Category: England Cricket

• Fourth Test, day one: India 264-4

• Wicketkeeper’s participation at Old Trafford in doubt

After the row about time-wasting at Lord’s came an unscheduled 10-minute delay on the opening day in Manchester, but this time no one was grumbling. Rishabh Pant was being driven off on a golf buggy nursing a suspected broken foot, the agony on his face as clear as the egg that had swollen up within seconds.

This was a very Pant way to get injured, India’s zany wicketkeeper having attempted a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes only to bottom-edge the ball on to his right boot. England burned a review for the lbw but it was as good as a wicket, Pant retiring on 37 and his further participation in this pivotal fourth Test left very much in doubt.

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Spinner may have thought his Test days were gone, but consistent performances for Hampshire have been recognised

As the one enforced change in England’s XI for the hotly anticipated fourth Test against India at Old Trafford this week, Liam Dawson replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir represents a 180-degree turn on pretty much every metric.

Bashir has been the long-term investment this past year: a 6ft 4in right-arm off-spinner who, aged 21, struggles to get a look-in at Somerset and has instead been honing his craft at the highest level. His ceiling is fancied to be higher than his towering release point, even if he is a No 11 with the bat and a competent fielder at best.

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England team hang on their captain’s every word but he is on his longest run of Tests without a century

A day out from the second Test against India at Edgbaston and Andrew Flintoff was dog-sticking to England’s batters in the nets, his very presence bringing memories of 20 years ago flooding back. It was here where Flintoff wrote his name into Ashes folklore, igniting the afterburners for England’s statement first innings, rescuing the second with a six-laden counterattack, and then sending down a famous over on the third evening that vaporised Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting.

As well as driving England to that famous two-run victory, 141 runs and seven wickets across the four days made it Flintoff’s statistical peak as a fast-bowling all-rounder – the only time he went north of 100 runs and five wickets in the same Test. People often underestimate the physical and mental demands that the dual role places on those hardy enough to even attempt it; expecting both facets of their game to deliver consistently is unrealistic save for a handful of freakish greats.

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Northamptonshire and England cricketer hailed as a fearless batsman who was nicknamed ‘Ned’

It was some time in the 1980s. The details have gone hazy: it could have been any county cricket ground and any captain being asked by the press why they had lost so badly to Northamptonshire: “What went wrong?” The answer was equally terse: “We got Nedded.”

A “Nedding” meant being on the receiving end of a blistering innings from Wayne “Ned” Larkins, who has died in hospital, while awaiting a heart bypass, aged 71. When he was hot, he could be the most thrilling batsman in the country. But demons of insecurity lurked beneath his cheery countenance and his 13 Test matches were a feeble reward for an exceptional talent.

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• Rob Key: ‘We’ve gone slower than we could have done’

• Fast bowler may be held back for third Test at Lord’s

Rob Key has played down concerns about Jofra Archer’s readiness for Test cricket, insisting England could have fast-tracked his comeback sooner and saying he trusts Ben Stokes not to flog such a precious commodity.

Archer, 30, was the standout name when an otherwise unchanged squad was picked for the second Test against India that starts at Edgbaston next Wednesday. But coming after a four-year absence from first-class cricket, and just 18 overs with a red ball for Sussex this past week, the selection also raised eyebrows.

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Gloucestershire fast bowler who was the first British-born black cricketer to play for England

David “Syd” Lawrence, the Gloucestershire and England cricketer who has died aged 61, a year after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, knew only one way to bowl. It was to charge up to the crease and hurl the ball down as fast as he could – whether it was eleven o’clock in the morning or six in the evening after a long day in the field. He became the first British-born black cricketer to play for England on his Test debut in 1988.

For Gloucestershire he united with Courtney Walsh, the great West Indian paceman, who would soon become a friend. They would also enjoy themselves as revellers at the St Paul’s carnival in Bristol each year. Together they formed a formidable, contrasting pair of opening bowlers. Walsh was the more calculating cricketer, bowling fast one day and relying on accuracy, cunning and late movement the next. Lawrence just kept racing in with abandon, a spectacular, uplifting sight unless you happened to be the batsman at the other end.

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• Lawrence took 18 wickets in five Tests for England

• He had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease

The former England bowler David “Syd” Lawrence has died aged 61, a year after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and only a week after he was awarded an MBE in the king’s birthday honours for his services to cricket.

Lawrence played five Tests between 1988 and 1992, taking 18 wickets and becoming the first British-born black player to be picked for England. His career in effect ended in February 1992 when, in an apparently innocuous incident while playing for England against New Zealand, he fractured his left kneecap. He managed only four more first-class matches before being forced into retirement, with his last appearance coming in 1997.

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• Test captain identifies weakness ahead of India series

• He reveals Jofra Archer is pestering him for a Test call

Ben Stokes may have described England’s recent lack of Test action as “a bit odd” but playing just one game in the past six months has given the side space to reconsider their approach before the series against India.

Stokes has won 23 of his 33 games in charge while losing 12 and insisted: “I don’t think it’s arrogant to say that we’ve been good over the last three years.” But with England’s next 10 Tests coming against either India – starting at Headingley on Friday – or ­Australia they have prepared for potential adversity.

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Mike Gatting took over from David Gower as captain before the Test at Headingley. It didn’t make much difference

By That 1980s Sports Blog

India will be hoping the Test at Headingley this week goes better than their last visit to the ground in 2021. Dismissed for 78 in the first innings, a defeat inevitably followed for the visitors. It was a far cry from their two previous visits – the victory in 2002 inspired by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and their first Test win at the ground in 1986.

England’s defeat at Headingley 39 years ago was a tough one for their fans. As the World Cup in Mexico grabbed the attention of the sporting public, and Boris Becker defended his Wimbledon crown, England’s Test team were plumbing new depths. The glory of the 1985 Ashes series seemed a lifetime ago. That victory had led some to believe that the winter series against the West Indies could be an evenly matched contest between two of the best teams in the world. File that under misplaced confidence. England were crushed 5-0, and the pressure on captain David Gower started to crank up.

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