Cricket is a sport of patience, pressure, tradition and reinvention. Sports Lounge covers the stories behind the game, from Test cricket and The Ashes to global tournaments, franchise cricket and the changing future of the sport. Our cricket writing focuses on meaning, context and the characters who shape the game.
Few sporting competitions have transformed their game as dramatically as the Indian Premier League. In less than two decades, the IPL has grown from an ambitious domestic Twenty20 tournament into one of the most valuable and influential sporting properties in the world. Today it commands television audiences measured in hundreds of millions, attracts the finest cricketers from across the globe and generates revenues that rival many of the world's biggest sporting leagues.
Don Bradman did more than score runs against England. For two decades, his presence changed the mood of Ashes cricket, forced English captains to rethink the game and created a standard of batting that has never been approached.
In an age of instant highlights, franchise leagues and shrinking attention spans, cricket's oldest format continues to endure. Nearly 150 years after the first recognised Test match, it remains one of sport's greatest examinations of character.
In an era of franchise tournaments, shortened attention spans and cricket designed increasingly for fast entertainment, there is something remarkable about the fact that The Ashes still feels different.
