Cricket Tips

Stick to Cricket Episode One: Ben Stokes' leadership and Bazball with nous

  • Editor
  • 2:00 min read
Stick To Cricket Episode One
Watch Episode One of Betfair's Stick To Cricket show now

In partnership with The Overlap, Betfair are proud to bring you Stick to Cricket, a new weekly show featuring England legends Sir Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Phil Tuffnell and David Lloyd, and in episode one the quartet discuss England's thrilling victory over India in the first test...


Stick to Cricket Episode 1

Betfair and The Overlap proudly present "Stick to Cricket", a captivating new show featuring renowned England cricket legends Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David 'Bumble' Lloyd, and Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell...

The weekly show offers insights and discussions, with special guests joining the cricket icons to delve into the sport's hottest topics.

In the first episode, the famous four analyse England's historic run chase at Headingley, where Brendon McCullum's side secured a one-nil lead in the thrilling Test series against India. 

You can watch the full episode now or read some of the quotes from the quartet of legends below.


David 'Bumble' LloydFirst test was a perfect match - Shubman Gill got confused

"I absolutely loved seeing Headingley full - the sun shone and it was full for four days - that is fantastic for the club.

"I thought that the pitch was perfect, a belter - if you bent your back you'd get it through with good pace. You could score 100s and it was great entertainment - the outfield was like lighting, just get it past an infielder and you'd get your just rewards.

"I thought that it was a perfect test match. What a chase - captaincy is going to be a big factor in this series and we've got a very assured captain in Ben Stokes. India's captain got confused."

Sir Alastair Cook: Zak Crawley lined up Jasprit Bumrah better than anyone I've seen

"With that pitch, I want to know how they kept that pace on it. Most of the time when we watch Test cricket and it goes for five days, the pitch just dies, goes low and nicks don't carry.

"That pitch was still flying through and how much better is it when nicks carry. The groundsman got it absolutely spot-on, which allowed great cricket.

"India on the last day though - you shouldn't be able to chase 370. They did it last time and it was a flat wicket with the sun out; but this one, after 20 minutes I turned and said 'they're going to absolutely cruise this'.

"If you had said we were going to get 180 and it was going to be 'crash, bang, wallop', got after them and it would have been absolute chaos and you'd have thought India would have no answer, but it wasn't.

"It was old-school test match batting, I've never seen the whole England 

Michael Vaughan: Ben Duckett is the best all-format player in the world

"You look at Ben Duckett, and you see a player where you think back to the start of the Bazball era, that was their best decision where they brought him straight in. 

"He is the best all-format player - Travis Head is up there, Aiden Markram as well. But he faces the music at the top of the order in Tests, T20 and ODI, he's the best."

Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell: Ben Stokes empowers people

"He empowers other people, sometimes I think to his own detriment. Sometimes you think he should be bowling but he gives that empowerment to his players. 

"He was head and shoulders the best bowler."

Heated Exchange: 'Test cricket is better than it ever has been'

Bumble: "One word - yes. Without a doubt, it's box-office" 

Cook: "I'm glad you said that, because we all look back at our own era and loved playing in our own era. 

"I'm glad, of course there's great players back in the day who would have been great in any generation. But the fact that scoring rates are up makes such a big difference."

Bumble: "You don't get many draws now, going back to when I played a draw was a result and you'd get a day's play with 220 runs all day. 

"In 1981, THE Test then was at Headingley - Botham's Ashes how many people were there? 10,000 per day. At that time it would have held over 20,00 people.

"In my opinion, the game now has never been so vibrant. It's got issues with franchises like a runaway train, is it regulated properly? 

"I keep reading that Test cricket is dead, then why are the grounds full in the UK?"


Now read more Cricket tips and previews here


GET £50 IN FREE BETS MULTIPLES WHEN YOU SPEND £10 ON THE BETFAIR SPORTSBOOK

New customers only. Bet £10 on the Betfair Sportsbook at odds of min EVS (2.0) and receive £50 in FREE Bet Builders, Accumulators or Multiples to use on any sport. T&Cs apply.

Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.