Latest news with #Ashes-like
India.com
5 days ago
- Sport
- India.com
Without Ben Stokes, England Panicked: Michael Vaughan Reacts To Oval Test Thriller vs India
In one of the most dramatic finishes in recent Test history, India edged out England by just six runs in the fifth and final Test at The Oval, levelling the fiercely fought five-match series 2-2. While centuries from Joe Root and Harry Brook had placed England on the brink of a record 374-run chase, a stunning collapse on Day 5 saw India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. With only 35 runs needed and four wickets in hand at the start of the final day, the hosts looked in control. But a spell of relentless pace from Mohammed Siraj and reverse swing from Prasidh Krishna crushed England's hopes. The dramatic turnaround left fans stunned and analysts dissecting what went wrong for the home side. Also Read: Team India's Probable Squad for Asia Cup 2025: Jasprit Bumrah Out, Shreyas Iyer Returns, Rishabh Pant Doubtful Michael Vaughan: "With Ben Stokes, England Would've Won This Test" Speaking on BBC's Test Match Special, former captain Michael Vaughan didn't mince words, insisting that Ben Stokes' absence was the turning point. The England skipper missed the Test due to a shoulder injury sustained during the fourth match, and Vaughan believes his leadership and presence were sorely missed in those final overs. 'Ben Stokes in that team, England would've won this Test match. He plays such a big role – his mentality, composure, and ability to inspire calm under pressure,' Vaughan said. Vaughan highlighted how the team 'panicked' during crucial phases, especially after the dismissal of Brook on Day 4. With Stokes on the field, Vaughan suggested, England might have found the level-headedness and tactical clarity required to steer the chase home. England's Aggressive Approach Backfires in the Clutch Throughout the series, England's much-discussed 'Bazball' approach was on full display. But in Vaughan's view, that very aggression proved costly at the Oval. Despite being within touching distance of a famous victory, the batters continued to play high-risk shots instead of consolidating. 'Harry Brook wanted 30 or 40 runs quickly, but sometimes, especially in an Ashes-like scenario, you've just got to grind it out and win,' Vaughan explained. Brook and Root had put on a stellar stand, and their dismissals triggered a collapse England couldn't recover from. Brook's wicket late on Day 4, caught by Siraj off Akash Deep, was a pivotal blow. Siraj and Krishna: India's Day 5 Heroes Much credit for India's win must go to Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, whose fiery morning spells dismantled the English lower order. Siraj's intensity and control, combined with Krishna's reverse swing, created pressure that the English batters couldn't withstand. Their clutch performance mirrored India's fighting spirit throughout the series, especially after going 2-1 down. The win not only salvaged pride but also provided a confidence boost ahead of a challenging calendar that includes the 2025 Champions Trophy. Despite the heartbreak, Vaughan remains optimistic about England's prospects. With the Ashes in Australia just months away, he views this high-stakes series against India as invaluable preparation. 'There's plenty of positives. You look at the top seven — they're settled. Now it's about getting the bowling attack right. But clearly, Ben Stokes must be fit. With him, England can beat anybody. Without him, they can lose to anybody,' he said. England's young guns, including Brook, showed promise, but Vaughan emphasized the need for situational awareness and game management, especially in pressure scenarios similar to Day 5 at the Oval.
Indian Express
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Two American takes on Lord's Test: ‘One of favourite sporting occasions' and ‘Watching yeast rise while baking baguettes is more exciting'
The Lord's Test between England and India prompted comparisons to the 2005 Ashes-like vibe, but even as the country was soaking in the cricket summer that has gotten mighty exciting, an editorial in a newspaper drew out some passionate responses about what went down at the iconic stadium. The 15 July piece lauding the slow-burning drama of Lord's Test match, however started with the line, 'Never try to explain Test cricket to an American.' 'In sport, Americans value brevity, drama, a guaranteed resolution. Draws are anathema and ways must be found to avoid them. Two enterprising journalists once took Groucho Marx to an MCC game at Lord's and he pronounced it 'a wonderful cure for insomnia'' the Guardian wrote. There was further shade thrown when George Bernard Shaw was quoted in the editorial as saying: 'The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.' However, letters to the editor, trickled in challenging the first line. One such, by Edward Collier of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, narrated how an American lady was completely taken in bybthe sport. 'I took an American guest – it was her first cricket match – to Lord's for the third day of the recent Test match between England and India. In terms of the kind of 'excitement' that is the hallmark of T20 and the ghastly Hundred (explosive batting, athletic fielding), the day was somewhat lacking. At times, play was slow, almost becalmed,' he wrote. 'However, at the end of the day she pronounced that it had been one of her favourite sporting occasions, and despite leaving England the next day, she practically begged me to consider taking her again as a guest next year,' he continued. 'It turns out that generalising about a country or its people isn't quite the slam dunk (to borrow a phrase from one of her favourite sports) that your editorial seems to think it is,' he chastised. The Guardian in its letters section balanced it a tad, by publishing David Farrelly of Newport, Oregon, originally from Lamcashire, who reserved the twist in the tale for the last few lines. 'I have an American wife and we live in Newport, Oregon. (As a too-early aside, one of the few places much rainier than the Rossendale Valley from where I hark.) Your opening sentence summed it up,' he wrote. 'My wife has become a fan of cricket and understands the rules better than I – to the point of knowing that it's a five-point penalty if a ball hits a helmet laid on the ground.' So far, so fine. 'Nevertheless,' Farrelly continued, 'she could not understand the fascination of the last couple of sessions at Lord's and departed to the kitchen where she was making baguettes, her comment being that watching yeast rise is more exciting (not that the yeast itself rises).' The gentleman himself, though, had stayed smitten and even wept watching Mohammed Siraj sink to the ground. 'By contrast, I was enthralled and on the point of tears when it was over, watching Mohammed Siraj being consoled. This was one for Wisden. David Farrelly Newport, Oregon,' he wrote.
The Advertiser
05-07-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Whingeing Poms: Lions accuse Waratahs of watering pitch
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough." British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough." British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough."
Perth Now
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Whingeing Poms: Lions accuse Waratahs of watering pitch
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has accused the NSW Waratahs of over-watering Allianz Stadium in a sensational postscript to the tourists' sloppy 21-10 escape over the huge underdogs. Farrell was not impressed after watching his Lions fumble and bumble their way to a most unconvincing three-tries-to-two victory over a Waratahs outfit missing several key Wallabies including skipper Jake Gordon and star strike weapons Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. While he was critical of the side's lack of accuracy and inability to stick to the game plan, Farrell must have known he was creating bigger headlines for suggesting the hosts had doctored the pitch to catch the Lions out and make things messy as a leveller. Despite enjoying 62 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory, the panicky Lions came undone with endless handling errors. Farrell made the claim after running into former Lion-turned-Waratahs attack coach Mike Catt after the match. "The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing," the Englishman said. "But, I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippery, the breakdown's ferocious enough and the line speed is high-octane stuff as well from them. "And we kept on trying to overplay at times. Certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game." Asked if he really meant what he was alleging, Farrell said: "Catty just laughed and we've seen that done plenty of times. I don't know whether the pitch needed watering." Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar both made light of Farrell's moaning. Sinclair reminded the Lions boss that Sydney was hit with near cyclonic winds and storm during the week. "See the weather on Tuesday? It was like a cyclone," Sinclair said, as McKellar also dismissed the accusation. "No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, no, Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn't pleasant in Sydney, that's for sure," McKellar said. Probed further by a British journalist if he had watered the pitch, in more of an Ashes-like allegation, McKellar said: "I've got too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch". After putting more than 50 points on both the Western Force and Queensland Reds in the past week, the Lions' lacklustre display on Saturday night did not impress Farrell one bit ahead of the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19. "There's a bit of frustration there," Farrell said. "Listen, it's nice to get a win but at this stage we're trying to judge the performance and we are a little bit more so disappointed with the amount of possession and territory that we had and how we dealt with certain situations. "It's (not) adjusting to what's been put in in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time. "So let's congratulate the Warriors as well for the the type of game that they had, that they played etc, but when you have 70 per cent territory and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough."
