News about Richard Gibson

RICHARD GIBSON: Jonny Bairstow's return to form - on the eve of England naming their squad to defend the Twenty20 World Cup - could not have been better timed. Bairstow is set to feature alongside fast bowler Jofra Archer on Monday in the 15-man squad chosen to travel to the Caribbean next month, following a blistering 108 not out off 48 balls for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Friday. That astonishing blitz against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens - nine sixes on his return to the side after being axed a fortnight ago - emphasised the enduring ability of Bairstow to play match-defining innings.

RICHARD GIBSON: Of all the shots, it is the signature pull stroke that most demands the double take: head dipping as the muscular frame swivels, weight transferring onto the back foot as the front one lifts slightly awkwardly from the turf. It is an image from that iconic summer of 2005 projected through a new lens. Ball being belted through the Birmingham breeze and into the stands. Not on the television screens of a nation infatuated with the Ashes, but on the social media pop-ups of curious county cricket aficionados. Andrew Flintoff has attempted to mute the noise around his two cricketing sons, but the actions of Rocky, 16, at Edgbaston last week screamed for attention.

RICHARD GIBSON: The 13-time county champions have been accommodated by MCC since their foundation in 1864, but are following the lead of less prestigious clubs in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire by exploring a shift from their traditional base to a new development. Middlesex chief executive Andrew Cornish said leaving the world's most famous cricket ground was a possibility following talks with potential investors, and hinted that big matches for the club might still be played at Lord's. Middlesex would require money from a third party as they are in a financial mess, having been placed under special measures by the ECB for irregularities.

RICHARD GIBSON: For some, England men's director Key included, the County Championship runs solely to produce cricketers for the national team. For others, it is the worthiest of domestic competitions, steeped in 134 years of history and prestige - a marathon test of skill across spring, summer and autumn. Truly, it should be an amalgam of the two, pitting the best players against each other and rewarding both individuals and teams for sustained excellence over a period of time with selection or silverware.

RICHARD GIBSON: An indication of the prevailing mood in the Durham dressing room is that you won't find any of its dwellers dismissing the theory that they could become only the third newly-promoted team to win the County Championship this season. Even the rain that completely washed out their first top-flight fixture since 2016 - Hampshire's visit to Chester-le-Street - couldn't dampen it. Since the inception of two divisions at the start of this century, only Nottinghamshire in 2005 and Essex seven years ago have managed to bridge the quality gap with applause.

RICHARD GIBSON: Sam Northeast added to his collection of innings on Saturday by smashing the record for the highest first-class score at Lord's. In the first round of this year's County Championship, the Glamorgan captain had the most of losing the toss, defeating Graham Gooch's 333 against India in 1990. The new record in 210 years at the world's most popular cricket ground followed the unbeaten 410 win over Leicestershire in 2022, the highest figure for a Welsh county player.

Despite staging a lucrative Ashes Test match last year, DARREN GIBSON: Yorkshire have reported a stunning £7.1 million annual loss, despite staging a lucrative Ashes Test match last year. Colin Graves said that although 2023 "should have been efficient and profitable...in the case of a major trading loss," he wrote about it as "Yorkshire's annus horribilis." Paul Cooke, Yorkshire's acting finance director, wrote that a combination of factors, including extraordinary items and a writedown in the value of the stadium, contributed to a total loss of £7.1 million for the year.'

RICHARD GIBSON: Ben Stokes has dropped out of defending the Twenty20 World Cup title he memorably helped England clinch in Australia 18 months ago. Stokes, 32, achieved victory over Pakistan in the final at the MCG in June, but he has postponed his appearance for the Caribbean and USA until he plays as an all-rounder for the Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka later this year. He returned to bowling after knee surgery, memorably taking a wicket in his first delivery since last year's Ashes, and he's keen to return to being a frontline rather than a bit-part player of England's attack.

RICHARD GIBSON: Hartley, 24, made his own mark on the British sporting landscape earlier this year by defeating India to a first-Test defeat of 62 wickets in Hyderabad, and ending what was to become a chastening tour for Ben Stokes' England team. Given the presence of Jack Leach on the international stage and the winter signing of Australian Nathan Lyon respectively, one of county cricket's most grounded individuals - pun intended - expects to play in the Test team or even Lancashire's in the first weeks of Division One action.

RICHARD GIBSON: England batsman Brook, 25, who died in the Indian Premier League a fortnight ago, said,'she was a rock to me,' and that he wanted to prioritizing spending time with his family in the circumstances. Brook hasn't played for Yorkshire since being a Test cricketer; the last time he appeared in a Division One match against Warwickshire was in July 2022.

RICHARD GIBSON: Following a review of the club's operational structure by the new board at Headingley, Darren Gough resigned as Yorkshire's director of cricket. Yorkshire chief executive Stephen Vaughan and first team coach Ottis Gibson were both under scrutiny as Yorkshire prepares to save up to £1 million on current expenditures. Gough, 53, was named as the man to lead Yorkshire out of the bigotry crisis in December 2021, but the team has been hamstrung by disciplinary charges over the past two seasons, culminating in a 48-point handicap finish second bottom in last year's County Championship.

RICHARD GIBSON: England made a gruesome day one in their fifth Test after only making 218 in Dharamshala. England recovered from 137 for two to 218 all out in 57.4 overs after winning consolation in a series they trail 3-1. England lost Jonny Bairstow in his 100th Test, Joe Root and Ben Stokes in eight wickets, triggering a tumultuous afternoon session, ending in eight wickets for eight runs in a tumultuous afternoon session.

After establishing a 322-run lead at the end of day three, India batted their way into a commanding position in the third Test against England. England began Saturday's play in a promising direction but then collapsed from 224 for two to 319 all out after Joe Root gifted his wicket with an ill-advised reverse ramp shot. In reaction, Indian opener Yashasv Jaiswal reached a century before retiring, with a back spasm as the hosts punished the English bowlers and a good opportunity slipped away. Mail Sport's Paul Newman and Richard Gibson pick out some of the talking points from day three.

Ben Stokes, England's Test captain, is on the verge of joining the 100 club. In the third Test against India, the 32-year-old is expected to reach a milestone, which begins in Rajkot on Thursday. Stokes will perform in his 100th Test appearance alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Virat Kohli.

RICHARD GIBSON: After England's humiliating loss in Hyderabad, England lost by 106 runs in Visakhapatnam to see India square the five-Test series. In the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah broke through the England batting order, taking six for 45, while Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a stunning 209 runs, with Shubman Gill adding another wicket in the second innings. Zak Crawley's in-form opener was undeniably the most impressive of the tourists with his 76 and 73 leading the way in both innings, while captain Ben Stokes was his only teammate to reach 40 in the entire match.

At the end of day one of the second Test, England came to a close in Andhra Pradesh, where they had some much-needed late wickets. As Yashasvi Jaiswal greeted his countrymen on home soil with an unbeaten 179 balls, India looked particularly strong on home soil. England fought back adroitly, but Shoaib Bashir put all of his latest visa issues behind him, with his superb performance that claimed India captain Rohit Sharma as just his 11th victim in first-class cricket.

RICHARD GIBSON IN HYDERABAD: After Ollie Pope's 196 helped the visitors recover from a 190-run deficit in the first innings to win, Tom Hartley took seven wickets. Hartley took the final wicket of the game with just a few balls remaining on the day, and England is now well-positioned to be fiercely competitive in the series. With the second Test starting just five days after the first ended, Ben Stokes' team maintains the energy as they look to pull off what promises to be one of the finest away series victories.

Tom Hartley, the debutant, scored one of England's greatest overseas victories, defeating India 2-1 in the first Test at Hyderabad, completing a dramatic comeback. Ollie Pope's 196 gave India a challenging chase of 231 on a worn field, and Hartley stepped up in spectacular fashion, with lead spinner Jack Leach limiting by a knee injury. Here, Mail Sport's Richard Gibson and Paul Newman take you through some of the stories you may have missed on day three in Hyderabad

RICHARD GIBSON AND PAUL NEWMAN IN HYDERABAD: Ollie Pope spearheaded a defiant England reaction on the first Test in India on day three, putting on a remarkably strong 148 to leave his team 126 ahead. On Saturday morning, the tourists took quick wickets to complete the Indian tail, with Joe Root removing Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah in successive deliveries before England returned to the crease. England lost Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes as a team lost only 18 runs, while Pope put together a superb innings to put the visitors in a more favourable mood going into day four.

Fast starts, keeping India's spinners quiet, runs on the board and picking the right team! Those are the keys to touring success, as told to Mail Sport by England's heroes of 2012, when the last Test team to beat mighty India on their own turf.

RICHARD GIBSON: When a slew of availability issues prompted Harry Brook's departure for the first time in the series, the most difficult of Test assignments for England was ignited yesterday. Not long after it was revealed that a visa delay had delayed rookie Somerset off-spinner Shoaib Bashir and the rest of the squad, the team's hosts announced that Virat Kohli would miss the first match in Hyderabad and second in Visakhapatnam next week due to 'personal reasons.' Since Brook, England's top-ranked player with 80 international hundreds, was barred from returning to his homeland for the short term due to a serious situation involving a loved one, he has effectively levelled the playing field.

RICHARD GIBSON: Hampshire plans to convert their home into the world's greenest cricket ground after concluding a naming rights agreement with Utilita Energy. The Utilita Bowl, as it is now known, is equipped with 1000 solar panels capable of producing a quarter of the energy used in the stadium each year. Hampshire, the UK's ninth-largest energy company, headquartered locally, wants to minimize their carbon footprint significantly over the course of eight years.

RICHARD GIBSON: It was the last frontier, the zenith of a tenacious and ruthless ride that had earned top-ranked Test status for England's golden generation. To be the best in the world, you must conquer the best, and India is proving that to be the best. Of all the challenges that modern Test cricket has thrown up, none compares to the achievement of winning a series on the Subcontinent. India's home record over the past 20 years has been nothing but impressive. Not only by cricket's terms, but also when applied to any sport, and it puts the achievement of an England captaincy under Alastair Cook's tenure - and smarting from South Africa's decision to delete their official No. 1 tag from their previous summer's - into perspective.

RICHARD GIBSON: The ECB has reached an agreement with Pollard, a serial winner of Twenty20 cricket and also an active participant in the tournament, for next year's World Cup in the Caribbean. For the second time, the 36-year-old West Indies veteran will bring local knowledge to the England squad for a campaign that begins with a match against Scotland on June 4.