Rory Burns Recent News, Trending News, Stories - CREX

The Ashes | Green strikes at stroke of Tea to break England’s best opening stand of the tour

The Australian man with the magic-Cameron Green struck at the stroke of Tea on the third day of the fifth and final Ashes Test going on at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart. Calling him the man with the magic because it was a magical stand, the highest so far between the two England openers that he broke. Chasing a target of 271, after dismissing Australia for 155 in their second innings, England got off to a great start as openers Rory Burns and Zak Crawley put up the best opening stand of the tour for the England team. Having put on 68 for the first wicket and with just one over to negotiate before Tea, Rory burn was played down after deciding to leave Cameron Green delivery which was coming in, but by the time he decided to leave, the ball had made contacts with the bat and ricocheted on the stumps. Earlier in the second session, Australia, which started from 141-8, with Alex Carey and skipper Pat Cummins at the crease, managed to add 14 runs to their total before both Carey and Cummins were dismissed by Stuart Broad and Mark Wood respectively. Carey was the highest scorer of the innings for the Aussies as he got out one short of his fifty while Wood was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with his career-best figures of 6-37. Broad picked three wickets and Chris Wokes got one.

The Ashes | Day-Night Test, Day 2: Australia march ahead as stumbling England continue to suffer

There was no room left for too many surprises after an attritional first day of the Day-Night Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval and the second day produced a familiar set of events for both sides. Australia would be the happier side as has been the case in any Pink ball Test where they are involved while England will be continuing to look out for inspiration from someone in their playing XI. The second day produced no outrageous moments. Marnus Labuschagne did what he does and scored his sixth Test hundred, an England pacer dismissed an Australian batsman on a no-ball, Steve Smith evaporated the gas out of England attack and Australian lower-order demoralised Joe Root and company even before they could get their hands on the shining Kookaburra ball under lights. They did not relent there and struck twice to keep the flavour of the second day on the expected lines. Burns’ moving parts push him to the brink Rory Burns had a torrid start to the Ashes series and history suggests it doesn’t get easier to correct a downward curve in Australia for an English batsman. He has not done too many things different as well to resist the historical trends and rather has slipped into another failure on the second day of the second Test. He missed a leg sidish half volley on the very first ball of the high-octane series to get bowled behind his legs and experts argued that the dismissal was not necessarily a reflection of his technique and messed up trigger positions. They argued that there are various “moving parts” of his batting stance and it has produced runs for him, albeit a bit inconsistently. He was once again a victim of those moving parts and could handle a short of a length ball that bounced a bit more than his anticipation. To be fair to him, the ball was a good one from Starc, who found a bit of bounce from good length are and the line of the delivery at off stump did not allow the left-hander to leave the ball. But, could he not see how Labuschagne was leaving deliveries on length? However, even if he had to play at that considering it was on off stump, could not he stop himself from going towards the ball and defending with hard hands. If he could wait for the ball to come to him and play closer to his body, as Dawid Malan batted after his departure, it could not have taken the shoulder of his bat and gone comfortably to Steve Smith at second slip. Starc has ripped open the technical facilities of Burns so far in the three innings and the issues will become mental from now onwards and it could go beyond the point of no return for Burns very quickly. England have made a choice of not playing technical traditional-looking batsmen such as James Vince and Zak Crawley and prominently the former has been blamed for throwing away his starts and not scoring big when set. However, Burns is not fulfilling that role as well and the duck at the Gabba was his sixth duck in the year 2021 apart from many low scores he has had such as the one in the first innings in Adelaide. Burns was tipped to be the deputy of Root on the tour of South Africa in late 2019 before he suffered a free fall, both technically and statistically. He was to be one of the most prominent cogs of England’s success in Australia, but the trends so far suggest a rather abominable prospect for both him and England batting. England’s love affair with no-balls England bowlers were not troubling Australia throughout the entire first day of the Test but they were there and thereabouts to keep them aware and defensive. They adopted bowling short balls with a packed leg-side field to stop the duo of Labuschagne and David Warner from running away with a flurry of boundaries. Their tactic was to choke them for runs till they get the second new ball and use that to good effect under lights. They were successful fairly early with both approaches as Labuschagne mistimed an attempted pull shot and the ball carried comfortably to Jos Buttler taking his glove and handle of the bat. However, Buttler grassed the opportunity. Likewise, Anderson produced an outside edge when Labuschagne got eager to reach his first Ashes hundred after being tied down due to tight line and length bowling and Buttler left another chance to give Australia’s number three, who is yet to go through an average phase in his short career as many as two lives. England started their second day on a better note and they pitched the ball further up compared to their style of bowling on the first day. Ollie Robinson reaped the reward albeit after Labuschagne scored his century but he too suffered the same fate as many of his teammates and predecessors have endured in the recent past in the Ashes series. He trapped Labuschagne in front of the wicket with a fullish delivery but only to find his foot just on the line of the bowling crease and had to be left dejected after the no-ball call. Imagine, if Buttler could have held on the catch when Labuschagne was just on 21 or Ben Stokes had not overstepped when he had bowled Warner neck and crop in the first innings at the Gabba. Things could have been different and possibly much better for the tourists but they have no one else but themselves to blame for their downward spree in the series. Dream debut for Neser Michael Neser has been on the radar for forever but the perpetual quality of Australian frontline pacers such as Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and before them James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris meant he had to dig deep and wait for his opportunity. All those moments of waiting have produced a bundle of good fortunes for Neser as he made his Test debut in an all-important Ashes series at home. He would have to wait a little longer if Pat Cummins would not have been less lucky than him to have dinner sitting closer to one of the very few Covid-19 infected people in Adelaide. Then, what would one expect as the best and easiest time to enter the stage of Test cricket than having the entire opposition on the mat and looking towards your side to call the shots and end their misery by declaring the innings? He got the opportunity to play with the hearts of England pacers and he made the best use of it to pummel them to all parts of the ground. He took a special liking to Chris Woakes and slapped him over cover-point for a classical six that would make even as classy a batsman as KL Rahul proud of him. He hit a 24-ball 35 and deflated whatever spirit remained in the hearts of England players towards the end of the second day’s play. His main function was remaining though and once again, he waited for the duo of Starc and Richardson to bowl with the new ball before he could get his hands on the ball. However, just as he dominated the scene with the bat, he dismissed Haseeb Hameed on a rather innocuous inswinging delivery when the right-hander could not keep an instinctive on-drive down. He celebrated profusely and so did Australia as they got ahead in the game after bowling only 52 balls and have to deal with the only successful England pair from the last game in the form of skipper Joe Root and Dawid Malan to put their hands firmly on the Urn. The second day of the Adelaide Test was a quiet day of Test cricket with no untoward events whatsoever and they are positioned the same manner as has been the case for both sides in the Ashes series in Australia. England have to dig deep and the duo of Root and Malan along with their “superhero” Ben Stokes have to find their best performance to have a sigh of relief and give Australia some food for thought while they will be celebrating Christmas. One bad batting day tomorrow and England will be chasing the game and Root will be chasing his legacy which is under serious threat at this point.

The Ashes | Gabba Test, Day 1: Australian pace trio demolish English top order inside first hour

England suffered the worst possible start to their Ashes campaign as Australian pacers ripped the heart out of their batting line up inside the first hours of the first day of the first Test at the Gabba. Mitchell Starc, who was under pressure at the start of the series, bowled Rory Burns behind his legs on the very first ball of the series to give Australia a dream start. Josh Hazlewood took the mantle for him quickly and put the tourists on the mat with two big wickets of Dawid Malan and Joe Root. Malan was done in by the length around off stump but he was guilty of playing at one he could have left and Alex Carey was happy to get his first dismissal at Test level as a wicketkeeper. The script was somewhat similar to Joe Root, who got a perfect length delivery at the off-stump that he could not do anything but edge to David Warner at slip. Losing three wickets in quick succession brought Ben Stokes back to action and he had to bring his best with the bat to rescue England. However, he was done in by a delivery that got big on him from Pat Cummins, who was bowling from round the wicket angle and the left-hander could not drop his wrist down while playing the ball. Marnus Labuschagne pouched the catch safely at the third slip. Earlier at the start of the game, England skipper Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first on a greenish surface. The downfall of four top-order wickets to some unplayable deliveries will compel Root to contemplate if bowling first would have been a better option while sitting in the dressing room.

Mayank Kumar ∙ 9 Sep 2021

5th Test Preview: Battle-hardened India chase legacy-defining series win over haphazard England

When the coin went up in the air for the first time at Trent Bridge early last month, it was the start of a “blockbuster” series as Indian captain Virat Kohli had described then. Now, after a period of over one month and four riveting Test matches, each and every phase of play has thrown fierce battles and mouthwatering competition between the players across both sides to justify the hype and expectations. While India made an impressive start in the first Test, Joe Root brought his best to the fore and thwarted an early advantage to the tourists. To overcome the Joe Root-led England batting, Virat Kohli’s highly-spirited side sucked the life out of the hosts at Lord’s to go 1-0 up in the series. There were obituaries written for the hosts in the aftermath of Lord’s loss and people expected Kohli-led India’s ship to sail comfortably through the Englihs summer. Both their critics and the Indian side faced a rough high tide soon after as James Anderson and Ollie Robinson blew them apart at Headingley. What was described as an “Indian juggernaut” after Lord’s became “here to go again” in terms of batting collapse for the Indian side and the fortunes of analysts writing off a side were returned to India after a humiliating defeat at Headingley. However, just as Root’s side came back strongly after Lord’s defeat to trounce India, Kohli’s men bounce back in as bullish a manner as possible to take a 2-1 lead at the Oval Test. It’s that topsy-turvy ride in the series that augurs fantastic five days for the fifth and final Test of the series due to be played at Old Trafford. If England’s defeat at Lord’s and India’s defeat at Headingley were of their own making, the last Test at the Oval was more a case of a stronger side defeating a mediocre team in the long haul where all aspects of their game were tested until wheels came off. India’s last win showcased the difference between the sides and established their supremacy in neutral conditions. It highlighted that the gulf between the sides can be narrowed only by bowling conditions heavily stacked against batsmen and in favour of swing and seam bowling. On what considered as “good” or “flat” pitches, England have always been found wanting and it was again on display at the Oval as they could not modify their game as per changing playing conditions while India had plans ready for multiple propositions. Kohli had issued a bullish statement in the wake of the horror show at Headingley that his team love being “written off” and that they have shown their strong mind and class to come back from such situations before. He and his team have lived up that promise by returning the favour of a humiliating loss at Headingley to the hosts and it’s the turn of England to come back with their riposte at Old Trafford. After all, the tourists have a first-mover’s advantage having taken a lead of 2-1, it’s the hosts England who have to hit the ground running if they want to avoid an embarrassing two consecutive series loss at home. England vs India: Match Details Match Number- 05 Date and Time: September 10-14, 2021, 3:30 pm IST, 10:30 Local, 10:00 GMT Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester Broadcast and Live Stream: SonyLIV, Sony Six Pitch and weather Joe Root has asked for “England condition” for the fifth and final Test of the series and it is understandable that he knows the limits of his side. England are not quite adept at batting for 150 odd overs on a dry pitch against disciplined bowling and also not have too many pace bowlers who could “take the pitch out of the equation” and hence the hosts will need conditions such as it was Headingley to stop India from winning the series. However, they would not be feeling confident of unleashing an absolute green seamer as it can also bing the fiery Indian pace attack well and truly in the game and hence Root wants just “England conditions” and not absolutely bowling-friendly conditions. England have also added Jack Leach to the squad which suggests that even the hosts are not ruling out a spin-friendly pitch at Old Trafford. The pitches at the venue in the recent past have aided spinners and if it holds true for the Test, India will be confident of returning with the Pataudi Trophy firmly in their grasps. The weather god is likely to intervene a lot during the course of the final Test in Manchester with chances of rain exceeding 10 per cent on all days of the game. The first day is likely to be affected the most by the rain as there is more than a 30 per cent chance of rain throughout the first day. Team News England England have confirmed the return of Jos Buttler into the playing XI for the final Test and hence there will be a shuffling of the batting lineup with only one slot remaining in the middle order for the duo of Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope. Pope returned to the team just in the last game and looked in excellent touch in the first innings while Bairstow has looked very assuring at the crease but doesn’t have any good score to show to his name. Root has not thrown any hint on who is the preferred option in the eyes of the team management, but dropping Pope will be an injustice for the Surrey lad who did the best from his side with the bat in the first innings. England have also added left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who had gone into oblivion following a stellar winter in India and Sri Lanka, to the squad for the final Test but Root has confirmed that he will come back into XI only in case the team will find conditions worthy of playing with two spinners. Moeen Ali, who suffered from his perennial problems at the Oval, remains as England first-choice spinner for the final Test. Moeen for a long time has been known as a bowler who produces magic deliveries and gets the best batsmen from the opposition out but in between those unplayable deliveries, he lacks control. He leaks too many runs for the liking of his captain and the trend has not stopped in the series as well with India milking him at more than four runs per over in the second innings at the Oval. The team management will be at loggerheads over the workload of the Anderson-Robinson who were made to toil in the last Test but Root does not have too many options to fall upon in the absence of Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad. However, Root has suggested that they will not risk playing with a bowler who is concerning about an injury and hence the outlook of the England pace attack will be interesting. Craig Overton was found out at the Oval and to add to the misery, he was also injured while batting in the last innings which would open a certain door of selection for Mark Wood. Probable XI Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (C), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (WK), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson India India too have too many selection conundrums albeit a majority of them are due to the availability of too many options. make. The biggest of them all will be the question of Ajinkya Rahane, who has looked like a fish out of water for a large part of the series. His numbers have dried up and so are the calls for his support from outside. Although Kohli has not given in too much for what he calls “outside noise” but Rahane’s position in the team is becoming untenable with each passing failure with the bat. If Kohli sticks to his style of giving a long rope to players he trusts, Rahane will be batting at number five at Old Trafford or Hanuma Vihari will get his first chance in the last Test of the series. Another big and continuous conundrum for them will be the selection or non-selection of Ravichandran Ashwin. He has been excluded from the playing XI throughout the series after Kohli ditched the two-spinner formula in the wake of loss in the WTC final against New Zealand and adopted a “template” of four pacers and one spinner in the form of Ravindra Jadeja. They have maintained the stance that the off-spinner will come in the picture only if the pitch will allow them to play two spinners and hence nothing could be said from the outset. India rested Mohammed Shami as he was recovering from a niggle but Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj continued to play at the Oval as well. The duo has played all the Tests of the series so far and they must be feeling having tired legs. Bumrah was also seen clutching his calf while bowling in the second innings at the Oval and hence Kohli will have to take a call whether they want to rest one or both of them from an all-important series decider at Old Trafford. Siraj can well be replaced by Mohammed Shami but India would be fretting over the injury scare to Bumrah, who has an equally important series to play for India in the coming months. Unlike Siraj or Shami, he forms the core of the Indian bowling attack that will play in the ICC World T20 later this year and the team management will be wary of bowling him to the ground some months before the marquee event. If the pitch at Old Trafford will be drier than the other pitches that have been used in the series so far, India might go with both Jadeja and Ashwin with Shardul being the third pacer in the team. Probable XI KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

4th Test | Final Day Live Updates: India blow England away to take 2-1 lead at the Oval

After four eventful days of cricket between the two sides, India and England are in for another close contest on the final day of the fourth Test to take a 2-21 lead in what has been a keenly contested series. None of the sides is out of the contention to travel to Manchester with a 2-1 lead and that augurs the best outlook for the Virat Kohli and Joe Root-led sides. India are in desperate need of all 10 England wickets while the hosts need 291 runs on the final day to take a comprehensive lead. They were set an almost improbable target of 368 runs by India but the unbeatne partnership between Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns has given them a big hope on the final day. India will hope Ravindra Jadeja will get enough purchase from the rough patches developing outside the off stump of the left-hander batsmen while the pace quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur will create enough opportunities to get through the England abetting lien up.

Felt like it was a good enough wicket to be able to chase any score: Chris Woakes

The Indian batsmen had a brilliant outing against England in the second innings of the fourth Test at Kennington Oval after the visitors took a lead of 367 runs to hand the home side a target of 368 runs. In reply, England were off to a good start after openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns put 77 runs on the board before the stumps were called on the penultimate day. Chris Woakes has said that the pitch is “good enough” for batting but it would take some effort to chase down the target. "We felt like it was a good enough wicket to be able to chase any score," Woakes told reporters. "To go all the way and chase down that score would be an incredible effort. It would be a great, great chase,” he added. The right-hander further lauded the openers’ efforts and hailed them for keeping things in control for the hosts. Woakes said. The five-match Test series is presently levelled at 1-1. The first match at Nottingham ended in a draw while India won the Lord’s Test by 151 runs to go 1-0 up. Later, England made a comeback in the third Test at Leeds after winning the encounter by an innings and 76 runs.

ENG vs IND | 4th Test, Day 4: Shardul- Pant, Hameed-Burns set up a likely rollercoaster finish

The fourth Test of the series between England and India being played at the Oval is nicely poised at the end of the fourth day’s play with both the hosts, who need 291 runs and the tourists, who are in pursuit of 10 wickets, going into the final day to get 2-1 up in the series. The Test match is not giving up on giving excitement and thrill to the true fans of the format as all the four days that have been completed have not left a clear winner. The script remained the same on the fourth day and all the four results such as an Indian win, an England win, a draw or a tie are possible and none of those results will be possible without keen contests between the players on both sides. England’s comeback India started the day with 171 runs ahead in the game and a very good looking Virat Kohli at the crease, who was unbeaten with some signature drives through the off side towards’s the end of the third day’s play. India were significantly ahead in the game but both the game and the series have re-established one of the cliches of the game that one wicket brings two and hence England were not out of the reckoning yet. The narrative was validated once again as Chris Woakes found movement off an otherwise docile pitch to find Ravindra Jadeja in front of the stumps and then a totally messed up Ajinkya Rahane’s problems were compounded with a nip backer. Two quick wickets put things in perspective for both sides but the presence of Kohli, who added some more classical drives in his scorecard was a massive thorn in England’s flesh. Rishabh Pant, who has not had a great run in the series was intelligent enough to not take the game to the opposition and rather opted to wear them down. However, when Moeen Ali found the outside edge of Kohli’s bat while the Indian skipper, the game threatened to slip out of India’s grasp. However, staying true to its nature so far, just when the game started to drift away from India and in favour of England, Shardul Thakur and Pant stitched a valiant 100-run partnership to take India beyond the comfortable level of England batsmen. ‘Lord’ Shardul blesses India, again When Moeen got the better of Kohli with a delivery that kept on going straight after pitching and asking the right-hander to lunge forward, Joe Root would have hoped he will be better against Shardul as well. Remember, he was the man who came in between India folding out below 15 runs or eventually getting to 191 in the first innings and he was eager to prove those runs were not fluke albeit it came in a pretty uncharacteristic manner compared to a typical Test innings. He was cautious to not attack Moeen mindlessly but the off-spinner’s eagerness to purchase help from the surface and subsequent flight allowed him leeway through the offside. An Inside-out shot through cover got him going and he never looked back since to take India past the 300-run mark in lead. As his eyes got in and he started feeling more and more confident, England went to their main men in James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, but Shardul had a perfect mixture of defence and aggression to thwart them. He was severe against anything pitched in his half and imposed himself with shots that would make Kohli proud. He could not go beyond the score of 60 but his onslaught has had a telling effect on the England bowling attack and captain as they were lacklustre in the field once again to wait for the batsmen to make mistakes instead of buying wickets. Indian tail wagging Before the start of the series against England, the capitulation of the Indian tailenders as they are called in general was a big issue for the tourists. Their bowlers used to struggle to wipe the oppositions’ tail while the same bowlers used to struggle with the bat and there was enough talk that suggested that the work was on to improve on that aspect of the team The work behind the scenes are appearing to be giving dividends as their efforts with the bat have emboldened India in two out of the four Tests of the series against England. On the fourth day at the Oval as well, all of the last three batsmen such as Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj batted with discipline and a positive approach. They longer appeared to be a walking wicket as was the scene a few months back and it has added another dimension to the team while the think tank does not have to worry about playing with a “long tail”. Burns, Hameed apply speed breaker to India’s ambitions When India folded with a lead of 368 runs and some 32 overs remaining to be played on the fourth day, Kohli would have backed his bowlers to take at least two, if not more wickets with him at the end. However, they could not succeed in reaching their target as both Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns applied themselves with pure discipline and a clear mind on a pitch that is still refusing to offer assistance to bowlers irrespective of their kind. Left-arm spinner Jadeja struggled for rhythm in the initial phase of his spell but came back with his known accuracy to ask some tough questions of the Englihs openers. Indian pacers were guilty of not asking the openers to play enough with the new ball and they would be disappointed at that aspect of the game. However, with the scoreboard reading 77/0 at the stumps on the penultimate day and the pitch offering very little assistance to bowlers, England should believe in their ability to at least save the game. Looking ahead to the final day India need all of England 10 wickets on the final day while the hosts are requiring to either bat 90 overs to travel to Manchester with the series levelled at 1-1 or 291 runs to go2-1 up in the series. The Indian team management led by Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri takes pride and reiterates every now and then that the Indian bowlers are good enough to take the “pitch out of the equation” and they won’t find any better opportunities to vindicate their leadership than winning a game on this pitch at the Oval. For England, a lot will depend on the first four batsmen in the lineup. Hameed and Burns have looked not too uncomfortable, even against the left-arm spin of Jadeja while the fluency of Dawid Malan and the red-hot form of skipper Root will dictate the terms of the hosts’ tactics on the final day. Like it has been across the last four days of the Tests, the first session of the day will be quite crucial. India will be desperate to breakthrough as early as possible and if the trend of “one brings two” continues to hold true on the final day, England will be tested both mentally and technically. The pitch will play a massive role in how the teams will base their tactics and if there will be assistance for bowlers, India would be the firm favourites to win the game.

Rory Burns

Jason Roy about to be dropped from England's central contract

Surrey secure County Championship Division One title with win over Yorkshire

County Championship Division-One Match Previews | September 20-23

County Championship Division-One Match Previews | September 12-15

#OTD in 2020: James Anderson became the first seamer to take 600 Test wickets

Surrey vs Warwickshire: Day 1: Openers propel Surrey to 168 on a rain-affected first day

Facing Cummins, Hazelwood is fractionally different to what you get in county: Rory Burns

Rory Burns aims at Test return leaving behind Ashes horrors