In Case You Missed It: England, New Zealand look for gains, PSL begins again
Our best content from the week gone by
![Fans in the stands make a beer snake out of empty plastic pint cups, England vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 1, Birmingham, June 10, 2021](https://img1.hscicdn.com/image/upload/f_auto,t_ds_w_1280,q_70/lsci/db/PICTURES/CMS/322800/322840.3.jpg)
No matter who loses the England-New Zealand Test series, it's a win for the fans who thronged Edgbaston after lockdown restrictions were eased • PA Images via Getty Images
The second leg of the PSL has kicked off and here's how the six teams look after the two mini replacement drafts. And in an uncertain time, Danyal Rasool finds one unshakeable certainty - that teams that win the toss will opt to chase, and the chasing side will likely win a majority of the games.
The first Test petered out into a draw despite New Zealand's enterprising declaration after a third-day washout, but England looked outmatched for much of the first Test. Alan Gardner says New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will have plenty to be happy about in his team's performance despite the thwarted push for victory. George Dobell has six takeaways for England from the first Test - including an impressive, and eventually tarnished, showing by debutant Ollie Robinson.
It should have been a dream start for Ollie Robinson, to pick up seven wickets on debut at Lord's, but racist, misogynistic tweets by the seamer from 2012-13 resurfaced in the wake of his debut, prompting the ECB to suspend him while a disciplinary investigation is conducted. Robinson remained unavailable for the second Test. George Dobell sees this as an opportunity for the ECB to create real change in English cricket through enlightenment and engagement, while David Hopps says time is of the essence if the ECB is to resolve this without it becoming a political cricket ball.
Firdose Moonda talks to the middle-order batter singled out by Test captain Dean Elgar as the player to watch in the West Indies Tests. But Moonda says the dip in the team's Test fortunes also coincides with Kagiso Rabada's slump in form.
For long, its population made the country's talent pool notionally the world's largest. Now India has methods to identify and develop that talent to the fullest. Sidharth Monga goes behind the machine.
Ian Chappell is looking ahead to the Ashes. Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Olly Stone, Ben Stokes and Co make for a formidable line-up, but Joe Root doesn't quite have the leadership skills to match, he says.
Gaurav Sundararaman crunches some hard numbers and says Azam will most likely score 50 runs off around 37 balls every second match he bats.
This is far from a golden era of slip catching, but there are still some players who make a habit of taking stunners in the cordon. ESPNcricinfo writers picked their favourites of the current lot.
The England batter picks the toughest bowler to face on the circuit today and tells us which team-mate sucks at Call of Duty in this round of 25 Questions.
In 2014, a team of mostly greenhorns took on England Women in a Test and won. As India and England women prepare to face off in a Test after seven years, the players involved in that unlikely win look back.
Andrew McGlashan speaks to the allrounder who is now back with the New Zealand squad and has no plans to ditch the captaincy.