Now this is an intriguing development. Chris Silverwood has asked Darren Gough to be England’s bowling coach during the tour of New Zealand. At first I thought this was a full time appointment but alas it’s just a short-term consultancy role. Goughie is still committed to his media commitments long-term by all accounts. Personally I think this is a fantastic appointment. Yes I’m a little biased, as Gough is probably my favourite ever England bowler, but I also think he can...
Jonny On A Mission
He’s got fire in his eyes. He plays for Welsh Fire. And he’s got the fieriest temperament this side of hell. Every time England drop Jonny Bairstow, or someone has the temerity to tacitly question his talent, he responds by scoring runs. Big tetchy runs. It was the same again in Lincoln overnight. Jonny made a masculine 78 off 45 balls as England beat a New Zealand XI by 6 wickets with almost two whole overs to spare in their first T20 warmup. Job done. And message sent to the...
England’s Top 6 For New Zealand
England’s white ball cricketers fly off to New Zealand in two weeks’ time. This means that Joe Denly, the only player in the T20 squad who played in the 5th Ashes test, only had approximately five weeks off before the international treadmill started again. I hope he enjoyed that brief time with his wife and new baby. I wonder if he’s irked by the fact that Root, Buttler and Archer were all rested for the first leg of the tour? Anyway I digress. Denly will almost certainly be...
Ed Smith Gets Clever. Apart From The Daft Bit.
First of all let’s pat the selectors on the back for really freshening up England’s test squad. There are some really exciting names in the 15 selected for the two tests against New Zealand. Not all of them have outstanding domestic records but Ed Smith has finally done something I’ve been pleading with him to do for a long time: take a punt on some talented county players (a la Duncan Fletcher) rather than going back time and again to the worn out white ball well. Jason Roy...
