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New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Bazball, England's 28-ball scoreless sequence and the art of the leave
Like any sport, cricket is about things happening. Runs, wickets, catches, big shots, small shots, missed shots, appeals, people slipping over, people slipping over and their trousers falling down (which happened twice, in quick succession, to Indian players a couple of matches ago), bad decisions, good decisions, no decisions. Advertisement But for 28 balls across about 25 minutes of England's first innings against India at Lord's on Thursday, nothing happened. Well, not literally nothing. Players still moved about, balls were still bowled, champagne corks were still fired from bottles onto the outfield from the quaffing masses in the stands. England, though, did not score a single run. There were 28 consecutive dot balls. The scoreboard did not move. And yet, it was still oddly compelling to watch. It's quite difficult to explain to those unfamiliar with cricket why this is the case, why a passage of time with a complete lack of the central point of the sport — scoring runs — is still interesting to watch. It's partly because the art of 'the leave' is a key part of cricket's tapestry. Knowing whether it's a good idea to try and hit the ball, or whether it's more prudent to simply watch as it flies by, is one of the crucial skills of the game. It's an art. An appreciation of space. A judgement call. Sometimes, less is more. Doing nothing is doing something. It's not quite as simple as saying that leaving the ball means you're not going to get out, as the many batters who have tried this only to hear the dreaded clatter of the ball hitting the stumps will attest. But knowing when you shouldn't play the ball in those instances that you don't have to is a test of skill and temperament. It's partly because it became a sort of low wattage psychodrama with England's batters, Ollie Pope and Joe Root, fighting their demons as they jabbed and missed at balls; as they struck shots firmly but straight to fielders, and mulled over which balls to leave. Here's Pope flinging everything he's got at a wide drive but missing. There's Root loosely flashing and the ball whistling past the edge of his bat. Pope again, groping desperately at a ball that seems to turn sharply around a corner. This was them struggling against some high quality quick bowling, from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohamed Siraj. It was perhaps less a philosophical choice from the England batters, and more the bowlers doing the equivalent of binding their arms together with bandages, turning them into lumbering mummies as opposed to cricketers with north of 17,000 Test match runs between them. Advertisement But it's also because it's entirely against the raison d'être of this England side. Since Brendon McCullum took over as coach and Ben Stokes assumed the captaincy in 2022 — the 'Bazball' era — this team has defined itself as one that makes things happen. Principally, scoring runs at a frantic rate. There was a 30-ball sequence against India at Edgbaston in 2022, but that passage of play included a leg bye and so, by definition, was not entirely 'scoreless'. Today's 28-ball sequence without scoring is therefore a 'Bazball' record. The next longest lean spell was 27 against India in Rajkot in 2024, but that included three wickets, which tends to inherently slow the scoring rate. Their overall run rate in that time, in 38 Test matches before this one, was 4.62 per over. In 10 of those Tests they have scored at over five runs per over. In one, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, they scored at 6.73 runs per over. For context, in the same period the next fastest rate is 3.63 runs per over, by India. At the end of that 28-ball scoreless run, England's run rate in this Test was 2.75. Siraj on the wind up 😅 — Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 10, 2025 It had ticked up a bit as the day wore on: at the tea break, the rate had inched up to 3.12. But clearly, this was a very different style of cricket. It is tempting to wonder, from an English perspective, why they haven't applied this approach before. Like, for example, in the last Test match, when they could have tried to bat out the final day and drawn the match to retain a 1-0 series lead. 'You used to get those passages of play where you had to soak it up and the bowlers are on top,' said former England captain Mike Atherton on Sky Sports. 'It wasn't easy and they were trying to force a mistake. You have to get through those passages of play. Root and Pope did.' Even if Pope's reward for weathering the storm was to be dismissed by the first delivery after tea. Advertisement So what do we conclude from this? Was it just a strange quirk of statistics, a relatively short spell in which two good batters just couldn't get going? Was it just a really brilliant spell of bowling, two of the world's finest tying England down as they are very capable of doing? Or was this a sign of maturity, proof that England can actually sometimes play with some restraint, and not like a toddler who has downed three cans of Monster energy drink? Maybe it's a combination. Whatever is the case, it demonstrated one of the great things about Test match cricket: that sometimes nothing happening can be compelling.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
England v India: fourth women's T20 cricket international
Update: Date: 2025-07-09T17:08:28.000Z Title: England win the toss and will bat first Content: Looks a decent Old Trafford wicket and Tammy Beaumont elects to have first use, following the blueprint that saw them succeed in South London last week. Teams: India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani England: Sophia Dunkley, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Alice Capsey, Tammy Beaumont (capt), Amy Jones (wk), Paige Scholfield, Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, Charlie Dean, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell England win the toss, and elect to bat first 🏏The fourth T20 is about to get underway! 🍿 Update: Date: 2025-07-09T17:05:09.000Z Title: Preamble Content: Hello and welcome to the fourth T20 between England and India from Old Trafford, Manchester. The place is bathed in sunshiiiiiine ahead of tonight's encounter, it's a must win game (again) for the home side as they find themselves 2-1 down with two games to play. England won an arse-nipper down at The Oval on Sunday, a victory by just five runs secured off the final ball kept their series hopes alive but there was also a calamitous batting collapse and some questionable catching on show once again. Head Coach Charlotte Edwards will be desperate to see her side up their standards and take the series to a decider at Edgbaston on Saturday before the ODI series gets underway the following week. They'll be without Nat Sciver-Brunt once more as the England captain recovers from a groin injury, Tammy Beaumont will take the reins for the second match in a row. We await news of the teams and toss but will have them imminently. Play gets underway in half an hour. Join us and get in touch. D'ya know what I mean?
Hans India
6 days ago
- Sport
- Hans India
India Jumps to 4th in World Test Championship After Historic Edgbaston Win
India Team moved to the fourth place in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table after a dominant 336-run victory over England at Edgbaston. The win was India's first-ever victory at the venue. The win also ended India's long winless streak that included seven losses and a draw. Indian captain Shubman Gill played a crucial role by scoring a double century and a century in the two innings. His performance helped India set a strong total that proved too much for England. On the bowling front, Akash Deep claimed a 10-wicket match haul to play his role in helping India win the much-needed match to stay alive in the series, while Mohammed Siraj scalped 7 wickets. In the absence of India's pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Indian bowlers delivered under pressure as India leveled the five-match series 1–1. With this result, Australia remains the table topper of the WTC standings, followed by Sri Lanka (2nd) and England (3rd). India's strong all-round performance has now pushed them into 4th place, keeping their hopes alive in the race to the WTC final.
Telegraph
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Live England vs India, second Test, day one: Score and updates from Edgbaston
10:16AM Bumrah likely to be left out of India team Good morning from Edgbaston. The heatwave is over, and it's much cooler and cloudier this morning than the last few days. I reckon Ben Stokes will bowl first if he wins the toss, even though the sun is starting to poke through and it's meant to fully clear up. Not sure we can be quite as quick to judge that call as we were at Headingley. The word on the street is that Jasprit Bumrah isn't playing. We will find out for sure in 30 mins, but that would seem madness to me. It seems they want loads of all-rounders in his absence, but I'm not sure that's how you beat this England team. Pick your best wicket-takers! England will be wearing black armbands in memory of Wayne Larkins, who died this weekend. We've had lots of black armbands lately, which is sad. 10:13AM The thrill - and logic - of the chase Good morning from a cool and cloudy Birmingham, which is one more reason to bowl first - in addition to the remarkable statistic that since 2022, in Tests in England, the average runs per wicket in the first innings is 32, which is predictable, and 44 in the fourth innings, which is staggering. As revealed by Sid Monga of Cricinfo. 10:12AM England to wear black armbands in memory of Wayne Larkins Welcome to Edgbaston where it is cloudy and cool, posing the tough question of what to do at the toss. England will bowl first and chase if they win the toss and we suspect India are planning to pick two spinners so you would think they plan to bat last. Chris Woakes will be licking his lips on his home ground if the overcast conditions continue and England bowl first. England will be wearing black armbands today to remember Wayne Larkins who died at the weekend aged 71. 10:05AM Good morning Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport's live, over-by-over coverage of the second Test between England and India at Edgbaston. It doesn't take long, even in a five-Test series, for things to intensify. England's stirring win at Headingley makes this a mustn't-lose game for India, who have been beaten in seven of their last nine Tests. India's XI has been the subject of endless discussion after their confused selection in the first Test. We'll soon find out whether their two best bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, are playing this game. England won't get carried away, not least because series against India are more turbulent than most. Only two of the last seven have been won by the team that took a 1-0 lead. And it took a lot out of England, particularly their captain, to win at Headingley. 'It was a big week,' said Stokes. ''I used the three days after that game to offer absolutely nothing to the world. I was a shadow of my normal self. It just goes to show how much five-day Test matches take out of you. But I'm over that now and ready to go. Let's hope we can produce something similar again. Obviously going 1-0 is a good start, a very tough-fought victory for us and a long five days, but now it's about getting back to zero and focusing again on the win here.' England have named an unchanged side, which means Jofra Archer's return to Test cricket will be delayed until at least the Lord's Test. But anyone with even the slightest connection to English cricket is excited about what he might achieve. 'Facing him in the nets there, he's got the ball swinging quite nicely and there's that effortless pace,' says Stokes. 'It's been a while since I faced him so it was a little bit of a wake-up call for me. We all know he is an incredibly gifted cricketer.' That's for next week. The next five days are all about Edgbaston, and whether England can go 2-0 up with three to play.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gill named India Test captain before England tour
Top-order batter Shubman Gill has been named the new Test captain of the India men's team. The 25-year-old succeeds Rohit Sharma as captain, with the 38-year-old having retired from Test cricket earlier this month. Gill, who has scored 1,893 runs in 32 Tests, will lead a depleted India team in a five-Test tour of England starting on 20 June. Veteran seamer Mohammed Shami was left out of the squad following a late injury setback, although he played in the Indian Premier League. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been named Gill's deputy in the Test squad. India Test squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Druv Jurel , Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. Gill & Jaiswal in strong India A squad to tour England Rohit Sharma: Indian cricket star who made batting look like art Get cricket news sent straight to your phone
