Brave Men (Penguin Classics)

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Pyle was an incredibly intelligent and thoughtful man, and this comes ultimately comes across quite strongly. The former just holds the weight in an irritating way in the first half of the book. But when he gets it right, he loops the aspects of the human condition that are universal through time into his descriptions of war seamlessly, and it's poignant to our time, most so in his final words:

McCullin is the master of laying it all down, the truth as he saw it, every last piece of spit, blood and dirt. His is never a cold, clinical eye; you can feel the empathy, the horror, even the confusion of the man behind the lens. We spoke about going straighter compared to the Southern Brave game and we knew the ball would move here and that's what we tried to do as a team. Coached by two greats of the game and with some of the biggest talent in the world in their ranks, Southern Brave are many pundits’ favourites to win The Hundred. Men’s squad Obviously Will was good for us last year and Brookesy tonight was fantastic. It's great winning but when you get young players doing well, it's great for experienced players because you don't feel that it always has to be you stepping up. The Monday Night Club discuss whether Jude Bellingham is England's best talent since Paul Gascoigne, after he was named best young player at Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony.Brave's women might have made it a double, having reached the final with seven wins from eight games to finish top of the standings. I have been feeling good with the bat and wanting to make those contributions. Andre Russell did what he does best. He has been threatening to do that and it was great to watch. He is one of the premier T20 and Hundred players around and is desperate to show what he can do. History tells you he would put in a performance and it was just a matter of time." I’ve read several WW II history books. Brave Men is more than a history book; it was written as history was being made. It’s journalism – and an entirely different read. This book is a collection of the dispatches Pyle sent for publication in US newspapers. As a war correspondent, Pyle reported the war through the eyes of the men on the front lines. Vince and Conway were able to re-find the highest gear, helped by an Originals side that dawdled through their 100 balls. Reliant on pace, Originals bowled only 10 balls of Calvin Harrison's spin and missed the cut-off, meaning they had to bowl the final 11 deliveries with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle.

I knew nothing of war’s mercilessness – and that’s despite the IRA bombs detonating on the News At Ten or Saddam lighting up Kuwait like the Oxford Circus Christmas lights. As I got older, the bleak war poetry of Wilfred Owen was startling. But somehow, because it was poetry and verse with rhythm and meter, it felt oddly romantic; war still felt like a fantasy, albeit a much more menacing one. On varying pace: "I go with my gut. I'll bowl more pace-on balls at the start when the ball is harder because you get more out of the surface.

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Although Pyle, one of the first "embedded" journalists in wartime, could get a bit repetitive, his account of the American GIs in the European theater during WWII will rightly stand as one of the best portrayals of the common soldier in these epic times. Manchester Originals skipper Jos Buttler, speaking to Sky Sports: "It's nice to build that momentum. We certainly needed that after losing the first three. We know we are under pressure but we have nothing to lose. Vince, Lintott, Mills and Archer are joined in the retained Southern Brave men’s squad by fast bowlers Chris Jordan, George Garton, and Craig Overton, batters Tim David, Ross Whiteley, and Alex Davies, plus Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. Faced with such a huge total, Originals were given impetus by Salt, who took fours off the first three balls of the innings. Just after he clubbed Craig Overton for two successive sixes - Overton conceded 47 runs from 15 balls - Salt drilled the spin of Mitchell Santner to Vince at extra cover to depart for 47 from 17 balls. Brave Men" sees war correspondent and infantry everyman Pyle follow the American army through Italy and into France. The reader sees the invasions of both Anzio and Normandy through Pyle's signature tight but descriptive prose. The book includes perhaps Pyle's most famous essay, "The Death of Captain Waskow," written in December 1943. It also includes his observations of the D-Day invasion as well as a horrific account of the Operation Cobra bombings that killed 111 soldiers in friendly fire bombings.

McCullin, knowingly or otherwise, dug out the truth and sought to bring it home for us all to see, in our newspapers, in colour, as loud and as immediate as being there ourselves. McCullin went to places most of us would never go, to document and give a voice to those who had none. Only through the eyes of the war reporter do we bear witness to the truly courageous – the civilians that must deal with war’s oblivion, day in, day out. If that doesn’t sound like bravery, I don’t know what does. Despite their protestations, we must continue to pay tribute to those who still do this job today. + Next steps The result also means that Welsh Fire finish in fourth, as they needed Originals to win to qualify. The book made me feel closer to my father (requiescat in pace), who flew as a crew member over Europe in the Army Air Corps (pre U.S. Air Force) during the war. My dad had a dog, Roscoe. In sections on the Air Corps, Pyle mentions how so many fliers kept dogs. Brave's start goes from bad to worse as the batters get completely confused, and somehow both end up in the middle of the pitch. Daniel Bell-Drummond fields the ball and has the easiest job, throwing the ball to the bowler Ellis who does the rest. This book is essential and provides a real human feel to the American front in Europe during World War II. So many different aspects of war are so well depicted.In the emergency of war our nation's powers are unbelievable. The strength we have spread around the world is appalling even to those who make up the individual cells of that strength. I am sure that in the past two years I have heard soldiers say a thousand times, "If only we could have created all this energy for something good." But we rise above our normal powers only in times of destruction. James Vince raced to 20 from nine balls in Brave's reply before he was dismissed by a brilliant caught and bowled by Sean Abbott. Everything war can be, the merciless sorrow of it all, is there in McCullin’s dark, arresting aesthetic – both in his reflective prose and his pin-sharp photographs. McCullin is well-known, of course, for his images, but his words in the book vibrate with an equal power, in my opinion. They are those of a man trying to comprehend what he saw and what he will never be able to unsee. What’s more, The Ageas Bowl also hosts The Hundred Eliminator on Friday 2 nd September. The Eliminator will be another huge double-header with the teams finishing second and third in both the men’s and women’s group stages facing off for a spot in The Hundred Final.