In Case You Missed It: Ashes, clashes and a World Test Championship
Our best content from last week
ESPNcricinfo staff
05-Aug-2019
Ashes to Ashes, tons to tons: Steven Smith indicates the trajectory of his Ashes so far • Getty Images
We've barely caught our breath after that epic World Cup and it's already on to the Ashes, where Steven Smith is stockpiling runs like they're going out of fashion. The Ashes also mark the start of the World Test Championship. What's that, you ask? Nagraj Gollapudi has a primer. Elsewhere, in Lauderhill, in what should have been sunny Florida, India have taken a 2-0 lead in the T20Is against West Indies after rain brought a premature end to the second game. Here are some other things you may have missed this week.
Steve Waugh leads praise as Steven Smith finds 'red-ball rhythm' with twin hundreds
Smith became the first Australian since Matthew Hayden in 2002 to score hundreds in each innings - 144 in the first, 142 in the second - of an Ashes Test, when just a few months ago he didn't know if he'd ever play cricket again. Now Ian Chappell is asking, should Smith move up to No. 3, like Root? Just days into the first Ashes Test meanwhile, George Dobell has identified four problems England need to fix
Smith became the first Australian since Matthew Hayden in 2002 to score hundreds in each innings - 144 in the first, 142 in the second - of an Ashes Test, when just a few months ago he didn't know if he'd ever play cricket again. Now Ian Chappell is asking, should Smith move up to No. 3, like Root? Just days into the first Ashes Test meanwhile, George Dobell has identified four problems England need to fix
Prithvi Shaw suspended for doping violation
Shaw had "inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups," a BCCI release said. How did the BCCI arrive at the sanctions? Nagraj Gollapudi has an explainer. But the BCCI is the only cricket board to not comply with its national anti-doping body, and post this incident, the pressure is on them to fall in line.
Shaw had "inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups," a BCCI release said. How did the BCCI arrive at the sanctions? Nagraj Gollapudi has an explainer. But the BCCI is the only cricket board to not comply with its national anti-doping body, and post this incident, the pressure is on them to fall in line.
Virat Kohli on reports of rifts with Rohit Sharma: 'Baffling, ridiculous, disrespectful'
Rumours about the supposed fallout over split captaincy have been floating around since India's exit from the World Cup but coach Ravi Shastri, too, quashed reports of "divisions" in the dressing room.
Rumours about the supposed fallout over split captaincy have been floating around since India's exit from the World Cup but coach Ravi Shastri, too, quashed reports of "divisions" in the dressing room.
Wasim Akram bowls to Warner, Gayle, Kohli, Buttler, Russell and Dhoni
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan lives a dream as he gets Wasim Akram to bowl a hypothetical T20 spell to the top batsmen of the modern era.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan lives a dream as he gets Wasim Akram to bowl a hypothetical T20 spell to the top batsmen of the modern era.
Behind the scenes - how the World Test Championship became a reality
The ICC officially launched the inaugural World Test Championship on August 1 with the first Ashes Test - a project over 15 years in the making. Here's the story of the plans, the hurdles, and, in the end, the solutions. Who's looking forward to it? The captains, for one. Also, who would have been world Test champions if these rules were in place two decades ago? Dustin Silgardo does the math.
The ICC officially launched the inaugural World Test Championship on August 1 with the first Ashes Test - a project over 15 years in the making. Here's the story of the plans, the hurdles, and, in the end, the solutions. Who's looking forward to it? The captains, for one. Also, who would have been world Test champions if these rules were in place two decades ago? Dustin Silgardo does the math.
Ganguly wants to coach India in the future
The BCCI has called for applications for the team's coaching staff, with Ravi Shastri and his assistants' contracts set to end after India's tour of West Indies, and the former India captain is interested, just not right now.
The BCCI has called for applications for the team's coaching staff, with Ravi Shastri and his assistants' contracts set to end after India's tour of West Indies, and the former India captain is interested, just not right now.
The Briefing: Sri Lanka are so consistent they don't need a coach
In July in cricket, there was some intense loving, wooing and buck-passing. Andrew Fidel Fernando took notes.
In July in cricket, there was some intense loving, wooing and buck-passing. Andrew Fidel Fernando took notes.
'The first six months I didn't enjoy the job much, it was very hard'
Australia coach Justin Langer sits down with Daniel Brettig to talk about his evolution as a coach, leading the team through a crisis and why this Ashes might be different.
Australia coach Justin Langer sits down with Daniel Brettig to talk about his evolution as a coach, leading the team through a crisis and why this Ashes might be different.