Tag Archives: England cricket

Lord’s, Tuesday 25 June. Knowing that his team simply cannot afford another slip-up, England captain Eoin Morgan called on his men to “front up for the next game.” The last game was on Friday 21 June at Trent Bridge against Dimuth Karunaratne’s unfancied Sri Lankans. Here is how it, no, …

Eoin Morgan’s England hit 25 sixes off Afghanistan! And Morgan alone hit 17 of them. And just four fours! Don’t rub your eyes, there’s no mistake. 4 x 4, 17 x 6! That is what the England captain produced in a blistering, whirlwind of an innings during his team’s 150-run …

England duly got past an off-colour West Indies by eight wickets at the Rose Bowl in Southampton yesterday to move to second in the standings on six points from four games. Joe Root hit his second century of the tournament and England lost only Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes in …

Bangladesh captain Masrafe Mortaza should have spoken to Michael Holding before he won the toss and asked victorious England skipper Eoin Morgan to take first strike. “That greenish sheen on the top of the pitch,” the former-West-Indies-pacer-turned-international-television-commentator warned several times during subsequent commentary, “is a mirage.” England shattered all Mortaza’s …

“They turned up here today expecting to win…” former England captain Nasser Hussain unabashedly declared immediately after Pakistan’s unexpected 14-run win over the home team at Trent Bridge yesterday. Hussain can finish his own sentences and, given the choice before the game, he’d probably have opted for “… because they …

“Often the bridesmaid,” a television commentator summed up England’s performance in the 11 World Cups so far contested, “never the bride.” The comment put a broad smile on my lips. And immediately afterwards, a disturbing thought in my mind. It wiped the smile completely off. Although the evidence, in my …

Antigua, 375, April 1994 & 400, April 2004: Scaling Everest… because it is there “Awesome.” For Geoffrey Boycott, the former England opener, a single word suffices. “Amazing,” Ian Botham concurs. “One helluva innings.” “[I]ncredible physical stamina,” gushes David “Bumble” Lloyd, “a beautiful technical innings. Memorable. Magnificent.” It is April 2004, …

“The pressure was on and England’s captain Joe Root was looking at me intensely as I prepared to bowl, which may have been the usual psychological strategy with which all Test cricketers are familiar. “I recognise now that I was attempting to break through my own tension when I said …

The West Indies Cricket Team’s Test series win over England, secured earlier this month, was their first triumph over any team above Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in seven years. The West Indies had not defeated England since 2009 while, to find a similar margin of victory over our former ‘colonial masters’, …

Spflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflfllflflflflllllllllllll! Oh, I beg your pardon; that was my last mouthful. Even with a liberal coating of Brylcreem, hair doesn’t taste too good—although, given a choice, I’d take it any day over KFC. And cold turkey. And boy, am I ever glad I got rid of my maroon Richie Richardson …

Glorious uncertainties notwithstanding, If Jason Holder’s West Indians save the Second Test against England currently in progress at Headingley, Leeds, I shall eat my hat and shave off all my hair. If WI win it, I shall eat all the hair as well. After the major cutarse the home side …

“The loudest sound in current West Indies cricket is the sigh people emit when they talk about the old days.” That’s a quote from Jarrod Kimber, whose 2,300-word story about the dark day/night test that the Cricket West Indies XI failed abjectly contains a kind word or two—although you might …