The Sporting Hack

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 Ashes Test Review Australia beat England by 218 runs. When Australia wrapped up the second Ashes test in Adelaide by securing England’s four remaining wickets within an hour of play on day five, it all seemed too easy for the hosts. It has been a breeze for Darren Lehmann’s side so far as they sit just one win away from reclaiming the coveted urn.  The head coach replaced the unpopular Mickey Arthur just 18 days before Australia began their campaign in England and, though his side lost 3-0; ‘Boof’ provided the down to earth and old school mantra which made the Baggy Greens competitive. Just six months down the line and it’s the English who are “facing a whitewash” according to former skipper Michael Vaughan who labelled the current crop’s attempts as “feeble”. From day one in Brisbane to day four in Adelaide, he wasn’t wrong. The tourists have been battered and bruised and look completely broken. Lehmann’s philosophy, opposed to Andy Flower’s scie...