Cricket news

• The big question: was Stokes’s hundred the greatest Test innings you’ve seen?

  26-08-2019 21:17 via theguardian.com
  All-rounder’s firework finale spanned Atherton’s Johannesburg doggedness with Botham’s 1981 heroics while eclipsing both. But what about Graham Gooch’s own Headingley masterpiece?If I’d been at the Waca in 1975 when Roy Fredericks thrashed 169 off Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, or Headingley in 1991 when Graham Gooch made 154 against the West Indian quicks, or Bridgetown in 1999 when Brian Lara made 153 out of 311 and beat Australia single-handedly, one wicket left
  
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• Magnificent Ben Stokes is England’s greatest ever all-rounder | Moeen Ali

  26-08-2019 21:05 via theguardian.com
  My friend’s feats at Headingley and in the World Cup final at Lord’s have elevated him above legends Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff. He is the best cricketer I have played alongsideIn the biggest summer in English cricket history Ben Stokes has stood head and shoulders above the rest.He is the best cricketer I have played alongside and while it might be a massive shout – and admittedly he is a very close friend – I would argue he is now the greatest all-rounder this count
  
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• Lancashire to play 'home' quarter-final 143 miles away at Durham after Ashes clash

  26-08-2019 20:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Lancashire will play their T20 Blast quarter-final at Durham's Riverside as Old Trafford is booked for an Ashes Test.
  
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• No gain for Australia in putting Tim Paine in dock after Headingley loss

  26-08-2019 19:56 via theguardian.com
  Australia captain will come under scrutiny because of tactics and use of reviews but his style of leadership shone throughThis isn’t a great week to be Tim Paine. Australia’s Test captain has always been vulnerable to criticism: given he first took over the team in caretaker mode, it’s an easy move to question his legitimacy. Double down with the fact he was initially picked as almost a specialist wicketkeeper, with his batting closer to useful than dominant. These shots are ch
  
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• The Guardian view on the Ashes: triumph of a sporting hero with a little luck | Editorial

  26-08-2019 19:35 via theguardian.com
  Success for even the best players can depend on factors which can’t be foreseen or controlledBen Stokes’s batting to win England the third Test match of the current Ashes series was one of the most extraordinary demonstrations of sporting excellence of the last 50 years. After bowling 25 overs on Friday, something that in itself would drain most players, he batted for five and a half hours over the following two days to turn the match around. It was not just the athleticism on displa
  
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• Ben Stokes’s miracle Headingley knock sets Test record for Sky

  26-08-2019 19:04 via theguardian.com
  • Broadcaster registers peak of 2.1 million UK viewers
  • Channel 5’s one-hour highlights package attracts 2 millionBen Stokes and the miracle of Headingley resulted in Sky’s highest audience for a day of live Test cricket, with a peak of 2.1 million UK viewers switching on as England levelled the Ashes in dramatic fashion.The figure is dwarfed by that for the World Cup final between England and New Zealand last month – another match-winning performance from Stokes &nd
  
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• From ‘village cricketer’ to cult hero: Jack Leach relives his 17-ball epic | Vic Marks

  26-08-2019 19:00 via theguardian.com
  He scored just one run but in his match-winning stand with Ben Stokes, England’s No 11 became the owner of cricket’s most famous pair of spectacles since the days of David SteeleWell, his running between the wickets borders on the diabolical. It is not straightforward to find a fresh slant upon Ben Stokes’s innings of the century – and possibly any century. However, he is not the first great player for whom there is considerable scope for improvement in this department. D
  
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• Ben Stokes’s rampage should not be sullied with a judgmental asterisk | Rob Smyth

  26-08-2019 18:58 via theguardian.com
  England all-rounder’s 135 not out was not compromised by a turned-down lbw shout that, rather, showed much-touted infallibility of cricket’s technology may be in doubtBen Stokes: 135*. His euphoric rampage at Headingley will forever be accompanied by an asterisk. In Wisden it will simply demonstrate that he was not out, having completed a second miracle in six weeks off his own bat. But to a few, particularly in Australia, the asterisk will be an annotation. The Australian newspaper
  
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• O my Stokes and my Archer at the weekend | Letters

  26-08-2019 17:54 via theguardian.com
  Readers reflect on England’s stunning victory in the third Ashes Test against Australia at HeadingleyI hope the government notes for its immigration policy that England beat the Aussies at cricket due to Ben Stokes, born in New Zealand, and Jofra Archer, born in Barbados, (Stokes heroics hit new level to turn series on its head, Sport, 26 August).
  Don Macdonald
  London• Since both are noted cricket fans, it was no surprise that both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn tweeted about England
  
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• All hail Ben Stokes for giving the nation a moment of sporting relief | Alex Clark

  26-08-2019 15:26 via theguardian.com
  With his Ashes heroics, Stokes swept away England’s Brexit gloom, even if it was just for a momentThe prime minister is making stuff up about pork pies and the president of the United States wants to nuke hurricanes, but amid the late summer madness, we – we the people – have Ben Stokes. On a blazing bank holiday weekend for the ages, the hero of Headingley near single-handedly (for we must not forget the bespectacled, brilliant Jack Leach) provided a moment of respite from the
  
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• Ashes 2019: Stokes urges focus after third Test heroics for England against Australia

  26-08-2019 14:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Ben Stokes says his batting heroics during the third Ashes Test to help England tie the series at 1-1 "will all be forgotten" if Australia win the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
  
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• Australia’s use of DRS must improve after Headingley defeat, admits Langer

  26-08-2019 12:55 via theguardian.com
  • Head coach says one-wicket defeat in third Test ‘hurts’
  • Langer facing selection decision with Smith’s returnAustralia’s head coach, Justin Langer, wants to see an improvement in the way they use the decision review system after Ben Stokes was given a lifeline en route to helping England level the Ashes.Stokes anchored an England record fourth-innings chase of 359 with one wicket to spare as the all‑rounder produced a breathtaking 135 not out at Heading
  
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• Ben Stokes sends late-night F-word message after Ashes heroics - and fans go wild for it

  26-08-2019 10:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ashes hero Ben Stokes took to Twitter on Sunday night to pay tribute to his incredible innings as England claimed an unlikely victory over Australia in the Third Test.
  
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• Benevolence, blame and everything in between: how Australia reacted to Ashes defeat

  26-08-2019 07:55 via theguardian.com
  From praise for the ‘indomitable’ Ben Stokes to hand-wringing over ‘a national cricketing nightmare’, this loss won’t be easily forgottenDrink it in, England. Intravenously connect this to your veins. While you’ve been sleeping or celebrating, Australia has been despairing over the devastation of Headingley, with innumerable takes appearing across the country; each attempting to reckon with Ben Stokes’s unprecedented heroics.While Wikipedia was busy revi
  
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• Newspaper headlines: Ben Stokes' Ashes heroism, and odds on a no-deal Brexit

  26-08-2019 07:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Cricketer Ben Stokes is on every front page after his heroic performance in the third Ashes Test.
  
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• 'Go urn, my son': what the papers say about England's Ashes comeback

  26-08-2019 04:21 via theguardian.com
  Ben Stokes dominates the front pages as writers rate his innings as the greatest ever played by an EnglishmanThere might have been a crucial meeting of world leaders, Brexit and a kerfuffle about the BBC licence fee to fret about. But Ben Stokes’s batting heroics have given Britain’s newspapers the perfect bank holiday Monday front page.Every front page published south of the border is emblazoned with a picture of England’s brilliant allrounder celebrating after hitting the win
  
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• Australia must not be rattled – Steve Smith is back for fourth Ashes Test

  26-08-2019 00:03 via theguardian.com
  Ben Stokes has set England on their feet but Smith will return at Old Trafford to do potentially the same for AustraliaThe only worse cricketing humiliation than being bowled out for 67 must be losing to a team that you bowled out for 67. While all of England looked around in disbelief after that Ben Stokes heist at Headingley, the Australian Test team would have been staring blankly at the dressing-room walls, trying to make some sense of how exactly that one got away.Three teams previously hav
  
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