News about Lasith Malinga

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: I spotted Ben Duckett swapping the bails, as England do when they need a bit of luck with the ball. It's all new to me. When I was a player, some would always put their left pad on first. By the way, reader: little quirks don't make the slightest bit of difference! What did we make of Ollie Pope's first Test as England captain? I think he did a very good job.

STUART BROAD: Jasprit Bumrah has taken a special role in a story, and there is no doubt that India is a much more cohesive unit with him. He's a superb Twenty20 bowler, but Test cricket is much more efficient. He has a record of 152 wickets at 20.28 runs per attests. He is right up there with the very best to have played the game in terms of statistics. Facing him isn't like meeting anyone in the world, and I used to loathing it. Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka had the difference between him and Bumrah in that his deliveries were incredibly difficult to pick up. Since he comes from a relatively quiet, short, shuffling run-up, there is no real fire in him, and there is consequently no real build-up to the ball being released at the striker's end. It can be very disconcerting.