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Leader Live
8 minutes ago
- Leader Live
‘Amazing' series shows Test cricket is not dying
Nearly seven weeks of intense battle, fierce rivalry and knife-edge cricket came to a fitting end on the final morning of the Test summer, with the tourists forcing through a remarkable win. With England needing 35 to win with four wickets in hand for a mammoth chase of 374, they took the last four wickets for 28 runs in riotous scenes that instantly earned a place alongside the sport's most cherished moments. As the tension reached almost unbearable levels, Chris Woakes spent 16 excruciating minutes batting one-handed with a badly dislocated left shoulder. Gus Atkinson protected him from facing a ball but was ultimately unable to protect his own stumps from the indomitable Mohammed Siraj, who etched his name in history with his third wicket of the morning, fifth of the innings and 23rd of the series. Stokes, who missed the fifth-Test decider with a shoulder injury of his own, hurt for his team but accepted the conclusion was deserved. 'The series as a whole has been pretty much toe to toe for 25 days. From a cricket fan's point of view, 2-2 is probably fair,' he said. 'Two very good teams who have thrown everything at each other and left everything out there. We obviously would have loved to get a series win but it wasn't meant to be. 'We're bitterly disappointed we couldn't get over the line but it was another hard-fought game and both teams put so much energy and effort into the series, it's been an amazing one to be part of. India win by 6 runs 💔 The Anderson Tendulkar trophy is shared 🤝 A simply incredible finale to an epic series 👏 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 4, 2025 'There's a little bit of frustration there as well but as a massive advocate of this format and for Test cricket as a whole, this has certainly been one of those series that could hopefully keep off the narrative around 'Test cricket is dying'.' The game felt like it was won and lost on a number of occasions over the past few days but England looked to have settled it on the third afternoon, when the twin centuries of Joe Root and Harry Brook took them to 301 for three. From there they lost seven for 66, culminating in the high drama of Woakes' walking wounded cameo. Stokes paid tribute to his bravery but doubled down on his position that injury substitutes have no part in Test cricket. India's Rishabh Pant batted at Old Trafford with a broken foot and Shoaib Bashir took the winning wicket at Lord's with a broken little finger in his left hand. For Stokes, who bowled himself out of the series by pushing his body to the edge, that is how it must be. 'I'm sorry to say this but if someone gets injured, tough s***. Deal with it. That's how we view it,' he said. 'I am still heavily against it. It's just sod's law that this has happened the week after I said I was against it, but my view has not changed. 'There was never going to be a question in Woakesy's mind about what he was going to do. He spent yesterday trying to figure out if he was going to be left or right-handed. He was in a lot of discomfort running between the wickets…but he's out there trying to get his team over the line. 'It shows what it is to play for your country and try to win for your country.' Siraj, who bowled an epic 185.3 overs over the five matches, earned his place in the spotlight as the curtain came down. 'From the first day till the fifth game, fifth day, we have fought an unbelievable fight,' he said. 'God must have written something good for me, that's why I won this match and took the last wicket. When I woke up today, I thought I could do it. I downloaded a picture from Google saying 'believe'.'
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The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
Morning Joe ridicules GOP for justifying Trump's firing of Labor Stats chief: ‘Put on their Baghdad Bob hat'
The hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe mocked Republicans and White House officials on Monday for spending the weekend attempting to justify Donald Trump's decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics following a poor jobs report last week. According to anchor Joe Scarborough, it appeared that the president's aides and top loyalists knew the assignment and 'put on their Baghdad Bob hat' in an effort to defend the impetuous move, knowing they didn't have a choice because 'there was no justification for' the termination. On the same day that Trump resumed his global tariffs, which could potentially spark inflation and lead to reduced economic growth, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added only 73,000 jobs in July. Furthermore, there was a massive downward revision in the previous two months, showing that only 33,000 jobs were added rather than the previously reported 291,000. With the president routinely declaring that the U.S. is the 'HOTTEST' country in the world and the economy is booming, the disappointing jobs report prompted Trump to lash out at BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer. Trump accused her of manipulating and rigging the statistics to make him look bad, because former President Joe Biden nominated her. The president then fired McEntarfer Friday evening. While some GOP lawmakers expressed concern that Trump appeared to terminate McEntarfer just because he didn't like the numbers, noting that she was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate last year, Cabinet members and top White House advisers spent the Sunday shows desperately scrambling to spin their boss' move. 'The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable,' National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said on NBC's Meet the Press. 'You want to be able to have somewhat reliable numbers,' White House trade representative Jamieson Greer declared on CBS News' Face the Nation. 'There are always revisions, but sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways. And it's, you know, the president is the president. He can choose who works in the executive branch.' During Monday's broadcast of Morning Joe, Scarborough brought up the latest op-ed from the Wall Street Journal editorial board, which took aim at the president's economic advisers for being the 'bureau of labor denial' following McEntarfer's firing. 'The reality of slowing job growth is clear to anyone paying attention, no matter the official statistics,' the board wrote. 'Mr. Trump's data denial is one more reason fewer Americans will trust the government.' Scarborough claimed that while Beltway insiders like himself are generally able to get White House officials to give them 'straight answers' during off-the-record chats on Trump's decision-making, he considered this an 'exception to that rule' before outright mocking their weekend performance. 'Everybody put on their Baghdad Bob hat this weekend because there was no justification for it,' Scarborough said. 'I was surprised that I didn't even get the sort of quiet eye rolling from inside the White House. I guess they understood they were going to follow the Baghdad Bob line, and they all did it this weekend.' The Morning Joe star was referring to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Saddam Hussein's former Minister of Information at the outset of the Iraq War, who was given the 'Baghdad Bob' nickname due to the comically false statements her would make in press conferences. Al-Sahhaf once claimed American soldiers were dying by suicide 'by the hundreds', and denied that American tanks were in Baghdad – despite the fact that the tanks could be heard in the distance and were only a few hundred meters from where he was speaking. 'Those in the White House, those close to the president, were in lockstep – asserting, without evidence, that there was bias in these job numbers and that President Trump was simply justified in doing what he did,' Morning Joe co-host Jonathan Lemire said Monday. 'None of that is true. This is a bad one. Historically, this is a bad one.' He added: 'Governments, economies, and businesses can only make decisions based on hard data, on statistics. This calls into question so much of what Washington produces.' Elsewhere on the program, Scarborough said that a 'lot of people are certainly deeply concerned' that this latest move from Trump shows that he's 'playing with the facts' and that it could result in the 'rise of authoritarianism.' Regular contributor Katty Kay, meanwhile, observed that the U.S. could be 'going more in the direction of Latin America' and devolve into a 'feudal oligarchical system.' Over on the other cable news outlets, CNN senior reporter Matt Egan suggested that Trump's firing of McEntarfer would be similar to 'an NFL owner who responds to his team losing big by immediately firing the scoreboard operator.' Moments later, CNN global economic analyst and Financial Times editor Rana Foroohar sounded the alarm over what this termination could mean for the country down the road. 'I mean, you know, this is the same bureau and the same commissioner that he was lauding when good numbers came out. And now the bad numbers are coming out. He's firing them,' she said. 'And I think one thing that really worries me is that this is what you see in autocracies,' Foroohar continued. 'This is what you see in emerging markets that don't have the rule of law, that don't have democratic governments. You see the firing of officials that people don't like. You see leaders closing themselves off to the truth.'
The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘He's a great negotiator and diplomat': Starmer praised as UK outshines EU in Trump trade talks
As Donald Trump signed a new trade deal with the EU, many Independent readers were less focused on Brussels – and more surprised by how well the UK had done in comparison. With Keir Starmer securing lower tariffs and a visibly warmer reception from the US president, some asked: how did Britain get a better deal than the EU? Commenters were quick to praise Starmer's calm, measured style. One reader described him as a 'great negotiator and diplomat' with a 'forensic' grasp of detail, while another said Trump 'genuinely likes him' and respects that he 'stands up for himself' rather than fawning. In contrast, Europe's performance was seen as lacklustre, with the bloc 'unable to mount an effective response'. The EU-US deal itself drew criticism for being weak and symbolic, accused of rewarding Trump's coercive tactics and reframing tariffs as legitimate economic tools. Several readers lamented that the UK's apparent success would be used to claim a 'Brexit benefit' – while others were content to see the EU embarrassed. Here's what you had to say: A great negotiator and diplomat There's a lot of criticism of Starmer, and some is justified. While he might not be the greatest leader Labour we have had, there's no doubt he's a great negotiator and diplomat. What also helps him is that he has a strong sense of fairness, decency, and dignity. Then there's his obvious legal background, which you see in his forensic thoroughness when debating issues. Can you imagine Kemi Badenoch and that useless lot negotiating with Trump... he'd have a field day. DHC How do you feel about the UK's trade deal compared to Europe's? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the conversation below. Trump is half Scottish Trump is half Scottish and he seems to have a little more respect for his mother's native country. We also don't manufacture anything, and we have long given up the future capacity to be a producing nation. We are customers; Europe, on the other hand, is a competitor. 227detius A weak EU capitulating to Trump The deal has been widely criticised on the European side, viewed by some as a weak EU capitulating to Trump's demands, unable to mount an effective response. While that perception is difficult to counter, the reality is much more complex and nuanced. It's worth noting that the deal isn't a fully fleshed-out trade agreement but, for the time being, one of the many symbolic political deals Trump has announced in recent months. Yet it's not meaningless. It pauses what could have escalated into a full-scale transatlantic trade war and defuses a major source of volatility and anxiety. That said, the real challenge lies ahead – hammering out the details. Without legally binding documents, the door remains open to misinterpretation. We've seen this play out recently with the US-Japan agreement, hastily concluded a few days ago, and already sparking differing interpretations. The same could easily happen with the EU-US deal. The deal is being widely perceived as a big political win for Trump and a defeat for the EU, negatively affecting its image both domestically and worldwide. Unfortunately, this interpretation ultimately praises and legitimises an approach based on aggression and coercion, rewarding tactics that undermine trust and cooperation. Sadly, tariffs – long discredited as a blunt and damaging economic tool – are now being recast as effective policy instruments, which the EU should also wield. It's astonishing how, in only a few months, Trump has managed to frame such a confrontational strategy and unsound economic policies as a success – even with Europe. It's simply self-defeating. But whatever the "final outcome", the misery of this GileadUS administration will continue to affect the lives of billions of people! LeeisBlue I ignore all the Faragist, Corbynite vitriol Starmer really has done well in his dealings not only with Trump but also the EU and his Gaza stance. Additionally, his policies are really changing and improving our lives – e.g. the NHS is performing much better (my wife has benefitted from this). Frankly, I ignore all the Faragist, Corbynite vitriolic attacks on Starmer and co and research for myself what's ACTUALLY happening. All this Reform/Farage/Corbyn propaganda is a distraction, largely irrelevant. voxtrot UK sacrificed bioethanol sector The UK's largest trade partner, by far, in goods is the EU. Don't think EU's higher tariffs from the USA have no effect on the UK. The UK also sacrificed the bioethanol sector, and allowed US beef into the UK, to the detriment of home agriculture, to get those reduced tariffs. I know there is some desperation in some quarters to try and claim some form of #BrexitBenefit, and hope the utter disaster and failure that it is gets forgotten. wolfie Nothing to do with Starmer It's got nothing to do with Starmer. The UK got a better deal with the US than the EU despite Starmer, not because of him. The UK is an independent, sovereign nation again and no longer anchored to the failing, anti-democratic EU political union thanks to Brexit, and we're one of the US's closest allies. Our bond with the US will grow even stronger once the current shambles of a Labour government – that appears to be doing its best to suppress free speech – is booted out at the next election. Kingswood Diversifying the EU's trading partners Yes, but every trading country/bloc has the opportunity of improving their prospects by diversifying their trading portfolio. Perhaps this is what Ms von der Leyen had in mind when making a deal with Trump – i.e. to force the EU to diversify its trading partners. In the longer term, that might be the best solution. Hungubwe Trump swallowed the carrot of a state visit All to do with the vanity of Trump. The state visit was the ultimate carrot that Starmer dangled, and Trump swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. He likes the sense of self-importance which this state visit will bestow on him, and all the pomp and ceremony. Beyond this, it shows that as long as you pander to him, he's happy to tolerate most things. Charles's views on the climate and compassion for migrants would normally have him called a radical lefty by Trump, and likewise, Starmer would also get short shrift, but because they are praising Trump, he's lapping it up – for now. The only constant has been the unapologetic support for Netanyahu, and ultimately it will come to a head when the ethnic cleansing plan is put in place. At that point, the world will have to decide to confront Trump directly or capitulate under fear of tariffs, leaving NATO, etc. I fear the capitulation. Truthonly With Trump you always follow the money The UK has a trade surplus with the USA of about £2 billion. The EU's trade surplus is about £200 billion. That's the difference – it's nothing to do with love of the UK or a Scottish mother or the tactics of the UK government. With Trump, you always follow the money. He does hate the EU's society because it is so much better than the US, so he feels compelled to drag it down to his level. He also knows he can play the UK like a banjo, whereas he fears the EU. We all know he will change his mind at any minute. AnonyMousse Starmer has done well on international issues Starmer has done well on international issues. The problem is that his focus on those things has left his inexperienced underlings to preside over domestic affairs. We have to remind ourselves who they replaced though. Compared to 14 years of Tory corruption and chaos, they are paragons of efficiency. Inkling
