English cricket has had a bit of a crush on New Zealand in recent times. From the buccaneering if ultimately thwarted World Cup campaign in 2015 that inspired Eoin Morgan’s white-ball side to silverware four years later, to last summer’s World Test Championship triumph, admiration has been plentiful. In some ways the move to hire […]
So Ben Stokes will captain England and we will all be required to politely forget that less than a year ago he was unavailable to his country with mental health issues. Thanks for all the messages, proud day for me and my family. I love playing cricket for England, see you at Lord’s pic.twitter.com/AvgN4DDLah — Ben […]
Oh no, no, don’t go down that route,” replies Ravi Shastri, his familiar baritone laugh bellowing down the phone line from Mumbai when asked if he would be interested in filling the vacant position of England men’s head coach. “Haha. Oh no. Seven years with India – a full-time job, 300 days a year, 1.4 […]
Rob Key is someone I have known for a very, very, long time. He’s been involved in cricket throughout his career; as a player, as a captain, and then with Sky, where he has become a prominent voice, somewhat surprisingly. I say surprisingly because they tend to hire former England captains for their main punditry […]
Forty years ago, in the final week of February, 12 English cricketers slipped out of Heathrow, and into the eye of an international storm. The ‘Dirty Dozen’, as the tabloids called them, included five who had returned only the previous week from England’s Test trip to India and Sri Lanka. As they embarked on a […]
In December 1975, John Woodcock and I were in Perth for an extraordinary Test between Australia and West Indies. We were staying at the Weld Club, and one evening I said to him that in a year’s time we would be with England in India. ‘The last time we went,’ he replied, ‘Brian Johnston, Michael […]
Rob Key’s greatest strength during his seven years in the commentary box could yet provide our game with a missing ingredient: straight-talking, unvarnished common sense. Rob Key is a terrific appointment as the new Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket. He’s got some good ideas, a ton of credibility and the most importantly the respect […]
Joe Root could never quite become the captain England wanted him to be. He said all the right things, and occasionally did them too — but not often enough, and increasingly not when it mattered. In the end, the burden of one Test win in 17 proved unbearable. He finishes with a record that can […]
Joe Root should be very proud of how he conducted himself as England captain, not only because he has been successful but also for being a fantastic ambassador for the game. Root has won more Tests in charge than anyone else in England’s history and he has always done that with a smile and managed […]
There are seven weeks to go until the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s and English cricket is without a permanent chair, a managing director of men’s cricket, a head coach, a selector, and now a captain. Things may start to move quickly on the managing director front in the coming days, but it […]