Latest news with #Test series
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The selection dilemmas the Lions face in third Test against Australia
The nature of the British and Irish Lions always poses a unique challenge for a selector but Andy Farrell's task of putting together a team for the third Test provides fresh questions still for the head coach. With the series secure, the would-be decider in Sydney now becomes a shot at history – not since the 4-0 win on the 1927 trip to Argentina, when the British Isles team won all nine matches on the wider itinerary for the concession of a total of nine points, has a 'Lions' side swept a Test entanglement of more than one match. Of course, there is 'The Invincibles'' tour of 1974 in slightly more recent memory but a fourth Test draw in Johannesburg discounts the otherwise remarkable achievements of Syd Millar and Willie John McBride's squad. It can certainly be said, then, that the Lions are chasing something special. Look back to the last time they faced this sort of scenario and it becomes clear that peril may lay ahead. In 1997, Ian McGeechan's squad vanquished the Springboks after Jeremy Guscott's drop goal to go 2-0 up – but could not go again in Johannesburg with the squad later admitting that they had lost focus amid the chaos and cacophony that had surrounded their series win. It did not help, either, that several of the England players were thinking about a one-off game against Australia that followed closely on the tour, while the squad switched off, indulging deeply in their celebrations after winning in Durban. The only tourists perhaps fully focussed on the job at hand were Dr James Robson and the medical team, dealing with the many walking wounded from a brutal second Test. Farrell's crop certainly enjoyed all that Melbourne had to offer before heading to Sydney but arrived with, it seems, a cleaner bill of health than their 1997 predecessors could count upon. Garry Ringrose has been ruled out due to his concussion but Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy have been passed fit to feature and there do not appear to be any matters of major concern stemming from the exertions at the MCG. It is worth remembering, mind, that this is the end of a long and gruelling season for most in the Lions squad. Forwards like Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje and Tadhg Beirne have ploughed past 30 matches in the campaign, with the latter two generally 80-minute men. It is not yet showing in their performances but whispers of a few niggles betray the fact that some of the squad are playing sore. 'Like all the boys, it's the end of the season, you learn to play a little bit hurt,' Sione Tuipulotu suggested after the first Test - days before a tight hamstring prevented him pressing for inclusion in the second. That is, alas, part and parcel of being a professional rugby player but a freshening up in places may be wise. Even if not as intense as it once was, a Lions tour offers the most demanding schedule that any international will have to endure, with the regular rhythm of matches compounded by the travel in the early weeks. No-one will willingly stand down, one would think, given what is on the line but Farrell may be considering changes anyway. The back three of James Lowe, Tommy Freeman and Hugo Keenan hasn't quite clicked just yet. Their backfield coverage, usually a strength of Keenan particularly, has been lax at times, and all have had moments of weakness under the high ball. Lowe's left clearing boot hasn't been quite as effective as usual; Freeman's roaming hasn't done the damage that the Lions would have expected. And yet each found a way to contribute a big moment in Melbourne: Freeman's thumping carry helped set up the space for Tom Curry's try, Lowe's power and dexterity likewise teed up Tadhg Beirne, and Keenan's involvement was the telling one. Blair Kinghorn was good off the bench in Melbourne, though, and offers an option across all three spots, while Hansen's fitness will be closely monitored. The other factor for the Lions staff to consider is whether to reward some of those banging on the selection door in a wider squad that has so far remained tightly bound on this trip. A recognition that the second half in Brisbane and first half in Melbourne did not go right may bring some of those on the fringes into the frame, and the places have been hotly contested throughout. '[We'll pick] the best team available to win the series,' assistant coach Andrew Goodman said on Tuesday. 'That might look like some changes, that might look like consistency. We will see how the boys go through their recovery process over the next couple of days and whatever 23 is picked will go out there and do the best for the team. You've got to reward form when guys have been playing well and are match-hardened in those Test matches. It is a balance and I'm sure we'll have some good discussions as we always have around selecting the best 23 for the group."
Telegraph
30-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Tone-deaf ECB has broken Ben Stokes by prioritising the Hundred
The ECB was keen to announce that six of the eight ownership contracts have been agreed because negotiations dragged on far longer than expected but another day, once the Test had started, would not have made a big difference and allowed the Test series priority. Instead a stream of press releases from the counties involved and the bankers who handled the deals for the Hundred hit inboxes. Trent Bridge and the Oval are still in talks with their prospective buyers, with Surrey and the Ambani family the most fraught of those negotiations. The press release insisted that the ECB will retain control over 'key areas such as regulations, the length of the window and other matters that have a wider game-wide impact'. We shall see. Stokes was clearly upset and hugely disappointed to miss out and tried to persuade himself he could play as a batsman only to realise at practice that it would be a silly risk to take. He stood forlornly at the side of nets as England trained, watched for a few minutes before he wheeled his kit bag back to the dressing room, and packed it away until the Perth Test in November. In hindsight, while his eight-over spell on the morning of day five at Old Trafford was great sporting theatre and felt crucial to England's chances, it was obvious straightaway he was carrying a shoulder injury. England are still not very good at telling their alpha male captain to give his body a chance. At the drinks break it looked as though Joe Root was trying to persuade Stokes he had done enough. He bowled three more overs to the second new ball, clutching his shoulder between deliveries as he walked back to his mark. The pecking order for the best cricketers has not changed. Stokes struggles to hide his disdain for the Hundred. Despite the aches and pains he described a five-Test series as 'very tough, a real test of character, of physicality but is class to play. .When he won his first IPL earlier this year, Virat Kohli was asked what it meant to him. 'It marks five levels below Test cricket.' Says it all.
