Just because a plan has been successful doesn’t mean that another strategy wouldn’t have worked even better. The foot and mouth outbreak a few years ago was eventually contained, but Tony Blair often had his foot in his mouth during the crisis. Similarly, Australia won the third test at Perth, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they picked the right XI – maybe they would have won by more had they selected their new hero, Usman Khawaja, instead of the nervy Steve Smith? Unfortunately, the...
The ten most memorable England test wins of the 2000s
1. V West Indies, Lord’s, 2000 The turning point. From one-nil down, we went on to win the series – the first against WI for 31 years – before beating both Pakistan and Sri Lanka the following winter. An era of success, which climaxed at the Oval in 2005, began here. The match itself was a breathless classic – and remember, West Indies were still a decent side then. 21 wickets fell on the second day as Caddick’s 5-16 helped dismiss the visitors for 54 and left us chasing 188 to win. Courtney...
