CategoryEng v SA 2017

Mo’s The Man

He’s not Graeme Swann. Hell, he’s not even Peter Such. But Moeen Ali is a complete dude. He bowled beautifully in both innings at Lord’s and richly deserved his man of the match award. England might not have won without him. When Mo was first selected by England three years ago – probably because he was the least worst option available – I actually thought he had some potential as a spinner. He has a decent enough action, got a little dip and turn (albeit rarely...

The Lord’s Test

His voice was hoarse. His nose was running. And he was wearing a jumper in temperatures touching 30 degrees. But none of this stopped Joe Root from securing national hero status on day one. It wasn’t Root’s best innings for England. He was understandably a bit loose early on, and should have been caught three times. He was also stumped off a no-ball, and missed quite a few singles because he looked too energy sapped to run hard at times. However, in terms of significance this was a...

England Should Beat South Africa. Just.

Test cricket is back. Thank heavens for that. Has anyone else found the cut and thrust of white ball cricket exhausting? I’m done with eight or ten runs per over. I’m craving something sedate and sophisticated. And I don’t particularly care if it’s slow bordering on the soporific. I want every boundary to be greeting by subtle intakes of breath and polite applause rather than the latest hit by Girls Too Loud (or whatever they’re called). It’s great that the first test is at Lord’s. It suits my...

Disappointing Selection Dampens Optimism

When England left India with their tail between their legs, many of us hoped for a new start this summer. With Alastair Cook stepping down from the captaincy, and an effervescent Joe Root leading the side, I hoped we’d see a new and aggressive England side take on South Africa – a team that might, just might, out-gun Australia this winter. Unfortunately however, I’d forgotten one essential piece of information: the risk-averse Cook might no longer be in charge, but our uber...

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

copywriter copywriting