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Arab News
5 days ago
- Sport
- Arab News
The drama and trauma of a batting collapse
England's dramatic loss to India at the Oval by six runs, when well set for victory on Aug. 4, prompted thoughts about where that failure sits in the pantheon of batting collapses. There is a general understanding that a collapse occurs when, from a healthy position, wickets fall suddenly in quick succession. They can occur in any format of cricket and in any innings and are usually dramatic. Some are recovered from, others are terminal. How many wickets need to fall in what space of time and for how many runs to constitute a collapse is a matter of conjecture. Yet, everyone involved will know that they have experienced one. At the Oval, England reached 301 for the loss of three wickets in pursuit of a target of 374 runs. Thereafter, seven wickets fell for the addition of 66 runs. The collapse became even more pronounced after the fifth wicket fell at 332, the remaining five wickets falling for only 35 runs. What was unusual about this collapse was that it occurred over three sessions of play. It began before the tea interval and into the next day as rain and bad light caused play to be stopped toward the end of the evening session. As highlighted in last week's column, the drama was heightened by England's last batter arriving at the wicket with a strapped-up dislocated shoulder. There was already enough drama. It was the fifth and last test of the series, the last innings of the series that would decide if England would win the series 3-1 or India would level it at 2-2. A case could be made that the truest of batting collapses occur in the final innings of a Test match. One example of this took place at Old Trafford, Manchester, in 1961. Australia had set England 256 runs to win in 234 minutes. The series stood at one win apiece. At 150 for the loss of one wicket, England looked set for victory. Australia's captain, the shrewd Richie Benaud, who went on to become a commentator of the highest repute, decided to bowl his leg breaks into the rough areas outside of a right hander's leg stump, caused by bowlers' footmarks. Initially this was an attempt to restrict scoring opportunities. It turned out to be a master ploy. He reasoned that if he could break the second wicket stand, the rest of the team would have a predicament, looking to press for victory but having to take chances on a worn pitch and without time to settle in. Quickly, he dismissed Ted Dexter who had galvanized England's gallop to what looked like victory. Then, shortly afterward, he bowled England's graceful captain, Peter May, around his legs to stunned silence around the ground. The ball had pitched outside May's leg stump, he tried to sweep it, missed, the ball turning sharply into his stumps. Somehow, the crowd knew that an English collapse was about to happen. Seven wickets fell for 43 runs, England falling short by 55 runs, with 20 minutes of play remaining, Benaud claiming six wickets, including a spell of five for 12 from 25 balls. Australia went 2-1 up in the series and a draw at the Oval in the fifth test confirmed their series victory. Benaud's bowling qualities and his leadership were decisive through his ability to make his players believe that they could win when the cause looked hopeless. At Headingley, Leeds, in 1981, a Test match, which is probably the most talked about ever, took place. Despite Ian Botham's audacious innings, Australia only needed 130 runs for victory. In pursuit, Australia reached 56 for the loss of one wicket and then lost the next nine for 55 runs, Bob Willis claiming eight for 43. If this was not enough, a fortnight later at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on an unusually parched pitch, Australia had reached 105 for four in pursuit of 151, looking well set for a 2-1 lead in the series. Then, suddenly, Australia's obdurate captain, Allan Border, was dismissed. An opportunity appeared, the ball was thrown to Botham, who proceeded to take five wickets for one run in 28 balls, Australia losing six wickets for 16 runs. Later, Botham observed: 'I had bowled well — fast and straight — but on that wicket it should not have been enough to make the Aussies crumble that way. The only explanation I could find was that they had bottled it.' There are various explanations for batting collapses. Pressure is one. An exceptional individual performance is another, as was the case with Benaud. And Willis, who would not have had the opportunity if it were not for Botham's brilliance. India's recent victory at the Oval was ultimately supercharged by Mohammed Siraj's five-wicket haul, but the collapse was induced by England's recklessness in shot selection. Deteriorating or changed pitch conditions can also be a cause, partly the case for Benaud in 1961. Five years earlier, in 1956, also at Old Trafford, Australia suffered another final innings collapse. In the previous, third Test, England's spinners, Tony Lock and Jim Laker, took all but two of Australia's 20 wickets, prompting suggestions that the pitch had been prepared in favor of the home team. These fears intensified in the fourth Test when two days of heavy rain were followed by sunshine and a rapidly drying wicket. The Australians reached 114 for two wickets on the final day before succumbing to Laker, losing eight wickets for 91 runs. Laker took all 10 wickets. When added to the nine he claimed in the first innings, his 19 wickets in the match for 90 runs remain the best bowling figures in Test history. In the first innings, Australia's collapse had been even more precipitous, falling from 48 for no wicket to 84 all out. The atmosphere in a dressing room and between team members when a collapse is occurring at Test match level can only be imagined by those not present. Many of us will be familiar with how it feels in a club environment. Panic, uncertainty and blame all surface. It becomes difficult to stay relaxed and calm. The mood becomes tense and nervous. Casual conversations or light-hearted remarks can be perceived as a lack of care at the seriousness of the situation. An air of incredulity and embarrassment can develop, even a feeling of inevitability and a desire for it to be over and forgotten about. It is put down to being just one of those days, undone by a brilliant performance or a poor pitch. This may explain why batting collapses can be so difficult to stop. Batters become tentative and indecisive in shot selection, disappearing into a shell of inaction, failing to have a clear plan of action. England's players, by their own admission, were guilty of this against Benaud in 1961. His form had taken a downturn and he freely admitted that had his gamble not worked it may have been a sad way to end his international career. Batting collapses produce drama and bowling heroics. They also require victims, the batters, who are caught in a web of doubt, uncertainty and indecision or who, sometimes, are the architects of their own downfall.
ABC News
11-08-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Australia and England bring flawed sides to this year's Ashes, making for an epic series
The most common way to know a sporting event is epic is right in the middle of it, as you're revelling in the action. Other times it's when the dust settles after the fact that it dawns on you that you watched something really special. England's recent drawn series against India was a great example of this. Then there's the all-timer sporting events, ones that feature a lengthy runway building anticipation before living up to the billing. Everything suggests the upcoming Ashes series between Australia and England this summer will fall straight into the third category. These two teams have spent the past two years sizing each other up after settling for a 2-2 draw in the 2023 Ashes in England. The 2023 Ashes was box office to say the least. There were real victories, moral victories, rain delays, fiery confrontations, all the ingredients that make a Test series properly spicy. That the reaction to Ben Stokes and India's handshake drama from the fourth Test was loudest from Australia tells you everything you need to know about how hotly contested this summer will be, both on and off the field. Australia is keen to end "BazBall" for good, while England is looking for its biggest scalp under Brendon McCullum. For all of the positivity surrounding the way England has played its cricket since McCullum was named the Test coach, his side is yet to beat either Australia or India in a Test series. Two home series against the fellow members of cricket's "Big Three" have yielded 2-2 draws, while England was beaten 4-1 in India at the start of 2024. England is yet to tour Australia under McCullum. England will touch down this summer having not won a single Test in Australia since the 2010-11 series. The last three trips Down Under have yielded scorelines reading 0-5, 0-4 and 0-4. A similarly disappointing result this summer in Australia will suddenly make people wonder whether there has been any progress made at all under McCullum, even if that's not exactly fair. This series pits two flawed teams against each other and there is no clear favourite. While both teams have glaring flaws, they've also both got very obvious strengths. Which strength shines through and overshadows the flaw will determine the outcome. Assuming England is fully healthy, the batting line-up projects to be the strongest the tourists have brought to Australia since the victorious 2010-11 tour. The opening Test of the 2010-11 Ashes saw England roll out Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell and Matt Prior as its top seven at the Gabba. That combination arrived in Australian having played a couple of years together and was importantly followed by bowlers that were also serviceable with the bat in Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. All seven of England's top order boasted significant Ashes experience leading into that series. Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood and Bell had all played a series in Australia prior to that summer and had won multiple Ashes series' as well. England's current first-choice top seven of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith have also played a significant amount of cricket together over the past couple of years. Like Cook and Strauss were in 2010, Crawley and Duckett are currently arguably the best opening pair in Test cricket. In 55 innings together, England's opening pair has scored 2,511 runs at an average of 46.50, registering five 100-run partnerships for the first wicket in the past three years. They currently sit 13th all time on the list of highest opening partnerships in terms of runs scored. For reference, Cook and Strauss combined for 4,711 runs at an average of 40.96 in 117 innings together between 2006 and 2012, the third-highest in Test history. Of England's top seven, Duckett, Brook and Smith will all be making their first Test appearances Down Under. How they handle the increased pace and bounce of Australian pitches will go a long way to determining the outcome of the Ashes. Crawley and Pope were here last time around and neither found much success, while Root and Stokes will be on their fourth Australian tours. England's batters have been prolific since McCullum took over, but there is no greater test in world cricket than facing Australia's quicks in Australia. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland figure to be the four first-choice pacemen Australia use during the Ashes, and could potentially be joined by Michael Neser. Cummins is the youngest of the quintet at 32, and is likely to be the only one that will play all five Tests. How Australia chooses to rotate the others will be fascinating. Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins are the first-choice trio, but England will be wary of slacking off when Boland invariably makes his way into the side, particularly in Melbourne. England handled Boland with ease during the 2023 Ashes in the UK, but the 36-year-old is an entirely different proposition at home, where he has taken 49 wickets in just nine Tests at a stupendous average of 12.63. It's going to be well and truly a battle of fire versus fire when it comes to England's top order taking on Australia's pacemen. Both of these areas for either side carry significant question marks. We are just months out from the first Test, and no-one in Australia seems to know what its best top four is going to look like. Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith will be there, but the other two spots are a big headache for Australian coach Andrew McDonald. Sam Konstas has been trialled as Khawaja's opening partner with mixed results, which suggest he might not be ready to enter an Ashes cauldron. Marnus Labuschagne has been dropped from the side after a treacherous two-year run of form, having been such a reliable number three last time England toured down under. The fit again Cameron Green was trialled at number three by Australia in the World Test Championship final and the tour of the West Indies, and managed just one half-century in eight innings. The fragility of Australia's top order puts immense pressure on not only Smith, but the middle-to-lower order to deliver, and they've done so time and time again. As South Africa showed in the WTC final, if you've got a quality pace attack, then Australia's batting order is ripe for the picking. The question is whether England has that. England has the pace battery required to cause Australia trouble. Whether they're able to all get on the park is the real question. Jofra Archer has been slowly nursed back to red ball cricket with an eye to this tour for the best part of four years, and made a long-awaited return against India. England's attack looked very different in the two Tests Archer played against India compared to the three where he was absent. Rapid pacemen Mark Wood and Olly Stone are both coming off knee surgeries, and will not be able to be relied upon for five straight Tests. Wood was England's most penetrative bowler last time in Australia, taking 17 wickets in four Tests at 26.64 apiece. Bowlers like Wood, who live in the high-140s, are essential to winning a series in Australia. Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, England's leading wicket-taker against India, will also have big roles to play in Australia. England will be fine rotating its out-and-out quicks depending on the venue, but will need to find its workhorse paceman that can front up day after day. Chris Woakes played in every Test of the India series, but his record outside of England leaves a lot to be desired. Woakes has played in seven Tests Down Under and averages 51.68 with the ball, managing just 16 wickets. His gentle low-130s pace rolls perfectly onto the bat in Australia, where there is not a lot of lateral movement like in England. The real X-factor with the ball for England is its skipper, Stokes. Last time England toured Australia, Stokes managed just four wickets in five Tests, as injury issues restricted him to being no more than a bit-part bowler. Before injuring his shoulder and missing the final Test against India, Stokes looked as damaging as he ever has with the ball. If Stokes is unable to contribute effectively with the ball, there is very little chance of England coming away with the urn in Australia. This summer's Ashes pits two of the generation's best Test batters — Australia's Steve Smith and England's Joe Root — against each other for potentially the last time. Since the 2023 Ashes, the two veteran superstars have gone on divergent paths. Root has played 23 Tests since that series, and has scored 2,127 runs at an average of 57.48, well above his career average of 51.29. He has scored nine Test centuries in that time. Smith has gone through one of the leanest patches of his Test career in that same time period. The former Australian skipper has scored 1,157 runs in 17 Tests at an average of 41.32 since August 2023, an average that pales in comparison to his career mark of 56.02. Since Smith really started hitting his straps as a Test batter just over a decade ago, he has rarely been out-batted in a series by a fellow member of batting's "Big Four", a group that also features Root, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson. Don't let Smith's soft-spoken nature fool you, he is one of the most ruthless competitors this generation has seen. Smith will no doubt have heard all the chatter about Root being the best in the world over the last few years, and will be hell bent on winning this personal battle. There is chatter that this series could be Smith's last. What better way to go out than winning the Ashes and ending the best batter of the generation debate for good? Root's incredible two-year run has seen his Test legacy launched into an entirely different stratosphere. He is now comfortably England's greatest Test batter, and is likely to overtake Sachin Tendulkar as the highest runscorer in the longest format of the game. However, there is a big gap in Root's Test resume — an Ashes century in Australia. If you exclude Bangladesh, where Root has played just two Tests, Australia is where his record is by far the poorest. Root has managed just 892 runs in 14 Tests Down Under since making his debut during the 2013-14 Ashes, and has a mediocre average of 35.68. He has only been dismissed in single figures five times over that journey, showing his propensity to do the hard work before getting himself out. But Australia has not seen this version of Root, the one that possesses an insatiable hunger for runs and lots of them. So here we are then, with both England and Australia having no more Tests remaining before the Ashes get underway in Perth on November 21. The runway is officially here and the trash talk has begun, as have the wild predictions from both sides. Strap yourselves in because this is about to be a generational summer of Test cricket.
News.com.au
07-08-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
England star exposes gruesome detail behind viral cricket image
England's Chris Woakes entered cricket folklore when he bravely decided to walk to the crease with his arm in a sling. The England pace bowler dislocated his left shoulder early in the fifth Test at The Oval in scenes that sent shockwaves through the English dressing room. With England needing to draw or win the Test to wrap up the series, Woakes' injury put the Poms behind the eight ball. On the final day and with England in serious strife, Woakes emerged from the dressing rooms with bat in hand and 17 runs required to win. He followed the courageous efforts of Graeme Smith, Nathan Lyon, Dean Jones and Rick McCosker who have all batted under extreme duress. Despite his herculean efforts, it wasn't to be for England as Mohammed Siraj guided India home to level the series up at 2-2. While Siraj stole the limelight, it was Woakes who became the biggest talking point from the final day. Now the England star has revealed gruesome details behind the nasty injury as his fate for the upcoming Ashes series hangs in the balance. After dislocating his shoulder when landing awkwardly chasing down a ball heading towards the boundary rope, Woakes was taken into the dressing rooms with team doctor, Anita Biswas, and physio Ben Davies. The duo spent the next half an hour attempting to get Woakes' shoulder back into place. 'It is a horrible feeling, your shoulder not where it should be and worrying it might never get back in. It felt like three hours but the medical staff were amazing,' Woakes said to The Guardian. 'I had this vape pen thing which tasted rank but took the edge off, pain-wise. First we tried me lying flat on my front on the bench and letting the arm hang down to do it. But the pain was too much to get into position. 'In the end it was just a case of lying on my back and Anita gradually straightening my arm and trying that way. 'We thought we had it in with a 'clunk' but then my pectoral muscle spasmed and rejected it. 'That was horrendous. Another 10 minutes or so, with her knee in my armpit, there was another 'clunk' and it was back it properly. It hurt but there was such a feeling of relief with it, too.' England are set to head Down Under with the opening Ashes Test set to get underway on November 21 in Perth. Woakes' availability however for the series will be determined by an upcoming appointment with a specialist. 'You obviously don't get that chance (to see a specialist) with a game going on, so that (availability for the Ashes) won't be known until later,' England skipper Ben Stokes said. Stokes said he had no doubt Woakes would bat if required and claimed it emblematic of the unrelenting series. 'Unbelievable, but it was never going to be a question for him to be out there, he was in a lot of discomfort running between the wickets there,' Stokes said. 'We've had guys go out, Rishabh (Pant) going out and batting with a broken foot, Bash (Bashir) bowling and fielding with a broken finger. 'Then Chris going out there trying to get the team over the line with a recently dislocated shoulder. 'It just goes back to how much energy and effort has been put into the series by both teams, everyone has left a lot out on the grounds for their country this series. 'I didn't give him a chance to give him a tap on the back and say, 'Go well', but coming off there it was pretty obvious what was said. '(I said) 'Good effort' and unbelievable, he just shrugged his shoulder and said, 'I wouldn't do anything else'.'
Daily Mail
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
DAVID 'BUMBLE' LLOYD: Why Rehan Ahmed is England's golden ticket to win the Ashes
An England side with Rehan Ahmed in will have a better chance of winning a Test match in Australia than an England side without. I say that because he is a match-winner. And before we get into talking about winning the Ashes, remember that England haven't won so much as a Test there since 2011.
RNZ News
04-08-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Sports News for 5 August 2025
India took the last four wickets in under an hour to bowl England out for 367 and win an astonishing fifth test by six runs to draw the series 2-all. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
