Pollard demonstrates his class, experience as he soars into rarefied air

By March 07, 2021

INCASEYOUMISSEDIT with Mariah

On many a Sunday, I realize that people have looked at the stories they've seen throughout the week with different lenses. I have my own personal take on some of these trending issues and I will share them with you. Welcome to #INCASEYOUMISSEDIT the 2021 edition with Mariah.

 

 Pollard, a master of the shorter cricket formats

Kieron Pollard is proving to be a game-changer in the shorter formats of cricket. The 33-year-old West Indies captain has been criticized for failing at the international level but his recent exploits for the West Indies have silenced the naysayers.

Pollard made a mockery of Sri Lanka’s spinner Akila Dananjaya at the Coolidge Cricket Stadium in Antigua, blasting him for six sixes in a single over. In his previous over, the Sri Lankan had snapped up a hat-trick - removing Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle (0) and Nicholas Pooran (0) - triggering panic within the Windies camp as they chased 132 for victory.

Fresh from leading the T&T Red Force to victory in the 2021 CG Insurance Super50 Cup, Pollard smashed 38 from 11 balls to put his team back into the driver’s seat.

Pollard’s accomplishment puts him in elite company. Before him, only South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs against the Netherlands at the 2007 ICC World Cup and India's Yuvraj Singh against England at the Twenty20 World Cup, have ever achieved that feat in international cricket.

What is next for Pollard? Only time will tell.

 

  England’s rotation policy did more damage than good

England’s 3-1 Test series defeat in India was not only because of their rotation policy but it played a major part. The tourists lost the final Test by an innings and 25 runs after being bowled out for 135 in their second innings.

Despite understanding that the rotation policy is there to manage the health of the players, it is hurting the overall performance of the team.

Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes have all been rested at different times during the series and it backfired. 

Jos Buttler was rested after the first Test. Bairstow was rested for the first two Tests and then sent to bat at number three in the last two matches. In Bairstow’s case, he suffered greatly registering three ducks in four innings on his return.

Moeen Ali was recalled for the second Test in India, just before he was scheduled to miss the last two as part of a planned rest, taking the place of Dom Bess. When Bess was re-introduced into the team for the final Test it was evident that the off-spinner lacked confidence thereby resulting in him bowling numerous full tosses.

 

England was one of the teams in the race to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship but have now lost the opportunity. 

 

 

 

Leighton Levy

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

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    Heather Knight believes she still has a “lot to offer” as England captain after nearly eight years in the post.

    Knight succeeded Charlotte Edwards, who had a decade-long stint in the position, in June 2016 and her tenure has coincided with some ground-breaking moments for women’s cricket, both domestically and worldwide.

    England head coach Jon Lewis recently praised Knight’s longevity and commitment as “second to none” after she withdrew from the Women’s Premier League to play a full part in the tour of New Zealand.

    While great rival Meg Lanning stepped down as Australia captain and retired from international cricket late last year, Knight insisted she still gets a kick out of leading England and has much more to give.

    “It’s a lot of fun and I’m still enjoying doing it,” the 33-year-old told the PA news agency.

    “As long as I’m moving things and myself forward and still enjoying it, it’s something I want to continue to do.

    “When I think it’s eight years, it seems like a hell of a long time but it’s gone very fast, that’s for sure, and I still feel like I’ve got a lot to offer the team to keep moving things forward.

    “I enjoy that responsibility of trying to change. I’ve had to adapt my leadership as the years have gone and I quite enjoy doing that.

    “There’s always a big tournament around the corner these days, there’s one every year so there’s always something to work towards and try and have a chance of being successful in.”

    Knight oversaw England’s seminal World Cup triumph in 2017, when they beat India in the Lord’s final, but global trophies have since been out of their reach, hoovered up by the better-resourced Australia juggernaut.

    England won both white-ball series against their fierce rivals in the multi-format Ashes last year but Knight reckons Australia are still the side to beat ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

    “Teams are starting to challenge them which is a really healthy place to be,” Knight said.

    “But Australia are still a very good team and ultimately they’re still the target everyone is looking to knock down.”

    England take on New Zealand in Dunedin in the first of five T20s in the early hours of Tuesday morning as they begin building towards the next global event, scheduled to be held in September and October.

    They will be without Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Alice Capsey and Danni Wyatt for the first three T20s – a prearranged agreement which allowed the quartet to focus on their WPL commitments.

    But that allows those on the fringes a chance to make their mark, with Tammy Beaumont set for her 100th T20 appearance, more than two years after her 99th cap. The 33-year-old was jettisoned ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games but she has elbowed her way back in following some sparkling knocks in 2023.

    “The door’s not shut to anyone,” Knight added. “There is that opportunity for players coming in and it will be really interesting to see how they do.

    “Tammy’s not been around the T20 stuff for a long time, she’s gone away and worked on her game a lot and done things a little bit differently. She massively deserves that opportunity to come back in and open the batting in T20 cricket.

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  • Steve Borthwick filled with ‘immense pride’ after England fight hard in France Steve Borthwick filled with ‘immense pride’ after England fight hard in France

    Steve Borthwick praised England’s fighting spirit after seeing his team denied a precious Guinness Six Nations win against France by a final-minute Thomas Ramos penalty.

    England appeared to have snatched victory with the second of two fightbacks when Tommy Freeman crossed in the right corner only for a no-arms tackle by Ben Earl in the closing seconds to enable Ramos to seal a 33-31 victory.

    It ended an enthralling evening in Lyon that saw Borthwick’s side back up their stunning triumph over Ireland in every respect apart from the final result.

    Borthwick stated after England lost to Scotland at Murrayfield in round three that the Red Rose jersey was weighing heavily on his players, but he saw the pressure lift at Groupama Stadium.

    “My overriding emotion is immense pride in the players and gratitude to our supporters,” Borthwick said.

    “The players have been incredible – they played really well and I’m really disappointed for them.

    “I’ve talked about the weight of the shirt in the past but with the kind of support we’re getting, the England shirt is starting to feel a bit lighter, it’s helping these players grow.

    “We didn’t get the result we wanted but you look at the players and the fight and intensity they had.

    “I don’t think these guys are ever beaten and we weren’t beaten in this game, we just ran out of time. We saw the way they went back at it to try to find another score.

    “We’ve taken on two teams in the top four of the world and we’ve shown how we can compete with them.

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    The nature of France’s victory brought memories of last autumn’s Rugby World Cup flooding back for Jamie George, who recalled the similarity between Ramos’ penalty and Handre Pollard kicking South Africa to a last-gasp semi-final win from a similar position.

    “That’s the way Test match rugby goes – we knew it’s going to be hostile and we knew France were coming out to give it a good crack. I thought it was a great Test match all in all,” England captain George said.

    “Of course I’m gutted about the result. I feel like we deserved a lot of the game because of the way we attacked it game and went after it.

    “There was a lot to be very pleased about and very proud of. Fair play to France for coming back and getting that penalty at the end and fair play to Ramos for knocking it over.

    “There was a bit of deja vu from the Pollard penalty a few month ago. That’s always going to be tough to take but like Steve said there’s so much to be proud of over the last few weeks.

    “We genuinely feel like this team is on and upward curve and we’re going somewhere.”

    France finished second in the Six Nations and boss Fabien Galthie felt it helped make amends for their World Cup quarter-final exit.

    “We are very happy, it was a tough game, it was a tough tournament. We paid for our mistakes, we learnt about our mistakes. We were resilient and solid,” Galthie said.

    “This game looked like our quarter final against South Africa but at the end, the result is really different.

    “And I think this game can help us to forget what happened during the World Cup.”

  • Gareth Southgate says England hopefuls face ‘big competition for places’ Gareth Southgate says England hopefuls face ‘big competition for places’

    Gareth Southgate has warned that Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish face a battle from England’s up-and-coming talent to make his European Championship squad.

    Among the favourites to lift the trophy in Germany, the Euro 2020 runners-up continue preparations with March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

    This summer’s tournament sees squads go from 26 back to 23-strong selections, meaning some high-profile players are in danger of missing the cut in well-stocked areas.

    Grealish faces a fight to feature while Rashford, who has gone to England’s last four tournaments, is the same having under-performed for Manchester United in a season when his Belfast escapades in January made headlines.

    Southgate said: “Well, (Rashford) has a battle on his hands with (Anthony) Gordon, with (Cole) Palmer, with (Phil) Foden, so we’ve got big competition for places in that area of the field,” Southgate said.

    “What happens while players are with their clubs is club matters because they know the full story, they know exactly what’s gone on. Obviously we observe everything, we don’t miss anything.

    “I don’t say behaviours off the field are irrelevant because clearly they’re not. But the key thing is we are mainly focusing on the performances on the field.

    “He’s got big competition and so has Jack.

    “These guys are playing well – Gordon, (Jarrod) Bowen. They’re scoring regularly, they perform well for the team, they defend well, they work hard, they compete and we’ve got really good options in that area of the pitch.”

    Asked if there is a chance Rashford might not make the Euros considering the competition facing him, Southgate said: “I can’t guarantee anybody.

    “We have to have an environment where…we know in certain positions who our best players might be.

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    “We know what Marcus can bring to us but equally everybody has got to perform well between now and the end of the season. That’s the environment we’re in.”

    Phillips was left out of March’s double-header due to his struggles for form and minutes since joining West Ham on loan in January but Southgate believes he could turn it around in time for the Euros.

    There appears less chance of fellow Euro 2020 regular Mason Mount being involved after an injury-impacted end to life at Chelsea was followed by a stop-start time with United.

    “The first step for him is to get back playing regularly for Manchester United,” Southgate said as the midfielder prepares to return from a four month lay-off.

    “He’s had the best part of 15 months (sidelined), really, because the end of Chelsea he didn’t play with the injury.

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    One player playing regularly in a top European league that definitely will not be in England’s Euros squad is Mason Greenwood.

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    Greenwood faced charges including attempted rape and assault but the Crown Prosecution Service announced in February 2023 that the case had been discontinued.

    The one-cap England forward has recommenced his career on loan at LaLiga outfit Getafe on loan and Jamaica are interested in him switching to their national set-up.

    “Well, for me, I don’t think it’s something for pre-Euros,” Southgate said.

    “I think allowing him to get his career going again abroad appears to have been a good move but I have to say I have not tracked it closely.

    “I think at this moment in time that would be a big distraction for the team and let’s see where that leads next season.

    “I would need to know more details about the whole thing before it was an option.”

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