Cricket

Sport News 24/7 By Rob McHugh  @mchughr  @TLE_Sport As the old sporting cliché goes; form is temporary, but class is permanent.  English cricket has the ultimate proof of this saying in their team currently, with Stuart Broad and James Anderson going into the final match of the Test series against Sri Lanka as the world’s second and top ranked bowlers, respectively, in Test cricket.  Both of these players have gone through difficult periods in their careers, with Anderson struggling with...

Cricket is set to have a Moneyball-esque ODI series next year with a computer picking teams for a North vs South of England tournament in Abu Dhabi. Two teams will be picked using the Professional Cricketers' Association's Most Valued Player ratings formula, which is akin to the sophisticated sabermetric approach postulated by Michael Lewis in his 2003 book Moneyball. Faced with a limited payroll and a player exodus, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane assembled a competitive team alongside assistant GM Peter Brand, a young Yale economics...

England and Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor has been forced to retire at 26 years-old due to a serious heart condition. The sad news was revealed by the England Cricket Board today ahead of the 2016/17 counties season. Taylor withdrew from last week’s fixture against Cambridge MCCU with what was believed to be a viral condition. However, specialist scans revealed yesterday that the 26-year-old has the very serious heart condition, ARVC (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Arrhythmia). The middle-order batsman played the first of his...

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen is contemplating switching allegiance to South Africa, according to recent reports. The Pietermaritzburg-born batsman will become eligible to play for the Proteas in 2018, and he says representing the country could be a consideration. “Yes, it is a thought in my head,” said Pietersen. “If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Obviously, playing international cricket is something I have done for a very long time. “Do I miss playing international cricket? Do I miss batting...

Sport News 24/7 By Richard de Winter @rgdewinter  @TLE_Sport The World T20 tournament may have only just finished, and Carlos Brathwaite’s final six may only just be beginning its downward trajectory (probably colliding with Jaap Stam’s penalty from Euro 2000 on the way), but fear not, you won’t be without your cricket fix for long, for the English County Championship season is about to start.  TLE Sport went along to the Surrey CCC pre-season press day, in some rather unpromising...

Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @davidjdewinter  @TLE_Sport Ok, so it wasn’t quite the fairy-tale ending England fans were hoping for as Carlos Brathwaite clubbed Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes off the last over to win the T20 World Cup for the West Indies for the second time in their history.  Nevertheless, England showed admirable courage, determination and no little skill to make it as far as the final – a fantastic achievement in my...

MS Dhoni took a novel approach to questions over his retirement today by inviting a journalist up to answer his own question. The Indian captain faced the media in a press conference following his side's World Twenty20 loss to West Indies. But rather than take a conventional approach to criticisms, he decided to turn the table on a journalist and fielded questions to him.

Sport News 24/7 By Rob Mchugh  @mchughr  @TLE_Sport There are few teams in world cricket that go through the rollercoaster ride of highs and lows which England have experienced in the recent past, and this year’s tour to South Africa was no different.  A series which began with a morale boosting victory for England’s test team, ended in a farcical batting display in the T20 series, which saw England surrender a good position and with it ensure that the series...

Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @TLE_Sport  @davidjdewinter Despite losing the final Test, England’s cricketers still acquitted themselves admirably by beating (former) world number one side South Africa 2-1 on their home patch.  They dominated the admittedly mediocre Proteas in Durban and Johannesburg and were resilient in Cape Town, despite a final day wobble.  There were some memorable individual performances and some not so memorable ones.  Here are my marks out of ten. Alastair Cook -...