State-school cricket at Lord's? Bring it on
The new T20 competition was launched at Lord's by Michael Vaughan and Heather Knight, both state-school-educated England captains, and it will be known as the Knight-Stokes cup (Ben Stokes was also state-educated). There will be a girls' and a boys' final hosted on the main ground at Lord's from next summer. Get your entries in now.
England's current batting line-up is a great advert for public-school sport. Opening with Zak Crawley (Tonbridge) is Ben Duckett (Stowe); Duckett was not just an awesome run machine from his first year at Stowe; he also amassed nearly 1,000 runs the year before at his prep school. After them come Ollie Pope (Cranleigh) and at No. 5 Harry Brook (Sedbergh). All very well, but if there's a fraction of that talent learning the game on what remains of the playing fields at state schools, we should surely try to bring it on. The first five batsmen in the first Test England played after the war (against India at Lord's) were all state-school-educated: Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook, Ben Compton, Wally Hammond and Joe Hardstaff Jnr.
Whoever would have imagined that the worst two teams in county cricket at the moment, currently battling it out at the bottom of Division 2, would be Kent (the county of Cowdrey, Knott and Underwood) and Middlesex (the county of Compton, Strauss and Gatting)? Meanwhile, at the top of county cricket various acts of torture were committed during Surrey's monster innings of 820 for nine declared on Monday. Surrey's skipper, Rory Burns, was presumably muttering to himself as he delayed his declaration through the longest, hottest afternoon of the summer: 'If they were dumb enough to put us in to bat, they deserve to pay for it.'
While quite what the Durham skipper Alex Lees was thinking as he kept spinner George Drissell on for 45 overs while he took one wicket for 247 is hard to imagine. Only 14 of Surrey's runs came from extras, which shows you how regularly poor Drissell and his fellow Durham bowlers managed to hit the full face of the Surrey bats.
I've never met an Aussie I didn't like, but it would be nice to stuff them at the Ashes this winter. Australia's batting line-up is pretty terrible. The current order features Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja (who is almost as old as me), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Beau Webster, none of whom are a patch on Hayden and Langer, Ponting or the Waughs. These Ashes could be England's for the taking, which would be a fitting climax to Ben Stokes's extraordinary, driven, focused cricket career.
These Lions could be one of the best teams our islands have ever sent abroad. The rugby is fluent and assured, free-flowing and attractive, with a mighty powerful front five. One of the most vibrant players is Henry Pollock. There seems to be a refusal by the more grizzled members of the rugby commentariat to acknowledge quite how much fun the 20-year-old flanker is to watch. It's no surprise that everyone who plays against him wants to clock him. But he's a game-changer and the sort of player who can bring the spectators flooding in.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
7 hours ago
- Scotsman
Hibs star Miller on Euro dreams, World Cup
No turning back for defender embracing 'beautiful' high-stakes challenge Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Lewis Miller would like it to be known that, by his own conservative estimate, he hasn't left a certain fellow Australian free from pestering for a single 48-hour stretch in this summer of uncertainty. If Sunderland prospect Nectar Triantis does end up returning to Easter Road, 'Millsy' may well be entitled to a commission on the deal. Not that he needs any incentive to sing the praises of Hibs. Even if his early days in Edinburgh, half a world away from home, did put him through the emotional wringer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Miller, who turns 25 next month, almost pops and fizzes with enthusiasm when he discusses his time as a Hibernian player. As he reflects on his role in helping the Socceroos qualify for a sixth successive World Cup, the versatile defender freely admits the role played by coaches and team-mates he's worked with in Scotland, declaring: 'Hibs has moulded me as a player.' The former Central Coast star, who made 22 league starts in green-and-white last season, his performances on the right of the back three – plus the occasional shift at wingback – helping David Gray's men climb from the foot of the table to finish third in the Scottish Premiership, is now a key member of Tony Popovic's Aussie squad. Along with Martin Boyle, he can feel confident about his chances of making the final cut for next summer's finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA. Long before that, he's bursting to get stuck into his club's crack at European football. Socceroos ace was a beach boy with basketball ambitions For someone who grew up in a basketball-mad family in the northern suburbs of Sydney, his childhood including the near-obligatory membership of the Nippers, a lifesaving/swimming/beach club experience that couldn't be any more Australian if it required participants to gorge on vegemite sandwiches and Tim Tams as a post-exercise snack, it's been quite the journey. One not without its setbacks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Recalling those first six months following his arrival in the summer of 2022, as he made just a couple of starts and a handful of substitute appearances, Miller admitted: 'It's always tough when you're not playing - but you need to learn resilience. You can't really turn on yourself and kind of shy away from a challenge. 'You don't just put your head down and say: 'I've just moved halfway across the world, I'm not playing, I just want to go back home somewhere where it's comfortable …' You have to get used to being in a very uncomfortable environment. 'Once I got through that spell I kind of just started flying from there. And obviously Hibs gave me that platform. 'I think Hibs has moulded me as a player. I mean, obviously I started off with the Mariners and that kind of introduced me to football. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'By my first big club in my career was Hibs - and they really moulded me as a player. I didn't play for the first year, I played about two or three games. 'And then from there it's kind of just been skyrocketing. I've played more and more and more under new managers that have put more trust and faith in me. I've adapted to the Scottish way of football. 'I think that its intensity is one of the highest, probably in the top leagues in Europe. Every single player comes out and gives 120 per cent and I think that's the main difference. 'You don't have a second to breathe. Having that experience has helped me in the big games – not just for the club but when I'm playing for my country, as well.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Miller played the full 90 minutes as Australia beat Saudi Arabia to clinch their World Cup qualification last month. He also featured in all but the closing dozen or so minutes in the previous game against Japan, a 1-0 win that went a long way to securing top spot in their Asian qualifying group. It made for a truncated close season, even allowing for David Gray giving his international players an extra week off, Miller admitting: 'Obviously, completely worth having the shorter time because we qualified for a World Cup. It sounds quite generic, but it's a childhood dream, the epitome of football. 'So, glad to have got to that place in my career so far. It's a very positive sign. And the best is yet to come, I think.' Australia's proud sporting tradition obvious across multiple disciplines As a sporting nation, Australia regularly punches way above its weight division. Competition runs through an outdoors culture that seems to produce hardened competitors in any number of disciplines. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'That's just the winning mentality and winning culture that we want to maintain for our country,' said Miller, who pointed out: 'Australia's not really a one-sport country. We're so diverse. 'We have so many different people that specialise in so many different sports. So you've got AFL, cricket, rugby league, rowing, swimming. You can kind of dabble in everything. 'When I was younger, I was a big basketball fan. My family are all basketball players. 'I was a little bit too small at the time. I didn't grow until I was about 18. So I was about five foot eight or five foot nine or something like that. So that kind of shut those dreams down straight away. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'But it's kind of always been football since the age of 13. I was a late bloomer, though, to be fair. 'The beach club? Yeah, I did Nippers. I did Nippers from I think it was six to nine. Which is always good fun. 'I did that Bilgola Beach, which is a bit north of Sydney. It's a great stretch of beaches, beautiful all along that coastline – every one of them a 10 out of 10. 'It's unbelievable. The whole lifestyle and just everything that you can do there.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Central Coast Mariners just a starting point for rising star Having thrown his lot in with football, a young Miller was glad to join Central Coast Mariners. But he knew, even then, that playing in the A-League was never going to be enough; he wanted to play for something that really meant something. Having thoroughly enjoyed himself in the European arena in season 2023-24, he definitely can't wait for the chance to take on Midtjylland in the Europa League second qualifying round later this month, declaring: 'Oh, it's beautiful. I mean, I love playing in the big games. 'I think it's a do-or-die situation. So you either shine or you sink. And I think that's the environment I love to be in. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Yes, there's some consequences if you make mistakes and you're put in the spotlight. But it doesn't outweigh the rewards if you go out there, get a result, play your best game. So they're the games a footballer wants to be a part of, the high-pressure situations.' He paints such a positive picture of life at Hibs, does Miller, that it's hard to imagine anyone NOT falling for his sales pitch. Which takes us neatly to his own half-joking confession about a supporting role in the club's pursuit of their No. 1 transfer target, grinning as he declared: 'Don't worry, I am speaking to him. Just so everyone knows, I am on the phone to Nectar every two days!'
Edinburgh Reporter
8 hours ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Teenager Janik celebrates winning gold with Scotland
Edinburgh schoolboy, Eryk Janik, helped Scotland's under-16 shore fishing squad to hook the gold medal in the Home Nations for the first time since 2003. What's more, the team went into the three-day event in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, with only four anglers instead of five, with one member aged only 12, and including three debutants and under the wing of a manager in his first major competition. And the youngest member, Franky Hamilton from Angus, aged 12, won his zone on each of the three days. Gold was achieved despite the boys arriving just before the official opening due to cost, and without any practice at the two nominated venues. Nuno Santos, the squad's Glasgow-based manager, said: 'It's like a fairy tale. The squad came together only three months ago and, if anybody had suggested we would win gold, then I would have said we had no chance. 'However, the boys and their parents went with it and now look what we have achieved.' Hamilton plus Janik, who has only one cap, earned last year, Loui Wemyss (Tayside), and Jai McKinney (Ayrshire), faced tricky conditions on the beach for two days at Longfield Wall on the Foyle Estuary and Benone Strand. Santos, and his assistant, Billy Buckley (Uddingston), who stepped in when the nominated assistant, Sean Baxter, a Cowdenbeath-based tackle shop owner, could not make the trip for business reasons, said: 'The boys were phenomenal. 'They came together three months ago and they listened. We fast-tracked them through, we had practices and they delivered under pressure.' Going into the prestige event with only four anglers meant the team could not slip up and Santos explained: 'The other teams had five members and so we knew that we could not afford to have a blank or come last in any of the three days, otherwise that would have been it for us. 'However, we won the first day and I told the boys to go out and do their best in Day Two. They did and we came second. 'It was all to play for on Day Three. England and Ireland were close and in with a chance. We knew it would be tough. 'The boys came through and we won all of our zones which was amazing to clinch gold. To be frank, we pulled a rabbit out of a hat here.' He added: 'The boys were brilliant, they were well-behaved, we had great banter in the squad and this is the first time since 2003 since Scotland last won gold at Junior (under-16) level in the Home Nations. 'I cannot speak highly enough about the group. They learned fast. Franky has only been fishing for about a year, Eryk, Loui and Jai only took up fishing about two years ago, and their hard work in preparing for this has paid off with gold.' The ladies team won gold in their event for the first time after three silver medals. The squad included Aberdeen-born Buffy McAvoy, formerly from Edinburgh but now living in Glenrothes, plus debutant, Margo Robinson, from Dumbarton, Aussie-born Joanne Barlow from Brighton – she qualifies because of her Scottish-born mother – Gill Coutts from Largs and Lesley Maby (Cumbria). McAvoy said: 'Well, we've just gone and done it, winning gold.' Their manager is Kevin Lewis from Broughty Ferry, Tayside, and Robinson is a member of Scotland's ladies carp fishing team and Barlow is a former captain of the carp team. Lewis confirmed that Coutts won her zone on all three days, an 'amazing' achievement, and Robinson performed well in her first sea fishing international. He added: 'What can I say as the Scottish ladies manager, we have finally done it and won gold. I'm so proud of the ladies in the way they fished and listened (in the build-up).' PICTURE: Scotland (left to right): Billy Buckley (assistant manager), Jai McKinney, Eryk Janik, Franky Hamilton, Loui Wemyss, Nuno Santos (manager). Supplied by Nuno Santos. Like this: Like Related
North Wales Chronicle
12 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Jamie Smith has ‘long England career ahead of him'
The pair moved mountains together as they attempted to drag their side back into contention on day three of the second Rothesay Test, coming together at 84 for five and conjuring a spectacular fightback. Brook made 158 as he brought up the ninth century of his Test career, with Smith smiting a sensational 184 not out. Stumps on Day 3. An incredible partnership between Harry Brook and Jamie Smith lit up the day, but India have extended their lead to 2️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ runs. — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 4, 2025 That was the highest ever score by an England number seven and an England wicketkeeper, pinching the latter record from his Surrey mentor Alec Stewart. Remarkably their efforts were not enough to keep the hosts on an even keel, India ending the day with a lead of 244 and nine wickets in hand. England's card contained six ducks and Joe Root's 22 was the next best score in their 407 all out. Another bout of fourth-innings heroics will surely be needed to stop the tourists squaring the series 1-1 over the next two days, but Brook was buoyed by Smith's eye-catching contribution. 'It was good fun being out there with Smudge. He's a phenomenal player and it felt good to be out there, putting on 300 with him,' he said. 'The way that he came out of the blocks and put the pressure back on their bowlers was awesome. He tried to change the momentum back in our favour and it worked for a long period of time. It's one he should be proud of. 'It was so good to watch from the other end, I felt like he could hit four or six every ball and I was just trying to get him on strike. He just leans on it and it goes to the boundary. He has a long England career ahead of him.' To no great surprise, there is no suggestion whatsoever from the England camp that a draw, and preserving their series lead, would be an acceptable outcome with the odds stacked against them. For a side who chased 378 on the same ground against the same opponents three years ago, as well as 371 in the first Test at Headingley, that can hardly go down as a surprise. 'I think everybody in the world knows that we're going to try and chase whatever they set us,' said a defiant Brook. 'We've obviously got a big task at hand but we'll try and get a couple of wickets early on and try and put them under pressure. You never know how this game can go.' Brook may have taken second billing to his partner on the day but he batted with a tangible sense of purpose after being dismissed for 99 in the series opener. 'I was definitely hungry to get 100 today. I'd never been out in the 90s before in my life, so it was disappointing,' he said. Should India finish the job and leave Birmingham with a win, they will have much to thank Mohammed Siraj for. He took six for 70, including Root and Ben Stokes off consecutive balls at the start of the day and three tailenders in quick succession at the end. With Jasprit Bumrah rested this week, he took the chance to fill the void left by the star seamer. 'I have been bowling well but not getting wickets, so getting six here is very special,' he said. 'When you are asked to lead the attack I love responsibility, I love the challenge.'
