Category: Cricket

Dom Bess is one of many in a long line of England spinners to struggle for a sustained run in Test cricket. Why is there no lasting solution?

It is the eighth over of South Africa’s first innings in Gqeberha in January 2020 when Joe Root tosses the ball to 22-year-old Dom Bess. Three overs later, the decision pays off.

With the final ball before drinks, Bess takes a return catch to dismiss Pieter Malan. In the final over before the close, he has Zubayr Hamza caught at short leg. The next morning, Bess removes Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen to become the first English spinner to take the first five wickets of an innings since Derek Underwood in 1975.

Captain followed trend of discussing nightclub incidents rather than cricket before the second Test against Pakistan

England won the first game of their last Test series, against New Zealand at Lord’s, but between that match and the second Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were involved in a headline-grabbing incident at a London nightclub. “I’m angry, frustrated at having to sit here and talk through this,” Rob Key said a couple of days later.

“I feel disappointed that I’m here talking about this because there’s so much we’ve tried to do, so much we’ve tried to learn from, and I believe that as a team, the way they’ve carried themselves in the lead‑up to last week’s game, the way they played that Test match – to then be now talking about this, is just incredibly frustrating.”

• Root says cricketers need to avoid ‘stupid mistakes’

• Carse dropped from squad following handcuffs incident

Joe Root has spoken of his desire to remodel England’s dressing room into a group that inspires “supporters to look at us and not just revere what we do on the field but off it as well” after the conduct of the nation’s cricketers was once again called into question following the emergence of videos showing Brydon Carse being escorted from a Derby nightclub in handcuffs late on Saturday night.

The England captain said he was “really hacked off” to be forced once again to address player behaviour, after a string of similar stories over the past eight months. But he repeatedly and pointedly referred to Carse’s misdemeanour, which led to the 31-year-old being briefly arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly before being de-arrested and released without charge, as an “isolated incident”.