Spirits Cricket

Paul Collingwood is yet to make a final call over his participation in the much hyped twenty 20 series that is going to be held on the Pakistani land.

Earlier it was reported that Collingwood had agreed to be a part of the Rest of the World squad that would take on Pakistan in the proposed series.

But, the former English all-rounder has clarified his position. While he has admitted that he has had a chat with Andy Flower who would be managing the Rest of the World squad, he stresses that he has not committed to Flower that he would definitely be there playing in that series.

As per Collingwood, it’s an exciting proposition, no doubt because he is not an active international Cricketer anymore. He bid adieu to the international game long back. But this is a chance to get involved in international Cricket again as all the games of this series are going to be counted as international games. (more…)

New England Test captain Joe Root says that the experience former skipper Alastair Cook will bring to the team would be helpful to the success of the team now and in the future.

Cook resigned from the role in February after record 59 games.

“I think Cook will be great. He’s done a fantastic job and I’ve inherited a side that’s so settled – he has to take a lot of credit for that. I’ve got fantastic senior players. Alastair is a great person to go to – he will let me get on with it and do it my own way.

“It’s in his DNA to help the rest of the guys out. He always led from the front which is what made him such a great leader. If he’s firing on all cylinders with the bat then we’ll be in a good position at the end of the summer,” Root said.

On the other hand, bowler James Anderson told the BBCSportthat he has no plans of retiring after the forthcoming Ashes series. The 34-year old Poms star fended off speculations that he might call it quits.

“If we win the Test series, I’ll be over the moon. It means we will have had an amazing year. But right now I have no interest in stopping,” the Lancashire swing bowler said. (more…)

England opener Alex Hales hit 110 from 107 balls and he was emotional after the achievement against West Indies. It was the third one-day international for the player in half a year. He missed the Bangladesh tour due to security concerns. He was also frustrated by the fracture of his hands early this year.

“The last six months have been frustrating, so to score a hundred in my first game back is a great feeling,” the excited 28-year old said. Hales said when he opted out of the Bangladesh trip, he knew he was offering others his spot in the team. He said the injury in India was bad timing so he is most pleased to return to the team. (more…)

Joe Root confesses that playing test match Cricket in Australia four years back was a different kind of experience altogether, both in terms of the game as well as in terms of the environment.

Root was a rookie at that time and the Aussie spectators, who are quite infamous for coming down hard at the Rookies, showed no softness towards him and dished out abuses to him right through the tour whichever venue he went to.

And what made matters worse for him was that he couldn’t add too many runs to his tally either. Out of the eight innings that he got to play on the tour before getting axed, he could play just one good knock of eighty odd. In the remaining innings, he couldn’t cross the mark of 30 even once.

The Yorkie reveals that during that series he listened a lot to the analysts who were sitting on TV and talking about his game, pointing out what he was doing wrong and what he should change to score runs. (more…)

After the England Cricket Team’s losses in the Indian Test series currently ongoing in India, Alastair Cook – captain of the English team – has said that Joe Root was ready to take over the captaincy position in the team.

Cook’s ability to captain the team was first questioned with the team’s failure in their home test series against Pakistan. However, he has admitted that the end of the Indian Tour could see him step down from the exalted position as the extent of their defeat by their Indian counterparts, led by Virat Kohli seems to have ended any hopes he harbored of continuing in the role beyond this season.

The fourth test held in Mumbai saw India humiliate England as they pushed on to clinch the series 3-0 with one match still remaining.

Cook also mentioned that he would stick with the team till the end of the series, after which he would sit with Andrew Strauss, England’s Director of Cricket in the New Year and talk things over in a honest and open manner. (more…)

Jason Roy is a great prospect for England with the view of the 2019 World Cup.

Aggressive opening batsmen in ODI Cricket were a rarity for England in the last 5 years and that’s why, they couldn’t create a sense of fear among the international bowlers.

However, now, the Three Lions have two such batsmen, Roy and Hales, who don’t play the waiting game and instead, like to tear into the bowlers.

In his innings against Sri Lanka yesterday in London where he plays his domestic Cricket as well, Roy was fearless to say the least.

Caring very little about the length of the faster men, he was forcing himself on the front foot on each ball which was almost disrespectful and embarrassing to Sri Lanka. And, his dismissiveness of the visitors’ strongest department, that is spin, was exhilarating too. He did not have any kind of regard for the ability of their spinners.

Playing it off the pitch is the general way of playing spin in England, but, for Roy, it’s about reducing the distance between him and the bowler to change the length of the ball to his liking and to take the turn out of the scene, much like an Asian.

Also, the elbows of Roy remain so upright. There is probably no player in the world who keeps his elbows more upright than that. (more…)