As socialising is reduced to a bare minimum during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, healthy members of the public have quite a lot more spare time on their hands than usual.
Without further ado, here are seven YouTube videos England cricket supporters should watch to fill the time:
2005 Ashes highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqz8idTA8ZU&t=7996s
The classic. Five years ago, YouTube user ‘T S’ posted eight and half hours highlights from the 2005 Ashes, arguably the most dramatic Test series in the history of the game. Not got eight and a half hours spare right now? Just skip straight to 2:13:17.
A montage of England’s World Cup Final win
An epic montage fitting of the occasion. A masterpiece from the ICC’s short-form content producer, Dayle Stancliffe.
Stokes’ 135* at Headingley?
The greatest innings in the history of the game? Possibly. Should you watch it again for the 67th time? Definitely.
Alastair Cook’s farewell century
“A century in his first ever Test match, now a century in his last. Well played.” The words of Michael Holding as Alastair Cook reached three figures in for the 33rd and final time in Test cricket.
Ian Botham being grilled by an audience of ‘woke’ Scottish teens
Slightly different to the other videos on this list. Beefy is grilled Paxman-style by an audience of well-informed Scottish teenagers on everything from hunting to cannabis, serving up timeless gems such as, “If you want to change nappies, change nappies. It’s a free world. That’s why my father fought in the Second World War.” To add to the bizarreness of the video, the show was in fact hosted by current SNP MP. John Nicolson.
MS Dhoni finds out to his astonishment that Ben Stokes has a Test match 250
Skip to 2:27 for this one. In a pre-tournament media day exercise, the Rising Pune Supergiant stars were asked a set of questions and had to guess which of their teammates was the answer to each question. When asked who holds the record for the fastest 250 in Test cricket, MS Dhoni appeared somewhat surprised by the answer.
Storytime with Bumble
Search ‘Bumble’ into YouTube and you’re bombarded with videos advising you on how to get the most from your online dating apps. Look a bit harder and you find a wormhole of videos featuring former England coach David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd’s weirdest and maddest moments on camera. The best, arguably, is his retelling of a story featuring cricket bats, Alan Mullally and Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas.
