On 25th June 1932, India became the sixth team to be granted test cricket status. From there it took 20 years for India to register their first test victory. Even though India had no problems finding good batsmen or even competent spinners, their problem with fast bowlers during the British colonialism of India was that they only had two: Shaikh Mohammad Nissar and Amar Singh. Both of them were outstanding when they went to England and within the first 20 minutes of the first test, they made...
To coin a phrase, a week is a long time in cricket. Just tell that to Joe Root. As he did the obligatory post-match media duties on the Headingley outfield on Saturday, with his bowlers having just reduced India from 215-2 to 278 all out, Root probably wondered if events at Lords had taken place in an alternate universe. In that alternate universe, Mohammad Shami played the square cut like Kapil Dev and Ollie Robinson was physically unable to bowl an off stump line. In that alternate universe...
A few years ago my employer sent everyone off on a stress awareness course; previously happy people came back as nervous wrecks because they never realised how stressed they were. In all truth we had been fooling ourselves. An increasingly hectic lifestyle was taking its toll on our mental health. The ranks of Joe Public can manage their emotional wellbeing in private, free from scrutiny and judgement. But what about elite athletes who ply their trade in the public eye, where every move is...
The book has been written, apparently. The Hundred, a bit like Welsh Fire themselves, took on ‘the haters’ and secured a comprehensive victory against all the odds. Stakeholders like Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen, plus the entire Sky and BBC commentary teams have declared, in George W. Bush fashion, that the mission was accomplished. The ECB’s new tournament was a runaway success, they claim, and therefore they were right all along. As for those haters – the...
To mark the end of the inaugural season of The Hundred, we’re publishing two articles that approach things from two very different viewpoints. Below Alex Ferguson explains why he thinks The Hundred was a success and why its critics should think again. I’ll then offer my own perspective which questions how successful the tournament really was … And so, The Hundred is over. The Southern Brave have been the undoubted overall Champions of the men’s and women’s tournaments, with...
It’s been an intense week, so let’s switch gears with some light entertainment from Peter Drake … As cricket fans we all know there are many reasons to love our wonderful game. For some it is the chance to test themselves against a skilled and determined opposition. Others enjoy the sense of history and/or camaraderie whilst for some, the simple fact of being outside with friends is enough to justify the time and expense needed to play the game. For me, it is all of these and...
