Hyped Hundred an unworthy dessert to Indian main course

BEN HOSKINS/GETTY IMAGES It was at the uplifting

NEWMAN

Party over

The Kia Oval, August 4

The News

Blast cut, could Championship be next? Blast finals

Dobell take

England’s Ashes ‘prep’ is an accident waiting to happen

MO BOBAT

The 42-year-old from Leicester is Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s director of cricket, overseeing their long-awaited first IPL title in only his second season. He will also join London Spirit in October

Rear view mirror

How counties came a cropper on Black Wednesday

Boundary view

No sign of signal coming down on Siggy

Off the long run

It’s a pity cricket is run by committee

My favourite cricketer

SRINIVASARAGHAVAN VENKATARAGHAVAN aka ‘Venkat’ inspired Nick Cooke to bowl beguilingly flighty offspin

Why I love cricket

JAMIE GEORGE is one of only a handful of England rugby union players to have won 100 caps. He was also on the recent Lions tour. But one of his proudest sporting moments was taking on Chris Jordan…

Ask Nasser

Ask the ex-England captain anything. Send questions to magazine@thecricketer.com or tweet @thecricketermag

Number cruncher

England the batting paradise

Everything changes, everything stays the same

Mike Brearley reflects on his seminal book The Art of Captaincy 40 years on, and what he’d do differently had he written it in today’s franchise era

CLASSIC ONE-DAY LORD’S FINALS

From 1963 until 2019 Lord’s was the scene for the domestic one-day showpiece. It went through an array of changes of name and length, but it was the classic culmination of the English season, even if some other matches would usually follow it. For 31 years Lord’s had two county finals, with the Benson & Hedges Cup enjoying its own high-summer denouement. The Metro Bank One Day Cup now finishes at Trent Bridge instead, and plays second fiddle to T20 Blast finals day (arguably third fiddle to The Hundred), but Lord’s finals still linger in supporters’ memories. Our team remember 10 of the best

The man who gave cricket its home

Lord’s has a long history – one that

Youngsters reach the Apex at Millfield

Teams from around the globe play T20, learn about the game and life, and form friendships

THE COLOUR OF MONEY

While cricket was reluctant to jettison the whites, fans have been snapping up coloured kits for 50 years now

Duty of care… or indulged and mollycoddled?

Derek Pringle says teams are too hasty in resting their fast bowlers

MIND THE GAP

The new Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report has shone fresh light on first-class county finances ahead of the £520m windfall from The Hundred sale. Its lead author, sports business journalist Jonathan Dyson , breaks down the key findings

Can lightning strike twice?

Nick Friend asks New Zealand’s star allrounder Amelia Kerr if she can inspire her country to another shock World Cup win

Surrey capitalise on Blaze absentees

Nick Friend and Nick Howson report on Women’s Blast Finals Days

Defending champions leave their stamp on the north

Paul Edwards cadges a lift on Surrey’s road trip to Scarborough and Chester-le-Street that leaves them a little closer to a fourth consecutive Championship title

COUNTY DIARY

Our reporters sniff out stories from all 18 counties

Wicketz residential impact

The boys residential was held at Arundel Castle

Indian resistance gets under England’s skin

Jadeja and Sundar help India emerge with bragging rights from a typically unresponsive surface at Old Trafford, reports George Dobell

Woakes’ courage in classic finish

ENGLAND v INDIA 5th Rothesay Test, The Kia Oval, July 31–August 4

Zimbabwe outclassed on home turf

ZIMBABWE v NEW ZEALAND 2-Test series

Feisty is not good for the club game

The Cricketer, 35-37 High St, Barrow upon Soar, Loughborough LE12 8PY ~ Email: magazine@thecricketer.com

Last chance to enter the Greenest Ground Competition

Email your news to magazine@thecricketer.com or tweet @thecricketermag

The Noticeboard

FIVE-MINUTE DELIVERY The absorbing five-match Test series between

Young people get competitive at the national Street Finals

More than 400 young cricketers took part in

From first-timers to Lord’s finalists: Stayley’s remarkable rise

The Cheshire club only made their Voneus Village Cup bow in 2021 and will take on defending champions Foxton Granta at HQ.

Reviews

The Cricket Captains of England, 1979-2025 By Vic

Obituaries

EVENING STANDARD/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES Mike Harris James Coyne

From the archive

Summer of despair for bowlers

A dentist and the oversize bats

Tweet @CoyneJames with your stories

Tea break

CROSSWORD Compiled by Tom Johnson ACROSS 1 See

David Graveney

The former Gloucestershire, Somerset and Durham left-arm spinner went on to become England’s chairman of selectors, then ECB national performance manager. He is now vice-chair of Gloucestershire CCC

The window

Each month Gideon Haigh writes about a favourite photograph of his