England Back with a Bang
A memorable all-round performance from Englannd has reignited their ongoing Test series against India, with the hosts winning the Third Test by an innings and 76 runs at Headingley last week. England’s pace bowlers were exquisite on Day 1, with James Anderson and Craig Overton taking three wickets each, while Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson chipped in with two apiece as India were rolled for 78. New opening pair Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns then put on 135 for the first wicket, with Joe Root (121) and Dawid Malan (70) also contributing strongly to their first innings total of 432. With a mountain to climb India’s second innings had some promising signs, most notably a return to form for Cheteshwar Pujara (91) and some runs for Virat Kohli (55), however they slumped from 2-215 to 278 all out on Day 4, allowing England to claim the innings victory on the back of figures of 5-65 from Ollie Robinson, his second 5 wicket haul of the series. The next Test will be played at The Oval and will begin on Thursday.
Woakes back for England
Warwickshire all-rounder and veteran of 38 Test matches Chris Woakes has returned to the England squad after recovering from a heel injury. Given Sam Curran’s lack of effect with bat and ball in recent matches, expect to see him included for England when they take on the Indian’s in the Fourth Test. India may look to bring in Hanuma Vihari to take the place of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, while R Ashwin may well play in place of Ravi Jadeja or potentially Ishant Sharma, who bowled poorly in the most recent fixture between the two sides.
Pakistan level series
Despite a dreadful start, they were three wickets down with only two runs on the board in their first innings, Pakistan were able to square the series against West Indies with an 109 run win in Jamaica. A starring performance from Man-of-the-Match Shaheen Shah Afridi and a first innings hundred from Fawad Alam steered the visitors to the win. It was great to see attacking cricket being played as Pakistan looked to force a result, and their aggression eventually paid off as they squared the two-match series 1-1 to conclude their tour of the Caribbean.
Ireland vs Zimbabwe Series all tied up
After losing the first match of the series by just three runs, Ireland hit back against Zimbabwe on Sunday, winning the second T20 International by seven wickets. Zimbabwe’s first game match-winner Richard Ngarava was unable to emulate his heroics in the second fixture as the hosts iced their chase of 152. Zimbabwe will be pleased with the efforts of lower order batsmen Milton Shumba and Ryan Burl, who combined for a partnership of 88 before Irish veterans Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien steered their team home in the chase. The next fixture will be played in Bready on Thursday.
Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams reconsidering retirement
A major story surrounding Zimbabwe’s tour of Ireland and Scotland has been that veteran all-rounder Sean Williams will be stepping away from international cricket following the tour, citing issues with management of the team. Lalchand Rajput, who has had a statistically unsuccessful time as national coach, and it is rumoured that if he steps away when his contract ends later this month, Williams, who has played over 200 internationals for Zimbabwe, may retract his notice of retirement. However; it remains to be seen if he will be considered for selection, as Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) have expressed their disappointment in him releasing information to the press without consulting them. Zimbabwe have six more fixtures to play against Ireland, before they head to Scotland for three T20i’s in mid-September.
Squad update T20WC
After qualifying for their first major ICC event, Papua New Guinea have named their squad for the ICC T20 World Cup, which will begin in October. They have a run of 50-over matches to contest before they play their first match against Oman on October 17.
Russ Haylock Sportswriting 