by Tanish Prabhu

Root, Fleming take over as captain and coach as England’s dramatic summer dawns a new era in Test cricket

The retirement of Ben Stokes and the departure of Brendon McCullum brought an end to an entertaining era of England Cricket in the longest format of the game. For 4 years, the two leaders in their respective roles shaped England Cricket to a different level with a different style
of play so unnatural that other teams couldn’t initially work out their weakness.

But as all good things come to an end, so does this and because of that, a new era of England.Cricket is set to rise as the summer of cricket continues to progress in the month of August. England Cricket Board have entrusted Joe Root to captain England again in test cricket as he
now not only focusses on his batting, but to lead a reasonably experienced England team.

Root as captained England full time in 2022, but his stats weren’t optimistic, having unable to retain the Ashes one sided three times in 2017/18 [4-0] in Australia, 2019 [ 2-2, Australia retained the Ashes] in England and 2021/22 [ 4-0] in Australia. Also results against India home and away.

Although it didn’t affect his batting too much, the burden to lead the side mentally did affect him. To be given another opportunity clearly shows that the England Cricket Board does not
trust Harry Brook, who is the vice-captain of the test format. His natural playing style is one reason as he isn’t a mature player and lacks game awareness. Having the job to captain the team as well would create chaos in the team and results may not go their way. It is different to the way he plays and leads the teams in the white ball formats.

The board has also chosen Stephen Fleming as Brendon McCullum’s successor in Test cricket. Fleming coached the Chennai Super Kings for 16 years in the IPL and other Super Kings
franchises in the new, well-built competitions like the SAT20 and MLC. As coach he won 5 titles, going down as one of the most successful coaches in the competition’s history. The Texas Super Kings didn’t have a good season in the Major League competition 2026 and the Chennai Super Kings have had a difficult three years. After the recent MLC season, the management and.Stephen Fleming had parted ways, as the franchise looks for a new coach for next season.

England Cricket Board saw this as an opportunity to recruit Fleming after weeks deciding who they’d have as the coach of the test format. Fleming will bring a new approach, different methods into the game than what McCullum did – like every coach. The question to ask is: How successful will England be under new management?

The Hundred: Who is on top and who isn’t:
The Hundred has returned for its sixth season and the 2026 edition has already delivered dramatic finishes, world class performances and a completely new look.

While the fast paced 100 ball format continues to entertain fans across England and Wales, this year’s tournament is being defined by major franchise changes, overseas investment and an increasingly competitive race for the finals.

The biggest talking point before the ball was bowled came off the field. Three franchises entered the competition under new identities following investment from Indian Premier League ownership groups. Oval Invincibles became MI London, Northern Superchargers were rebranded as Sunrisers Leeds, and Manchester Originals became Manchester Super Giants. The changes have brought fresh branding, larger financial backing and an increase in overseas talent, with teams now able to sign up to four international players.

On the field, Trent Rockets have emerged as the early pace setters in the men’s competition. Strong performances with both bat and ball have helped them establish themselves at the top of the standings, although the race for the finals
remains wide open.

MI London, Welsh Fire and Southern Brave are all firmly in contention, while every match is becoming increasingly important as the.

tournament enters its second week. Jos Buttler has once again demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the world’s most destructive white-ball batters.

Representing Manchester Supergiants, Buttler has produced a series of explosive innings, combining power with consistency to rank among the competition’s leading run scorers. Ben Duckett has had an explosive start to his season with the Trent Rockets and is so far the leading run scorer with 240 runs. With the ball, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has proven just as influential. His wickettaking ability and control in the middle overs have played a key role in MI London’s success, including a match winning five wicket haul that underlined his reputation as one of the world’s premier T20 bowlers.

The women’s competition has also provided plenty of excitement, with defending champions Northern Supergiant’s aiming to retain their title against strong challenges from Welsh Fire, Southern Brave and MI London. The quality of cricket continues to highlight the growing strength and popularity of the women’s game.

Despite the excitement on the field, the tournament has generated discussion
away from the action. Some venues have experienced lower attendances than
expected, with rising ticket prices and franchise rebranding contributing to concerns among supporters. However, television audiences and digital engagement remain strong, suggesting The Hundred continues to attract a significant audience both in the United Kingdom and internationally.

Drama among drivers as first half of F1 season closes out with a long summer break:

The first half of the Formula One season is done as drivers head into the summer break with lots to reflect on and ponder. For some, it’s a season to forget so far, while for others, they will be satisfied. 19-year-old Kimi Antonioli is just in his second season at Formula One and is dominating in the tracks. The Italian has won six races so far, finishing third in the Hungary Grand Prix right before the big break. Antonioli replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes and had a breakthrough year in 2026. No one had any idea that he could very well be the 2026 World Drivers Champion.

For Lewis Hamilton, choosing to move to Ferrari at the backend of his superb career was a questionable decision, but it paid off. The win in Barcelona was his first win with Ferrari and the first one in two years. There was a time when Hamilton had a negative mindset and was
relieved to go into the summer break. At 41, he has had a promising year at Ferrari, securing points for his team as he still has unfinished business in the sport that he has dominated for over a decade now.

One unfortunate driver, however, is Oscar Piastri. Since last season, Mclaren has favored Lando Norris as he is an experienced driver and now a World Drivers Champion. There were times
when Piastri had his moment in the sun that was snatched away very quickly in 2025 and fans.have speculated a few heated moments between the two drivers and management which became true. Piastri’s 2026 season started off poorly as he was unable to participate in the race at home in Australia and then China. 25 minutes before the race started, Piastri crashed into a wall during formation lap and his car was severely damaged, forcing him to retire from the race.

For fans, it was heartbreaking seeing their favorite driver bow out in that kind of way.
Misfortunes wavered on as his engine broke down before the formation lap in China a week later, once again forcing him to bow out of the race.

Several months later in the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was a great start to Piastri’s race and the opportunity beckoned for him to win as he was in the lead. William’s driver, Carlos Sainz, clashed with Oscar Piastri and made contact, causing blue flags to come out. Sainz ignored it several times and didn’t give way to Piastri. This made him angry. Months of disappointment, the anger finally flooded out of his chest as he and the commentators who were aware of it got upset at the situation and this forced Piastri out of the race, with his teammate Lando Norris winning the Grand Prix. It was a moment to forget for Piastri as drama eluded further with other drivers having issues of their own. But for Oscar Piastri, the win wasn’t far away, but the incident is one to not forget.

The first half of the season had everything and as the driver’s head into the break, how will they fare differently in the second half of the season compared to the first half? as the Dutch Grand
Prix begins end of this month.

Commonwealth Games 2026 close out

The Commonwealth Games in Glassow concluded on Sunday and Australia tallied
a total of 171 medals, 70 gold, 45 silver and 36 bronze. Majority of these medals came from Australia’s champion swimmers as the Dolphins dominated the pool.

Swimmer Meg Harris won the most gold medals, collecting 6 all up, followed by Alex Perkins with 5 gold and 1 silver. England came second, finishing up with a total of 110 medals and Canada third with 62 medals.

One country that deserves credit is India. They finished the competition in fourth place with 39 medals. India’s performance was far better than anticipated and a much more improved especially in Boxing. Neeraj Chopra on Friday took home the silver medal in javelin, but it was boxing where India won the most medals with 10 medals, including 7 gold.