The Sporting Hack

First Test, Perth Australia won by eight wickets England 172 & 164 Australia 132 & 205/2   One must feel for the food and drink vendors at the Optus Stadium in Perth. They have missed out on some bumper trade over the last couple of days. Instead, punters are spending their hard-earned cash in the hostelries on the Swan River or cramming the Fremantle to Rottnest Island ferry thanks in no small part to England's second day capitulation in Western Australia. The facts are etched in to the mind with England collapsing from a commanding 105 run lead for the loss of just one wicket to posting a very gettable 205 run target which Australia - and in particular, Travis Head - relished. It was a game which felt peculiar from the very beginning. Visiting skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first, forgoing the preferred fourth innings run chase. Whilst this has proved to be the winning formula for all of the previous test captains at Optus Stadium, it isn't tradit...

The wait is over. The time has come for the cricket to do the talking. Securing an Ashes victory in Australia is England’s equivalent of scaling Everest. Winning on the subcontinent may be technically more challenging, but this is the one series where legends are created and, just occasionally, getting up to tune in to the action in the middle of the night during the bleak British winter may be rewarded. Not since the 2010/11 iteration under the captaincy of Alistair Cook, though, has that been the case. When Chris Tremlett bowled tailender Michael Beer at the SCG not long after the New Year’s festivities had died down, not many (other than Glenn McGrath) would have foreseen England failing to register a single victory in 15 attempts…FIFTEEN! That is the scale of the uphill challenge that awaits current skipper, Ben Stokes, and head coach Brendon McCullum . For the latter, his whole tenure since being appointed in May 2022, has built towards this next two months. His record of 25 win...

Second Test, Wellington New Zealand won by one run England 435-8 dec & 256 New Zealand 209 & 483 It was perhaps fitting that in the land of adrenaline junkies, England’s thrill seekers came unstuck looking for their latest hit.  England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum New Zealand is the birthplace of commercial bungy jumping; falling to the floor from a great height with only an elastic cord tied to your ankles to prevent the inevitable. It’s something England’s head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum (far right) will probably have done and doubtless enjoyed.  You can add variance to this practice by going backwards, going with a partner, or going blindfold but the premise remains the same.  In defeat at Wellington’s iconic Basin Reverse though, England went some way off-piste and asked for too much rope. It was to be their downfall.  To play ‘Bazball’ you are asked to disregard test cricketing convention and wisdom. Five, six, seven runs requir...