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Younus Khan thinks Twenty20 is only a fun game

Does. He. Bollocks.

It’s the last over of the semi final and everything’s at stake. The ball goes out to long-off, Fawad Alam slings it in, hits the stumps and Albie Morkel’s run out. South Africa need 16 off three balls and Pakistan have as good as won. Is Younus Khan happy?

No. Younus Khan is busy bawling out the 17-year-old kid he’s entrusted with bowling this most crucial of overs and who’s been doing a superlative job. He’s enraged and he doesn’t even acknowledge the wicket. As the team converge on Fawad Alam, he just curses at Mohammad Aamer.

Despite the fact that the run out had been successful, Aamer hadn’t been behind the stumps. He didn’t do what he should have done and Younus Khan wasn’t going to let the simple fact that it didn’t actually matter on this occasion stop him from putting Aamer in his place.

Cricinfo article about Lord’s

We did another piece for Cricinfo. It’s about how they could improve the Lord’s atmosphere for Twenty20 matches.

It’s okay – possibly even a 7/10 – but the important part is that we’ve managed to squeeze a reference to wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men into an article on a grown-up website.

We’re running out of ambitions to fulfil after this and… well, just this really.

Bouncers in Twenty20 cricket

England got their tactics right against India – brilliantly so. Admittedly, they stole these tactics off the West Indies who bounced India to defeat earlier in the week, but to be honest England probably carried out the plan even better.

Indian batsmen are used to low, slow pitches and one-day matches where the bouncer’s virtually outlawed. They have heavy bats with a low sweet spot and heave full pitched balls straight into the stands. So why bowl there? This isn’t the subcontinent. Why not bowl at the chest and throat?

Short balls are often no-balled in this form of cricket so it seems risky, but India were hopeless at getting anything out of these deliveries so the tactic was fully justified.