Chris Tremlett: Competition for places among England’s bowlers puts them in excellent position for the World Cup February 20, 2019 With 99 days to go until the World Cup England are looking very settled as a side. Eoin Morgan’s team are in the Caribbean for a five-match one-day series which will hopefully build more confidence ahead of the opening game against South Africa at The Oval on 30 May. The batting order is pretty much set [...]
Paul Farbrace’s badly-timed departure leaves England with more decisions to make in crucial year February 17, 2019 “There is never a great time to leave an international set-up,” said Paul Farbrace on Saturday after announcing his decision to depart his role as England’s assistant coach to join Warwickshire as sporting director. Farbrace is right, but his timing, ahead of what he calls “a fantastic summer for English cricket”, is particularly inconvenient with [...]
Chris Tremlett: Mark Wood’s fiery return against West Indies showed England’s need for speed February 13, 2019 Mark Wood’s return to the England Test side was brilliant to see. It’s been a long time since we saw such a spell of fiery fast bowling and it was both hugely enjoyable and hugely effective. Wood took career-best figures of 5-41 in the first innings of the final match in the West Indies this [...]
England’s top three batsmen still up in the air for this summer’s Ashes following inconclusive West Indies series February 13, 2019 Only one Test match now stands between England and the start of this summer’s Ashes. Despite having just spent the last three weeks playing that very format in the Caribbean, they are no closer to solving their perennial problem. The phrase “first name on the team sheet” is a common one in sport; right now [...]
Chris Tremlett: England can’t hide behind the excuse their batsmen are naturally aggressive – they need to learn to adapt February 6, 2019 England have been hugely disappointing against West Indies. Having arrived full of confidence they begin the final Test this weekend with the aim of simply trying to salvage something. After such a poor opening Test in Barbados they were once again out-played and out-thought in every department in Antigua to surrender the series 2-0. Credit [...]
England’s relentlessly reinforced positive approach is partly to blame for their disastrous collapses in Test matches February 4, 2019 Positive. Aggressive. Competitive. Destructive. Dynamic. These are the adjectives which are supposed to define England 2.0, the one shaped by former director of cricket Andrew Strauss, selector Ed Smith, head coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Joe Root. These are the words you can imagine floating around in the blue-sky thinking sessions within the walls of [...]
Chris Tremlett: Joe Denly has a fantastic opportunity – he must grasp it to stake a claim in England’s batting line-up January 30, 2019 After the horrendous defeat in Barbados there were bound to be changes for England’s second Test against West Indies in Antigua, but I was still a bit surprised to see Keaton Jennings dropped. I thought his unbeaten 146 against Sri Lanka in November might have bought Jennings a bit more time at the top of [...]
Trouble in paradise: England facing familiar problems with brittle batting after 381-run thrashing by West Indies January 27, 2019 The start of England’s opening Test match against the West Indies in Barbados on Wednesday was dominated by discussion around the tourists’ selection. How would the pitch play? Did they really need two spinners? Should Stuart Broad be in the side? By Saturday evening those debates seemed irrelevant and a lifetime away. A completely inept [...]
Chris Tremlett: Sam Curran deserves his place in England’s Test side despite tough first day in Barbados January 23, 2019 England had a difficult decision to make before play even got under way in the first Test against the West Indies in Barbados today. They delayed their team selection until the latest possible moment so captain Joe Root could have a good look at the Kensington Oval pitch. Reading conditions and the wicket is a [...]
West Indies v England preview: Hosts beset by off-the-field problems ahead of Test opener January 21, 2019 As well as with the idyllic Caribbean landscape, England begin their Test series against the West Indies on Wednesday against a backdrop of stark contrasts. While Joe Root’s side are looking up from their position of No3 in the world rankings following a positive run of results and the hosts languish in eighth, it is off [...]