Latest news with #OlliePope
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
England chooses to bowl first against India in test series opener at Headingley
LEEDS, England (AP) — England chose to bowl first against India in the test series opener at Headingley on Friday. Both teams would have picked to field first. The last six test winners in Leeds bowled first. Advertisement The pitch has a green tinge and the weather is sunny and humid, the temperature topping out at 29 degrees on days one and two. India, under new skipper Shubman Gill, has chosen to debut top-order batter Sai Sudharsan, give middle-order bat Karun Nair his first test in eight years. Shardul Thakur, who hasn't played a test since December 2023, was preferred to Nitish Kumar Reddy as the fast bowling allrounder and Prasidh Krishna headed off uncapped Arshdeep Singh as the third seamer. England named its team on Thursday, choosing at No. 3 in the batting order vice captain Ollie Pope over Jacob Bethell. ___ Advertisement Lineups: England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Bryson Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir. India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Lokesh Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. ___ AP cricket:
Telegraph
14 hours ago
- Climate
- Telegraph
England vs India: Score and latest updates from first Test at Headingley
Latest updates Kieran Crichard. Rob Bagchi live updates 20 June 2025 10:06am 10:06AM Changing of the guard India are on these shores without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin but the team that has come is still full of superb talent; Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill amongst others. A little strange that we will see an India side without Kohli, Ashwin and Sharma. 10:04AM 'Sticking with Pope could hurt England's Ashes chances' Picking Ollie Pope over Jacob Bethell to bat at No 3 against India is the fair call but that does not make it the right one. There is a difference between the two and it threatens to haunt England as they stand on the cusp of a run of 10 Test matches that Rob Key, the director of cricket, admitted this week would be used to 'define this era'. Ollie Pope scored 171 in his last innings when Bethell missed the Zimbabwe Test to play in the Indian Premier League, doing everything he could to keep his place when it looked as though a new kid had come along and taken to No 3 like a natural. 10:00AM Team Telegraph descending on Headingley! Greetings from Headingley. It's a scorcher here. Half of team Telegraph just walked in from the city centre, and have got a bit of a bead on (apologies for the over-share). A nice gift when we arrived at the press box, though, as Yorkshire have given every member of the media this lovely loaf cake from Bettys in Harrogate. We are easily bought... It's muggy this morning. There's a thin layer of cloud overhead which I imagine will burn off. All the signs would suggest it's a batting day (look up not down etc), but I quite fancy England will want to chase. India might be thinking the same way, given the Bumrah factor. 9:59AM England vs India series predictions England 3 India 2 To win two Tests in England for an India side rebuilding their batting order would be a strong result for them, when you think they have not won a series in England since 2007. England will win the series in the fourth Test, and lose at the Oval, therefore continuing the two steps forward, one step back hokey cokey that has become their way in the Bazball era. Which one of our writers has this as his prediction for the series? You can find out right here with all the predictions from our experts. 9:55AM Team already announced As is customary for this England regime, they have already announced their team in advance of the first day of the Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (vice-captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir. One of the biggest calls was at number three and whether it was Ollie Pope or Jacob Bethell. Pope has been given the nod and Stokes staunchly defended that call ahead of the game. In the seam attack England are missing a number of fast bowlers including Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson but Chris Woakes has a fine record in England and Brydon Carse made a very impressive start to life in Test cricket over the winter in Pakistan and New Zealand. 9:45AM First of two huge series commences Ben Stokes has promised England will temper their much-discussed, divisive Bazball style as they focus purely on winning across 10 legacy-defining Tests against India and Australia. The first of five Tests against India begins at Headingley today, before England travel to Australia for a hotly-anticipated crack at winning the Ashes for the first time since 2015. Stokes has been captain for three years alongside coach Brendon McCullum, and has revolutionised the way England play Test cricket, prioritising an attacking style of play and largely enjoying good results. However they failed to win back the Ashes in 2023 (drawing 2-2 with Australia), then were well beaten (4-1) by India last year, making these two series crucial to an exciting era's legacy. Stokes has spoken before about trying to take the result out of his thinking and prioritising entertainment, but now says that if England are to be seen as anything more than a 'good' team, they must respond better to pressure situations and fighter harder. Last year, they lost two matches by staggering margins of 434 runs (in Rajkot) and 323 runs (in Wellington). Stokes said England's players were 'fizzing' to get going after a period of reflection over their style of play, and called on them to 'be smarter'. 'We still want to be known as a team who play an exciting style of cricket,' Stokes said. '[It's] not that we never wanted to win every game that we played, but it's changing what we say and how we say it. We want to be playing exciting games of cricket because we know that's what brings the best out of individuals and us as a team. But it's about winning. 'We have a team identity about how we want to go out there and play the game. We've obviously had a lot of time to speak about what we want to do as a team and where we want to take ourselves to. We've had time to talk as a group, identify areas where we know that we are incredibly strong, but also identify areas that we think we need to get better at. 'One of those areas was adapting better when our backs are against the wall. When those moments come in the series that they no doubt will, it's identifying them a lot quicker and just gritting your teeth and really asking what is it that we need to do in this given moment to wrestle the momentum back if we find ourselves behind. 'We know that when we are on top of teams we are very, very good and where we maybe have let ourselves down in the past over the last three years is when we have been behind the game that we've not given ourselves the best chance of wresting ourselves back into the game. That's an area that we have looked at and know that we need to get better at if we want to end up being where we want to end up being as a team. 'If [you] look at some of the victories that we've had, they have been in a manner of complete dominance of the game throughout. But when we have lost, we probably look back on those moments in games. 'Could we have been a lot better at slowing everything down and understanding where we are in the position of the game to then allow us to play in that natural way that we like to go about things?' 'I don't think it's arrogant or an understatement to say that we've been good over the last three years but we definitely know that we can improve. So those conversations away from this type of stuff and together in a room as a group are just as valuable as sometimes training in the nets and working harder.' Stokes said that Brydon Carse would share the new ball with Chris Woakes, and added that the decision to pick Ollie Pope over the young pretender Jacob Bethell at No 3 was a simple one. Vice-captain Pope made 171 in England's only Test so far this year, against Zimbabwe while Bethell was at the Indian Premier League. Stokes said it would have been 'remarkable' to drop Pope after that innings. The two teams will compete for the newly-named Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, named in honour of the great England bowler James Anderson and Test cricket's leading run-scorer, Sachin Tendulkar. Play at Headingley gets going at 11am BST.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
How to watch England vs India: TV channel and live stream for first Test today
England and India being their five-test series today, with Headingley hosting the first with the newly-named Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy up for grabs. Cice-captain Ollie Pope has kept his place, meaning rising star Jacob Bethell must wait for his chance. Advertisement There are two changes to the team that beat Zimbabwe by an innings in three days at Trent Bridge, the experienced Chris Woakes returning in place of the injured Gus Atkinson to lead the attack and Brydon Carse winning his first home cap at Sam Cook's expense. India vice-captain Rishabh Pant said it felt "so good" to know India would not be facing the new-ball threat of either James Anderson or Stuart Broad for the first time since 2007, but Carse is eager to show he can assume the mantle of strike bowler. Talking of 2007, that is the last time India won a Test series on English soil, though did come close in their last visit, in 2021, but a 10-month Covid pandemic delay scuppered their chances. How to watch England vs India, first Test TV channel: The entire series will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Cricket. Coverage across both channels begins at 10am BST on Friday, June 20. Play is scheduled to begin at 11am. Advertisement Headingley, home of Yorkshire CCC, hosts the first Test. Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can watch the first Test, and the entire series, online via the Sky Go player. The channel is also available on NOW.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Ben Stokes urges England to produce champagne cricket in blockbuster India series - as he reveals why he is backing Ollie Pope
Ben Stokes suggested England are ready to produce champagne cricket over the next seven months as they look to topple India and claim a first Ashes away win for 15 years. 'Everyone's obviously absolutely fizzing to get going,' said Stokes on the eve of Friday's opening match of five against India at Headingley. Stokes has revitalised English cricket, the Test side having won 23 of 36 matches since he replaced Joe Root at the helm in 2022, but his legacy will be determined by whether his team are able to build on those results over the next 10 matches. 'There's always a different buzz coming up against India and Australia in particular, purely because of how big the series are,' the 34-year-old all-rounder admitted. 'Away from the dressing room, we know what these series mean.' While India's top order will be much changed after the retirements of superstars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — with their new captain Shubman Gill dropping down to No 4 — England have opted for continuity in selecting Ollie Pope ahead of Jacob Bethell at No 3. 'It would be remarkable to choose someone else if their last knock was 171, that's pretty much all I need to say on that,' said Stokes of Pope, after his ton against Zimbabwe last month. 'Having him at No 3 since I've been captain, averaging over 40, speaks for itself.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
England and India face red-hot series opener and Jasprit Bumrah conundrum
If there was an enduring image from the last Test series between India and England, it was probably that of Jasprit Bumrah detonating Ollie Pope's stumps in Visakhapatnam – a feet-seeking yorker so ridiculously sweet that the Food Standards Agency could have marked it red on their traffic-light system. A year and a bit on from England's 4-1 defeat in Indiaon Friday, Bumrah remains the standout in the two attacks going into the first of five blockbuster Tests, beginning at Headingley on Friday. Even saying this sells him a bit short. Of the 86 bowlers to go past 200 Test wickets, none have done so at a lower average than Bumrah's 19.4. Only Kasigo Rabada, with a strike rate of 38.9 to Bumrah's 42, takes his wickets more regularly. Advertisement Related: Ben Stokes calls on England to adapt better 'when we're up against the wall' The numbers only improved during Bumrah's last outing with a red ball, too, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia last winter returning 32 wickets at 13 runs apiece – one for every 28 deliveries he lashed down. His remains one of the most remarkable actions in the sport, a gentle trot of a run-up followed by a slingshot explosion that asks the batter an absurd number of split-second questions. 'It's awkward to face,' said Ben Stokes on Thursday. 'Especially when you first go in, for those first couple of balls.' If there is something England can take from that BGT series it is that India still lost 3-1. And though something no one likes to see, Bumrah broke down midway through its Sydney finale when the burden of carrying an attack eventually told. The upshot of that experience, going by the interview he gave to Dinesh Karthik for Sky Sports, is that playing three out of the five Tests this summer is the target. So cricket-lovers hoping to watch Bumrah in the flesh over the next six weeks will have fingers crossed that theirs is the lucky Wonka ticket. For Shubman Gill, a young captain leading a reboot post-Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, it will be a case of trying to coax more out of the support cast. India are seeking their first series win in England since 2007 and their second in a five-Test series away from home. Advertisement This being the 20-year anniversary of the 2005 Ashes, thoughts go back to the similarly great Glenn McGrath and the fact that England capitalised on the Tests he missed for their two wins. Not that Stokes and his players will be content to take a lead and park the bus. The England captain accepted his team need to be a bit 'smarter' than in the recent past but draws are still very much not his thing. Neither is talking about the Ashes, which can only be good news. When India were here in 2021, Chris Silverwood, then England's head coach, spoke of the series 'galvanising' his players for the tour of Australia that winter and watched a fatigued, confused side fall 2-1 behind after four Tests. Had India stayed in the country that summer, rather than push the fifth Test back a year due to Covid and then lose at Edgbaston, they may well have got the job done. Related: England are right to stick with a settled top six – Bethell should follow the Lara model | Mark Ramprakash As Mark Ramprakash has noted, England have a more settled top six these days, even with Jacob Bethell snapping at their heels. And, now that Kohli has hung up his boots, the premier batter across the two sides is unquestionably Joe Root. There are 373 runs between the fourth-placed Yorkshireman (13,006) and second in the all-time Test charts, after which only Sachin Tendulkar's 15,921 will sit higher. Bumrah has taken Root's wicket nine times – the batter he has dismissed most – and will try to stymie this march. Advertisement With the newly minted Anderson-Tendulkar trophy on the line – and this the start of the next World Test Championship – perhaps the biggest question for England surrounds the bowling since the former's retirement. Chris Woakes, who has claimed 36 wickets at 20.9 since his return in 2023 and is yet to lose a Test under Stokes, leads an attack that has grunt but is notably raw. Among the head-to-heads that could prove decisive is when Rishabh Pant inevitably tries to take down Shoaib Bashir. However, this role may be something that Karun Nair also takes on, having utterly marmalised England's spinners nine years ago during a remarkable unbeaten 303 in Chennai. The 33-year-old never kicked on from that match but has forced his way back through Kohli's exit and some stellar domestic returns that included two spells at Northamptonshire. Of the many storylines in this series, his is one of perseverance. Like Nair's recent form, the weather at Headingley is set to be red hot and sets up a tricky toss. The old saying in these parts is to look up, not down – ie bat under clear skies, bowl under cloud cover – but there will surely be a temptation to go the other way. In recent times, the pitch has tended to improve as the match has progressed, with the past six Tests here won by the side that has bowled first. For England, another subplot will also unfold 90 miles further north when Jofra Archer makes a first-class return – his first red-ball appearance since 2021 – for Sussex at Durham with an eye on playing the second Test in Birmingham. Archer is possibly the closest thing England have to Bumrah by way of unique attributes, although there really is only one.
