Tim Ellis 07 Dec 2021

Six times England fluffed their opening lines at Brisbane

England last won a Test in Brisbane 35 years ago when Ian Botham smashed a brutal 138.

Australia England

Tim Ellis 23 Jan 2019

England’s shiny, happy people set for Windies battle

England are a happy bunch right now. Even the famously miserable one.

England Features

Tim Ellis 05 Nov 2018

Ten things England can do if it rains in Galle

Nice country, shame about the weather. It’s sodden Sri Lanka time again. England’s first Test match at Galle is due to start on Tuesday, although an aquatic armageddon doesn’t look too far away. Here are a few ideas for Joe Root’s troops to fill in time between inevitable rain breaks. 1) PRACTICE THEIR ELITE HONESTY: Test […]

England Sri Lanka

Tim Ellis 28 Feb 2018

Leave them wanting more: The XI who should have quit earlier

The great Indian batsman Vijay Merchant once said: “Retire when people ask you ‘why?’ and not ‘why not?’.   As Morne Morkel takes his bow at the top,  it’s time to reflect on the XI who should have quit earlier.   MICHAEL CLARKE: The former Australian skipper admitted in his autobiography that he should  have […]

Features Top Story

Tim Ellis 08 Jan 2018

Will England’s roasting lead to a new recipe?

The definition of burnout is “a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by a prolonged period of stress and frustration.” If Joe Root was sick to the teeth with the Ashes series going into the final day, it seemed apt he was poisoned enough in body too. England’s Ashes tour of 2017 will be […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 08 Jan 2018

An Ashes five-fer: Sydney, Day 5

1) JOE’S SICKIE THROWS UP A CHALLENGE: Just hours before play resumed, the news filtered through that Joe Root was stuck in a Sydney hospital suffering from dehydration after a bout of gastroenteritis. Root was on the field for all but six overs in the scorching 50 degree Sunday roasting the day before. Like the […]

England Features

Tim Ellis 06 Jan 2018

An Ashes five-fer: Sydney, Day 3

1) SMITH SETS UP HIS UNORTHODOX CHURCH: On the third day, Steve Smith rose again from bed and set up an even more outrageously unorthodox temple at the crease. As James Anderson ran in for the first over, the Aussie skipper shuffled to the off side and showed all three stumps (and then some) behind […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 05 Jan 2018

An Ashes five-fer: Sydney, Day 2

1) STEVE SMITH THROWS HIMSELF INTO ANOTHER WORLD CLASS ACT: The only times Steve Smith has looked human in this series is when he was mega-sledged  at Adelaide  and in the field where he has shelled three. Today, the skipper stopped the rot with a brilliant one handed plunge at second slip to dismiss Dawid […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 04 Jan 2018

An Ashes five-fer: Sydney, Day 1

1) RAIN PLAYS ITS PART FOR THE FIFTH TIME: Rain has very rarely played such a continuous role in an Australian Ashes series, although it hasn’t been so decisive in the results column. Adelaide’s skies interrupted the wonky English seamers on the first day, while the heavens failed to save the tourists at the normally […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 03 Jan 2018

A Tale of Two Spinners

When leg-spinner Scott Borthwick was picked for  the Sydney Test Match four years ago, it seemed like a desperate throw of the dice from an England team that had been brutalised by the Australians and decimated internally by retirements and stress-related injuries. Borthwick was lined up to replace Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann who had  […]

England News

Tim Ellis 30 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Melbourne, Day 5

1) DEAD AS A DODO PITCH CALLED OUT BY AN AUSSIE: Before a ball was even bowled on the final day, former Aussie opener Chris Rogers was questioning the validity of the MCG pitch. Normally,  a hotbed of cracks, shooters and fraught survival, this fifth act felt like anything but in front of a ground […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 29 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 4, Melbourne

1) AFTER THE LORD MAYOR’S SHOW: After dominating the last two days, England were looking to add to their lead of 164. Jimmy Anderson was dismissed first ball, giving Australia an immediate lift as David Warner and Cameron Bancroft could conserve all energy and chip away at the deficit. Thoughts momentarily drifted to four years […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 28 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Melbourne, Day 3

1) A MORNING TO TEST THE PATIENCE: Australia essentially took a leaf out of England’s text book by squeezing the batsmen in the first 40 minutes as only nine runs came from the first seven overs. Josh Hazlewood bowled very well and when Nathan Lyon appeared, Alastair Cook looked vulnerable for a while. There was […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 27 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Melbourne, day 2

1) ENGLAND RIP THROUGH AUSTRALIA SHOCK:  Please remain in your seats. In the early hours of the morning, England did actually take a series of (legal) wickets. It was a most disorderly collapse for the Australians, who, up  to then, had been serenely directing the production of Whitewash III: This Time it’s Personal.  Losing five […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 26 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Melbourne, day 1

1) ENGLAND GET LAMPED AFTER LOSING ELECTRICITY: One of the main attributes Trevor Bayliss brought to his debut series, the 2015 home Ashes, was a cool exterior and call for freedom of expression. After all, England had just been micromanaged to death by Peter Moores for a second time.  Unfortunately, this dressing room vibe is […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 17 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Perth, day 4

1) PAINE AND CUMMINS CRUNCH ENGLAND: England actually started the day well with Jimmy Anderson removing both Smith And Marsh after their titanic aggregate combo of 420, 17 more than the tourists managed.

Australia Countries

Tim Ellis 15 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Perth, day two

1) ENGLAND UNABLE TO STRING TWO STRONG DAYS TOGETHER: England came into the match knowing that victory was probably the only way to keep the series truly alive. Unfortunately, they cannot seem to win session after session, which would turn matches like this into a more decisive advantage and let them breathe. They are in the […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 14 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 1, Perth

1) MARK STONEMAN THE NEW MICHAEL CARBERRY? During the carnage of the 2013 series, the Australians had a lot of time for thirty-something opener Michael Carberry. With Alastair Cook struggling at the other end, the Hampshire batsman kept getting starts – 40s, 60s, and the like – but couldn’t go on. Stoneman has also been […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 13 Dec 2017

England can let loose on the pitch

England have rocked into Perth like millionaires. Clearly not put off by the extortionate price of the beer in the city,  they have frequented their favourite bar to drink from the cup of plenty one more time. It’s a good thing Ben Duckett and Jimmy Anderson didn’t touch the spirits. They have an (alcoholic) average […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 04 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 3, Adelaide

“It took me three days in 2013-14 to suggest that it might be a whitewash. I will probably get murdered for saying it, but England have to do something to stop it being 5-0 again”@MichaelVaughan is officially worried. #ashes#bbccricket pic.twitter.com/tK5BfDTkiw — Test Match Special (@bbctms) December 4, 2017 1) ENGLAND TOP ORDER CAN’T BAT TIME: […]

Features News

Tim Ellis 03 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 2, Adelaide

1) ENGLAND RUNNING OUT OF GAS ON BOWLING TREADMILL: So far in this series, England have bowled 329 overs for a grand total of 18 wickets. Australia have knocked the tourists over twice in 140 less overs. When your strike bowlers are  only getting twos in the wickets column and your primary spinner is not […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 02 Dec 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day one, Adelaide

1) ENGLAND SERVE UP A SHOCKING STARTER: Before taking the field, had  England been playing Pin the tail on the donkey  after imbibing premium strength beer?  Going short, wide and both sides of the wicket was surely not the plan. Joe Root’s premier bowlers were simply rudderless. It spoke of a team that was  strangely unfocused […]

Features News

Tim Ellis 30 Nov 2017

Australia in the pink as England look for the light

Adelaide has been primed (hopefully not by the same ‘linesman’ who stumped Moeen Ali) in readiness for the bright lights of its third day/night Test. It has also been painted as the best chance for England to get back in to the Ashes. It’s almost universally accepted that the Kookaburra pink ball, more known for […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 27 Nov 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day five in Brisbane

1) ENGLAND THERE IN PHYSICAL FORM ONLY: Whatever is said in public about the value of getting a few wickets in a lost cause, England looked like they were in private hell. Cameron Bancroft and David Warner took a little more than an hour to get the required 56. The situation was horrible but the […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 26 Nov 2017

An Ashes Five-fer: Day 4 at Brisbane

1) WAKING UP LIKE IT’S 1999:  Going to bed with Joe Root on 50 and waking up a few hours later to the words: “Australia won’t ask for the extra half-hour to finish this”, is like being transported back to the days when dozing off came with a public health warning. When England start to […]

Australia Countries

Tim Ellis 25 Nov 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 3, 1st Test, Brisbane

FUNKY FIELDS ARE COOL IF THEY WORK Michael Vaughan used to set funky fields to jam up Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist and company in 2005 and Joe Root has taken on that mantle, albeit against a less stellar cast. At one point, Steve Smith had scored only 17 runs from 66 balls in the first session. […]

Australia Countries

Tim Ellis 24 Nov 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 2, 1st Test, Brisbane

ENGLAND MAKE 50s BUT NO DADDIES England started the day splendidly with Moeen and Dawid Malan striking cleanly. Pre-match, Trevor Bayliss implored his charges to turn 60s into 160s. When two of your batsmen get half-centuries, but are out in the 50s, it rankles. Throw in a mini-collapse from 4-246 to 302, and you begin […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 23 Nov 2017

An Ashes five-fer: Day 1, 1st Test, Brisbane

WE (MIGHT) NEED TO TALK ABOUT ALASTAIR: Look (Aussies like saying “Look” at the front of every sentence), it’s probably nothing. Cooky is proven. He was an Ashes hero in 2010. He averages 46.It’s just he hasn’t looked that good so far out here..After helping himself to 243 against Caribbean buffet bowling at Birmingham in […]

Features News

Tim Ellis 22 Nov 2017

England’s seven deadly sins in Australia

Sir Clive Woodward, England’s World Cup winning rugby coach, created an acronym entitled T-CUP – “Thinking Clearly Under Pressure”. Suffice to say, England’s Ashes stars haven’t always shown that capability in Australia over the years. Here are seven of the worst brain fades in Ashes history… 1) NASSER WINS TOSS AT THE GABBATOIR…. AND  PROMPTLY […]

Australia England

Tim Ellis 21 Aug 2017

Lost Weekends in Test match Cricket

How sad that the Caribbean cocktail hurricane served up this week in the Midlands had destroyed itself by the time it touched our lips. This should have been the aperitif to the main South African course, which was in itself undercooked. The international summer in England has not been a vintage one. Four landslide victories […]

Features Test cricket

Tim Ellis 18 Mar 2017

Ellis: Smith shows his cojones to Kohli

If Virat Kohli thought he had got inside the mind of Steve Smith and his Australians after India snatched the second Test and the high moral ground, then he had many good reasons to think again while his opposite number rode into Ranchi and stole the land beneath his injured shoulder. This was just not […]

Australia Features

Tim Ellis 05 Feb 2017

Ellis: England crack at squeaky bum time

Listening to Michael Vaughan (yes, him again) discussing England’s T20 and limited overs squad, one would have thought they had conquered the limited overs world. In the merry mind of skipper Eoin Morgan, this team is the best he has ever played in. But the Irishman did include a telling caveat: “We have a huge […]

Features ODI cricket

Tim Ellis 14 Jan 2017

Ellis: Eoin inches his way back into the hot seat

Remember the date. It was a sunny afternoon in June 9, 2015. The location was Edgbaston. It had been three months since the debacle of the World Cup where England had essentially shown their hand to be around 20 years out of date as they limped out of the competition with barely a whimper and […]

England News

Tim Ellis 09 Dec 2016

Ellis: Ten boom or bust batters

There are relentlessly consistent batsmen – Joe Root springs to mind – and then there are those that have more ups and down than a last day pitch. Here are C365’s top 10 boom or bust batters, past and present.. JP DUMINY (South Africa): Duminy is the archetypal boom or bust player JP enjoyed a […]

Features News

Tim Ellis 15 Nov 2016

Ellis: Cook must dare to be bold

Cricketing declarations can get a very bad press. At one end of the extreme, think back to the Division One County Championship decider between Middlesex and Yorkshire at Lord’s in deepest September. It stokes up visions of trailer trash bowling instigated by a classy toilet talk between the skippers. The implementation of the artificial construct […]

England Features

Tim Ellis 05 Sep 2016

Pakistan in slow motion as England skip to series win

There comes a time on every tour that the visitors just want to go home. It is visible not only in the skill set slowing down to the pace of a Sunday sitcom, but in the body language screaming: "We feel like we are in Durham on an April morning."

Countries England