Pakistan have a potentially destructive pace attack, Australia have been weakened and Afghanistan will debut
Continue reading...I was wrong to say Bazball is a cult. It’s actually a death cult | Barney Ronay
As defeats pile up Brendon McCullum’s brand of cricket now has the feel of a cool music video on the deck of a sinking ship
Two summers ago, with interest in the England Test team’s seductive new energy reaching an early peak, I wrote an article suggesting that Bazball was a cult.
There were some parts of the clinical definition of a cult that seemed analogous. A sense of mission. Charismatic, dominant individuals in charge. Presents itself as innovative and elitist. Aggressively hostile towards any kind of outside questioning.
Continue reading...England will not boycott Afghanistan game despite Taliban ‘gender apartheid’
- ECB chair condemns ‘oppression of women and girls’
- But no ‘unilateral’ action for the Champions Trophy tie
England have confirmed they will play Afghanistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy despite pressure to boycott the fixture in response to the Taliban’s violation of women’s rights in the country.
Last month a cross-party group of 160 British MPs wrote to the England and Wales Cricket Board urging it to withdraw the men’s national team from their group stage match against Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February.
Continue reading...India beat England by 15 runs to win fourth men’s T20 international and series – live
- Controversial substitution lifts India but tourists collapse
- Women’s Ashes: Sutherland turns the screw on England
Tilak Varma is the new batter, which is a deviation from their coach Gautam Gambhir’s preference for a left/right combination.
He’s the old batter, too, because he’s gone first ball! Varma charged Saqib and sliced the ball down to third man, where Archer took an excellent low catch. Saqib Mahmood has figures of 0.2-0-0-2!
Continue reading...England beat India by 26 runs in third T20 to keep series alive – as it happened
An outstanding bowling performance, led by Adil Rashid, gave England a stirring victory in Rajkot
2nd over: England 12-1 (Duckett 6, Buttler 1) A leg-stump inswinger is put away for four by Duckett. The sliding Washington got a touch on the ball but couldn’t stop it.
Phil Salt’s struggles continue. He smashes an off-cutter from Hardik straight to extra cover, where Abhishek takes a sharp catch with nonchalant ease. His weight wasn’t fully forward, possibly because the previous delivery was a sharp bouncer.
Continue reading...India thrash England by seven wickets in first men’s T20 cricket international – as it happened
Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer were the only plusses as England were hammered in Brendon McCullum’s first game as white-ball coach
The left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, an outstanding bowler in this format, will take the first over.
Phil Salt and Ben Duckett are ready to go. It’s time for episode one of the ECB’s new spin-off, Bazball Nights.
Continue reading...ECB urges cricket’s leaders to take action over ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan
- England face Afghanistan in Champions Trophy
- ICC called on to ‘intervene and show global leadership’
The England and Wales Cricket Board has called on cricket’s governing body to show leadership by taking coordinated action to stop “the gender apartheid facing the 14 million women in Afghanistan”.
In a letter to the International Cricket Council on Friday, the ECB’s chief executive, Richard Gould, also urged it “to find a solution that provides hope that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan can be restored”.
Continue reading...South Africa’s sports minister joins growing calls for boycott of Afghanistan
- Afghanistan to feature at upcoming Champions Trophy
- England and South Africa are in group with Afghanistan
South Africa’s sports minister has joined calls for a boycott of Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who have called on England not to play them next month.
England and South Africa share the same group with Afghanistan in the competition and are under pressure to boycott the fixtures in response to the Taliban government’s crackdown on women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021. South Africa are scheduled to open their Champions Trophy against Afghanistan in Karachi on 21 February but McKenzie urged his country’s cricket governing body not to honour the fixture.
Continue reading...Archie Vaughan, son of Ashes winner Michael, named England U-19 captain
- Vaughan senior led England in 51 Tests
- Archie will lead on tour of South Africa
Archie Vaughan is following in the footsteps of his father, Michael, after being named as England Under-19 captain. Vaughan senior led his country in 51 Tests, including the Ashes triumph of 2005, but first captain his country at under-19 level in 1993-94. Archie, who broke into the Somerset side as an all-rounder last season, has now been handed the same honour for the tour of South Africa.
His side will take on the Proteas in three Youth ODIs and two Youth Tests in Cape Town and Stellenbosch between 17 January and 6 February.
Continue reading...ECB urged to boycott Afghanistan game in Champions Trophy by UK politicians
- More than 160 sign letter condemning ‘sex apartheid’
- Women’s cricket team disbanded under Taliban rule
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been urged to boycott next month’s Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan by a group of more than 160 politicians, including Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Kinnock.
The England men’s ODI side are due to face Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February but there are calls from Westminster for the ECB to refuse the fixture, taking a stand against the Taliban regime’s ongoing assault on women’s rights.
Continue reading...Radical plan may result in two England-Australia Ashes series every three years
- ICC to discuss splitting 12 Test nations into two tiers
- India’s support or otherwise for the initiative is key
England and Australia could play two Ashes series every three years from 2027 onwards under a radical two division plan being considered for Test cricket.
According to a report in the Melbourne Age, Australia, England and India, plus Jay Shah, the new chair of the International Cricket Council, are due to meet later this month to discuss splitting the 12 Test nations into two tiers. It would also allow the so-called “Big Three” countries to play their hugely lucrative series more often.
Continue reading...Tinselled bowling duos hand England fresh resolution for new Ashes year
Atkinson and Carse have followed in Anderson’s and Broad’s giant footsteps, while Filer and Bell are a pairing to fulfil Christmas wishes
Fast bowlers are the Formula One engines of a cricket team: purringly powerful when they want to be, painfully vulnerable when bits fall off. When a partnership works, and sticks – Lillee and Thompson, Ambrose and Walsh, Wasim and Waqar – they carry the team on their shoulders. When that partnership fades, teams often falter, losing their identity.
It is nearly 17 years ago that Michael Vaughan and Peter Moores informed Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison that they were to be dropped for the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington, replaced by James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Harmison played only six more Tests and Hoggard never played for England again, while Anderson and Broad famously went on to be the most successful bowling pair in Test history.
Continue reading...Flintoff calls up Flintoff as 16-year-old makes cut for England Lions tour
- Teenager made his professional debut this year
- Bashir to be given experience in Australia for Ashes
Rocky Flintoff has been called up to his father’s Lions squad for next month’s tour of Australia, with England using the trip to give young bowlers who are already in contention for a place in the senior Test squad experience of local conditions before next winter’s Ashes.
The junior Flintoff continues what has been a startling rise, having been given his first professional contract by Lancashire in August, aged 16. He made his first-class debut soon afterwards and was a last-minute call-up to the Lions squad in South Africa this month, their first trip since his father, Andrew, was named coach in September.
Continue reading...New Zealand v England report cards: grading every player after Test series
Praise for Brook and Carse, with Bethell and O’Rourke announcing a new rivalry as Southee bows out
By Gary Naylor for the 99.94 Cricket Blog
Ben Stokes: 158 runs at 52.7; seven wickets at 36.9; one catch
Continue reading...New Zealand thrash England by 423 runs: third men’s cricket Test, day four – as it happened
Jacob Bethell’s 76 and a frightening spell for Will O’Rourke enriched an otherwise predictable final day
12th over: England 49-2 (Bethell 20, Root 16) O’Rourke is again hitting 90mph, which turns him from a very awkward bowler into a mildly terrifying one. Even Root is struggling to find the middle of the bat and almost falls when a gloved pull beats the diving Blundell and goes for four.
Meanwhile, this email is spot on. “There’s something about Will O’Rourke’s put-upon demeanour that reminds me of Angus Fraser,” writes Matt Emerson. “Even when he was on a hat-trick he looked like someone had stolen his lunch money. He’s a bit quicker than the great man, mind…”
Continue reading...