England have the spin options to be successful in Sri Lanka once again and climb the Test Championship table March 4, 2020 England flew out to Sri Lanka on Monday ahead of their upcoming Test tour of the country, which will have an added significance. The World Test Championship may have started on 1 August last year but it has only now started to come into focus for those competing in it. Having won five of their [...]
England have entered a new era and have a good chance of challenging Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup February 19, 2020 England begin their Women’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign against South Africa on Sunday and it is an exciting time for the side. Many of the faces remain the same but they have a new head coach in charge after Lisa Keightley replaced Mark Robinson in January. Although Keightley is familiar to many, having previously been [...]
Ben Foakes deserves an extended run as wicket-keeper in England’s Test side after being picked for Sri Lanka tour February 12, 2020 England may still be in South Africa, but the squad for their tour of Sri Lanka was named on Tuesday and the series isn’t far away. The team will fly out next month ahead of the first Test on 19 March and the 16-man squad features some interesting calls. I am happy to see Ben [...]
Defeat in the first ODI against South Africa is not worrying – England are working towards bigger goals February 5, 2020 England’s seven-wicket defeat by South Africa in the first One-Day International on Tuesday caused a bit of a stir, but I don’t think there is anything to worry about. With the Twenty20 World Cup approaching later this year and improvement in the Test arena an ongoing priority, ODIs have understandably taken a back seat for [...]
Mark Wood’s comeback from injury shows the strength in depth England’s bowling attack now has January 29, 2020 England won the fourth Test match against South Africa on Monday to seal a 3-1 series victory and there are a lot of positives for them to take out of the last six weeks. South Africa are in a transitional phase and are clearly not what they used to be, but the fact England bounced [...]
England should not rush Ollie Pope up the batting order – let him develop his game at No6 January 22, 2020 England’s win over South Africa in the third Test in Port Elizabeth came by a margin of an innings and 53 runs and gave them a 2-1 lead in the series and yet some people still were not happy. I saw some criticism of England’s top-order batting, with people saying openers Dom Sibley and Zak [...]
Fit-again Mark Wood the way to go for England in third Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth January 15, 2020 Jimmy Anderson’s broken rib has left England with a decision to make for the third Test match against South Africa, which starts in Port Elizabeth on Thursday morning. Anderson took seven wickets in the 189-run win in Cape Town and will be a big miss, but his absence is an opportunity for one of Jofra [...]
Four-day Test matches are a divisive issue but they might have their place for emerging cricketing nations January 8, 2020 England’s dramatic victory over South Africa in Cape Town on Tuesday came at a good time for them, but also for the wider cricketing community. With the International Cricket Council set to discuss the idea of reducing Test matches to four days to create space in the schedule and ease players’ workloads, England’s gripping 189-run [...]
Review of 2019: Stokes has been England’s inspiration and Archer has broken through December 18, 2019 This year has been a memorable one for English cricket, with the World Cup and the Ashes getting people talking about the sport. My end-of-year review could not overlook that impact. Player of the year I can’t pick anyone other than Ben Stokes, who became the first cricketer since Andrew Flintoff in 2005 to win [...]
My life after cricket: How I transitioned from fast bowling to property investment December 11, 2019 When I was 23 my cricket career was nearly over. I had a nasty operation on a ruptured hamstring, which put me out of action for six or seven months, and after it became infected the surgeon told me I might not be able to play again. Back then I had no idea what I [...]
