England are in a good position to record another landmark win, says Joe Root, after tourists take charge on day one of first Test in India November 9, 2016 England batsman Joe Root believes the tourists have laid the groundwork for another landmark victory over India after an encouraging start to the Test series in Rajkot on Wednesday. Root top-scored with 124 and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 179 with Moeen Ali as England recovered from 102-3 to finish day one of the first [...]
If Alastair Cook feels he needs to ditch the England captaincy then he should November 8, 2016 It's critical for England that Alastair Cook is in the side and scoring runs for years to come so if he feels he needs or wants to give up the captaincy to be able to do that then everyone should respect that. Cook has played a lot of cricket. He’s clocked up more Test appearances [...]
India will be the toughest Test series of my career, admits seamer Stuart Broad November 7, 2016 England seamer Stuart Broad is bracing himself for the toughest challenge of his career as his side prepare for the opening clash of their five-Test series with India in Rajkot, which starts on Wednesday. India, led by skipper Virat Kohli, top the Test rankings and have won 12 and drawn one of their 13 red-ball [...]
It will be far from easy, but the only thing England can do is stand up and fight India November 2, 2016 Even if England had wiped the floor with Bangladesh during their two-Test series and hinted at mastering subcontinent conditions, the upcoming tussles with India were always going to be much harder propositions. Going into the Bangladesh series I felt England were more than capable of winning 2-0, but I don’t necessarily think 1-1 was a [...]
England boosted as India omit three first-choice batsmen for Test series November 2, 2016 England received a boost as they flew to India today for this month’s Test series when it was confirmed that the hosts will be without Rohit Sharma and two other first-choice batsmen for the opening matches. Rohit, who suffered a thigh injury during last month’s one-day series against New Zealand, is definitely out of the [...]
Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan believes uncapped Test rookie Sam Billings should replace under-fire Gary Ballance in India November 1, 2016 Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has urged selectors to axe out-of-form batsman Gary Ballance and replace him with uncapped Kent rookie Sam Billings for their daunting five-Test showdown with India. Ballance scored a paltry 24 runs in four innings as England slumped to a 1-1 draw during last month’s series with Bangladesh, while he averages [...]
England skipper Alastair Cook fears hangover for India after Bangladesh humiliation October 30, 2016 England skipper Alastair Cook admitted concern that his side’s monumental collapse which handed Bangladesh victory in the second Test in Dhaka may have lasting consequences when they face the might of India next month. The tourists wilted from a position of strength at 100-0 to 164 all out as Bangladesh’s spinners Mehedi Hasan and Shakib Al [...]
England skipper Alastair Cook excited to see how rookie Zafar Ansari adapts to Test arena October 27, 2016 England skipper Alastair Cook has backed international rookie Zafar Ansari to seize his opportunity to impress after confirming that the Surrey all-rounder will make his Test debut against Bangladesh on Friday. Cook confirmed yesterday that left-armer Ansari is set to replace his county captain Gareth Batty for the second Test in Dhaka, with the other [...]
My old Surrey team-mate Zafar Ansari will not be fretting over his expected England debut October 26, 2016 My former Surrey team-mate Zafar Ansari is set to make his England debut during the second Test with Bangladesh, which gets underway on Friday, and he is the sort of character that will take it firmly in his stride. Zafar is a very intelligent person and is a bit different to some of the other [...]
James Anderson and Alex Hales omitted from England’s Test squad to tour India October 25, 2016 Seamer James Anderson and opening batsman Alex Hales have been omitted from England’s touring party for next month’s five-Test series against the world’s No1-ranked side India. Anderson, who is the country’s leading Test wicket-taker with 463 scalps, has been left out of England’s unchanged 16-man squad after failing to overcome the shoulder injury which has sidelined [...]