World Cup knockout specialists face confident hosts playing at Fortress Edgbaston July 10, 2019 If they aren’t already, England and Australia are going to become very familiar with each other this summer. Having played twice already, and with the small matter of the Ashes edging ever closer, the two sides meet tomorrow in a Cricket World Cup semi-final. The match is an intriguing one, framed by two potentially decisive [...]
Cricket World Cup: Why England’s stars have got a blind spot for trademarks July 8, 2019 Cricket has evolved hugely in recent years both on and off the field and yet there is still one area in which it lags behind other sports. Trademarks may not seem an obvious priority, but given the commercial opportunities attached to sport’s biggest events and most prominent stars, cricket’s apparent reluctance to cash in stands [...]
Chris Tremlett: England could be peaking at the right time after coming through pressure situations July 3, 2019 What a difference a week makes. England have lifted the gloom that had begun to surround them following two poor performances by embracing the pressure and proving some people wrong. They got themselves into a position where they needed to win two World Cup matches and having come through them in impressive fashion, beating India [...]