Lack Of Fake Excitement Allows Tests To Thrive

This Test series has been a bit of an eye opener, not least for raising the suggestion that it may just be possible for cricket to make for compulsive viewing without every other ball disappearing for six, accompanied by short skirted schoolgirls jumping up and down and twirling their pom poms. I smell revolution in the air. Expect an announcement shortly that the ECB is cancelling The Hundred, and moving the County Championship back to a time of year when its spectators aren’t being carted off to A&E with frostbite or hypothermia.

Loan Star Samit Is Aiming TO Help Fire The Dragons

SAMIT PATEL entered uncharted territory when he walked into the Glamorgan dressing room but is confident he can help navigate the Welsh county to an incredible red-ball promotion.

Dane's Got Sightsset On A Seat At Top Table!

FRESH from suffering an agonising T20 Blast quarter-final defeat to Essex on Wednesday night, Lancashire return to happier surroundings when they host Derbyshire in the County Championship.

Moeen's A Marvel As Rapids Aim For Repeat

CENTURY hero Moeen Ali acknowledged his big-hitting quarter-final innings as one of his best ever after steering Worcestershire past Sussex Sharks at the County Ground.

Broad Revelling In The Burden Of Unsettling The Poor Lefties

Derek Pringle examines the more senior role played by Stuart Broad this series – in particular when it comes to vexing Australian left-handers.

Bowling To Smith Is No Big Secret, He Has Even Told England How To

Derek Pringle enters the debate in solving a problem like Steve Smith – although as the ex-England bowler reveals, it really is no great mystery.

Roy Can Be Test Success Like Warner, Says Arthur

Richard Edwards finds support for struggling England batsman Jason Roy in the shape of a former Australia coach with designs on the England job.

Bears Aim To Stop Essex And Boost Survival Bid

EDGBASTON plays host to a crunch clash next week – that will have huge ramifications at both ends of the County Championship table.

Smith's The Difference As England's Hopes Hang By A Thread

STEVE Smith’s remarkable first innings double-hundred has put Australia in pole position to retain the Ashes after a thrilling, yet rain-affected, first four days at Old Trafford.

Bates' Keeping Up Appearances For The Modern-Day Gloveman

Jeremy Blackmore catches up with former Hampshire player Michael Bates who, in retirement, has written a book examining the role of specialist keepers.

Top Knock From Knight Has Gone Down A Storm

Women’s Kia super league round-up.

At Last A Genius In The Mould Of KP That We Can All Take To Our Heart

Peter Hayter turns back the clock to relive the controversy surrounding ‘KP: Story of a Genius’ contrasting the squad unity in this year’s series to that of seven years ago.

Woodhall Seal Their First Title With A Six

THERE is no better way to win your first league title than with six of the best.

Appointment Of Misbah Is Positive Move

Saj Sadiq discusses the many changes to the PCB since the World Cup, not least a partnership which promises to lead the country to new heights.

Unlikely Hero Is Now A Regular Fixture

Adam Collins plots the rapid rise of Marnus Labuschagne, the ‘little known’ replacement who helped take Australia to the brink of retaining the Ashes

Ten Doeschate: Somersset's Lead Was Big - Now It's A Great Race

Paul Hiscock hears the Essex captain relishing the delicious prospect of a County Championship title race that could go down to a last-match decider at Taunton

Smith's Show Of Bravery Should Act As Wake-up Call

Peter Hayter argues it is high time cricket looked to appoint independent experts to make key player welfare calls, regardless of the player’s opinion

Six Of The Best Thanks To Sam's Deadly Dozen

ADAM Wheater answered the call for a calm and collected approach when mayhem ensued on day three of the match at Canterbury when 26 wickets fell in less than three sessions, with Kent dismissed for 40 in their second innings.

Pace, Power And Variation, The Deadly Trio Have It All Covered

Derek Pringle doffs his cap to an Australian bowling attack which has stuck to a master plan in targeting the vulnerabilities of each individual England batter

Miracles Happen Says Hero Denly

JOE Denly insists England can keep their Ashes hopes alive and pull off another Headingley miracle by chasing down 359 to win the third Test in Leeds.

Lehmann: Archer's Like A Windies Great

AS England and Australia fight tooth and nail in round three of the Ashes at Headingley, Darren Lehmann, the former Australia coach, likens Jofra Archer, England’s ferocious new strike bowler, to one of the great battery of West Indian pacemen of the 1970s, 80s and early 90s.

I'm In The Form Of My Life, Claims Senior Servant Stokes

Chris Stocks catches up with England batting hero Ben Stokes after his heroics at Lord’s and discusses his new role in the side for the rest of the Ashes series

IPL Nets Give New Star Inside Track On Smith –Coach

TWENTY20 and Test cricket may be poles apart in terms of format – but Rajasthan Royals’ coach Paddy Upton has seen enough of Jofra Archer to convince him that he can be as successful in the longer format as he has been in cricket’s shortest.

England's Ultimate Price For Their Latest Walk Of Shame

Derek Pringle delivers the latest tale of woe of England’s batsmen following their wretched first innings batting performance on Friday

Denly And Root Dig In Deep To Keep Ashes Hopes Alive

AFTER their Headingley horror show on the second day of this third Test against Australia all but ended their chances of regaining the Ashes, England have at least regained some pride with a battling batting display to take the contest into a fourth day.

Westley Not Worried As He Waits In Wings

TOM Westley may have his face pressed up against the glass in Australia, stuck on the outside while England prepare for the Ashes, but the batsman is adamant he has an international future.

Jamie: Bro Will Be Ready To Rock At The Gabbatoir

JAMIE OVERTON is backing his brother to take an Ashes debut in his giant stride if he gets the nod to start in Brisbane on Thursday.

Stoneman Showing That Mark Of Maturity In Runs

IF THIS is to be Mark Stoneman’s final innings before the Ashes then he will arrive in Brisbane full of confidence after hitting his fourth successive 50-plus score on tour.

You Can Avoid The Plank By Scoring A Hundred!

I used to think that Ted Dexter’s 70 off 75 balls at Lord’s in 1963, against a West Indies’ fast bowling attack including Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith in their pomp, was one of the finest Test innings ever played by an Englishman. But how wrong can you be? I now realise that it was as shameful a performance as has ever been witnessed at the Home of Cricket, and if it had happened today, Lord Ted would have had to have been smuggled out of the ground in the boot of Colin Cowdrey’s car to avoid being lynched.

Overseas Criteria Needs To Be More Flexible

HAVING been head coach of Leicestershire for a month now, the planning for the 2018 season is well underway. One of the first things we have been looking at is getting an overseas pro in for the year, but it’s proving to be quite difficult.