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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'Judge us next summer' - England's T20 wake-up call
It is unlikely that anybody with an interest in England's post-Ashes rebuild - players, fans and the media alike - thought it would be straightforward. And while losing a series 3-2 may not look emphatic, England's first T20 series defeat at home by India has presented Charlotte Edwards and her side with a stark reality. India's three wins were utterly dominant - by 97 runs, 24 runs and six wickets. Both of England's were nervy encounters won from the last ball after almost squandering winning impressive fightback at The Oval in the third match meant they kept the series alive. But the win at Edgbaston in the fifth counted for very little - the series was already gone. Once again, they put in a performance when there was not as much pressure on the 50-over World Cup is looming, beginning in India at the end of September, but in the shorter format, Edwards has often spoken of England's "journey" to the home T20 tournament next year. "We've still got a long way to go, I'm under no illusions about that," said Edwards after England's thrilling win at Edgbaston, but also expressed confidence in her side with a punchy challenge. "People have just got to be patient. And certainly in this format, we've got 12 months. You can judge us, come next July." Another often-repeated phrase from Edwards has been that England are a "team in transition". Frankly, this argument does not stack up. Yes, there is new leadership, and Edwards is trying to instil a little more smartness into England after they lost their way under Jon Lewis, whose mantra of "inspire and entertain" brought a struggle for clarity. And losing world-class players in Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight would leave an enormous hole in any team. It is no surprise that England have struggled to fill that void. But they are a very experienced side. They are a group who have benefited enormously from the increased professionalisation of the women's game internationally and the majority of players have plied their trade in franchises around the world, too. Nine out of 11 players who played in the final T20 against Australia in January have featured in this series against India - and it would have been 10 if you assume Knight would be in the side if fit. The average age of England's side is 27.6 compared to India's 25, and they average 63.9 international caps per player against India's 56.3. A significant problem for England after the Ashes was their perception with fans, and Edwards' honesty in admitting the scale of the challenge is likely to be received gratefully, but they are not an inexperienced or young team. The bigger conundrum is that they have very little time to put things right collectively - a tri-series in May next year with India and New Zealand are the only international T20s scheduled between now and the World Cup. Spin struggles and falling behind in the field Discussions surrounding England's inability to play spin are beginning to sound like a broken record. Without a doubt, however, it is their most pressing concern. In 2022, England averaged 42.3 against spin in T20s, losing 25 wickets. The following year, they lost 46 wickets at an average of 18, and so far in 2025 they have lost 41 at 19.9. Their gameplan against slow bowling seems muddled, torn between attack and defence with batters regularly trapped on the crease or caught from attempted aggression. And while the approaching World Cup is in the longer format of the game, England's opponents will have their bowling strategies in place already, such is the predictability of their weakness. Edwards has also accepted England's huge need for improvement in the field, where they have been poor against India, with regular misfields and four dropped catches in the last five overs alone in the third encounter at The Oval."It's a mindset thing under pressure, but it's an area we work really, really hard on," said Edwards."We are not going to hide away from that."India's fielding improvement, meanwhile, has been astronomical. They have charged in from the boundary to stop twos, regularly hauled the ball in from the ropes after covering masses of ground, and completed some staggering Edgbaston, this was epitomised by Em Arlott and Sophie Ecclestone backing out of catches on the boundary, letting the ball bounce in front of them and saving the runs Yadav, meanwhile, sprinted and dived full-stretch to dismiss Amy Jones in spectacular fashion even when the game was pretty much in England's hands. Edwards and many players have cited India's huge improvement, largely a result of the Women's Premier League, which has been in existence for three years, and they regularly play in front of packed crowds where every game matters. But The Hundred is not too dissimilar for England, and they cannot use the excuse of not being under pressure enough when, for example, this does not seem to be an issue for Australia in international cricket. They are relentless, whoever they play, and India are following a similar scrutiny will not go away for England until they have a trophy or an Ashes series in the bag. And on that basis, yes - they will be judged come next July.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Zak Crawley stokes flames and sparks India's fury in tetchy heatwave Test
As recently as 1878, a crowd of about 15,000 people paid to watch 18 men spend six days walking in endless circles around the Royal Agricultural Hall, in a 500-mile race for the inaugural Astley Belt for endurance pedestrianism. The competitors were made to eat, sleep and go to the toilet in little tents set up by the side of the track. According to the reports, by the fourth day there were three 'forlorn, destitute, ragged' men left in contention. 'Their boots were hanging to their feet by shreds.' Everyone else had been finished off by injuries, irritation and exhaustion. Thirteen days into this series, and three into this Test, we are starting to get a pretty good idea what it must have felt like. This is hard cricket, in hot weather, on helpless pitches, being played at walking pace by two teams of exhausted men. There were five separate interruptions during the first hour of play on Saturday, it got so bad that the umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat even tried to do something about it and ordered one of the India squad off the field when he tried to run something on for Rishabh Pant five minutes before the midday drinks break. Whoever it was, they ignored him the minute he turned his back. Eleven minutes of play just evaporated from the game in that session, while the umpires fiddled with the ball or Pant got more treatment on the hand injury he suffered while keeping wicket in the first innings. It got worse as the day wore on. By the end, when England had eight minutes left to bat, Zak Crawley was essentially refusing to take guard against Jasprit Bumrah in an attempt to drag the penultimate over on so long that there would not be time for another after it. Crawley pulled away twice to deal with imaginary distractions just as Bumrah was about to run in. When Crawley was hit on the glove he reeled away like he had been shot and called on a physio to treat his finger. Then everything boiled over and the India fielders surrounded him and he ended up having a stand-up row with Shubman Gill, who was busy wagging his finger at him. This is a heatwave Test. Everyone is on edge. England did not play a five-day Test last summer and they've now had two of them, back-to-back, and are three-fifths of the way into what feels bound to be a third, against a team who play hard, bowl fast and sell their wickets dear. The atmosphere is intense and the rhythm's unfamiliar after three years of happy-go-lucky cricket, all smiles, scoops, sixes and tumbling wickets. On Saturday, every wicket England took felt like a false peak: once achieved, they found themselves staring at the next one beyond it. When they finally prised out KL Rahul, 13 overs before the new ball, they found themselves plodding on uphill against Nitish Kumar Reddy, who batted like he had just had a ransom note warning him of the consequences of getting out cheaply. When Reddy was done, there was still another long hour of Washington Sundar, who was playing the same way, ahead of them. It's blood and sweat cricket, all aching bodies, bad tempers and broken limbs. This isn't BazBall. It's GazBall. India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, is loving every bit of it. He is having much more of an influence on what is going on in the middle than his opposite number, Brendon McCullum. Both men want their teams to play the kind of cricket they enjoyed themselves. Gambhir is winning. He is a man who recently described it as a 'tough sport for tough people', and who once spent seven hours scoring 137 to save a game against New Zealand. He made headlines again before this game by telling the players that the tour 'is not a holiday'. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion You suspect that whatever else his team get up to in the gap between this match and the one after it, it is probably not the sort of jaunt around the local vineyards and golf courses McCullum laid on for England when they were in New Zealand last winter. Gambhir is a man who was banned for elbowing Shane Watson in the chest while coming through for a second run during a double hundred against Australia and said afterwards he wasn't 'on the field to make friends', the man who had to be dragged away from a staring contest with Kamran Akmal, who squared up to Shahid Afridi after barrelling into him in the middle of the pitch during an ODI in 2007, and who had to be separated from Virat Kohli after giving him a send-off in an IPL game. It's maybe no surprise that he is moulding this young team in his image. It's more remarkable that he is beginning to have an influence on England, too.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Horse racing tips: ‘Legendary trainer saddles another big improver' – Templegate's Sunday NAP
TEMPLEGATE'S Sunday picks are below. Back a horse simply by clicking their odds. IMMEDIATE EFFECT (4.05 Southwell, nap) SIR Mark Prescott has another improver on his hands here. He has yet to finish any poorer than second and got the job done nicely on handicap debut over this course and distance last time out. He had a bit up his sleeve and most Prescott performers improve with racing. He can take another step forward here. GOLDEN HANDSHAKE (5.45 Southwell, nb) Scored in the King's colours at Lingfield last time. He had an easy five lengths in hand and showed a good turn of foot. He's capable of a step forward. ENDLESS WHISPER (6.45 Southwell, treble) Can improve over this much longer trip after going close over 1m4f last time. She looks on a fair mark for the Easterbys. TOMMIE GUN (3.08 Perth, Lucky 15) Should have won at Hexham last time but for a late error and can strike for the Lucky 15. Templegate's tips Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who:
