Big Ben Stokes, now is his time

Young, talented and full of potential, Ben Stokes is sure to play a prominent part in the future of English cricket. Making his debut in test cricket, he has a real chance to prove himself, maintain his place in the team and establish himself as a permanent feature in this England side in all forms of the game. Despite only bowling 8 overs today, it was enough to get a quick glimpse of him to show that, above all, he has the temperament for international cricket. His first ball was smack on a length outside off stump allowing Watson to let it sail through to Prior. His speeds were consistent and by maintaining tight lines, he gave the Aussie batsmen few scoring opportunities.

England’s Ashes Pacemen Struggling for Form

England’s chances of winning the second Ashes Test in Adelaide this coming week look increasingly slim after their fast bowlers toiled to a forgettable draw against a Cricket Australia XI in Alice Springs. Following a quite humiliating 381-run defeat in the first Test in Brisbane, there was hope among cricket betting fans that England would regain some sort of credibility in their between-Tests fixture.

Ashes 3rd Test Review

After a heavy defeat at Lords and finding themselves 2 – 0 down in the series, Australia needed to bounce back in the 3rd test at Old Trafford and bounce back they did. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, their batsmen dug deep and fully applied themselves. Chris Rogers proved himself for the first time in the series, making a well constructed 84, falling agonizingly short of what would have been his maiden test century. Steve Smith also applied himself well and like Rogers, his dismissal came before he reached his hundred. Although these two innings were good they were dwarfed by a certain Michael Clarke. Struggling early on, Clarke got off to a slow start but only grew in confidence. He gave a lesson on how to play Graeme Swann during a fascinating battle between the two. Down the pitch and over mid off, then on the back foot cutting through backward point. True class. The Australian captain made 187 before chopping the ball onto his stumps from a short ball by Stuart Broad to give him his 200th wicket. Then came Haddin and Starc. Their enterprising partnership put runs on the board quickly to take the score up to 527.

Wait! Let's Give Ravi a Chance

"People try to put us down," rock band The Who used to wail in their 60's anthem, My Generation. Ravi Bopara must know what they meant, having surrendered his second innings wicket cheaply on day five at the Kia Oval, leading to more questions as to why he had been given another chance in England's middle order for this summers box office test series against South Africa. 

Day five at the Kia Oval this time around was a dismal place for England, despite previous high points, and what England required in order to save a game they had been thoroughly outplayed in was caution and restraint from their premier batsmen, particularly following the loss of their top four batsmen late on day four.

That Bopara chopped a wide delivery from the imperious Dale Steyn onto his own stumps was cavalier in the extreme given the context of the game, and is a mistake that Bopara will have to live with as he returned to Essex for T20 action this week. He scored only one for them by the way - bad week.