http://www.kingcricket.co.uk England, county cricket, India and Australia | news and blog Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:18:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A 'balls' joke. You can tell we're on holiday. http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/tino-best-cups-his-balls-in-his-left-hand/2012/02/22/ As most of you know, this site uses pictures taken by Sarah Ansell. While perusing her site last week, we found this beauty: We like the way the ball is behind his head. As a batsman, it's never good to have the ball behind your head. This is never more true ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/watch-the-bail-ricky/2012/02/21/ A lot of people are backtracking on Michael Clarke's captaincy. He was astonishingly unpopular when he got the job - largely on the grounds that he looks like he drinks Smirnoff Ice - but many Australians seem to have warmed to him, what with all the wins and all. On ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/michael-clarke-aint-all-that/2012/02/20/ We're going to the Lakes. But it's okay, we've got stuff written and ready to go. You might well ask why we didn't use some of that stuff yesterday. Well, er, it was already scheduled for next week and we, er... dunno. Shut up. This opens up the delightful possibility that ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/were-away-for-a-few-days/2012/02/17/ A hundred from Alastair Cook, a fifty from Ravi Bopara and four wickets for Steven Finn. As templates go, it's quite specific. It'll never last. Templates get worn out. Give us a bottle of Tab Clear, some prawn crackers and a copy of Sensible Soccer and we would NOT have the ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/englands-one-day-victory-template/2012/02/15/ Samit Patel said of playing Pakistan: "It would be a great achievement to beat them 4-0 in their own backyard." Yes, it would, considering you're in the Middle East. There seems to be an issue defining 'back yard'. Kevin Pietersen used the same term last week. As a rule of thumb, international ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/does-anyone-know-what-a-back-yard-is/2012/02/14/ And after all of 12 matches, Steven Finn would seem to be their best bowler. How do you feel about these things? Angry or amazed? Before this series, each of Sky's commentary team picked their preferred England one-day side. We weren't really paying attention (cooking, eating, playing games or just zoning ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/alastair-cook-seems-to-be-englands-best-one-day-batsman-at-the-minute/2012/02/13/ We did a Cricinfo piece about ways England could slavishly copy Pakistan - because if you're beaten by a particular side, it stands to reason that EVERYTHING they do is correct. One thing that we didn't suggest was that England should try and get their opening bowlers incarcerated. We're quite ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/slavishly-copying-pakistan/2012/02/13/ Before you start criticising us for getting carried away and not appreciating the depths of the problems facing a war-torn nation, let us just say that those aren't our words. They're the words of Afghanistan's minister of finance, Dr Omar Zakhilwal and you'd hope he'd have half an idea what ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/cricket-can-help-rebuild-afghanistan-society/2012/02/11/ We're not quite sure what's going on in Abu Dhabi and we're not sure we want to know. England Lions made 96 all out in 28.3 overs. This apparently means that an England XI are chasing 230 in 50 overs. It is not clear at this stage whether you get four runs ... http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/a-team-with-england-in-its-name-is-going-to-win/2012/02/10/