Test cricket has priority, says Strauss May 13, 2009 ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss last night hit back at West Indian counterpart Chris Gayle insisting Test cricket should remain the most important form of the game. Strauss sparked the row in the build-up to the first Test at Lord’s last week, criticising Gayle for joining his West Indies team-mates just two days before the series [...]
Centurion De Villiers spurred on by Headingley jeers July 21, 2008 AB de Villiers insisted he was motivated by the boos of the home crowd as he batted the tourists into a commanding position in the second Test against England. The South African hero was jeered by the Headingley fans after claiming a slip catch off Andrew Strauss on the opening day, despite clearly spilling it [...]
Bowling duo face late tests but Flintoff gets the nod July 18, 2008 England will assess the fitness of seam duo Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson before deciding who to leave out for the second Test against South Africa this morning. Andrew Flintoff has been guaranteed his first Test cap since January 2007 but selectors are holding out on naming the XI until they know the fitness of [...]
EPL heralds English Twenty20 shake-up July 17, 2008 A long-awaited English Premier League comprising all 18 first-class counties and two overseas teams will begin in 2010, as part of a radical overhaul of the domestic game. The new competition, which will take place in June and consist of two divisions of 10 teams, was announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) [...]
Flintoff gets the nod for Test return July 15, 2008 Andrew Flintoff is expected to make his England return at Headingley on Friday after being given the all-clear by medics. The all-rounder has not played a Test since the final Ashes match in Sydney in January 2007 after suffering an occurrence to his ankle injury. But the 30-year-old has performed well with both bat and [...]
It’s round one to England despite sleepy Lord’s opener July 15, 2008 Although the scoreboard will suggest the first Test petered out into a tame draw, I suspect England will be the team taking the more positives to Headingley for the start of the second Test on Friday. For the first time in quite a while we have seen England pile on almost 600 runs in their [...]
Smith frustrates England as defiant Proteas scent draw July 14, 2008 England will this morning redouble their efforts to seal victory in the first Test after South Africa produced a defiant performance to force the match into the final day at Lord’s. Having dismissed the tourists for 247 on Saturday and forced the follow-on, England were confident of getting the four-Test series off to a winning [...]
England batsmen fail again November 2, 2005 England will do well to avoid defeat in their opening tour match in Pakistan this morning. They will resume on the final day of three on 39 for six — a lead of just 84 runs. Although the tourists’ bowlers performed well on a misbehaving wicket, England suffered a second successive batting collapse. Andrew Strauss, [...]
Time for England to wake up in Pakistan November 2, 2005 England needed a wake-up call and the alarm bells were pretty loud in their first tour match in Pakistan. But despite a generally awful batting display, Marcus Trescothick’s fine century apart, there’s nothing to get too worried about. Two top-order failures in two days may not have been exactly what Michael Vaughan or coach Duncan [...]
England struggle November 1, 2005 England crash landed back from Planet Ashes with an unconvincing batting display on the opening day of their first tour match in Pakistan. Only an unbeaten century from Marcus Trescothick allowed the tourists to reach the relatively respectable score of 256-9 at the close against a Patrons’ XI in Rawalpindi. An impressive contribution lower down [...]