Author: index

Joe Root believes the set of players that England presently has for the shortest format of the game is quite capable and they will have to rise to the occasion in the coming World Championship in India next year.

As per Root, inexperience can’t be used as an excuse at the highest level of the game.

In an interview to a British television network, the deputy skipper of the Three Lions said, “When you are up against the teams at the World stage, you need to ensure you produce the goods. Yes, you want to learn and make progressions as a Cricketer, but, at the same time, it’s also very important to win games because ultimately it’s that which would give you confidence.”

“Our aim is to play consistent Cricket in all forms and clinch trophies. There are so many ambitious individuals involved in this group at the moment.”

When asked about England not having played that much of Twenty 20 Cricket of late and whether that is a concern leading to India, Root said, “Yes, we haven’t had too many games under our belt in that format in the last couple of years, but, we would be playing quite a few against Pakistan and South Africa in the coming weeks and I think that would help us sort our combinations keeping the big picture in mind.” Continue reading “Joe Root believes the set of players that England presently has for the shortest format”

Some great batting by James Taylor and Jason Roy helped England secure their first win in the 5-match One Day International series against Australia.

While, Roy scored a quick fire half century, his second in the series, Taylor got to three figures and the English managed to post a decent score to the Aussies after batting first at Old Trafford.

And, then the spinners played their part as they accounted for five dismissals in helping conditions and restricted the opposition far behind the target.

Winning the toss benefitted England as the pitch just kept getting drier and drier and more difficult for batting especially to the slower bowlers.

301 had looked like a score which could be chased with the firepower in Australian batting and the openers were in mood which got the visitors off to a fine start.

Aaron Finch, who was making a comeback, was happily taking the aerial route on regular occasions and was collecting boundaries down the ground with ease.

But, as the shine went off the ball and the spin bowling came into play, the game changed.

The spinners put the squeeze on and the fielders did their bit as well with fully committed efforts.

There were no easy singles on offer in the inner ring and with the number of remaining balls getting lesser in comparison to the number of runs required to be scored, the batsmen started trying to manufacture shots and the wickets tumbled. Continue reading “Some great batting by James Taylor and Jason Roy helped England secure their first win”