England ready to ‘get stuck in' again after Lord's clashes
That lit a fire under England when it was their turn to field, with Jofra Archer giving a pumped-up send-off to Rishabh Pant while Brydon Carse and Ravindra Jadeja were involved in a mid-pitch collision.
India crumbled to 170 all out in pursuit of 193 to fall 2-1 down ahead of this week's penultimate Test at Emirates Old Trafford, but Brook did not think England crossed any line in their pursuit of victory.
Brook said: 'I've had a lot of compliments. Everybody (I've spoken to) said it was awesome to watch. It was good fun, I have to admit, it was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable.
'I think it put them under a little bit more pressure. The opportunity that arose for us to not be the nice guys was because of what they did. We just thought 'we're not standing for that'.
'We had a conversation and said 'it's time to not be those nice guys that we have been before'. You don't always have to be nice. Who knows, that might have played into our favour. It was good fun.
'We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren't going out there effing and jeffing at them and being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.'
England have been accused of being too carefree in the 'Bazball' era, and Brook revealed it was at his urging after some choice words from head coach Brendon McCullum that they should shed that approach.
Asked whether that extra bit of spice will follow the teams up north as England look to guarantee a series win, Brook replied: 'God knows. We'll see whether it happens again and whether it works.
'We were just putting them under more pressure. Baz (McCullum) actually said a few days before that we are too nice sometimes, and I brought it up the night before the last day: 'Baz said the other day we're too nice, I think tomorrow is a perfect opportunity to really get stuck into them'.'
Mohammed Siraj was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and given one demerit point for his angry send-off of Duckett during England's second innings, which ended with the pair brushing shoulders.
He anticipates more needle between the teams in Manchester, saying: 'Yes (we will see more of it). I'm thinking what we need, what a player needs is sledging.'
Brook had a rare fallow week at Lord's with just 34 runs and for the second time in the past eight months, he was knocked off top spot in the Test batting rankings by fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root.
'My main reason I'm in the team is to score runs and I don't want that (ranking) to affect my batting,' Brook added. 'I'm going to go out there, still be the batter I am.
'Everybody wants to be number one (in the world), don't they? Joe is a phenomenal player. I'm not in the same league as him.
'In my opinion, he's the best Test batter of all time. So I'll let him have that one for now.'
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Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ben Stokes' absence offers a worrying glimpse into Ashes grilling... England will be hard pressed to beat Australia without talisman meets Superman, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH
No sooner had Ben Stokes been declared unfit for the series finale against India than thoughts turned, in something close to blind panic, to the Ashes. Because if the last few weeks have confirmed anything, it's that England will be hard pressed to beat Australia without him. Bazball would be declared dead even before it had faced its ultimate challenge, and the Australian media – still high-fiving each other after England's churlishness on the final evening in Manchester – would go into overdrive. It hardly bears thinking about. Yet the restructuring of the team for the fifth Test at The Oval provided an unsettling glimpse of the future: with England understandably keen to field four seamers on a green-looking surface, the absence of Stokes has created an imbalance solved only by the dropping of Liam Dawson, the team's lone frontline spinner. Dawson might have been omitted in any case after sending down 62 overs for a single wicket on his return to Test cricket at Old Trafford, an experience that included a very public one-to-one tutorial from Stokes as England walked off at tea on the last day. But what if Stokes breaks down again during the Ashes, leaving an unbearable onus on Shoaib Bashir, the 21-year-old off-spinner who would then form a crucial part of a four-man attack? Again, the scenario is unthinkable. But it's not as if it was unforeseeable. Stokes has bowled 140 overs in this series, 23 more than his previous-heaviest workload, in his debut series in Australia in 2013-14. Throw in 11 overs against Zimbabwe in May, and he has not endured a heavier home summer since 2017, when he played in seven Tests rather than five. All the while, his body has creaked and groaned, becoming a story in its own right, much as Denis Compton's knee did in the 1950s. The kneecap was eventually removed and sent for safekeeping to Lord's, where it lives in a biscuit tin – a curious memory of a more innocent time. Stokes has put himself through the wringer so vigorously, so often, that his list of ailments is a little longer: two operations on his left index finger, surgery on his left knee, hamstring trouble and now a grade-three tear of a right shoulder muscle. That's before any mention of the break he took to look after his mental health in 2021. He has put body and soul on the line for his country, and his body has rebelled once more. Clearly, he knows no other way. Even so, should he have taken things easier? During India's first innings at Lord's, England's bowling coach Tim Southee was sent down to the boundary by the pavilion to suggest Stokes remove himself from the attack after one long spell. In the second, with the game on the line, he followed a burst of nine overs with one of 10: talisman meets Superman. Then, in Manchester, he bowled eight overs in a row on the final morning, and clutched his right arm in pain after every delivery. Inspirational and selfless, certainly. But was he pushing his luck? Later, he outlined his philosophy: 'Pain is just an emotion.' It turns out pain is rather more than that. Stokes being Stokes, he has no regrets. 'When I'm out on the field, I play to win and give everything I possibly can,' he said, attending the pre-match press conference as if he, not stand-in Ollie Pope, were still in charge. 'If I feel there's a moment in a game where I need to put everything I'm feeling aside, I'll do that because it's how much this team means to me, how much playing for England means to me, how much winning means to me. Being a professional sportsman, injuries are part of this game and I can't do anything about that.' Stokes's absence has created room, at long last, for Jacob Bethell, who now has the chance to prove why England were wrong to ignore him for the first four Tests. But it also picked at the scab that periodically troubles this team. When Stokes is missing, 11 players seem inadequate to cover all bases. And if his rehab extends beyond the 10-week upper limit outlined by England, and drifts towards the first Ashes Test at Perth on November 21, that scab could become a full-blown wound – one from which his team may struggle to recover.
BBC News
36 minutes ago
- BBC News
Benjamin Sesko: Is Man Utd, Newcastle and Chelsea target on brink of big move?
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There is big hype around him."Sesko has shown clinical finishing in his time in Germany, six forwards have scored more goals in the Bundesliga in the past two seasons, even though Sesko is 16th for expected goals, 14th on shots and 22nd on touches in the opposition he is lethal from long range too, with 36.8% of his shots - and 23.1% of his goals - coming from outside the box. Both are higher than any Bundesliga striker to score 12 or more goals last season. Where it all started for 'confident' Sesko All of Sesko's senior football so far has come for Red Bull teams in Europe, having left home aged 16 for played two seasons for Salzburg's feeder club - Liefering - in Austria's second tier, scoring 22 goals in 44 21 goals of those came in 2020-21, having only netted once the season from there he played for Salzburg, bagging 29 goals in 79 games in two full seasons. 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It might be good for his development if he can repeat the season from before Euro 2024."It depends on the market, maybe some departure would bring this effect. I expected him to end up at Arsenal." Arsenal were interested in Sesko before signing Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres, in a deal worth up to £64m (73m euros ) - so still big money, but slightly United had put Sesko and Aston Villa's England striker Ollie Watkins at the top of their list, but are now focusing on the Slovenian and have spoken to have already spent £130m on forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo this summer, but still have money to Hojlund is United's other Newcastle also want Sesko - if their own star striker Isak was not part of their pre-season tour to Asia and BBC Sport was told he is looking at his are said to be interested in Isak but a move would certainly cost in excess of £100m. That fee would, in turn, leave Newcastle able to afford Wilson left St James' Park on a free transfer this summer, meaning 21-year-old William Osula would be their only senior striker if Isak did Manchester United, a move to the Magpies would enable Sesko to play in the Champions League next would Chelsea - who have also been the Blues have already signed strikers Liam Delap and Joao Pedro for a combined £90m this summer, so would need to offload Nicolas Jackson and perhaps of Europe's elite teams - including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan - have also been reportedly keen in the past those links have gone it be the same for those Premier League clubs currently in the mix for his signature - or is this finally the summer Sesko makes his move?
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ben Stokes insists he has no regrets after 'giving everything' for England led to him withdrawing injured from decisive final Test against India
Ben Stokes insisted there were no regrets after 'playing to win and giving everything I've got for England' led to his withdrawal from the decisive final Test against India at The Oval. Stokes, 34, has bowled more overs in this series than any across his 12-year Test career but the final 11 of 140 came after he experienced discomfort in his right shoulder on the final morning of the draw in Manchester last Sunday. 'When I'm out on the field, I play to win and give everything I possibly can. If I feel there's a moment in a game where I need to put everything I'm feeling aside I'll do that - because it's how much this team means to me, how much playing for England means to me, how much winning means to me,' he said. 'Being a professional sportsman, injuries are part of this game and I can't do anything about that.' He considered playing as a specialist batsman after scans showed he had incurred a grade three muscle tear during the final throes of the bore draw at Emirates Old Trafford, but opted to step down and begin what is expected to be a minimum of six weeks recovery immediately in a bid not to jeopardise his Ashes prospects. After announcing four changes, England's talismanic captain revealed '20 minutes to myself' clarified his thoughts, explaining: 'Decisions like this are not straightforward, you have to let the emotion and all of that really settle in before you make a clear, firm decision. 'I did turn up to training to try to give it a run to see if I could go as a batter, but when I was out there watching, the reality of the extent of the injury, risk and reward, it's not something I think would be a sensible call to make considering how much worse it could be by going out there.' Fatigue has clearly taken its toll on an England team - being captained by Ollie Pope on his home ground this week - leading a five-match series played over just seven weeks 2-1. 'Could the gaps between the games be done a little better? You've had two eight and nine-day turnarounds and two three days, maybe you could look at making it all fives for every game so there's consistency,' Stokes questioned, after England gave their bowling attack a drastic makeover: fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse miss out to protect their long-term fitness while spinner Liam Dawson was omitted following a first Test appearance in eight years last week. In come three fresh seamers in Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue while spin bowling all rounder Jacob Bethell is also recalled. Bethell's Warwickshire teammate Chris Woakes retains his ever-present status, however. His series wickets have come at 52 runs apiece, better than Carse, and as a traditional seam bowling he will be encouraged by the grass covering here. Stokes will remain in London to support his teammates but leaves the series from a playing perspective as its leading wicket-taker with 17. As Mail Sport reported last week, he was already skipping next month's Hundred, and is unlikely to play a competitive match now until England take on Australia in Perth on November 21. India, meanwhile, will make a decision on whether they select their attack spearhead Jasprit Bumrah after one final look at the Oval pitch on Thursday morning. India have consistently said Bumrah would only play three of the five matches, but with the series remaining live, his inclusion is something they are considering. Ironically, it was a pre-match inspection of the playing surface that triggered the latest ruck in a spicy series, when Surrey groundsman Lee Fortis was the target of a finger-wagging India coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday. Fortis had warned England's support staff to carry and not drag their bags across the square, concerned about potential damage caused by boots and the bags' wheels given that the Oval has already hosted 60 days of cricket this summer. The latest ruck in a spicy series saw Surrey groundsman Lee Fortis (pictured) become the target of a finger-wagging India coach Gautam Gambhir over the playing surface But Gill insisted there was 'no such instruction,' to the tourists and 'as long as you are wearing rubber spikes or you are barefoot, I think you can see the wicket closely.' He added: 'I thought it just absolutely unnecessary. A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket. I didn't think that there was anything wrong with that.' Gambhir did not take kindly to the request to move away, with Indian media reporting that he told Fortis: 'You don't tell me what to do.' Disruption for England, meanwhile, centres on the absence of Stokes. Since taking over as permanent Test captain, three of the four Tests he has missed have ended in victory. The anomaly? Here at the Oval, against Sri Lanka, last September. England will hope Stokes' preservation for the Australian challenge ahead does not represent the portents for another defeat.
