Stokes rules himself out of England's T20 World Cup title defence

LONDON - Test captain Ben Stokes has ruled himself out of England's T20 World Cup title defence in the United States and the West Indies, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Tuesday.

The 32-year-old said he was missing the showpiece tournament in order to make sure he could be a fully-fledged all-rounder in Test cricket.

"Opting out of the IPL (Indian Premier League) and the (T20) World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future," Stokes said in an ECB statement.

It is understood Stokes has not suffered any setbacks after briefly returning to bowling last month during a Test tour of India where England lost a five-match series 4-1.

There is no lingering discomfort in his left knee following surgery in November.

But although he has long been one of England's leading multi-format cricketers, Stokes has decided to prioritise his role as Test captain, in the hope of being able to play a full role with both bat and ball during six Tests -- three against the West Indies and three against Sri Lanka -- in the upcoming home season.

The first Test against the West Indies at Lord's starts on July 10, less than two weeks after the June 29 T20 World Cup final in Barbados.

That congested Test schedule has prompted Stokes to follow up his withdrawal from the lucrative IPL T20 franchise tournament by also pulling out of the T20 World Cup in a major blow for England white-ball captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott.

"I'm working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket," Stokes said.

"Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future."

He added: "The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I'm looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer.

"I wish Jos, Motty and all the team the best of luck in defending our title."jdg/ea Stokes rules himself out of England's T20 World Cup title defence

Read More........ → April 03, 2024

Liverpool is Building the World’s Largest Tidal Power Project to Power a Million Homes

The Rance Tidal Power Station, which Mersey Tidal Power are studying to inform the construction of a similar plant for Liverpool.

The River Mersey and the Bay of Liverpool are the largest assets this famous English city possesses, and attempting to beat the British government to a net-zero economy, Liverpool City Region have entered phase 3 planning stage to build the largest tidal power plant on Earth. Schemes to harness the predictable power of the tides in Liverpool Bay date back to 1924, and with one of the largest tidal ranges of any coastal city in the UK, government utility Mersey Tidal Power believe that they can power 1 million homes and protect the city from floodwaters, all without disturbing the local estuarine ecosystem. Mersey Tidal Power have released precious little information on the plans thus far, but Eletrek reports that a large dam would be a barrier between the Irish Sea and a tidal basin. Underneath the dam would be large turbines and sluice gates which would open as the tide comes in, pulling water onto the turbines to generate energy. The gates

would close as the 10-meter-high tide finishes, and as the gravity of the moon begins to pull on the water four hours later, the gates would open, causing it to rush past the turbines a second time, generating more clean energy. “I think that we have a unique opportunity to harness the power of our greatest natural assets—our river and our people—to deliver a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future for our children,” said Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham. Tidal power projects are few and far between in both scale and reliability, but like geothermal power, they offer an alternative to sun and wind power which can be interrupted by weather conditions. The multibillion-dollar project is in Phase 3 concept development and is about to enter the formal planning stage. Mersey Tidal Power has consulted with experts at the Rance tidal power plant in France, in operation since the 1960s, as well as K Power, which runs the largest tidal plant in the world at Sihwa Lake in South Korea. Concept imagery from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority shows a similar design to the installation at Rance. The top of the dam would serve as a causeway with green spaces and bike paths that would connect the city of Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula, the way Rance is connected to St. Malo. Liverpool City and Mersey Tidal Power are under no illusions as to the complexity and challenge of the project, but they estimate that the capacity of a River Mersey Tidal station could power 1 million homes—essentially the whole of Liverpool—for 120 years. Liverpool is Building the World’s Largest Tidal Power Project to Power a Million Homes - Good News Network

Read More........ → March 18, 2024

England’s meltdown: India dims UK’s “Bazball” aura

Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 India’s Ravindra Jadeja in action as England’s Ben Foakes look on REUTERS/Amit Dave

RANCHI-India have remained test cricket’s most tourist-unfriendly destination for over a decade and even England’s gung-ho ‘Bazball’ approach could not change that reality on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024.

India’s five-wicket victory on a spiteful track in Ranchi was not really a cakewalk, thanks to England’s never-say-die spin attack.

But it fetched Rohit Sharma’s team an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, and consolidated their second place, behind New Zealand, in the World Test Championship standings.Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 India’s Shubman Gill in action REUTERS/Amit Dave

This was India’s 17th consecutive test series win at home, where they have not lost a test series since an Alastair Cook-led England bested them in 2012.

For England, who won the opening test in Hyderabad and have been competitive as well as entertaining in Visakhapatnam and Ranchi — it was their first series defeat under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.

India will be particularly happy they clinched the series despite the absence of batting mainstay Virat Kohli (personal reason) and frontline seamer Mohammed Shami (injury).

Middle order batter KL Rahul missed tests after hurting himself in the Hyderabad opener, while they rested pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the match in Ranchi to manage his workload.

It forced India to field four debutants in the first four matches and three of them — wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, batter Sarfaraz Khan, and seamer Akash Deep — impressed immediately.

Player-of-the-match Jurel struck 90 in the first innings to kept India alive in the contest and his unbroken 72-run stand with Shubman Gill on Monday helped India pull off a nervy chase.

“Obviously it’s a big challenge to play test cricket. We all know that,” Rohit said.

“Dhruv Jurel, playing his second game, showed solid composure and calmness. He has got the shots as well and played all round the wicket.”

ENGLAND’S MELTDOWN

Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 England’s Joe Root appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of India’s Ravindra Jadeja REUTERS/Amit Dave

In a match where there were hardly any dull moments, England’s second innings meltdown left India needing 192 runs to win.

The hosts raced to 84 for no loss before Shoaib Bashir’s triple strikes turned the match on its head reducing India to 120-5.

On a pitch where the ball turned sharply and often kept low, Jurel and Gill proved immovable despite the mounting pressure.

They gritted their teeth through a 30-over stretch when they could not hit a single boundary in a defensive masterclass on a treacherous track.

Gill, an all-format batter known for his clean-hitting prowess, showed immaculate match awareness and did not hit a boundary in the first 119 balls he faced.

When victory was in sight, the elegant right-hander smacked Bashir for two sixes in the same over en route to his fifty.

Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 England’s Ollie Pope takes the catch to dismiss India’s Rajat Patidar, off the bowling of Shoaib Bashir REUTERS/Amit Dave

Several former England captains believe England need to temper their ‘Bazball’ approach, but Stokes was happy with the commitment of his team mates.

“The scoreline says India win by five wickets but I don’t think that gives enough credit to sum up the game as a whole,” Stokes said.

“The series has shown a lot of talent, for us and India. I love test cricket and we’ve seen some young, inexperienced players perform and the future looks bright in this format.”The fifth and final test, scheduled in Dharamsala, begins on March 7. England’s meltdown: India dims UK’s “Bazball” aura

Read More........ → February 27, 2024