2 minute readEngland are taking a break. A mid-tour holiday. There’s been a bit of discussion about the fact that they feel they need one and what that might say about international schedules, but there’s been precious little comment about why the holy hell they saw fit to go to Dubai. We’d
Continue reading2 minute readThe answer is no. But let’s explore the question anyway. England have just added Liam Dawson to their squad. He joins Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid in one of the most all-rounderly squads England have ever assembled. He also replaces Zafar Ansari, another spin bowling all-rounder.
Continue reading< 1 minute readYet again, it’s one of those win the toss, win the match, if you’re India pitches. The sheer predictability of proceedings only being disrupted when the coin ended the other way up. There’s an illusion of inevitability when India bat first, but the play is coerced down a certain path
Continue reading< 1 minute readPakistan had already lost six wickets in the final session of the match when Kane Williamson brought forth The Great Neil Wagner. Three ducks later, the series was over. This isn’t going to help Wagner’s reputation one bit. How the hell are you supposed to run in all day when
Continue reading< 1 minute readAt one point in the afternoon session, Ben Stokes accidentally spat on his own shirt. You’d think this would be a low point, but he plucked off the deposit with no obvious display of emotion. Perhaps he knew that things were about to get significantly worse. Shortly after spraying a
Continue reading< 1 minute readBefore tea, Che Pujara and Virat Kohli, neither of whom had looked too troubled, started to hit a few more fours. It felt predictable and seemed to foreshadow a long evening session for England. After tea, Pujara – perhaps concerned that he might partially obscure Kohli’s halo – needlessly looped
Continue reading2 minute readWhen trying to assess the state of play after the first day’s play, it’s often tempting to imagine a parallel world where the toss-winning captain has opted for heads instead of tails, tails instead of heads, or just totally gone off on one and gone for arms or thoraxes or
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt’s worth pointing out that David Gower makes an appearance in our latest Cricinfo Twitter round-up. Yes, that’s right – Gower. David Gower. On Twitter. His contribution is every bit as wonderful as you would imagine.
Continue reading< 1 minute readFaf du Plessis is a competitor. That’s the kind of thing people say. It’s a shorthand way of saying that he only seems capable of playing to his full potential when there’s a stronger taste of conflict to proceedings. Performing in what is never called the crucible of county cricket,
Continue reading< 1 minute readWriddhiman Saha is injured. India’s selectors said it was too early to hand a debut to Rishabh Pant who is still only 19 years old. They instead picked Parthiv Patel, a 31-year-old who made his Test debut against England in 2002. In seven innings this season, Pant has made four
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