You'd think they'd give him a go they've been pretty average of late.Although doing all 3 forms might be a bit much.
There's a lot of younger batters with better domestic/franchise records than Root, so I can understand wanting to give them a go. Also protecting him for the longer forms has to be the priority, although I expect him to play the comedy tournament this summer when available.
Looks like Rugby’s super league breakaway is happening. England Players will be banned from internationals if they join so the the England team might become the b or c list of players.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-u...-driving-force-behind-rugby-breakaway-league/
I can't see the royal family being to happy about Tindall being involved. My guess is it will come to nothing.
It’s a bit awkward when the Princess of Wales is the RFU’s patron and his mother in Law Princess Anne is the SRU’a patron. Scottish Rugby will probably still select their breakaway players but the RFU cannot legally do so until the 2030’s but the breakaway is hoping so many switch they forced to break their deal with the Premiership or face very low quality squads as all the big names like the Smith’s and Pollock are likely to switch,
The Times say the majority of the best English rugby players will be targeted by the breakaway and the RFU is obliged to ban them from all international consideration because of their 8 year contract with the Premiership. 40 PL players targeted pretty much all English. Top of the targets I suspect are Mario Itoje, Marcus Smith, Fin Smith and Henry Pollock
Squad for the first test. England Men squad for Rothesay Test Series Ben Stokes (Durham) – Captain Shoaib Bashir (Somerset) Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire) Harry Brook (Yorkshire) Brydon Carse (Durham) Sam Cook (Essex) Zak Crawley (Kent) Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire) Jamie Overton (Surrey) Ollie Pope (Surrey) Joe Root (Yorkshire) Jamie Smith (Surrey) Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire) Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
Pope over Bethell for the first India test. Team news from Leeds ahead of a BIG week 📋Ready to face @BCCI 👊— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 18, 2025
Our team to face Argentina in Dublin! 🦁#Lions2025— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 18, 2025
I am popping the champagne open and having a party when McCullum and Stokes get sacked. Other setups may not have got everything right or had success, but at least you always got the sense they were professional and fully focused on winning. I am so utterly fed up of this juvenile, unserious ideology that has polluted the entire setup. Daft in game decisions, kamikaze batting, nepotism and jobs for the boys approach to selection and an arrogant, patronising tone towards the fans and press when their idiocy catches up with them.
It won’t happy till at least after the Ashes and probably even longer. (Baring in mind they have given him total control and straight after the Ashes is the T20 World Cup). Stokes they will do everything to keep until the 2027 Ashes as they won’t want Brook to be taking on both until 2027 and they not many other options.
Prediction - Crawley makes 5 single figure scores, then hits a century in the second innings of the third match. Place secured in the team for another year.
It all feels very 1980s New Zealand. Decent, but not great, at one end, then elite bowling at the other. Just substitute Bumrah for Hadlee. As Graeme Gooch said, it's like facing Ilford Seconds XI for an over, then the World XI.
Sad news It is with great sadness we report the passing of David 'Syd' Lawrence.Syd, the first British-born black cricketer to represent England, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year.He has died at the age of 61. The former fast bowler will forever be an England and… pic.twitter.com/FJ6S3gWXJ2— Test Match Special (@bbctms) June 22, 2025
Pope gone early. 227-4 now. Feels like we're going to need 400+ to keep in this, so Brook, Stokes or Smith need to go big.