Category: Cricket

Matthew Potts and the uncapped Dillon Pennington again sit out, having being part of the squad for the first Test at Lord’s. In Pennington’s case, the Nottinghamshire bowler misses the chance to make a Test debut on his home ground. England, 1-0 up, can win the series at Trent Bridge and thus earn their first...

Mark Wood has been added to the hosts’ squad for the second Test and is vying with Matthew Potts and the uncapped Dillon Pennington to take Anderson’s place in the XI. “He’s going into his new role pretty seamlessly,” said Crawley of Anderson. “It’s normal and he’s the same bloke. “I always found he was...

After 188 Test matches, 704 wickets and 21 years, James Anderson’s England career is over. Those statistics alone make it incredible to think there was a point in the early days where he had doubts over whether he even had a future at international level. Had it not been for the intervention of his family,...

This has been a long goodbye for Anderson, who announced his intention to retire in May after talks with England captain Ben Stokes, coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key. Much of the week has been a celebration of his unparalleled career, one that has made him the most successful fast bowler to ever...

Joe Root makes a positive start on day two after Enland finished day one on top (Action Images via Reuters) England take on the West Indies in the first Test of the summer at Lord’s, with all the pre-match conversations focused on James Anderson’s final farwell. Anderson will make his 188th and final Test appearance...

The margin of victory in the previous three one-day internationals and two T20s between the two sides had been so emphatic that England are heading into experimentation territory. In this contest that stretched to Knight sitting out and giving Sciver-Brunt a whirl at skippering the side under the guise of ‘what if..?’ contingency planning for...

Smith has taken over behind the stumps from his county team-mate Ben Foakes, who is Surrey’s first-choice keeper and arguably the best gloveman in the world. England have seen Smith’s potential to bat in different gears, particularly attacking when left with the tail and, on the day before his 24th birthday, he hinted at vindicating...

West Indies great Brian Lara does not think their current issues in Test cricket would be resolved by solely investing more money. They are eighth in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test rankings, having been a dominant force in the 1980s when they set a then-record 11 consecutive Test victories. In contrast they failed to...

Atkinson has been threatening an England breakthrough for some time. Already with nine one-day internationals and three T20s to his name, he was part of the squad for the Test tour of India earlier this year. West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis looked relatively comfortable against Anderson and Chris Woakes, only for the...

There are other records, too. Anderson hasn’t played a one-day international for England since 2015 and is still their leading wicket-taker on 269. His 113 not-outs in Test cricket is a massive 52 more than anyone else has managed. Has there ever been a more beloved tailender? Shuffling to the middle, thoroughly hacked off the...

England continued their dominance over New Zealand with a crushing 59-run win in the opening T20 at Southampton. Having won the preceding one-day international series 3-0, the hosts started the shorter format in style by smashing a ruthless 197-3. It would have been New Zealand’s highest-ever run chase in the format, and they started confidently...