After Brendon McCullum has revitalised England’s set up with red ball cricket, bringing a new approach which had it not been for the British weather, they may have won another Ashes title.
We’re looking at the current state of red ball cricket and previewing the visit of Sri Lanka.
We’re looking at the current state of red ball cricket and previewing the visit of Sri Lanka.
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00:00So, Dan, the next test series with England cricket is obviously welcoming Sri Lanka.
00:08They've just been on the back of welcoming West Indies. In a test series that wasn't
00:13really for the imagination, really, it was quite simple. But it also buys into this bigger
00:20issue with red ball cricket at the moment, with the amount of finances piled into other
00:25forms of white ball, such as the 100, the BBL over in Australia, the Indian Leagues
00:32as well, the big bashes and stuff. And you see a lot of players going over and choosing
00:36these over red ball. Firstly, just on the Sri Lanka test, it's good for Sri Lanka to
00:43come to one of the best test nations in the world and tour and get some minutes played.
00:49But you can't really see it being much more than an England win.
00:53Well, that's the thing, isn't it? And that's sort of the disappointment because you've
00:57got a lot of other test nations who really aren't that good anymore because they're not
01:02prioritising the red ball game. But even then, in this country, as you quite rightly mentioned,
01:06there's a lot more sort of emphasis at the moment on competitions like the 100 to the
01:11detriment of the red ball game, because it's the height of British summer at the moment.
01:15It's August. It's the warmest month. It's the time of year you traditionally want to
01:19be seeing test matches. I know you've got Sri Lanka, that test to come, but recently
01:26all we've had is the 100 and you've had very little sort of looking towards the one-day
01:32cup, which is perhaps more of a pure form of cricket, if we are going to make that sort
01:36of an argument. But then you've got the 100 and then you've got England's test captain,
01:39Ben Stokes, playing in a 100th match and ultimately going off with a hamstring injury.
01:44Leonard, obviously we're previewing the Sri Lankan test series where they are touring
01:49England. What can we expect from this and how important is it that Sri Lanka get to
01:55come over to England and play in their test format?
01:59Yes, they're really excited to have come here for three matches, especially a three-match
02:05test series, where they don't get them more often. We would like to have Ben Stokes in
02:11the team and playing. It would have been a nice spectacle. Anyway, it was really unfortunate
02:15that he is sidelined, but fortunate for the Sri Lankan team that he has the danger man
02:20out. But only Pope will have to see how he leads the side, so that will also go in Sri
02:30Lanka's favour. Even Dhananjali Silva, he doesn't have that much of experience. He will
02:35have to rely on some tactics from Angelo Matthews, Dimitra Karnarathna and Chandimal.
02:41So there is support for him in the team. About England, it's good that we have some
02:48consideration that the danger man is out and he's supposed to be the captain as well. So
02:53let's hope that this series is balanced at the moment.