Category: England National Cricket

Not everyone in the county game is optimistic but players should start the season believing performances will be noticed by the England setup

Peter Moores could be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at England’s backing for Brendon McCullum after four years as head coach and that bleak Australian winter. Moores was afforded barely three across his two spells in the job, neither of which included an Ashes series.

But as his Nottinghamshire side begin the defence of their County Championship title away at Somerset this Friday, Moores is keen to look forwards. During his Ashes mea culpa, the England team director, Rob Key, said he wanted better communication with the counties on selection – music to the ears of the leading domestic coach.

Continue reading...

Five-times Ashes winner has since had a varied coaching career and believes the red ball is still fundamental to the modern player

It’s a sunny spring afternoon, a new season looms, and just a short stroll down the road from Knowle & Dorridge Cricket Club, Ian Bell is in his local stressing the importance of County Championship runs. One of the purest Test batters England has produced this century, Bell is also about to fly to the Indian Premier League for a spell of coaching.

Not that the two are necessarily a contradiction. Bell is excited to be joining Delhi Capitals as their new assistant coach before the IPL that starts on Saturday – a significant opportunity in his second career. But as much as T20 has transformed the sport, Bell insists that time batting against the red ball is still fundamental to the modern player.

Continue reading...

• England opener now faces three-year ban from IPL

• ‘My journey into Test team has come from county cricket’

Ben Duckett has pulled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League and now faces a three-year ban from the tournament after deciding he needs county cricket to shore up his place in England’s Test team.

The opener was signed by Delhi Capitals at the IPL auction in December in a deal worth £200,000 and, with the competition starting on Saturday, he was due to miss the first two months of the English season.

Continue reading...

Anger remains after England’s heavy Ashes defeat and whatever happens next is on the ECB’s chiefs

Having endorsed Brendon McCullum’s continuation as men’s head coach after an Ashes defeat riddled with self‑owns and kept Rob Key above him as team director, the England and Wales Cricket Board could in one sense be viewed as having taken the path of least resistance.

McCullum’s contract runs to the end of 2027 and it would cost a pretty penny to cut him loose. The players enjoy the pair’s methods and tend to call the shots in the modern era. There may not be an all-format candidate for head coach out there. Besides, look over there: the Hundred returns in July, ready to overload your eyeballs with multicoloured content.

Continue reading...

• Batter denies the team ‘weren’t fussed’ in Australia

• 28-year-old believes his ‘best batting years are to come’

Ollie Pope has challenged the perception England “weren’t fussed” during their troubled Ashes tour but accepts why it formed.

Ben Stokes’ tourists crashed to a 4-1 series defeat by Australia that is being reviewed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, with tour planning, preparation, individual performances and behaviour all under scrutiny.

Continue reading...

• ‘No one cares about you,’ says Lancashire all-rounder

• The 32-year-old alleges England group is too cliquey

Liam Livingstone has given a scathing account of his handling by the current England regime, claiming “no one cares about you”. The Lancashire all-rounder has exactly 100 caps for his country across all three formats but has not featured in more than a year and seems resigned to things staying that way.

In an interview with Cricinfo, the 32-year-old was highly critical of interactions with the director of cricket, Rob Key, and described his time at the Champions Trophy last year as “the worst experience I’ve had playing cricket” and said he did not miss being part of the recent T20 World Cup.

Continue reading...

England get over the line against a spirited Italy thanks to Will Jacks’ half century and miserly bowling from Sam Curran and Jamie Overton

Alistair Connor writes in and wants to know, “what’s the record of this Italian side against ... Scotland?”

Hmmm. Well, according to a quick Google search, they’ve played each other once with Scotland winning by 73 runs.

Continue reading...

England saw off a brave effort from Scotland as Tom Banton’s unbeaten 63 secured a five-wicket win in Kolkata

One brings two! Another lifter, another skyer, this time looping straight to deep square, where Phil Salt barely has to move.

Jofra strikes! He drops short and Munsey can only get a top edge, safely pouched by Banton running in from midwicket.

Continue reading...

A fine all-round performance saw West Indies move closer to the Super 8s with a 30-run win over England

England, of course, sneaked by Nepal on Sunday; West Indies whacked Scotland on Saturday.

If there’s heavy dew, batting first is a big advantage because it makes the ball hard to grip. Both sides have serious batting firepower, but unreliable attacks, so we can expect runs.

Continue reading...

• England, 184-7, bt Nepal, 180-6, by four runs

• Sam Curran bowls final over to deny minnows

England were given a major scare at the beginning of their Men’s T20 World Cup campaign, but Sam Curran held his nerve to deliver a four-run win over minnows Nepal at a raucous Wankhede Stadium.

With Nepal needing 10 from the final over to secure a famous victory in the first-ever meeting between the two sides, Curran nailed his lines and lengths to get England out of jail in a breathless contest.

Simon Burnton’s match report will follow

Continue reading...

• England T20 captain eager to move on from furore

• ‘It’s not been a very nice time of my life,’ he says

Harry Brook wants to draw a line under a “pretty horrendous” past few weeks when revelations about his conduct in Wellington cast doubt on his leadership as he prepares to lead England at the T20 World Cup.

More than three months on from Brook being punched by a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, hours before captaining England, the saga took on fresh legs when the Yorkshireman claimed to have been on his own, only for the Daily Telegraph to uncover he was accompanied by Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue.

Continue reading...

• Test captain has bruised eye and grazes to cheek and lip

• 34-year-old is back in England after dismal Ashes tour

Ben Stokes has sustained a significant facial injury after being struck by a cricket ball.

The England Test captain posted a picture on Instagram showing his right eye heavily swollen and bruised, a graze on his cheek and lip, and a bandage stuffed in his nose. He captioned the picture: “You should see the state of the cricket ball.”

Continue reading...

As Brendon McCullum and Rob Key limp on, perhaps it is worth retracing the steps that brought us here

There will be consequences. There must be consequences. Perhaps there have already been consequences. Harry Brook is very sorry for getting punched by a bouncer in New Zealand. Rob Key is very sorry for overseeing an Ashes tour that in retrospect could probably have been an email. Brendon McCullum is not sorry, but has promised to “look at things over the next little while”, which is basically the same as an apology, so fine.

In the meantime, the travelling circus of English cricket rolls on. There is a white-ball series in Sri Lanka starting on Thursday morning, for which – consequences, remember – McCullum remains as coach, Key remains as managing director and Brook remains as captain. In addition Zak Crawley returns to open the batting in the 50-over team, a fitting reward for not playing a single 50-over game in the whole of 2024 or 2025. Nature heals.

Continue reading...

Brainless moments, moral victories and tough lessons were abundant during a series that still provided plenty of drama

Player of the series Travis Head was the boxing kangaroo at the top of the Australia order. But this one goes to the other animal on the baggy green crest, Mitchell Starc bounding in like an emu, slicing through England during the live bit, and playing all five to finish with 31 wickets at 19 apiece. Elite.

Continue reading...

Australia were there for the taking but Brendon McCullum’s tourists were so poor and ill-prepared they never got close

As far as endings go, it ended nicely. People streamed on to the Sydney Cricket Ground, wanting to get close to the trophy presentation and to have a canter on the turf. Nothing thrills an audience more than a chance to walk the stage. On a sun-kissed blue-heaven day, the match had finished early enough to leave plenty of afternoon to spare. Later Usman Khawaja soaked that up with his own crowd of family and friends, on his last day as a Test player.

These endings are supposed to signal the close of something momentous. Another Ashes wrapped up, another chapter in the rivalry written. Still, once it was done, the whole thing felt like it had been more hole than doughnut.

Continue reading...