Lovers of poetry, or those who studied AQA English Literature GCSE between 2015 and 2019, may recall Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias, an oddly moving, powerfully juxtaposing verse. I am no poetry fan, but was made to analyse Shelley's 14 lines in class. For those who do not know how it goes, note that Ozymandias is more commonly known as Ramesses II, the Egyptian Pharaoh who reigned for over six decades in the 1200s BC. Regarded as one of Egypt's greatest, Shelley's work contrasts power in life with legacy's futility. It reads: I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said: "Two vast and ..read more

Last summer, after the second Test against the West Indies, I wrote an article about Jos Buttler's Test exploits (or lack thereof at time of writing) and suggested that England needed to move in a new direction with their wicketkeeper-batsman. 12 months later and his place in the Test side could not be more secure. The turn around in form is brilliant to see and finally shows that the leap of faith taken to bring him back to the Test side has worked. In this article, I take a closer look at his Test stats in the last year that show why he is the undisputed keeper (shoutout as always to James M ..read more

Having gone just over four months without playing each other, England and India are to clash again this summer, with five Tests taking place over the course of the next six weeks. The tourists, who last beat England away from home in 2007, ought to be confident of winning this series, against a weak England. England will be without crucial all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is taking a break for the benefit of his mental wellbeing, and with a side that have passed 300 just twice in their last six Test matches, India's talented bowling attack ought to prove too much for this frail batting line-up. Not ..read more

Michael Atherton once famously said he wished he had resigned after the home 1997 Ashes having failed to regain the urn but in the warm glow of an incredible win at a packed Oval with Australia shot out failing to chase 124 in the face of wonderful bowling from Caddick and Tufnell; as Atherton himself has acknowledged, leading the side on the tour of the Caribbean the following winter was a bridge too far. Keeping someone in post simply because there is no credible alternative is not a viable position to hold and is unsustainable in the long term. History could well be on the verge of repeatin ..read more

Welcome to this instalment of Inside Edge Picks. England got demolished by New Zealand at the beginning of the summer and now face India. they go into this series missing Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, Jofra Archer and Ben Foakes. All of whom are involved members of the test side to varying degrees. So given these high profile losses, who do our writers pick as their eleven for the first test Samuel Bruning Burns, Sibley, Crawley, Root (c), O. Pope [D. Lawrence as possible replacement, fitness depending], Buttler (wk), Curran, Robinson, Leach, Broad, Anderson I was already struggling to ..read more

The first game of the hundred is completed, the much chastised and mocked tournament with a gaffe catalogue that would rival Argos is here and on tonight's evidence is here to stay. First a quick mention on the game itself; unsurprisingly if you put 22 of the best players in the world together you get a great game. Oval Invincibles led by a talismanic knock from Van Niekerk edged out Kate Cross's Manchester Originals in a close game with the Invincibles winning with only two balls to go. The format itself is acceptable, whilst I'm still not quite sure what you're meant to gain from 5 balls ove ..read more

The six ball over, that has, in truth been the English norm, has been standardised across all cricket since 1979. Experiments of four or five balls do not allow the bowler to sufficiently build a plan, and eight risks slower down bowlers, and is commercially poor. The over, perhaps the sanctity of cricket lovers, is changing though. The Hundred, the ECB's new competition, will see overs of five or ten balls, with ends being changed after every ten balls. The main commercial advantage here is less changing of ends, which means the game will be faster, something the BBC, the free-to-air broadcas ..read more

Want to know which players to watch out for in The Hundred? Then have a read of our ten picks! These English stars have never played a game for their country, but ought to star throughout the competition: Georgia Adams Georgia Adams is 27, and from Derbyshire. The opening bat made 500 runs in seven innings of the 2020 Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, and with a fifty in the most recent game of the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Adams is in good form, and will want to pile on the runs for the Oval Invincibles. Joe Clarke Immensely talented with the bat, but overshadowed by his part in the Alex Hepburn rape ..read more

Over three years on since initial plans for a new one-hundred ball cricket competition emerged, The Hundred finally gets underway on Wednesday, with the women's sides for the Oval Invincibles and the Manchester Originals opening the new tournament. No matter your view on the-thing-that-must-not-be-named, I hope we can all agree that it'll be nice to see the cricket. After all, it has been a hectic journey to this stage. Two auctions, eight teams, innumerable controversies and infinite arguments later, I, for one, will just be pleased to see bat and ball face off. So, just before 6:30pm on July ..read more

With The Hundred finally getting underway this Wednesday, read about all the new teams, their players, and more, in our all-encompassing preview, as the cricket itself finally take over from the controversy surrounding the ECB's new competition. In our preview, each team is covered, including their ground, first few fixtures, players to watch, and the possible XIs. And, just to embarrass me later on, I have predictions for the winners, runners-up, wooden spoon, and individual achievements. And note that the possible XIs listed are who I think will play for each side, not who I would play! And ..read more