Why the tale of 14-year-old schoolboy Vaibhav Suryavanshi and his 35-ball IPL ton shows India have an advantage over the rest of the world, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH
'At 14, most kids dream and eat ice cream,' tweeted former India opener Kris Srikkanth. 'Indian cricket's next superstar is here!'
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Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
TEST MATCH BREAKFAST: Zak Crawley responds to Shubman Gill's 'spirit of the game' accusations and the debate surrounding injury substitutes
Test Match Breakfast takes a look at some of the biggest issues around cricket during England's huge fourth Test against India at Old Trafford. Ahead of day three of the crunch fourth game of the five-match series, RICHARD GIBSON discusses Zak Crawley's response to Shubman Gill's suggested he had not acted in the 'spirit of the game', injury substitutions in Test cricket and the England all-rounder lighting up the county game. Right on time Zak Crawley pleaded innocence in response to a pre-match accusation from India captain Shubman Gill that he had gone against the spirit of the game midway through this series. Gill blamed the third evening flare-up during the Lord's Test on Crawley and his opening partner Ben Duckett for arriving at the crease 90 seconds late. It was that particular part of England's delaying tactics that had incensed the Indian team, Gill said, causing them to converge upon Crawley when he called for medical attention, after being struck on the glove by Jasprit Bumrah, as the clock ticked onto the 6.30pm close of play. 'I sit in my spot until the umpires go out. I wasn't aware we were late,' Crawley protested. Whether it was intentional or not, he also stirred things up by saying: 'I loved that eight-minute passage.' There were seven minutes of play remaining when England's second innings began, but India were only able to send down six deliveries following the late start to the innings and a couple of further interruptions. Pants on fire Injury substitutes should not come into Test cricket for another two years, according to India's Shardul Thakur. The International Cricket Council have signalled their intention to introduce subs for ailments other than concussion by announcing a trial period for domestic cricket around the world from October. However, talking about the issue in light of Rishabh Pant batting with a fractured foot on the second morning, Thakur said that changes to Test cricket's playing conditions ought to wait until mid-2027 when the current World Championship ends, rather than be introduced midway through its cycle. Of Pant limping back to the crease to transform his unbeaten 37 into a half-century, Thakur - who struck 41 himself - said: 'It was always our plan. There were quite a few efforts from our medical team. Yes, he was in a lot of pain, but we have seen him do a lot of amazing things for the team and this was another.' Pant's latest misfortune, set to keep him sidelined for around six weeks, did throw up an anomaly unlikely ever to be repeated again - Dhruv Jurel keeping in three consecutive innings during a Test series without being named in India's XI. The last laugh Lancashire provided a patronising response to spectators making it into ground on time on Thursday, following the chaos at the start of the match. 24 hours after thousands were queuing down the road, waiting to be admitted and missing half of the morning session in some cases, there was a near full house to witness Ben Stokes' fifth five-wicket haul in Tests. An X post from the club read: 'Thanks to all supporters for arriving early and prepared today. It makes a huge difference! 'We hope you have a great day here with us at Emirates Old Trafford.' Lancashire responded to anger from fans at delayed entry on day one by claiming nearly 9,000 supporters arriving at the ground 'very late' had caused the logjam at the turnstiles. On the beers! It was the 20th anniversary of one of the lesser known events of the 2005 Ashes on Thursday. Australia's victorious players opted to celebrate seeing off England at Lord's by storming the home dressing room and belting out their team song 'Under the Southern Cross I Stand.' England's players had long since departed, but the act of drunken bravado left some of the Australians uneasy post singing. 'Looking back now, I wish we hadn't had as many beers as we had before we went down there,' says Australia captain Ricky Ponting. Those events were kept secret for more than a decade, but came to light in the documentary Forged in Fire, charting international cricket's fiercest rivalry. England shook Australia in that opening match, fast bowler Steve Harmison famously scarring Ponting's cheek to lay down a marker for the series, and although the tourists won the Battle of St John's Wood, they didn't win the war. The response of Michael Vaughan, the man who orchestrated the historic 2-1 win, was one of muted satisfaction: 'There's a karma in sport, isn't there?' England's next star? Liam Dawson was the Englishman with the most recent match double of a century and 10 wickets until Thursday. Dawson, 35, managed the feat on this ground for Hampshire last August, and had also completed it against Middlesex in Southampton 14 months prior to that. But another spin-bowling all-rounder with Ashes ambitions this winter in Rehan Ahmed put his name in a rare club with only the fifth occurrence by an English player this century. Ahmed, 20, followed his first innings hundred with a career-best six for 51 and then took all four Derbyshire wickets to fall second time around as Division Two leaders Leicestershire closed in on an impressive away victory against their promotion rivals.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Ex-Cleveland manager Terry Francona's blunt response to Trump after President attacked Guardians' name change
Those complaining about Cleveland's baseball team replacing its offensive nickname back in 2022 are welcome to continue whining about it, according to Cincinnati Reds manager Terry 'Tito' Francona. The two-time World Series winner was managing the Cleveland Indians in 2022 when the team opted to change its name to the 'Guardians' following years of protests from Native American groups. Francona supported the decision at the time and President Donald Trump 's recent criticism of the move has done nothing to change his opinion. 'Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen,' Trump claimed, adding: 'OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!' Trump then attacked Guardians owner Paul Dolan's brother, Matt, misidentifying him as the team owner and the driving force behind the move. But Francona stood firm with reporters this week, crediting Paul Dolan for the decision and telling critics that the debate is effectively over. 'I wasn't the one that had to kind of have the [fortitude] to do it,' Francona said this week before his Reds faced the Washington nationals. 'Paul Dolan ultimately was the one that had to pull the trigger. 'I was really proud of him, because I don't think it was real popular with a segment of probably the older fans that kind of, I guess like Trump: 'Why can't it be like it used to be?' 'And I guess my retort would be: 'There's probably a lot of people in this country who don't want it like it used to be.' And if you're white, [you're] probably just fine.' Francona was coming off a pair of World Series wins in Boston when he took the Cleveland job in 2012. At the time, he explained this week, the team's name wasn't an issue in his mind. 'I didn't even care what they made the name in Cleveland,' he said. 'I really didn't. I just know how I was in on those conversations, and we were trying to be respectful. And for that, I gave those guys a lot of credit.' Francona admitted that 'not everybody's gonna be happy,' but the long-time manager knows 'that's never gonna be the case.' 'I think as long as what you're trying to do is respectful, you can go ahead and let people complain,' said Francona, who is in his first season managing the Reds.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Phenomenal': Zak Crawley hails Ben Stokes' resurgence after five-wicket haul
Zak Crawley hailed Ben Stokes's 'phenomenal' resurgence with the ball as the England captain took his first Test five-wicket haul in eight years, driving the hosts into control of the fourth Test in Manchester. Stokes finished with figures of five for 72 before Crawley struck 84 as England closed the second day on 225 for two, trailing India's first-innings total by 133 runs. The former has recovered from a hamstring tear, sustained against New Zealand late last year, to become his side's leading bowler this summer. He sits at the top of the series' wicket-taking charts with 16 at an average of 24.75. Asked if he saw similarities with Stokes now and the bowler from a few years ago, when South Africa were ripped apart at Newlands in 2020 with three late match-winning wickets, Crawley replied: 'There are so many similarities to that pace-wise.'. 'He was bowling quickly back then and he's got that pace back now. And the way he gets that away movement from the right-handers, that zip, which is as much as anyone in the world. He gets that bounce and he's a proper wicket-taker, and he can make things happen. That was certainly the case when I first came into the side back then, and he seems to have got that back now, which is a phenomenal effort considering the injuries he's had. And, well, he's a little bit older now, so a phenomenal effort.' Crawley's opening stand of 166 with Ben Duckett on Thursday came after the pair had been involved in a tetchy exchange with the Indian fielders on the third evening at Lord's, taking their time as Crawley faced one over before the close. India's captain, Shubman Gill, questioned whether England's behaviour had been 'in the spirit of the game'. 'I sit in my spot until the umpires go out, and I saw the umpires go out and I walked out. I wasn't aware that we were 90 seconds late, but fair enough,' said Crawley. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion 'I've always enjoyed that part of cricket, to be honest, especially when you're batting, and it's two of you against 11 and they're desperate to get you out and they're chirping you. Most of the time I'd probably let it slide and then other times I feel like it's a good chance to put it back on them. And Lord's was, you know – I loved that little eight-minute passage. No one stepped over the line. I thought everyone was in good spirits. It was just competitive cricket.'
