CategoryChampions Trophy 2017

The world as we know it has been turned upside down. First there was Brexit. Then Trump. Then Corbyn (well, kind of). But now the biggest shock of them all: Pakistan winning the Champions Trophy. Ok, perhaps it’s wrong to suggest that a cricket tournament is anywhere near as important as the first three upsets above, but I’m sure it will feel seismic for some hardcore (not to mention long-suffering) Pakistan supporters. Just three weeks ago Pakistan were written off completely. They...

I guess we should have known. Despite knowing through painful experience that we should never get our hopes up – let alone buy into the ‘bookies’ favourites’ tag – many of us really thought that England might win the Champions Trophy. Yeah right. The bottom line is, and always was if we’re being honest, that our white ball revolution was hollow. And this was cruelly exposed yesterday at Cardiff. When the wicket’s good for batting, England are a good...

I’d like to extend my personal and heartfelt thanks to Australia for making the long trip over to Blighty this June. It’s really important for teams with no realistic chance of winning to come over and make up the numbers. It really wouldn’t be much of a tournament if the good teams had nobody to beat, right? I know you’re probably a bit fed up with the English weather – I hear the damp plays havoc with Adam Zampa’s beautiful blonde surfer boy locks –...

Ah June. Glorious June. The days are long; the nights are short. The Champions Trophy is underway and the football season has mercifully finished. Prepare yourself for a heatwave. Or not. Is it just me or is the weather always shit in Cardiff? The rain mostly stayed away this time – meaning I can’t trot out my usual ‘SWA-LAKE’ joke – but we got a hurricane instead. Marvellous. Thankfully however, the stormy gusts didn’t blow us off course. Kane Williamson...

Nice and easy. That’s exactly how I like it. There were no nerves at The Oval today. England cantered to victory by eight wickets against a limited Bangladesh team. It looked like a banana skin on paper, but all the Bangladeshi bowlers could do was blow raspberries. What a difference from the last time these two teams met in a major 50 over tournament. Although Bangladesh’s 305 might have looked decent to some, I’ve seen enough games at The Oval to know that chasing runs is...