A spinner’s very existence is volatile. Unlike the occupation’s primary objective, the career arc is rarely a perfect parabola. Dom Bess’ young career has proved no different. Bess is 23. He has been up, down, up and now down again. He’s been the speculative young bolter, the forgotten man, the backup option, the front line option, the answer and now the problem. The various routes and potential destination for Bess feel endless. He is in perpetual motion circling a roundabout of...
Today Rob Stephenson asks what’s next for one of England’s brightest but most controversial young batsmen … English batting at the moment seems in reasonable health. Since the retirement of the colossus that was Alistair Cook two and a half years ago, a number of young batsmen have come into the team – Rory Burns (yes, young in terms of experience), and Messrs Sibley, Crawley, Pope and now Lawrence. The first four have all scored maiden test hundreds and Dan Lawrence may...
Today Michael Wood pays tribute to one of England’s finest, if least exciting, team men of recent times. As our white ball bowlers book their neck massage appointments after getting carted into the stands during the ODIs series, the absence of England’s “Mr Dependable” was painfully obvious to all. Oh how we missed the beautifully boring Chris Woakes to kill the Indians’ fun. I love Chris Woakes but let’s admit it. He’s about as exciting as renewing your car insurance...
England’s loss in the first ODI was the latest by-product of England’s approach to playing this format of the game. All-out attack needs to be persisted with, Morgan reasoned, even in the face of reason. This approach almost took them out of World Cup contention in the group stage. But they ended up winning the tournament playing with the same approach anyway. Morgan’s men must be on to something. But there is one qualm to be had with him, which he cannot truly do anything about at the moment...
Today we welcome Simon Begley back to TFT. As an Irishman living in England, he’s only got good things to say about our white ball captain. And who can blame him? Sometime around 2004, a young Surrey player told me about a wonderful left-handed batsman from our home country. Gary Wilson – who would himself later captain Ireland and Surrey – reckoned he was better than Ed Joyce. At the time, Ed was scoring county runs for fun and had qualified for England. According to Gary, this kid was...
Us Indians are infatuated with pace. It’s just not about the cricket either. We’re always looking for ways to get done with things done without breaking a sweat—a task even tougher to accomplish when you factor in the humidity of the subcontinent. But it suits us better when the going gets slow. The country’s bureaucracy has a fascination for delaying proceedings. It’s not always about corruption or incompetence either. It’s a reflection of our ethos. If cricket’s a reflection of society, then...
