Freddie Steward has revealed that England’s heroic defensive stand against Argentina was inspired by a blast from Kevin Sinfield that was delivered in the wake of their Fiji debacle.
Steve Borthwick’s team opened their World Cup campaign with a 27-10 victory on Saturday despite playing 77 minutes with 14 men after Tom Curry was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle.
It was England’s finest hour since Borthwick took over and it arrived just in time as, until that act of defiance at the Stade Velodrome, concerns were being raised over a defence that had leaked 30 tries in nine Tests.
A conclusive defeat by Fiji at Twickenham a fortnight earlier saw the team reach their lowest ebb – and Steward admits the players deserved the reaction from Sinfield that followed.
“We got a bit of a rocket after that game. There were no complaints about that, it needed to happen,” the Leicester full-back said.
“We had a very thorough review, which we needed, and we reaped the benefits against Argentina. It was necessary for that to happen.
“That’s what makes Kev such a good defence coach – he’s so inspiring. He motivates us so much and he’s the sort of bloke you don’t want to let down.
“That’s testament to him as a bloke. When you go out there, part of it is you do it for him.
“You don’t want to see a guy like that, who puts his heart and soul into us in his work with his defence, feel let down.
“Kev is big on covering each other’s backs. That’s his big thing. He wants a defensive unit that are going to work incredibly hard for each other and, when it goes wrong, cover up for each other.
“Inevitably, you can be as good a defender as you want as a full-back but there are going to be times where it doesn’t go to plan and that is where you get tested. That’s his main ethos.”
Now that England have successfully negotiated their biggest match since the 2019 World Cup final, they have been challenged by Sinfield to ensure their defensive masterclass in Marseille is not a one-off.
“It is just a start. We saw lots of what we had seen in training against Argentina, which is pleasing, but I still feel there is so much in this team – so much improvement, so much growth,” Sinfield said.
“To get the win, given the noise that has been around us and the way the group have really circled the wagons – metaphorically that is – is really pleasing.
“We saw a fight, a spirit and attitude that the people at home supporting us and in the ground would have loved to have seen, and for us as coaches that is particularly pleasing, (but) we know we need to be better.
“Part of our challenge as coaches and part of the challenge of the playing group is to ensure this is not an anomaly, it is the start.”
Curry faces a disciplinary hearing in Paris on Tuesday night when he is expected to learn the length of his ban for the dangerous challenge that led to a clash of heads with Juan Cruz Mallia.
Sam Curran and Jos Buttler return to form as England level series in Antigua
Sam Curran redeemed himself after his weekend drubbing and England captain Jos Buttler rediscovered his Midas touch in his side’s series-levelling victory over the West Indies in Antigua.
Chasing 203, Will Jacks put England into the ascendancy with a sparkling 73 off 72 balls, including four sixes and six fours, but his downfall left the tourists wobbling on 116 for four in the 20th over.
Buttler, who had been averaging 14.1 since the start of a miserable World Cup for himself and his team, gradually bloomed and his unbeaten 58 off 45 deliveries – his first fifty in 14 ODIs – sealed England’s six-wicket win.
Harry Brook finished on 43 not out as England prevailed with 17.1 overs to spare although the architect of them ensuring a decider in Barbados on Saturday was Curran, who took three for 33 in seven overs.
Having recorded the most expensive figures by an England bowler in Sunday’s four-wicket defeat, leaking 98 runs in 9.5 overs, the left-arm seamer snared top-order trio Keacy Carty, Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer.
After the Windies lurched to 23 for four, captain Shai Hope did his bit for nominative determinism, following up his match-winning ton a few days ago with a run-a-ball 68 and rookie Sherfane Rutherford chipped in with 63 before the pair were dismissed by Liam Livingstone, who took three for 39.
Curran was initially wayward again and belted for three fours by King but an opening stand that put on 104 on Sunday was snuffed out for 15 here after Gus Atkinson scythed through Alick Athanaze, with England’s review for caught behind showing a big snick on UltraEdge.
Curran’s fortunes shifted as angled deliveries took the edges of Carty and King to Zak Crawley before Hetmyer was rapped on the back pad by a fuller ball. The not-out verdict was overturned after Ben Duckett seemed to persuade Buttler into sending the decision upstairs.
Curran’s three wickets in eight balls left Hope and Rutherford, in his second ODI, with a mountainous rebuild. A 129-run stand followed as smoke from the barbecue vendors beyond the stands occasionally drifted across the ground, Hope settling with three straight driven fours in an Atkinson over.
Brydon Carse was taken the distance by Hope as the partnership grew, with both Windies batters going past fifties, Rutherford doing so with a mighty heave off the otherwise parsimonious Rehan Ahmed.
Having been held back until the 26th over, Livingstone broke the union when Rutherford drove loosely to Phil Salt in the ring while Yannic Cariah was castled through the gate by a floaty off-spinner.
Livingstone had the big fish with a precision piece of bowling, his leg-spinner leaving Hope in two minds, missing an indeterminate prod and his off-stump as a consequence.
Livingstone’s figures were dented by Romario Shepherd’s four fours in an over but the Windies subsided after he holed out to Rehan, whose figures of 10-1-40-2 were identical to what he recorded on Sunday.
Despite tricky conditions, Salt and Jacks were authoritative from the off, evoking the spirit of predecessors Jason Roy and first Alex Hales then Jonny Bairstow.
The pair rode their luck, edging wide of slip off Alzarri Joseph before Salt’s luck ran out on 21, bowled by Shepherd, after a 50-run stand.
The early battle between Joseph and Jacks was worth the entry fee alone. A rising snorter took Jacks’ glove and ballooned over Hope but the opener responded by hammering over backward square-leg and then repeated the trick off Shepherd. Jacks then smeared Oshane Thomas over backward point for a third six.
Crawley chopped on off Gudakesh Motie, who found the glove when Duckett went for a customary sweep before Brook edged agonisingly short of slip from his first ball as tension crept in.
Nerves may have been jangling when Jacks was lbw to one that kept low from Rutherford, bringing out Buttler, who had been dismissed for single figures in five of his previous eight innings.
He made a cagey start and was beaten twice on the outside edge by leg-spinner Cariah but he steadily grew in confidence alongside Brook.
A whipped four off Joseph was followed by a skip down the track and thump for back-to-back sixes off Cariah as Buttler started to find some rhythm.
The second of those monstrous blows was measured at 94 metres before another mighty mow off Thomas brought up a 43-ball half-century. Buttler took 16 off that Thomas over to level the scores.
It was left to Brook to get over the line and he did so by sweeping Motie behind square for four in the 33rd over.
Sam Curran finds form as England bowl out West Indies for 202
Sam Curran rebounded from his drubbing at the weekend with three wickets as England skittled the West Indies for 202 in 39.4 overs in their must-win second ODI in Antigua.
Three days on from being belted for 98 in 9.5 overs – the most expensive ODI figures by an England bowler – Curran snared top-order trio Brandon King, Keacy Carty and Shimron Hetmyer.
Windies captain Shai Hope did his bit for nominative determinism after his side had slipped to 23 for four, following up his match-winning hundred in the series opener with a crucial 68 at the same venue.
Hope put on 129 in 138 balls with Sherfane Rutherford but Liam Livingstone took out both en route to figures of 6-0-39-3 to make sure Curran’s three for 33 were not wasted on a fresh strip.
The England all-rounders endured a poor World Cup, with Livingstone averaging 10 with the bat while Curran was dropped after three anonymous performances and his woes followed him to the Caribbean.
But England persisted with the pair and named an unchanged side from the one beaten by four wickets on Sunday, and were rewarded as they look to take this series to a decider in Barbados on Saturday.
Curran was driven for fours in each of his first three overs by King but Gus Atkinson made the breakthrough by jagging one back through Alick Athanaze. It appeared the ball missed everything en route to a diving Jos Buttler but England’s review was vindicated by a snick on UltraEdge.
A partnership that put on 104 at the weekend was snuffed out for 15 and it got better for England as Carty aimed a cross-batted shot at Curran only to top-edge through to Zak Crawley at slip.
The duo combined again as Curran gained revenge over King following an indeterminate push while the left-arm seamer had big-hitting left-hander Hetmyer lbw later in the over.
Buttler was persuaded to review by Ben Duckett after Hetmyer was pinned on the back pad by a fuller delivery and HawkEye predicted the ball would have clattered into leg-stump.
Having lost their first four wickets in 20 balls, the Windies relied on skipper Hope and Rutherford, in his second ODI, to rebuild. Hope drove fluently and took three straight fours off Atkinson in the over while his more junior partner was initially content to swim in his captain’s slipstream.
Will Jacks was given his first bowl of the series, having been curiously overlooked on Sunday, but conceded 27 in four innocuous overs while Brydon Carse was belted back over his head for six.
As the smoke from the barbecue vendors beyond the stands drifted across the ground, the partnership had extended well into three figures, with both batters going past 50 before Livingstone, held back until the 26th over, ended the union as Rutherford drove loosely to Phil Salt in the ring.
Yannic Cariah was then castled through the gate by a floaty off-spinner from Livingstone, who produced a precision piece of bowling to leave Hope in two minds as he was beaten through bat and pad.
Livingstone had his figures spoiled slightly as Romario Shepherd took four fours in five balls off the all-rounder before perishing in the deep for 19 after looking to take down Rehan Ahmed.
The Windies got past 200 but they had 10 overs unused as Atkinson bookended the innings, taking a return catch after Alzarri Joseph top-edged straight up in the air.
Andrew Flintoff set to return to England’s backroom staff for Windies T20 series
Andrew Flintoff will rejoin England’s backroom staff for their T20 series against West Indies later this month.
The former England captain has gradually returned to the public eye following a car crash while filming a stunt for BBC programme Top Gear 12 months ago, which left him with facial and rib injuries.
Coaxed by close friend and director of England men’s cricket Rob Key, Flintoff first linked up with the national side in an unpaid role for ODI series against New Zealand and Ireland before the World Cup.
Flintoff, whose performances with bat and ball in England’s 2005 Ashes triumph earned him cult hero status, has since been confirmed as head coach of Northern Superchargers men’s side in The Hundred.
He is not part of the England set-up for their ODI series against the Windies but it is understood he will fly out to Barbados later this week ahead of five T20s, the first of which is next Tuesday.
The 46-year-old, who will be paid for being a team mentor, has most recently been in Abu Dhabi for an England Lions winter training camp.
Reece Topley has also had a circuitous route to the West Indies, having convalesced from his latest injury blow with a trip to Los Angeles – where the people he encountered thought cricket involved horses or was the real-life version of Quidditch.
The introduction of Major League Cricket this year and the sport being included in the programme for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 represent big strides in the battle to crack the United States market.
But Topley discovered cricket still has some way to go to capture the American public’s imagination after a Stateside trip to recover from a broken finger which brought an early end to his World Cup.
“The amount of times I had to explain cricket to people – it ranged from people asking me ‘is it the sport with horses?’ Or even asking me if it was the sport that was in Harry Potter,” Topley said.
“It’s got a lot of things that Americans would love about cricket; all of their sports are centred around stats and cricket’s got a million stats.
“I feel like there should be that natural affiliation or selling point. I don’t know if it’s happened just yet but hopefully it’s on the horizon.”
Like Flintoff, Topley is not part of England’s ODI squad but travelled to Antigua early to train ahead of a planned comeback in the first T20, having started bowling again recently.
Having an intrepid outlook on life helps to explain his resilience from constant setbacks, from multiple stress fractures in his back to an ankle issue caused by stepping on a boundary sponge days before England’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign in Australia and his latest injury in India.
“I don’t think anything is going to be achieved from sitting around and droning on about things or feeling sorry for yourself or looking for external validation,” the 29-year-old left-arm fast bowler said.
“It’s more a case of how do you move forward? The best step is always to have a level head, a drive to want to develop yourself because it is a short career in terms of your life and injuries may happen.
“Wrap my head around why did it happen at the last World Cup or the T20 one before that, but again it’s just not going to get anyone anywhere. It’s just best to just get your head down and work towards it.
“I’m happy doing that when I’m around cricket but then as soon as I’m off duty, it goes right to the back of my head again.
“I don’t think I’m all engulfed in cricket. I do have a viewpoint that I’m still in my 20s and this only comes around once. It’s important to experience certain things whenever you can.”
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