Remind me again how England got on in their last series against NZ and Windies?
That’s the anomaly that is England. They drew against 6th ranked New Zealand (home and away) and 8th ranked Windies in 2015 but have won their last three series against Number 1, 2 & 3 ranked India, Australia and South Africa. You could never call England a flat-track bully.
Winning in NZ is no mean feat if they do it. Must be a few years since they lost a series at home.
england win test matches because the pitches and conditions are so bad there
England have just won a series in South Africa. They won on their last visit to India and the last but one series in Australia.
In his final test match in Christchurch, Brendon McCullum has scored the fastest century in test history off just 54 deliveries, surpassing the 56 ball century of Viv Richard and Misbah-ul-Haq.
Unbelievable stuff from McCullum, why the fuck is he retiring? He’s in incredible form, surely has a year or two more in him.
Just play IPL I suppose?
Mickey Arthur is Pakistan’s new head coach.
This lad ffs
West Indian commentator Tony Cozier has died. RIP.
Very sad news. An absolute legendary commentator. On a par with Richie Benaud.
After almost three months (85 days) since the last day of test match cricket and a seemingly never ending cycle of T20 rubbish, finally the real business resumes at Headingley tomorrow with the touring Sri Lanka opening the English summer of test cricket.
James Vince’s century for Hampshire at Headingley a few weeks back looks to have earned him a test debut at Number 5 ahead of the unfortunate James Taylor. Alex Hales gets another chance to open the batting with Captain Cook, Nick Compton will continue at Number 3 and Jonny Bairstow will keep wicket. The one place up for grabs is as third seamer but looks like Steven Finn will get the nod over Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball.
2 Likes
Don’t expect SL to put up too much resistance. Prasad’s injury the final straw really. Was a huge shock when they won two years ago obviously, but can’t see them coming close to a repeat. Sanga has retired since, and England don’t look as vulnerable.
I think the Pakistan series could be excellent though. Amir back, Wahab Riaz can be dangerous on his day, will also be very interesting to see how Yasir Shah goes. There is some potential for runs in their middle order too with Misbah, Younis and Azhar Ali. Hopefully everything doesn’t fall apart in some kind of mayhem.
This saddened me greatly last week. Cozier was one of those voices that was part of your life if you’re someone who watches far too much cricket on TV. Had a great voice to listen to, and a genuine enthusiasm and love and knowledge of the game that really shone through.
3 Likes
Sri Lanka put England in to bat on an overcast morning in Leeds. In the space of 2 overs, England have just gone from 49-0 to 51-3 with debutant Dasun Shanaka picking up all three wickets. Cook (16) and Compton & Root (both ducks) back in the pavillion.
Cook just short of the 10000 test runs
Vince has gone reducing England to 70/4. Ben Stoke has just hit three boundaries off his first three deliveries to move England to 82/4.
That couldn’t continue. Stokes plays one shot too many and departs on 12. England in real trouble now on 83/5.