They were, both, a once-in-a-generation match. A once-in-a-generation innings. Only there were two. Within 42 days of each other, in fact. Perhaps it was fate, written in the stars. The answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything is, of course, 42. “42 days, in this instance,” said Douglas Adam’s supernatural computer, Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.
The full version of this article was printed in The Telegraph on 26 August 2019 and can be accessed here.
Twenty-something Stuart Broad was all about the headlines. The eight-for at Trent Bridge, five-for-one at Newlands or dismantling India in Manchester. He formed a partnership with James Anderson that beat all that had gone before. There was always a sense, however, of Anderson as the reliable performer, Broad the young upstart, blowing hot, but occasionally cold.
The full version of this article was printed in The Telegraph on 17 August 2019 and can be accessed here.
The instinctive reaction was one of pity. A man doing his job, not particularly well, but doing it nonetheless. Umpire Joel Wilson struck a lonely figure in the middle of the vast expanse of Edgbaston, surrounded by a crowd known for its intensity and a press box notorious for its unforgiving nature. The less said about social media the better.
The full version of this article was printed in The Telegraph on 4 August 2019 and can be accessed here.
About halfway through the afternoon session on day three, England’s ninth-wicket stand tilted from the vaguely irritating to the deeply frustrating phase for Australia. The interactive scoreboard had just flashed up a 50, the partnership neatly compiled between Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad, before the television cameras quickly panned to Steve Smith.
As the country froze one man held his nerve. Effortlessly he glided in, like a ship soaring across unruffled seas, Jofra Archer, a man who, just a year ago, no one in the country could have known might be here, delivering for England.
On the opening morning of the men’s Cricket World Cup at The Oval, the queue extending from the adjacent underground station was encouraging. The bottleneck, however, was formed not by excited fans but by commuters, puzzled by the appearance of a large shiny trophy on a cardboard pedestal outside. Briefly obstructing their daily shuffle, it was an irritant, soon forgotten.
England’s women begin their international summer on Thursday in the shadow of a men’s World Cup, in which the hosts are seeking to emulate what their female counterparts did two summers ago.
How do you bowl to Jos Buttler? That was the question put to Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s head coach, after his team found themselves on the wrong end of a Buttler onslaught. Buttler showed no mercy as he belted 110 runs from 55 balls, and still ended up unbeaten.
BBC World Service: Stumped – The Toughest Job in World Cricket?
BBC World Service
9 February 2019
West Indies are back – but for how long? Does the trouncing of England truly herald a second coming for the former giants of the game?
Plus former Australia opener Chris Rogers weighs up the strengths and weaknesses of England and Australia six months before the Ashes.
And the great Antarctic cricket bat mystery.
Sky Sports Cricket: England v South Africa 3rd One-Day International 2018
Semi-Final: England v South Africa 3rd WODI
15 June 2018
The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury
Isabelle Westbury 