Sports

Crawley, Duckett, Pope and Brook make hundreds

Published

2 years ago

December 1, 2022

Four batters crashed hundreds as England piled up the runs on a scintillating first day of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.

On a historic occasion – England’s first Test in Pakistan for 17 years – the tourists broke records with some breath-taking batting.

Zak Crawley’s 122 included reaching three figures from 86 balls, the fastest Test hundred by an England opener.

Ben Duckett marked his first Test for six years with his maiden hundred, making 107 as the openers shared 233 for the first wicket.

When they fell, Ollie Pope picked up the baton with 108, adding 176 with Harry Brook, who stole the show by thrashing England’s third-fastest hundred of all time.

Brook made his first Test ton from 80 balls and took England to 506-4, the most runs any team has scored on the first day of a Test, even though only 75 overs were possible because of fading light.

All this after the match was given the go-ahead to begin only two and a half hours before the scheduled start following an illness that ripped through the England camp on Wednesday.

From the XI that was named on Tuesday, only wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was deemed unfit to play, leaving Pope to take over behind the stumps and allowing Will Jacks to come in for his Test debut alongside fellow spin-bowling all-rounder Liam Livingstone.

England light up historic day

England halted touring Pakistan after gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team in 2009. After almost two decades away, this was a spectacular return.

If there were any doubts that England could replicate the swashbuckling style that brought them so much success in the home summer in away conditions, they were banished with some dazzling strokeplay.

Whatever label this method is given – England do not like the term ‘Bazball’ – it was not cavalier or reckless, but a perfect execution of positive intent on the flattest of pitches.

Crawley and Duckett added 100 in 13.5 overs, England’s fastest century opening stand. The 174 runs they had at lunch was an England record for the first day of a Test. No other England team had ever reached 300 faster, no team in history has got to 400 or 500 quicker.

England were helped by hospitality from the hosts. A Pakistan side containing four debutants were lacklustre with the ball and woeful in the field.

With Rawalpindi a notoriously difficult ground on which to force a result, the lightning speed of England’s scoring has given them a superb chance to go ahead in the three-match series.

Openers leave Pakistan stunned

Crawley took 14 runs from the first over of the match and England never looked back.

Supported by captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum through a run of low scores in the summer, this was a high-class repayment of faith with sweet drives, clips and pulls.

Given out lbw on 99 to Naseem Shah, Crawley successfully reviewed and moved to his third Test hundred two balls later.

Duckett struggled in the four Tests he played in 2016, yet the Nottinghamshire left-hander looked entirely at home, cutting the pace bowlers, then sweeping and reverse-sweeping the spinners.

When he went to his maiden ton, it marked the first time both England openers had made a hundred in the same Test innings since 2013.

Duckett was lbw on review reverse-sweeping debutant leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, while Crawley was bowled by Haris Rauf, but their departures gave no respite to Pakistan.

Pope and Brook kick on

When Stokes was one of the England players to go down ill, Pope was in line to step up as skipper, but instead he has found himself as wicketkeeper and the owner of a third Test hundred.

He got off the mark with a reverse sweep for four, sliding into the slipstream created by Crawley and Duckett. Only Joe Root, who played a poor sweep at Mahmood to be lbw for 23, missed out.

Pope’s ton from 90 balls seemed relatively pedestrian by what was going on around him, with Brook pulverising the weary Pakistan attack.

Like Pope, he played wristy strokes, twice pulling sixes over mid-wicket then hitting every delivery of an over from off-spinner Saud Shakeel for four.

When he had 89 from 66 balls, he was on course to beat Gilbert Jessop’s 120-year record for the fastest England century, made off 76 deliveries.

He slowed up around the time Pope was lbw on review to Mohammad Ali, but as the light began to slip away, Brook drove Naseem for four to reach his ton and there was still time for Stokes to belt 34 not out from only 15 balls.

‘An extraordinary display of batting’

Former England spinner Vic Marks on Test Match Special: “It was an extraordinary display of batting. It wasn’t as if they went searching for big shots. It’s an extraordinary scorecard with all four centurions playing with such certainty.”

“It takes an unusual state of mind to just go for it in a strange conditions where they haven’t been in so long.”

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew: “It’s one of those days where it’s almost impossible to encapsulate what we’ve seen.”

Reports /TrainViral/

Rugby

England challenge is to start beating the best

Published

5 months ago

July 15, 2024

An international season that started on 5 August in Cardiff ended for England on Saturday in Auckland with a feeling of deja vu in the air.

Just like in Dunedin a week earlier, England had stayed in the fight admirably in the first half, rallying either side of the break to take control and threaten to pull off a historic win, before frustratingly fading in the final quarter as the All Blacks bench proved decisive.

So how should England supporters view the 2-0 series defeat? A tour that showed Steve Borthwick’s side are moving in the right direction? Or a huge missed opportunity?

“Absolutely both,” said skipper Jamie George, who led the group with distinction on his first tour as captain.

England have played South Africa, Ireland and France over the past eight months, in addition to two games against New Zealand. The aggregate score against these top four sides in the world is 101-111, with one narrow win and four narrow defeats.

“We are definitely trending in the right direction,” vice-captain Henry Slade said.

“We are pushing the top four sides now and getting better and better week by week.”

The challenge for England now is to get on the right side of these tussles.

“I don’t want to revisit mistakes,” reflected Borthwick on Sunday in downtown Auckland, shortly before starting the long journey home via Sydney and Singapore.

“In each of those games, we’ve been in a position late in the game in a leading position on the scoreboard.”

‘I need to coach them fast’

There are some key areas where England need to improve if they are to become a genuine force on the world stage.

Keeping the scoreboard moving when matches tighten up – England scored only three second-half points in Auckland and five in Dunedin – as well as shoring up the scrum and being more streetwise are all areas highlighted by Borthwick.

“Test matches at this level are tight encounters, they are decided generally by a penalty or a drop-goal, one moment, one missed kick,” he said.

“That is the nature of it and the players have experienced that, we are going to be better for it. Every one of these has to be a learning experience.”

Where do England stand after All Blacks defeat?
Published

2 days ago
‘No ceiling’ to England’s development – George
Published

2 days ago

After relying on an older core to reach the World Cup semi-finals last year, Borthwick says 2024 has been the “second phase” of his tenure as he goes about building a new team.

“So far in these eight Tests [in 2024] we have had eight new caps,” he explained.

There is youth all across the backline. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is 21. Fin Smith 22. Ollie Sleightholme, 24, made his debut in New Zealand.

Up front, 22-year-old Fin Baxter has come through. Chandler Cunningham-South at 21 and George Martin, only just 23, have continued to emerge. Experience, though, wins tight Test matches. And while Borthwick and his coaches can’t buy experience, they aim to accelerate the players’ learning.

“The England pack has changed from what was traditionally a very big powerful pack to more of a younger, dynamic pack,” Borthwick explained.

“You can see that younger pack developing. I need to coach them as fast as I can.”

‘We have to develop at tight-head’

While depth is building in some areas, other positions still look light with tight-head prop of particular concern. Too much is being asked of 37-year-old Dan Cole, who has now won more caps at prop than any other Englishman.

The scrum creaked in both Tests against the All Blacks.

“I’ll have a conversation with Coley and see what he wants to do,” said Borthwick. “But quite clearly we need to find some more tight-heads. That’s going to be a big development project.

“Will Stuart has done really well in the last couple of Tests. The New Zealand scrum is very good and outside the scrum I thought he did many things very well.

“Part of my next step is to do that kind of planning and decide on the right thing to do. I’m trying to have consistency in selection and build the number of caps, not just individually but together, so we maximise the cohesion.

“That’s clearly with a longer-term goal in mind but we need results now as well. That’s always a challenge the England head coach has. We need results now and we need to be preparing for several years in advance.”

‘World-class Ford to return’

Behind the scrum, England need more back-up to Alex Mitchell at number nine, with neither Harry Randall or Ben Spencer given much game time. Mitchell played the whole 80 minutes in Auckland.

At fly-half Marcus Smith was trusted with running the side throughout the tour, and while he missed some crucial kicks in the first Test against New Zealand, he excelled in Tokyo against Japan and set up three of England’s four tries against the All Blacks.

Namesake Fin came off the bench twice but didn’t have long enough to impose himself.

“I thought Marcus has done some really good things, when you see the ability he has to see space, to create tries, to open up a defence,” Borthwick said.

Meanwhile, the England boss was unequivocal when asked whether 96-cap George Ford still had a role to play after missing the tour through injury. If Ford returns to form and fitness, he could well wear number 10 again in the autumn.

“He is world class and I thought his performance in the Six Nations was exceptional,” Borthwick said.

“The three of them – Fin Smith, George Ford and Marcus – it puts us in a pretty enviable position.”

‘We have fight and spirit’

England’s players will now get a minimum five-week break before returning to their clubs. The new Professional Game Partnership between clubs and the Rugby Football Union has been agreed, which will give Borthwick slightly more control over a core group of 20 or so players.

Their next assignment in a white jersey will be at Twickenham in November with – fittingly – the All Blacks first up.

“We owe them one,” said George.

“To get the results we need to be tactically smart and we’ve got to be really well organised,” continued Borthwick.

“But fundamentally, there’s got to be something that sits underneath all that and that is the fight and spirit that we have within the team.

“What you see in this England team now is fight and spirit, and we need to make sure that gives us a good foundation for everything we do going forward.”

Reports /Trainviral/

Football

Argentina beat Colombia to vin 16th Copa

Published

5 months ago

July 15, 2024

Argentina beat Colombia to win a record 16th Copa America but the game was marred by the kick-off being delayed by 80 minutes because of trouble outside the ground in Miami.

Lautaro Martinez struck in the second half of extra time from Giovani lo Celso’s through ball to secure the win.

Captain Lionel Messi was left in tears when he had to be replaced midway through the second half after injuring himself while chasing for the ball – but was celebrating his country’s third successive major tournament at the final whistle.

Kick-off was delayed because of chaos outside the Hard Rock Stadium.

Organisers said ticketless fans tried to get into the ground, leaving some fans waiting for hours in the Miami heat for the gates to open.

Fans and police officers and security clashed with several arrests made. Several supporters needed treatment from paramedics.

On top of that the half-time break lasted for 25 minutes because of a concert by Colombian popstar Shakira on the pitch, a move that was criticised by Colombia boss Nestor Lorenzo beforehand.

It was a game of few clear chances in hot, humid conditions, with Colombia’s Jhon Cordoba hitting the woodwork in the first half.

Argentina thought they had taken the lead with 15 minutes to go but Nicolas Tagliafico’s effort was ruled out for offside.

Martinez would end up as the hero – and win the Golden Boot with five goals.

What now for Messi after Copa America glory?

Messi had never won a senior international tournament until the age of 34 and now he has won three in three years after the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup.

The final was played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami – which is just over 20 miles from the city of Fort Lauderdale, where Messi’s Inter Miami club play.

The 37-year-old said before this tournament he had yet to make a decision on whether he will play on for his country until the next World Cup, which is also in the US – as well as Canada and Mexico.

His powers seem to be waning and his only goal of the tournament came in the semi-final win over Canada. He missed a penalty in the quarter-final shootout against Ecuador.

In this game he was hurt by a tackle in the first half and hobbled off in the second period, holding an ice pack on his ankle on the bench.

Is this his final major tournament appearance of a legendary career?

It was certainly the final appearance of Angel di Maria’s international career. The 145-times capped player had already announced he would retire from the international stage after this.

Trouble before the game

The delays before the game were more bad news for organisers – with the Hard Rock Stadium due to host games at the 2026 World Cup.

In the semi-finals in Charlotte, Uruguay players clashed with Colombia fans after the final whistle – because they were worried about the safety of their families.

Players’ families were affected too in Miami.

Roberto Garnacho, brother of Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho, wrote on social media: “What a shame CONMEBOL, the families not being able to enter the stadium, unbelievable.

“We were with [Argentina defender Marcos Acuna’s] family outside, getting away from the fights… Argentina’s security had to come get us, children of players crying, people entering without tickets.”

Colombia’s wait goes on

Colombia had been unbeaten in 28 games, a run stretching over two years going back to a World Cup qualifier against Argentina.

But their only Copa America triumph remains the 2001 success in their home country.

They had chances against the Argentines, most notably when Cordoba hit the post early on with a hooked volley.

Writtes /BBC/

Reports /Trainviral/

Sports

Ex-Tory MP defects to Reform UK

Published

10 months ago

March 12, 2024

Ex-Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK.

Mr Anderson was suspended as a Conservative MP after refusing to apologise for claims Islamists had “control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The defection ends weeks of speculation about the Ashfield MP and TV presenter’s future.

Mr Anderson said he had been given the chance to “speak out in Parliament on behalf of millions of people up and down the country” who support Reform.

He becomes Reform UK’s first ever MP, representing a party polling around 10% of national voting intention.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Anderson said he was “prepared to gamble on myself” because he said he knew “how many people support Reform and what they have to say”.

“All I want is my country back,” he added.

Reform UK founder and honorary president Nigel Farage said called the defection “huge”. He said: “I don’t think Westminster really understands this yet.”

Mr Anderson ruled out calling a by-election in his own seat, telling the BBC it “would be pretty reckless for me to suggest a by-election when we could have a general election in May”.

Two years ago, Mr Anderson backed a failed bid to let constituents trigger a by-election when their MP changes parties.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said Mr Anderson had “made a real mistake” in defecting from the Conservatives.

“Reform is not the answer,” he added.

Mr Cleverly said he agreed with Mr Anderson’s comments from January this year, when he said a “vote for Reform will only let the Labour party in”.

Red Wall ‘champion’

Mr Anderson was elected in 2019 to the Red Wall seat of Ashfield with a 5,700 vote majority – having previously served as a Labour councillor for his home town.

The son of a coal miner, Mr Anderson belonged to Arthur Scargill’s National Union of Mineworkers. His first job in politics was working in the office of local Labour MP Gloria De Piero, serving as district councillor at the same time.

After switching to the Conservative Party, the staunch Brexit supporter became an ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson.

He was made deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in February last year, but resigned in January to rebel against Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill.

Announcing Mr Anderson’s defection, Reform UK Leader Richard Tice said his party had founds a “champion” for its plans to supplant the Conservatives in the Red Wall.

Mr Anderson was a “person of great integrity”, Mr Tice added.

The Reform leader said: “I think millions of British people endorsed the concerns and sentiments of what Lee was saying, which is that we are sick and tired of our streets being taken over by these pro-Hamas, extremist, antisemitic people and Islamist extremists.”

Reform UK has confirmed he will stand for Ashfield in the general election, superseding Henry Grisewood – who the party had initially chosen.

Ex-miner Lee Anderson joined the Conservative Party having previously worked for a Labour MP

Pat McFadden, Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator, said Mr Anderson’s defection showed “the Conservatives are falling apart”.

“The truth is that the prime minister is too weak to lead a party too extreme to be led,” he said.

Some of Mr Anderson’s former colleagues criticised his defection – saying it made “a less conservative Britain more likely”.

The New Conservatives, made up mostly of 2019 Tory Red Wall MPs like Mr Anderson, said “the responsibility for Lee’s defection sits with the Conservative Party”.

In a statement, the group argued the Tory party’s failure to stick to the promises of the 2019 general election had led to split in the party.

Mr Anderson sparked a backlash after he claimed last month that the capital had been “taken over” amid the weekly pro-Palestinian protests over the war in Gaza.

In an interview with GB News, Mr Anderson said: “I don’t actually believe that these Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is that they’ve got control of Khan, they’ve got control of London.

“He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”

Mr Anderson was stripped of the Tory whip after he refused to apologise for the remarks. He instead doubled down on his comments although conceded his phrasing was “clumsy”.

Analysis by BBC chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman

Lee Anderson’s decision to join Reform is unquestionably a significant blow for Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives.

Despite having no MPs and just a small handful of councillors, Reform are reliably polling around 10%. That is a high enough figure that some Conservative MPs believe it is as important for them to win back voters they are losing to Reform as it is those who are switching to Labour.

By giving Reform a parliamentary figurehead for the first time, Mr Anderson may make it harder for the Conservatives to reunite the right.

There are some important caveats. Most importantly, Mr Anderson is not making his defection from a position of strength. He was suspended from the Conservative ranks at Westminster after accusing Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, of being controlled by Islamists.

Mr Anderson refused to apologise for his comments, making his suspension all but inevitable. There was grumbling from some Conservatives who wanted Mr Anderson to be handed a clear path back into the fold – but any such route would almost certainly have required him to apologise, which he again refused to do today.

It’s also worth noting that while Mr Anderson is well-known in Westminster for his pugnacious style, and has a show on GB News, he is not exactly a major national figure. Arguably a more worrying announcement for the Conservatives would have been the return of Nigel Farage to active campaigning duties.

Yet one person who definitely does rate Mr Anderson’s ability to connect with a slice of the British public is the prime minister himself. Mr Sunak appointed Mr Anderson a deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in February last year. And as recently as January Mr Anderson starred with him in a campaign video about how “we should be so proud of our country”.