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It’s difficult to do tail cleaning, but it’s still a bit of an art.

Believe me, this came from a bowler who had to bowl in both directions when Tino Best of the West Indies put together a Test-match 95 at Edgbaston in 2012.

As incredible as it was, England won the previous week’s Test in Headingley, but India lost in two ways.

First of all, India’s catch rate was subpar, as was their tact with keeping their head down. England received 200 runs in reprieve from the game due to the errors.

Second, there was absolutely no resistance from the lower order in India.

Tongue gave a stunning performance.

You want to be aggressive, intimidating, and ruthless when you’re a tailgearer.

In team meetings, we used to say “kill the tail” and remind each other to “kill the tail” to prevent the opposing tail from waging.

The tailender needs to know when you use your short ball, but you want to be back to a good length as soon as you realize the short ball has done its job of making sure the batter isn’t interested in moving forward.

A tailender immediately finds the awkward angle of the tongue offensive. You believe that you will be hit in the ribs by everything.

He took the innings’ seventh, eighth, and ninth wickets with a three-wicket maiden in the second one. It was a perfect illustration of how to start off the tail before moving on.

Number eight Shardul Thakur threw a full-agent swinger to the ground first. After Jamie Smith gloved his hand in pain after receiving a heavy, awkward ball, Mohammad Siraj was followed by a limp, awkward ball that caused Siraj to walk off.

Two balls later, Jasprit Bumrah backped and fired a powerful shot at one from the middle of his stump, which was almost certainly the result of what Bumrah watched and sat through while Siraj was batting.

As a tailwatcher sat there and observed a person’s aggressive behavior, it was horrible.

Everyone is fair game now that everyone is safe thanks to helmets, padding, and the ability to practice better. You’re acutely aware that you’ll be asked to perform the same when you have the ball in your hand, especially when you’re doing it when you’re walking out there.

You can’t take your eyes off the opposition captain’s next bowling game because your palms are sweating and you need to use the restroom every five minutes.

In a 2018 County Championship game, I hit Jofra Archer in the head.

I was the first to bat when I realized who would have the ball in his hand.

The first ball I faced from him squeezed into my bat handle in front of my face, and my right hand’s index finger is still swollen from that point. He gave me the next ball for nothing.

A dressing room’s wagging tail also has a significant psychological boost.

You can see the frustration in the opposition as they toss out the last few wickets, and it helps to lighten the mood. It also helps players feel confident that the momentum is in their favor.

The top order batters’ minds are distracted from the following innings’ opening overs, which can cause chaos if the tail really wags.

In the previous World Test Championship cycle, England averaged 87.04 after the sixth wicket fell. The opposition did so in that time.

That is a significant 50.24-run swing across a Test with New Zealand scoring the best in the world and conceding an average of 61.92 on average.

Bring your mind to Australia’s first Ashes Test victory at Edgbaston in 2023, which they won by two wickets.

In a nightwatchman’s chase of 288, Scott Boland scored 20 from 40 balls, Pat Cummins, who was 73, and Nathan Lyon, who had 28 balls unbeaten, scored 20.

The game was lost in the second innings because of the Stokes declaration, which was more widely touted on day one.

England’s success in this series and the Ashes in the winter will depend on it. He has demonstrated his abilities, Tongue has demonstrated. Carse, Archer, or Gus Atkinson might do it as well.

Seeing Ben Stokes celebrating with Josh Tongue, gesturing that his fast bowler was gobbling up rabbit pie, was an amusing aside during England’s win over India in the first Test.

Mopping up the tail is a bit of an art and not always straightforward.

Believe me, this is from someone who had to bowl at and field while the West Indies’ Tino Best compiled a Test-match 95 at Edgbaston in 2012.

Last week’s Test at Headingley, as amazing as it was, was won by England and lost by India in two facets.

Firstly, India’s catching was poor, as was their discipline of keeping their foot behind the line. The errors gave England reprieves worth 200 runs in the game.

Secondly, the India lower order offered no resistance at all.

Tongue’s performance was eye catching.

To tailenders you want to be aggressive, intimidating and ruthless.

‘Kill the tail’ we used to say in team meetings and remind each other at the back of our marks in order to make sure the opposition tail didn’t wag.

Using your short ball is imperative to unsettle the tailender but as soon as you realise the short ball has done its job of making sure the batter isn’t interested in getting forward, you want to be back to a good length.

Tongue’s awkward angle is immediately off-putting to a tailender. You think everything is going to hit you in the ribs.

In the second innings he bowled a triple wicket-maiden to take the seventh, eighth and ninth wickets of the innings. It was the perfect example of how to intimidate and then dismiss the tail.

A full away swinger was nicked to first slip by number eight Shardul Thakur. That was followed a heavy, awkward ball to Mohammad Siraj that left Siraj walking off wringing his hand in pain after gloving it behind to Jamie Smith.

Jasprit Bumrah’s middle stump was flattened two balls later with him backing away and having a big swing at one – a shot that was almost certainly as a result of what Bumrah sat and watched while Siraj was batting.

It is horrible as a tailender sat there watching someone be aggressive to the tail.

Helmets, padding and the ability to practice better has made everyone fair game and you’re acutely aware that you’ll receive a bouncer when you walk out there, especially as you’ll be tasked to do the same when you have the ball in your hand.

Your palms get sweaty, you need a nervous trip to the toilet every five minutes and you can’t take your eyes off who the opposition captain is gesturing at to bowl next.

I made the mistake of bouncing Jofra Archer in a County Championship match in 2018, hitting him on the head.

As soon as it was my turn to bat, I knew who’d have the ball in his hand.

The index finger on my right hand is still swollen from where the first ball I faced from him squeezed in against my bat handle in front of my face. He got me out next ball for nought.

The psychological lift a wagging tail gives to a dressing room is also huge.

It lightens the mood, it gives players the confidence that the momentum in the game is in their favour and you can physically see the frustration in the opposition as they toy with how to extract the last few wickets.

The top order batters’ minds are distracted from facing the opening overs of the following innings and if the tail really wags it can descend into chaos.

England were the sixth worst at removing the tail in the previous cycle of the World Test Championship, with the opposition averaging 87.04 after the sixth wicket fell in that period.

With the best in the world, New Zealand, conceding an average of 61.92, that is a significant 50.24-run swing across a Test.

Cast your mind back to the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in 2023 that Australia won by two wickets.

In a chase of 282, Scott Boland as nightwatchman scored 20 from 40 balls, Pat Cummins 44 not out from 73 and Nathan Lyon a 28-ball unbeaten 16.

More was made of the Stokes declaration on day one, but fundamentally, the inability to blow the tail away in the second innings was where the game was lost.

Killing the tail is going to be imperative to England’s success not only in this series, but in this winter’s Ashes too. Tongue has shown he has the skills. The likes of Carse, Archer or Gus Atkinson could do it too.

Fans of a number of Premier League clubs may have been searching for the name of their most recent signing, a young English player who was signed for a surprisingly high price, over the course of one weekend in June last year.

At the end of the accounting year on June, several unexperienced players made moves between top-flight sides in separate agreements, with the accusation that they were swaps intended to satisfy the demands of profit and sustainability regulations (PSR).

However, these types of deals haven’t been made again this year because only a select few clubs have done so so far and only a select few have signed local players.

PSR losses are limited to a three-year maximum of 105 million pounds.

The Premier League’s fiscal year is over by the 30 June, which is the club’s accounting deadline.

The end of June is crucial for clubs looking to ensure any incoming funds can be added to the year’s accounts, so clubs need to boost their finances.

Any profit made by a club in the sale of a player is fully recorded in the accounts for that year, with homegrown academy players making “pure” profit.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport that if clubs won’t make last-ditch transfers in June, it’s because they “have learned from their previous excesses.”

About £245 million was spent on academy graduates in the weeks leading up to the month’s end in June.

Everton and Aston Villa made separate deals for a ‘9 million dollars’ worth of Lewis Iroegbunam and Lewis Dobbin.

Omari Kellyman, a teenager, moved to Chelsea for a reported $ 19 million from Villa, and Dutch defender Ian Maatsen, a native of the Blues, signed for a reported $ 37 million from Unai Emery’s side for a reported $ 57 million.

Clubs didn’t want to be in a position where they were squabbling around in terms of player sales because they are aware that the Premier League’s rules have teeth, Maguire said.

“You might lose players you’d rather keep, first of all, and then the prices might not necessarily be in your best interests.”

Clubs have learned from previous excesses, and as a result, spending has become more cautious.

Although more than £300m was spent in June, only a small number of Premier League transfers have been completed.

In contrast to last year, there were few transfers where homegrown players were involved, and there were no deals made on the last day of the month.

When Liverpool signed Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth for £40 million, the last top-flight team to spend money on a move was on Thursday.

The champions have spent a lot of money recently, including buying German star Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for £100 million, while Wolves have spent £19 million on forward Fer Lopez from Celta Vigo and Bournemouth has purchased Adrien Truffert for £14.4 million.

For undisclosed or low fees, Manchester United signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5 million, and Leeds, Brighton, and Burnley also signed European players.

The only Premier League player to have paid Kerkez was already a division player; this is in contrast to the last week of June 2024, when numerous deals were made between English clubs for significant sums of money.

Fans of a number of Premier League clubs may have been searching for the name of their most recent signing, a young English player who was signed for a surprisingly high price, over the course of one weekend in June last year.

At the end of the accounting year on June, several unexperienced players made moves between top-flight sides in separate agreements, with the accusation that they were swaps intended to satisfy the demands of profit and sustainability regulations (PSR).

However, these types of deals haven’t been made again this year because only a select few clubs have done so so far and only a select few have signed local players.

PSR losses are limited to a three-year maximum of 105 million pounds.

The Premier League’s fiscal year is over by the 30 June, which is the club’s accounting deadline.

The end of June is crucial for clubs looking to ensure any incoming funds can be added to the year’s accounts, so clubs need to boost their finances.

Any profit made by a club in the sale of a player is fully recorded in the accounts for that year, with homegrown academy players making “pure” profit.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport that if clubs won’t make last-ditch transfers in June, it’s because they “have learned from their previous excesses.”

About £245 million was spent on academy graduates in the weeks leading up to the month’s end in June.

Everton and Aston Villa made separate deals for a ‘9 million dollars’ worth of Lewis Iroegbunam and Lewis Dobbin.

Omari Kellyman, a teenager, moved to Chelsea for a reported $ 19 million from Villa, and Dutch defender Ian Maatsen, a native of the Blues, signed for a reported $ 37 million from Unai Emery’s side for a reported $ 57 million.

Clubs didn’t want to be in a position where they were squabbling around in terms of player sales because they are aware that the Premier League’s rules have teeth, Maguire said.

“You might lose players you’d rather keep, first of all, and then the prices might not necessarily be in your best interests.”

Clubs have learned from previous excesses, and as a result, spending has become more cautious.

Although more than £300m was spent in June, only a small number of Premier League transfers have been completed.

In contrast to last year, there were few transfers where homegrown players were involved, and there were no deals made on the last day of the month.

When Liverpool signed Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth for £40 million, the last top-flight team to spend money on a move was on Thursday.

The champions have spent a lot of money recently, including buying German star Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for £100 million, while Wolves have spent £19 million on forward Fer Lopez from Celta Vigo and Bournemouth has purchased Adrien Truffert for £14.4 million.

For undisclosed or low fees, Manchester United signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5 million, and Leeds, Brighton, and Burnley also signed European players.

The only Premier League player to have paid Kerkez was already a division player; this is in contrast to the last week of June 2024, when numerous deals were made between English clubs for significant sums of money.