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The Australian
16 hours ago
- Sport
- The Australian
England vs India: Cricket laws broken in Old Trafford Test controversy
To many cricket lovers, the spirit of cricket is a hazy, romantic, hard-to-define concept but to the game's law makers it is much more tangible that that. There are 42 laws in every cricket match and the law book also contains a special preamble on the spirit of cricket which includes more laws to which players are held fully accountable. It is placed in the front of the book because it is considered the most important entry. And England, self-appointed standard setters for the game's moral compass, pushed those laws beyond breaking point on a day when they taunted and mocked Indian batsmen Ravi Jadeja. and Washington Sundar after they refused an invitation from English captain Ben Stokes to declare the game drawn before they had their centuries. Here are three examples. THE LAW: It is against the spirit of the game to direct abusive language towards an opponent or umpire. THE INCIDENT: 'F------ hell Washy get on with it,'' said Harry Brook to Sundar when he was 95 chasing his century. OUR VERDICT: Normally players caught swearing over the stump mike get fined. Brook appears to have escaped. That's surprising. Not the worst sledge we've heard but the angry tone in which it was delivered went down badly with the Indian team, especially as Sundar had every right to go on and get his century. Guilty. THE LAW: The captains are responsible for ensuring play is conducted within the spirit of the game. THE INCIDENT: Stokes was the key architect in making a mockery of the final hour of the Test. He had every right to ask the Indian batsmen if they wanted to finish up but they had every right to reject him. From that point he turned into Captain Salty and his decision to gift them centuries via some 'joke'' bowling from Harry Brook was a demeaning act as far away from the spirit of the game as you could imagine. OUR VERDICT: Stokes effectively tossed this law out the window had one of his worst days as captain by setting a dreadful example. Guilty. THE LAW: It is against the spirit of the game to seek to distract an opponent either verbally or by harassment with persistent clapping or unnecessary noise under the guise of enthusiasm and motivation of one's own side. THE INCIDENT: Where do we start? The English were as rowdy as a flock of gallahs all day with the stump mike running hot with random observations and needling taunts. On and on it went then, when Sundar and Jadeja approached their tons, the volume level soared again. OUR VERDICT: Guilty but India can't whinge too loudly because they babbled on all day when they were in the field as well. Robert Craddock Senior sports journalist Robert 'Crash' Craddock is regarded as one of Queensland's best authorities on sport. 'Crash' is a senior sport journalist and columnist for The Courier-Mail and CODE Sports, and can be seen on Fox Cricket. Cricket State cricket authorities have discussed moving Sydney's iconic New Year's Test as a new report calls for a radical shake-up to the summer schedule to allow more stars to feature in the BBL. Cricket The new tough-talking, pot-stirring English cricket team is suffering from a baffling identity crisis on the eve of the Ashes tour, going into meltdown after two Indian batters had the audacity to tell them 'no'.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Brad Haddin calls out damning truth after handshake storm between England and India
Former Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has called out the English cricket team for their antics following India's decision to keep batting on day five of their Test match when Ben Stokes asked to end play. Stokes, Ben Duckett and Zac Crawley have been called out for their behaviour since their draw with India at Old Trafford after carrying on when Ravi Jadeja and Washington Sundar wanted to stay out in the middle and seek their centuries when the host side asked to end the match. Stokes and the English side approached India and asked to call time on the Test match with the visitors holding on for a stalemate after Shubman Gill scored a century to help rescue a result. Jadeja and Sundar were also both approaching the same milestone, 89 and 80 respectively, and opted to decline Stokes' invitation and keep batting. This was a strategical move to keep England in the field and for the two batters to achieve a well deserved milestone. However, this didn't sit well with a number of English stars. Stokes was left shocked, while Duckett and Crawley shared some words with the batters. While the Indian batters were taunted after deciding to keep batting, Harry Brook produced a number of comical deliveries in a poor look with the game tittering out. And the English have copped plenty of backlash for their decision to taunt the batters and former Aussie wicketkeeper Haddin weighed-in. Speaking on The Talk Willow Podcast, Haddin claimed the Indian batters deserved to stay out there and record a century with England having no right to call the game when it suits them. "England were up and about and thought they were going to win the as the game went on and India showed tremendous fight," Haddin said on the Talk Willow Podcast. "Then all of a sudden it got to a situation where England said they can't win so let's stop the game. So everything's got to stop because England are done playing. They had earnt the right to stay out there as long as they need to. They earnt the right to get 100. And just because it didn't go England's way and they didn't get the answer that they want, all of a sudden they are not happy. "They started to get verbal, Duckett was interesting and things don't go England's way and they don't get the rub of the green all of a sudden it's everyone else's problems. So well done to India for staying out there, well done for getting a draw. Haddin claimed England had their opportunities to take a number of wickets, which could have seen them ask to stay out longer and push for the victory. One major chance saw Joe Root drop Jadeja on zero. "When England were dropping all those catches, they gave enough chances to win the Test match," he added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Willow Talk (@willowtalkpodcast) England slammed for ugly Test match antics Stokes, Crawley and Duckett didn't waste time having a go at the batters for their decision to keep batting with the English team getting tired from being in the field for so long. 'You want to get a Test hundred against Harry Brook?" Stokes said at the time. 'Just shake your hand. It's embarrassing," Crawley added, while Duckett said: 'How long do you need, an hour?' England's antics have not gone down well in the cricket community and even former captain Alastair Cook questioned the carry-on during BBC's Test Match Special broadcast. 'Five years down the line you look at the scorecard you see two brilliant hundreds to save the game, plus obviously Gill's as well,' Cook said. 'This shouldn't become the story of the day. It should be about India's rearguard action.' Former England captain Nasser Hussain said England looked a little 'silly' having bowled Brook at the end, but too much was made of the antics. He felt India had the right to push for individual milestones after batting so well for so long. NASSER HUSSAIN BACKS JADEJA AND SUNDAR'S DECISION. — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 27, 2025
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Ben Stokes once again showed how to seize control as England fought their way back into the third Test against India, writes OLIVER HOLT
It was not long before the tea interval. The heat was taking its toll and spectators had begun to bleed out of the Grandstand and the Compton Lower towards the shade of the yellow and white umbrellas of the Veuve Clicquot area on the Nursery Ground and the comforts of the Food Village. India batted on, steadily, attritionally. A partnership between Ravi Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy that veered between the dogged and the swashbuckling, edged India nearer and nearer to England's first innings total of 387. It felt as if the heat was sapping the energy out of everything. Except Ben Stokes. He ran in from the Pavilion End with the sun burning down on him and jammed a delivery into the pitch that jagged back at Reddy and slammed into the side of his helmet as he turned his head to try to get away from it. Suddenly, Lord's was jolted out of its torpor. There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Reddy fell to the floor. It was clear relatively quickly, thankfully, that Reddy was not badly hurt but the force of the ball had smashed his helmet into his cheek and he needed ice on it and time to recover. It was not the first time Stokes had sent a surge of excitement through England's faltering attempts to dislodge India's batsmen on Saturday. When England need a breakthrough, it is so often their captain who provides it and Saturday was another of those days where he shaped events to his will. Minutes before lunch, with England toiling and Rishabh Pant on the verge of cutting loose, the India wicketkeeper pushed a short ball towards Stokes at cover. Pant set off for a quick single and Stokes moved quickly to his right, gathered the ball and threw it on the turn. It was a direct hit, an utterly brilliant piece of fielding. Replays showed Pant was well short of his ground and Stokes's elated reaction to the dismissal showed just how significant he thought it could be. He took off his hat and high-fived team-mates vigorously as they walked back to the pavilion. When pickings are slim, Stokes makes things happen. Some have questioned his captaincy during this series and questioned his form, too, but he bowled beautifully on Saturday, with courage and hostility and intelligence. He can galvanise a team and seize control of a match in a way that only the greats of a sport can. His spirit and the ferocity of his will and the way he transmits them to his team-mates, is worth extra wickets and runs every innings. If he is struggling a little with the bat, it always feels the height of foolishness to discount him. He has commandeered games too often before not to think he will do it again, and as England restricted India to parity at the end of their first innings, this was his day. His best moment was the delivery he produced to dismiss Reddy 20 minutes after the tea interval. Stokes managed to get extra bounce on a pitch that was looking increasingly tame and it reared up and hit a startled Reddy on the gloves on its way through to Jamie Smith. 'I genuinely think Ben Stokes is England's best bowler, I genuinely do,' former England spinner Phil Tufnell said. 'You have to be special to hit Nitish Reddy in the gloves on a pitch like this. And he's got timely dismissals as well.' Sir Alastair Cook was similarly effusive. 'That's a seriously good ball from Ben Stokes,' Cook said. 'He had to play at it, back of the length and it's kissed the surface, Bumnrah-esque in terms of getting more out of the pitch than anyone else.' Nor was Stokes finished. He bowled and bowled and bowled. Given his injury history, and his vital importance to the team, there is always a thinly-veiled desire to protect him from himself. In the end, it took an apparent intervention from the dressing room in the form of a boundary visit from England bowling consultant Tim Southee to suggest to Stokes that he had put his body through enough for the day. With great reluctance, he yielded.
