Posts Categorised: Test Cricket

0The Ashes urn2019 Ashes

Posted by & filed under The Ashes.

So, with the crick­et world cup almost over, it’s time to start think­ing about the main event of the crick­et­ing sum­mer: the Ashes! In the last install­ment Eng­land were once again soundly beaten down under, but they haven’t lost at home for 18 years. On paper both sides have some top play­ers, so it looks like it could be the closest series since 2005. To ensure they come out on top Eng­land will need to sort some big issues at the top of their order.

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0Ruthless India Despatch Visitors

Published by & filed under England, India, Test Cricket. Last updated .

There was a point in the fourth test between India and Eng­land when the hosts were 30-odd runs behind their oppon­ents with only three wick­ets remain­ing.
It was a false dawn though and the mas­ter­ful Kohli and mag­ni­fi­cent Jay­ant Yadav (in only his third test) com­bined to take the match and with it any hopes of a series draw bey­ond the grasp of the vis­it­ors.
It served to under­line the gulf in exper­i­ence of con­di­tions on the sub-con­tin­ent. India rammed home their great­er know­ledge and under­stand­ing of how to play in such an arena. Through most of this series they have been the far bet­ter of the sides and a win was inev­it­able once a lead of 200 was sur­rendered. … Read Full Art­icle

0Cricket Australia logoAustralia’s Golden Era Hurts the Current Cricketers

Published by & filed under Australia, Test Cricket. Last updated .

Aus­tralia – what the heck! They’ve just lost the series against South Africa fol­low­ing some bat­tling col­lapses worthy of Eng­land at their very best (or worst!)
It’s incred­ible to see what has happened to the side when they are com­pared to the team of recent past. There’s a big wad of rub­bish in the cur­rent line up – I can’t think of any­one who would make the Eng­land side who played in the last test against South Africa. OK they have a few injur­ies, espe­cially in the bowl­ing depart­ment, but things will have to change.… Read Full Art­icle

0Political Machinations Start Series With a Bang

Published by & filed under Australia, England, India, Test Cricket. Last updated .

Dur­ing a week in which the world saw a new Pres­id­ent elec­ted Com­mand­er-in-Chief in Amer­ica and Brit­ish Prime Min­ster Theresa May vis­ited India, it is per­haps apt the first test is com­pared to glob­al polit­ic­al mach­in­a­tions.
The say­ing goes that a week is a long time in polit­ics – and the say­ing would appear apt in crick­et too.
Only a few days ago many naysay­ers (myself included) were fear­ing the hosts could inflict a series white­wash on the vis­it­ors — espe­cially if the top order in par­tic­u­lar didn’t apply them­selves bet­ter.… Read Full Art­icle

0Bangladesh Cricket logoCongratulations to Bangladesh as England Spin to Defeat

Published by & filed under Bangladesh, England, Test Cricket. Last updated .

Well done Bangladesh on a first test win over Eng­land. The vic­tory was thor­oughly deserved and the series could have so eas­ily fin­ished 2–0 to the hosts rather than the 1–1 draw.
Both matches were excel­lent adverts for test crick­et in that they were test­ing for both teams with the Tigers in my mind claim­ing a points vic­tory over the two games. In Mehedi Has­an they have clearly unearthed a young dia­mond who may yet help to pro­pel his team to more vic­tor­ies against the top teams.… Read Full Art­icle

0Points to Ponder After Opening Loss

Published by & filed under England, Pakistan, Test Cricket. Last updated .

One test in, Eng­land are one-nil down. Well done Pakistan
Hav­ing brushed Sri Lanka aside Eng­land are in the midst of a much stern­er test against an in-form Pakistan. And the vis­it­ors suc­ceeded where many oth­ers have failed of late, i.e. to expose England’s weak­nesses.
Per­haps England’s main weak­ness is a lack of top qual­ity spin­ner. Moeen Ali is use­ful for a good few overs and tends to sur­prise many bats­men and trick them into a false sense of secur­ity. He is, how­ever, a second spin­ner. If he couldn’t bat would he be in the side? Very unlikely. He’s a backup option, not lead the attack mater­i­al. How and why Eng­land have chosen to ignore Adil Rashid amazes me. Over the dec­ades Eng­lish select­ors have shown a reluct­ance to pig leg-spin­ners and Rashid is seen as sus­cept­ible of leak­ing a few runs – but he has proven in ODIs and T20s that he is able to keep it tight. Thank­fully they have at least indic­ated they are will­ing to put this right by nam­ing him in the 13 man squad for the second test. They must pick him – espe­cially as Old Traf­ford tends to offer encour­age­ment to the twirlers. Eng­land have a bit of a selec­tion dilemma on their hands – I sus­pect Ben Stokes and Moeen are fight­ing it out for one place.
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0TMSTMS — A Reassuring Presence in Brexiting Times

Published by & filed under England, Test Cricket. Last updated .

On Thursday 23 June Bri­tain (well, Eng­land and Wales – the Scots are seem­ingly more sens­ible) voted to leave the European Uni­on.
As the stark real­ity of what the nation had thrust upon itself sunk in I was in a rather depressed state of mind. At work I couldn’t even stom­ach my bacon but­tie such was my frus­tra­tion with the plebis­cite.… Read Full Art­icle

0England vs Sri Lanka — any Lessons Learned?

Published by & filed under England, Test Cricket. Last updated .

The third and final test in the Eng­land vs Sri Lanka test series is now at an end after the rain brought a damp squib of an end to the match.
So what have we learned? Not a great deal really. We are almost where we were three tests ago. Nick Compton would appear not quite of test level is one obvi­ous con­clu­sion. Per­son­ally speak­ing I feel it would be a little harsh to jet­tis­on him – I would give him the Pakistan series to make a final decision on him. I doubt that will hap­pen, how­ever and Lords was the last we will see of him in the whites of the three lions.… Read Full Art­icle