2 minute read The India team as a whole has been pleading for attention for a while now. Not content with being overshadowed by Sachin Tendulkar’s apparently forever imminent 100th hundred, they’ve sought the spotlight through rank incompetence. Well, the good news is that after getting within a handful of runs of conceding
Continue readingAuthor: King Cricket
Otherwise known as Alex Bowden, a lapsed cricket journalist who has written for ESPNCricinfo, wisden.com, Cricket 365, The Cricketer and plenty of other places.
Links to some non-cricket writing and a bit more background here.
Chris Gayle to play Twenty20 for someone
< 1 minute read In a not-entirely-surprising move, Chris Gayle has signed to play for Somerset in next season’s Twenty20 Cup. Gayle’s ‘people’ released a statement quoting him as saying: “I’m delighted to be heading to [insert name of cricket team]. Hopefully I can make a key contribution to their T20 campaign this year.”
Continue readingHow bad were England in the Nineties?
< 1 minute read We’re concerned that some English people don’t fully appreciate their team’s success. Specifically, we worry that younger cricket fans don’t have perspective. We want to provide that perspective by documenting English cricket in the Nineties. Why would we do this? Well maybe if these people can appreciate how bad the
Continue readingTravel time reclaimed from County Championship
2 minute read “Hi, I’ve only got seven quid. Could you cut 80 per cent of my hair?” Some things have to be done in full. Incompletion is unsatisfactory. As another example, if you have some sort of sports competition, it’s preferable to have everyone competing on an equal footing. If each team
Continue readingWhen did England last have to deal with good spin bowling?
2 minute read England are overrated. We’re not saying they don’t deserve to be considered the best Test side around at the minute; we’re saying the best Test side isn’t automatically the favourite to win a given series. While England have mullered most sides in home conditions, it’s been a while since they
Continue readingStill ahead of the curve
< 1 minute read The fourth instalment of our episodic short story has been published over at Cricinfo and there’s still little sign of administrative fiction becoming a popular new literary genre. Part one Part two Part three Part four The final part should appear later in the week.
Continue readingGiles Clarke given CBE
< 1 minute read We know this isn’t ‘news’ as such, but Giles Clarke was named in the New Year’s honours list. We believe he was awarded with a CBE for associating with known felons. Some might say that we shouldn’t hold one mistake against a man, which is true. It’s all the other
Continue readingJacques Kallis is fitter than he looks
< 1 minute read Jacques Kallis bowled a ball at about 90mph today. Generally speaking, he was bowling faster than Philander, Steyn and Morkel. Despite looking more like a rugby player, Kallis has always been pretty slippery when the mood’s taken him. It’s astonishing that he can still do this when he’s 36-years-old. Few
Continue readingVernon Philander takes wickets for fun
< 1 minute read Other than Angus Fraser, few bowlers have appeared to do it as penance. Many people’s definition of an all-rounder is that they should average more with the bat than they do with the ball. Vernon Philander isn’t a million miles away from that and his batting average is only 7.75.
Continue readingRicky Ponting earns a hundred
< 1 minute read There have been times when we’ve thought that a fat man doing naked limbo in the office would have more dignity than Ricky Ponting. However, he can have his moments. He often speaks well these days and he seemed dignified when he reached 100 against India at the SCG as
Continue reading