Joe Root has experienced first-hand in his kitchen the ability of cricket to excite and inspire even the youngest wannabes. It is a power he hopes will rub off on “every living person in this country” during a World Cup and Ashes summer .
The Telegraph
The Telegraph: Eoin Morgan hails Jos Buttler – ‘He seems to have a gear that not many of us have’
Match Reports, Print, Sport, The TelegraphHow 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.
The Telegraph: Northeast century continues domination over former parish
Match Reports, Print, Sport, The TelegraphSam Northeast’s match-winning century started and ended to mild, but universal, applause. The least you might expect on reaching three figures but, for the former Kent captain (105 not out from 95 balls), not necessarily a given; in last year’s final at Lord’s Northeast walked out to a sea of boos from the Kent travelling support.
The Telegraph: Cricket calendar changed again as World Cup preparations begin early with Royal London One-Day Cup
Features, Print, SportHampshire lost on Duckworth-Lewis, Glamorgan were washed out and Gareth Batty scrambled some lower order runs to see his team to victory. This is not a premonition of what awaits us on Wednesday, when the Royal London One-Day Cup gets underway, but the last time white-ball cricket featured so early in an English summer. A summer, as it happens, in which early-season domestic cricket was there to “fill the void” as the country awaited an Ashes bout which ended in perhaps the most glorious denouement to befall English cricket. The precedent bodes well.
The Telegraph: Lancashire’s Haseeb Hameed ends wait for first-class century in style against Middlesex
Match Reports, Print, Sport, The TelegraphLancashire (267-4) lead Middlesex (265) by 2 runs
If Keaton Jennings was the question at the start of play, Haseeb Hameed, by its close, was the answer. Once a vulnerable target for the shorter ball, now it was his forte, as the Lancashire opener reached his century with a neatly pulled six off the back foot.
The Telegraph: Pink ball mania! 47,000 pack into Adelaide Oval for first night-time Test
Match Reports, Print, Sport, The TelegraphOpening day of the first day-night cricket Test between Australia and New Zealand an exciting affair with bumper crowd
By Isabelle Westbury, Adelaide
“The ball has behaved like, well, a cricket ball.” Despite the hype, the controversy and the debate about its future, the first day of the first day-night Test was summed up by Australian commentator Jim Maxwell. Pink, it would seem, is just another colour.
The Telegraph: All eyes on pink ball as Adelaide Oval prepares for historic day-night Test
Features, Print, Sport, The TelegraphAustralia take on New Zealand in final game of series on Friday with ticket sales boosted to “Ashes-like levels” by new format
By Isabelle Westbury, Adelaide
Walking into the Adelaide Oval on the eve of the historic first ever day/night Test, something doesn’t sit quite right. It takes a moment or two to notice, but soon it hits. The centre square.
The Telegraph: Phillip Hughes almost withdrew with illness from tragic match
Features, Print, Sport, The TelegraphFormer Australia batsman’s father says his son woke up with a virus and felt so bad that he almost pulled out
By Isabelle Westbury, Adelaide
Greg Hughes, father of the Australian cricketer Phillip who died this time last year, has revealed that his son nearly withdrew from the game in which he suffered the fatal injury.
Isabelle Westbury 