There is nothing wrong with cricket teams using home conditions to their advantage. It’s what makes winning a Test series abroad so much more prized than winning at home. Teams have the opportunity to conquer new land, build empires and dominate if they are up for the challenge.

Home sides should be given just as much opportunity to defend their land from invasion. It wouldn’t be a challenge for a touring team if they were given pitches they were used to. If every pitch were the same it would just come down to their ranking.  Cricket would become boring. Watching England come within inches of a win in Abu Dhabi was thrilling. They had buckled down on the first few days to rack up the runs on a dead track. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid then exploited the spinning conditions on the fifth day before the batsmen came out all guns blazing. This was the definition of an invasion (an unsuccessful one, but a valiant effort nonetheless). It was not where they were playing that lost them the series but how. They had shown what they were capable of in the first test.

When the Ashes series was played in England this year, people wept at how Lords could have produced such an emotionless pitch as England were punished for not playing to their advantages. The next two tests were finished off in three days but the fifth test showed us once again it was about the application of the players and not just home advantage. It was not a unreasonable task for a side as strong as Australia, a win was always on the cards.

Overall, this Ashes was one of the shortest Ashes series’ of all time. Batsmen appear to have lost the ability to apply themselves. The level of one day cricket is poisoning Test matches. Players like Cheteshwar Pujara who could do wonders for the Indian ODI squad are left out to remain a ‘test specialist’ while most other batsmen are given a free ticket to play all formats and bring their hit out or get out temperament into Test cricket.

It is not the pitch that is the problem in modern day Tests. We don’t complain about conditions in a one day game. Test cricket has become stuck, no matter where a game is being played. Batsmen are not picked based on their ability to play in certain conditions and they no longer understand the importance of building an innings. A set team is usually chosen to play all over the world. Rohit Sharma was left out of an Indian side playing at home on a turning pitch. Conditions that would have been perfect for him. Whilst Ajinkya Rahane, the more skilled batsman away from home continued to play and struggled against the spin.

Players like Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid are in short supply these days. It is because Test cricket is no longer regarded as the pinnacle of cricket to those other than die hard fans but it needs to be once again. It is not the pitches that need to change, it’s the mindset around the game.

“I want to thank everyone for all the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologize for not accepting most of it! I had a reason for not following it: I did it my way” – Virender Sehwag.

Players like the recently retired Virender Sehwag are the reason a lot of people watch cricket. Players like AB De Villiers and Brendon McCullum are part of the reason cricket is so loved. Care free players who don’t even look like they’re playing cricket. They invent new shots, the Dilscoop, the flamingo and the helicopter. They play outside convention and can make or break a game. However just like with most other sports, if everyone is on the attack there is no one in defence.

India are currently in a crisis, they are a team of Virus. As entertaining as that might be to watch 11 Virender Sehwags running around on the field, it doesn’t make for good cricket. Before the great four retired, India had one of the most incredible teams. It included the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Players who knew when to attack and when to hold back. Players who played to the conditions and to the opposition.

The recent surge in T20 cricket has killed the game. Scores below 180 are considered below par. The pressure on batsmen to score has rocketed and all players are being forced to hit out or get out. That is the way modern cricket is moving. There is very little room for players who resemble the likes of Rahul Dravid. Cheteshwar Pujara has been held back from the ODI and T20 team yet India on several occasions have failed to play out a full 50 overs of cricket. There is no consistency in the team. Each player plays to their strengths. If every batsman in India’s ODI team had a good day, they could easily reach 400. However the opposite is also true. If they all have a bad day…

India have been lucky so far. They have players who are more than talented. More often than not, the matches India win are from some single outstanding performance, not a collective one. With each player playing to win on their own and not looking at the big picture. India’s 3rd ODI against South Africa showed just that. They had done well to limit the visitors to 270. It was still a good score but not unachievable, especially not with India’s line-up.

The hosts got off to a decent start bar Shikhar Dhawan’s attempted release shot to a fairly new ball that was still moving. Rohit Sharma was playing well and Virat Kohli looked in good nick. However it all went downhill once Rohit was removed in the 22nd over. From there, only 80 runs came in 20 overs. MS Dhoni who had promoted himself up the order (ahead of Ajinkya Rahane) and Virat Kohli slowed down the run rate massively believing they would be able to finish it off easily at the end. That resounding belief in their own ability is what got them into trouble. Morne Morkel was bowling fantastically and removed Dhoni. Rahane was once again pushed down the order for no reason to make way for an out of touch Suresh Raina and the next three wickets of Raina, Kohli and Rahane fell to slogs caught at deep midwicket. India fell short by 18 runs.

There was no sense to India’s madness. Dhoni’s promotion to no.4, pushing Rahane down the order, not believing in the team and the team then justifying such disbelief with poor cricket. India will really need to go back to the drawing board for the next ODI in Chennai. Dhoni’s ad-lib tactics are beginning to fail India more often than not.

MS Dhoni has been under some real scrutiny since stepping down as Test captain. His relevance in the Indian side has been questioned one too many times. However, on the 17th of September, Dhoni ‘the finisher’ reminded the world exactly why he had been given that nickname as he brought his side home during the first international Help for Heroes Twenty20 match. Dhoni who was part of the all-star line-up finished off the innings with a couple of big boundaries reminiscent of his 2011 World Cup finish against Sri Lanka.

It was a wonderful evening at the Oval, flocks of people had come to support the cause and watch some legends on the field once again. ‘Rest of the World’ led by Brendon McCullum elected to bat. It was quite something to see all these international superstars play together. Graeme Smith fell early but Matthew Hayden, Brian Lara built back up and Mahela Jayawardena put on a show for the crowd with a flourish of boundaries. He brought up his 48 in just 28 balls with six beautiful boundaries. Backed up by Brendon McCullum (who was wearing a GoPro) and Scott Styris they reached 158.

The Help for Heroes XI however, responded as lavishly. Captain Andrew Strauss and Virender Sehwag got off to a flyer and Dhoni (backed up by Middlesex player, Dawid Malan) finished off the game to an encore of his name, a few boundaries and three balls to spare. It was an incredible evening for everyone and the charity raised £250,000. Hopefully it will become an annual fixture where people can come and enjoy watching their favourite players altogether.

Did he? Didn’t he? Was it intentional? Was it reflex?

It’s impossible to know Stokes’ full intention when he got his arm in the way of the ball, but slowing it down to watch him move is not the right way of doing it. It’s like watching someone fire a machine gun in slow motion and thinking the person was accurately firing at a target rather than blindly shooting in a general direction.

The more you watch the replays in slow motion, the more it looks out. The more you watch it in full speed, the more unsure you become. If a big man picks up a ball and throws it in your general direction from halfway down the pitch, you have no idea if it’s coming to hit you or not. You react. It looks so deliberate in slow motion. The ball almost sticks in his hand as if he knew exactly where it was going. The third umpire did not even ask to see it at full speed. Both on-field umpires were unsure about what happened but the third umpire had made his decision on what turned out to be only the 7th case of on-field obstruction within seconds.

Regardless of the result, Stokes reacted in a very mature way to the decision. For a man who had punched a locker after getting out, this was a sure sign of growth.

What drama will the third ODI bring?

Virat Kohli started his captaincy campaign by becoming India’s youngest captain to win an away series. Not only that, he did it in Sri Lanka. A feat not achieved in the past 22 years. Kohli also became the first Indian captain to ever win an away series from behind.

It was an uncharacteristically dominant show from the Indians. The 2-1 scoreline did not do their performance justice. It could have easily been 3-0 were it not for a audacious 162* from Dinesh Chandimal.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. They appeared to be out of their depth though as Ravi Ashwin picked up six wickets and India bowled out the hosts for 183 (a rare moment for India in recent years). The second innings saw India take a 192 run lead with the help of captain Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. It looked as though India could win by an innings as Sri Lanka were reduced to 5-3 within the first five overs of their second innings. However, a stunning performance from Chandimal gave Sri Lanka a target to bowl to. India were chasing down 176 on a ground where 99 had been the highest successful chase. Sri Lanka’s bowlers (in particular Rangana Herath), along with the daunting statistics of fourth inning chases at Galle saw India fall 63 runs short. A collapse that was all too familiar for India. It was a disappointing performance from the batsmen as Ravi Ashwin’s ten-for and Ajinkya Rahane’s record breaking eight catches went unrewarded.

However from a 1-0 position, India bounced back impressively to win the second test by 278 runs. Opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out through injury, however his counterpart Lokesh Rahul made a huge impact scoring his second Test century. Contributions from the captain and Rohit Sharma gave India a solid score of 393. The visitors once again bowled our Sri Lanka and went in to bat with a lead of 87. A magnificent century from Ajinkya Rahane gave Sri Lanka a daunting target of 412. However once again Sri Lanka’s batsman failed them. The hosts were unable to muster up enough grit to send off Kumar Sangakkara on a high. Sri Lanka collapsed for 134.

In the third test was a slightly more rocky ride for India. They were put in to bat and bar Cheteshwar Pujara, the batsmen fell like flies. Only a 104-run partnership between Pujara and Amit Mishra helped India to reach 312. Not a single other player scored above 30. Once again however, Sri Lanka’s batsmen let down the impressive performance from Dhammika Prasad and the other bowlers. Angelo Matthews’ men fell for 201 as Ishant Sharma took five wickets. Were it not for their first innings 100 run lead, it would have been a much closer match as India’s top order once again failed to perform. They were however saved by their middle-lower order and Sri Lanka were unable to chase down the total.

It had been an incredibly long 25 years since India took 60 wickets in a three Test series. It was also only the fifth ever series India had won away from home, with the last one (against a team other than Bangladesh or Zimbabwe) coming in 2004.

Hopefully Kohli’s drive will continue to push India in the right direction (results-wise and not attitude-wise).

The gap between the fourth Test where England polished off Australia to win back the Ashes was far too long. The celebrations had come and gone and this match almost felt like it belonged to another series (possibly even the last Ashes series considering the result).

It was a crushing defeat of an innings and 46 runs this time it wasn’t in England’s favour. The pendulum had once again swung but it was too little too late for Australia. It did however it proved just how inconsistent the series had been. Never before had such huge Test margins been seen where one team did not dominate. Only three other series’ had seen margins resembling the 169 runs, 405 runs, eight wickets, an innings and 78 runs, and an innings and 46 runs that occurred in the 2015 Ashes. Each of which ended in a 5-0 white wash. 18 days of play (the joint lowest) and not a single day 5 (the first ever in a five test series).

Regardless however, of the overall series results and it’s triviality, it was the perfect end to Chris Rogers and Michael Clarke’s Test careers. Australia’s captain-in-waiting scored a wonderful 143 and was backed up by David Warner and Adam Voges. Australia scored an immense total of 481. Unlike in Trent Bridge, this time it did seem like England were missing Jimmy Anderson. The bowlers struggled to remove the Australian’s that they had only a fortnight ago bowled out for 60. Stuart Broad who had been key in Nottingham was unable to find his rhythm and did not take a single wicket. England’s batting performance was as poor, 10 batsmen came and went in succession. Twice. An entire two innings worth of cricket, only Alastair Cook was able to score above 50.

It was an entertaining end, to an entertaining series. One that will be remembered for it’s extravagance rather than significance.

England have won back the Ashes as Australia in the fourth test appeared to play a poor rendition of the game duck duck goose.

The expected ‘return’ of the Australians never came. There was a lot of speculation about Jimmy Anderson and his side strain. Was his injury going to be England’s McGrath of 2005? Who would replace him? Would Stuart Broad be able to lead the attack? Just as Australia had bounced back from SWALEC to Lords, they were expected to do the same going from Edgbaston to Trent Bridge.

With ‘the king of swing’ out of the picture, this was Australia’s best chance of taking the series down to the fifth Test. The toss had feelings of deja vu from 2005. Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bowl. The conditions were definitely good for bowling however without Jimmy, England were in unchartered waters. Jimmy had missed very few tests over the years through his reign as England’s spearhead and apart from Stuart Broad, the rest of the bowlers lacked real experience.

It seemed however that Alastair Cook had made the right decision. It was an incredible day of almost ODI like behaviour from Australia. They hadn’t learnt from their mistakes. ALL 11 players were the Brendon McCullum of the team. They had no Kane Williamson or Joe Root to steady the innings. 9 of the 10 wickets that fell were catches behind the batsmen. Only one of which was from the keeper. It was as though the innings was a package highlights from later that day. Australia were nine wickets down before they had even hit 50 runs. All out for 60 with ‘extras’ claiming top scorer for the innings. However the poor batting cannot take away from the fact that it was a phenomenal bowling and catching performance from England. Cook’s men had come through for him with Stuart Broad fitting perfectly into Anderson’s shoes. An incredible eight wicket haul for only 15 runs. His best ever Test figures. Backed up by Steven Finn and Mark Wood (who each picked up a wicket) and the slip cordon, Broad had basically won England the Ashes.

It was almost as though England were batting first. By the end of day 1, Australia were trailing by 214. Joe Root once again played a solid innings and scored a century to build up England’s lead. Backed up by Johnny Bairstow who scored a half century, England declared with a lead of 300+ on day two. A very ‘Michael Clarke-like’ decision from Alastair Cook.

Once again it was Australia’s turn to bat. To turn over a deficit of 331 AND build up an innings lead for England to chase. They got off to a solid start with Chris Rogers and David Warner scoring half centuries but it was all downhill from there. Only Adam Voges was able to muster a 51* as the rest of the batsmen continued to fall around him. This time it was Ben Stokes to do it for England, picking up his best test figures he removed both openers and picked up six wickets. Stokes hadn’t had a great Ashes but this test he proved himself worthy of the all-rounder position.
Australia lost the match by an innings and 78 runs and with it, the Ashes. It was a comprehensive performance from England who cleaned up the Ashes in 14 days of play.

It has taken a solid three days to recover from possibly the most incredible comeback in recent Test match cricket. The Ashes is shaping up to be one of the most exciting series’ since the 2005 spectacular with England bouncing back from a 400+ run loss to a win in just three days.

Just as Ricky Ponting had made the mistake of putting England in to bat, Michael Clarke apparently made the mistake of making England bowl.

It was a much more exciting pitch than any the Australians had faced so far, an English pitch with truly English conditions. England’s win in Cardiff was a surprise but their loss at Lords was not. The lifeless pitch at Lords was disappointing. It was a sign that they did not believe in their bowlers. A sign that they weren’t comfortable even at home, playing to their own strengths. It seemed from then that the Ashes had been decided.

Then came the Edgbaston test, with the barmy army’s trumpeter a grassy pitch and Jimmy Anderson. It was the perfect first day for England. Only one Australian batsman scored 20+. It was almost as poor a performance as England’s final stand at Lords. Australia were five down before they had reached 100, and there was no Brad Haddin to come and save the day. They were bowled out for a measly 136 in 37 overs with Jimmy Anderson picking up six wickets. Aptly labelled ‘king of swing’, Jimmy blew open the game for England. By the end of the first day, England had almost reached Australia’s score only three wickets down. Regardless of the result, there was going to be one here.

England went on with the help of Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad to pick up a lead of 145. The Australian bowlers caused less problems for the home side, some of the wickets were just given away, (such freedom in the Ashes for England is a rarity).

Once again though, Australia appeared to be out of their depth. As though this were the first Test again. They looked desperate and anxious to pick up a lead. It was only day two, they were already into their second innings and once again the wickets started to tumble. 2-72, 3-76… 5-92. Australia were in trouble with a real possibility of losing the test within two days. This time however, it was Steven Finn who was taking on the Aussies. The man who was ruled out as an Ashes option a few years ago had made a sensational return to the game. He outpaced Mitchell Johnson and picked up the second six-for of the match. It was a refreshing change for England, (especially once Jimmy was taken off from injury) to see what their attack will be post-jimmy era. A mild stand from Peter Nevill and Mitchell Starc allowed Australia to pick up a lead but another half century from Ian Bell who had finally found some form guided England home.

England will severely feel the absence of Jimmy at Trent Bridge. Could this be their Glenn McGrath of the series? It will be a real test for Stuart Broad to spearhead the attack and bring the fight to Australia and win back the Ashes.