England bowling remains a question mark
And while he is content that Ben Stokes' side have the batting depth to compete with the best in the world, uncertainty remains with the ball after seeing India rack up big runs at Headingley (471 and 364) and Edgbaston (587 and 427 for six declared).
England's bowlers have toiled for long spells against India (Martin Rickett/PA)
Strauss was the last England captain to win the urn Down Under but hopes Stokes can pick up the baton this winter.
'I don't think Ben needs to worry about where he sits in the pantheon of England cricketers, he's already done so many extraordinary things as a player and a captain,' he said.
'But if you want to win in Australia the number one things you need are momentum, confidence and a very stable team. These Tests against India will determine the mood in the camp heading to Australia.
'You need to have a complete team who can win in all competitions and the bowling has been exposed on some very flat tracks in good weather so far this season. That will be one question mark he's still scratching his head around…how can we take 20 wickets?
'They have sharpened up one or two elements overall and their batting is very dangerous. They grab the bull by the horns and have a lot of batters who can hurt you but there are familiar concerns and issues around the bowling.'
Friday marks the seventh 'Red for Ruth' event at the home of cricket, in honour of Strauss' late wife, who died of non-smoking lung cancer in 2018.
Coming to the Home of Cricket tomorrow?
Lord's will be transformed into a sea of red as the cricketing world unites for the seventh annual #RedforRuth day.
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) July 10, 2025
The foundation has attracted donations of over £4million over the years, supporting more than 5,000 families facing an incurable cancer diagnosis and offering training to more than 1,300 healthcare professionals. A new school education programme is also being launched, featuring a Minecraft educational game.
'I'm very proud to see what the foundation has done over the last six years and we couldn't have done it without the support of the cricket community,' he said.
'It's always humbling to see Lord's resplendent in red, it's an incredible showcase and we never take it for granted.
'The impact we've made in the past six years is extraordinary, and a huge part of it is down to the generosity of the cricketing community and the public. With the schools programme now in place, we're ensuring that families feel supported not just at home or in healthcare settings, but in schools too.'
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
England look to crowd to spur them to final-day Test win against India
England have called on a sell-out day-five crowd to roar them to victory at Lord's after a raucous atmosphere towards the end of Sunday spurred them to take four India wickets and set up a cliffhanger conclusion to the third Test. England were bowled out for 192 to leave India chasing 193 and England 10 wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Though the first-innings centurion KL Rahul was unbeaten on 33 at the close, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair and Shubman Gill were all dismissed cheaply before Ben Stokes uprooted the off stump of Akash Deep, the nightwatcher, with the final ball of the day to leave the tourists 58 for four overnight. 'The buzz around the ground really gave the boys the lift they needed,' said Marcus Trescothick, the team's assistant coach. 'And a couple of late wickets gave them that hope that we're bang on the money. So it will revolve around the first hour of the day, how positive India can be, how dominant we can be with the ball, and how many early wickets we can get. 'If we can create some form of atmosphere that's very similar to that – it may not start the same way, it might take a wicket to get it going, we might need Joe [Root] to wind them up again. But the support has been brilliant throughout, both teams are really well-supported, and it's great that we have that.' At times the rancour seen towards the close on Saturday spilled out again, with Mohammed Siraj aggressively celebrating the early dismissal of Ben Duckett, and India borrowing some of the delaying tactics previously deployed by Zak Crawley as they sought to limit the number of overs bowled before stumps. This undercurrent of aggression seems to be supercharging the motivation of both teams. 'It definitely helps in this situation, having that competitive edge from both teams where they're desperate to win,' Trescothick said. 'I have no problem at all with what goes on. There was a bit on [Saturday] night, there was a similar situation tonight. Of course both teams know there's always lines you can't cross, but I don't think it's really been troubled too much in this game and it definitely helps the atmosphere.' Washington Sundar, who took four wickets in an innings for the first time in a Test outside India, said his side were 'sitting pretty' and that he was 'looking forward to tomorrow in every way', with the release of their more competitive spirits helping his teammates to thrive. 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 'I would say the aggression is always inside of us, in both dressing rooms,' he said. 'There was an incident that happened and it sort of came out last evening, and it did come out quite a bit today as well. So it's all the more interesting for all of us. It's sport and everyone is quite aggressive and quite intense in their own ways – no matter the sport, if you're an athlete it's a common fact, it's always inside of an individual.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
England's third Test with India set up for grandstand final-day finish with tourists 58-4 after late collapse but chasing just 193 runs to win at Lord's
A pulsating Test seems determined to provide a grandstand finish after England's bowlers fought back on an impossibly tense fourth evening in St John's Wood. Set 193 to take a 2–1 lead to Manchester, India slipped from the relative comfort of 41 for one to a perilous 58 for four, with Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes ensuring a rousing conclusion to another absorbing day. With the Lord's pitch regularly misbehaving, and India never having chased more than 173 to win a Test in this country, England will believe they can pull off a heist that their earlier display with the bat hardly deserves. If they succeed, they will have disguised a multitude of sins. But as Carse and Stokes tore in last night, and India brazenly attempted the same time-wasting tactics employed by Zak Crawley the previous evening, no England player was too fussed about the fine print. Almost from nowhere, they have a chance of emerging from another imperfect performance with a memorable victory. Indian jitters began early, when Yashasvi Jaiswal miscued an attempted pull off Jofra Archer, supplying the simplest of catches to Jamie Smith, and trudged off for a duck. Had Chris Woakes held on soon after to a catchable caught-and-bowled chance in his follow-through, the limpet-like KL Rahul would have been on his way for five, and India would have been nine for two. Instead, Rahul – one of the tourists' unsung batting heroes of this series – took the sting out of the England assault, adding an otherwise untroubled 36 with Karun Nair. But this game has ebbed this way, flowed the other, and now it changed direction once more. England's batsmen collapsed from 154 for four to 192 all out - but their bowlers have given them a shot at victory Nair unaccountably padded up to Carse on 14, and didn't even bother asking for a review. Then Shubman Gill, immovable at Headingley and Edgbaston, scored six skittish runs before Carse moved one back down the slope to pin him in front. India's captain wasted a review confirming the inevitable: his side were 53 for three. Out walked Akash Deep as nightwatchman, his role two-fold: to protect Rahul, and eat up time. He managed the first, but was only partially successful at the second, hilariously summoning the physio as Crawley had done on Saturday night, but unable to lay a bat on a beauty from Stokes that straightened past the edge and knocked back off stump. Lord's erupted. One way or another, it will erupt again today. Much will depend on Rahul, who has 33 and seems incapable of aberration. If England remove him early, they will fancy their chances. If not, they will regret folding so easily after reaching 154 for four with half an hour to go before tea. From that high point, Joe Root was bowled round his legs for 40 trying to sweep off-spinner Washington Sundar, who then hit the stumps three more times – including Smith and Stokes – as the last six fell for 38. And England's collapse shone a harsher light on the ongoing travails of their top order, who before lunch had taken turns to win the rosette for the daftest shot of the series. Ben Duckett pulled Mohammed Siraj to mid-on for 12, and was rewarded with a snarling send-off that may yet interest match referee Richie Richardson. Ollie Pope was tamely trapped in front by Siraj for four as he pushed down the wrong line, and Crawley – on 22 – fecklessly flayed Nitish Kumar Reddy to the squarer of two gulleys, as if the temptation was too much. Reddy took a major detour to gloat in Crawley's direction, speaking for all of India as he rejoiced. Worst of all was Harry Brook, who had just scooped successive balls from Akash Deep for four, then scattered the MCC members in the pavilion with a serene blow over mid-off. With lunch approaching, India looked jittery. Instead, Brook missed a sweep in Deep's next over, and was bowled behind his legs. Up in the commentary box, Kumar Sangakkara described the shot as 'arrogant'. It was hard to disagree. Yet if Duckett and Brook remain in plenty of credit, the case for Crawley and Pope is growing untenable. Gallingly for England, it is self-inflicted: ordered by the ECB to stay at the IPL in May, Jacob Bethell missed the chance to reacquaint himself with Test cricket against Zimbabwe, and the rest has unfolded with weary predictability Crawley and Pope helped themselves to centuries against Zimbabwe's club-standard attack, and were lauded by the management like conquering heroes. In fact, they had simply created a headache, blocking Bethell's return and kicking the can down the road. Here we are now. Since resuming on the third morning of the first Test at Headingley with 100 to his name, Pope has scored 86 runs while being dismissed six times, reverting to his old habit of beginning a series brightly before fading. From 31 innings against India, he averages 25. Are we really to believe he is the No 3 to scare Australia? Crawley, meanwhile, appeared to have evolved during the fourth-innings chase in Leeds, where his crucial 65 lasted nearly 200 minutes. But in five innings either side, he has totalled 63, his most memorable contribution being to wind up the entire Indian team. If, as many suspect, he remains undroppable, it is becoming ever more difficult to understand why. Another of England's problem is Shoaib Bashir, whose nine wickets in this series have cost 59 and who is going at nearly four an over. But the finger injury he sustained on the third day could yet rule him out of the last two Tests, potentially allowing England to smuggle in Bethell – and his useful left-arm spin – through the back door. First, though, there is a Test to win or lose. On two or three hours' play today could hinge the entire series. TOP SPIN AT THE TEST Twelve England batsmen have been bowled in this Test – a record for a home Test. That included the last seven in the second innings. Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes were bowled in both innings. The only previous time the Nos 4, 5 and 6 were all dismissed that way twice in the same Test was in 1889, when South Africa's middle order suffered the fate against England. Ollie Pope's dismissal for four meant his second-innings average dropped below 20. In the first innings, by contrast, he averages 46.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
England hoping to give fans more to shout about on final day, says Trescothick
England are hoping to whip a sell-out Lord's crowd into a frenzy as they chase victory in what could be a thrilling finale in the third Rothesay Test against India. Fourteen wickets fell on day four, the hosts cut down for 192 before fighting fire with fire to leave their opponents 58 for four. Both sides are hopeful of taking a 2-1 series lead, with England hunting six more wickets and India needing 135 runs. And there will not be a spare seat in the house, with £25 tickets flying out of the door as 30,000 fans secured a cut-price spot at the home of cricket. The away support has been in good voice throughout this tour but it was the English contingent who roared the loudest late on. Joe Root took on Stuart Broad's old role as cheerleader, gesturing for a late show of support as Ben Stokes tore in to dismiss Akash Deep with the last ball of the day. 'If we can create an atmosphere like that (we will). The buzz around the ground gave the boys the lift they needed and a couple of late wickets gives us hope that we are bang on the money,' said assistant coach Marcus Trescothick. 'It might take another wicket to get it like that or for Joe to wind them up again, but the support has been brilliant throughout. 'That last hour, with the support and the energy around the ground was amazing. Everybody was invested. From an England point of view it's brilliant. We love those situations where the crowd is really behind the team. Hopefully we get more of that tomorrow and push on to win the game.' After the two sides traded good-natured wins at Headingley and Edgbaston, tensions have risen over the past couple of days. Things escalated when Zak Crawley and Shubman Gill clashed over a time-wasting row on Saturday evening and Mohammed Siraj may find himself out of pocket after his angry send-off of Ben Duckett concluded with a brush of shoulders. Trescothick insisted England had no qualms about the rising emotions. 'Both teams are passionate about playing the game and it is understandable that at times it gets to a boiling point,' he said. 'There will be things that happen between the two teams but both teams know there's a line you can't cross but it's not really been troubled too much. It helps the atmosphere in the series.' Spinner Washington Sundar echoed those sentiments, adding: 'Aggression is always inside of us, in both dressing rooms I'd say. There was an incident that happened and it came out last evening and it came out quite a bit today as well. 'This is sport, everyone is quite aggressive and quite intense in their own way. If you're an athlete it's a common factor.' England's own off-spinner Shoaib Bashir batted at the end of the innings but did not take the field with his team-mates as he continues to protect an injury to the little finger of his left hand. Trescothick confirmed that he had been cleared to bowl on day five but could continue to use a substitute fielder.
