King Cricket

Zimbabwe in England: six lessons from history for those not old enough to remember this kind of thing

6 minute readThose of us chipping away the verdigris have a pretty good idea what an early summer England v Zimbabwe Test is all about – but at the same time… man, it’s been a while. All previous England v Zimbabwe matches arrived in a very narrow window between May 2000 and

May 16, 2025 County cricket

Is it possible that despite their best efforts both Josh de Caires and Archie Vaughan will end up carbon copies of their respective fathers?

3 minute readBoth Mike Atherton’s son, Josh de Caires, and Michael Vaughan’s son, Archie Vaughan, have thus far billed themselves as all-rounders. You’re supposed to write that they’re their own men, making their own unique ways in the game, but we can’t help but notice that de Caires is opening the batting

May 14, 2025 County cricket

Lancashire’s recovery masterplan: different captain, different players, different pitches

2 minute readWhen Lancashire were relegated last season, it elicited the usual silver lining consolatory thought among supporters that at least they might win a few more games in Division 2. Dear reader, Lancashire have not yet won a single game in Division 2. Lancashire are bottom. Of the second division. A

May 12, 2025 India

Virat Kohli will be insanely easy to replace

2 minute readWe’re not at all in Rubel Hossain territory here, but we’re pretty sure India just became a better Test team with Virat Kohli’s retirement. He was no longer the Test cricketer he once was. In fact he was essentially John Crawley. When it comes to middle-order batters, India can definitely

May 9, 2025 India / Pakistan

Can this website really report on the “escalating tensions” between India and Pakistan by refracting it through the lens of the PSL and IPL?

2 minute readNo, not really. It’s the tone of irreverent escapism, you see. This gets us through a lot of things, but it takes on a very different hue when it’s applied to a situation where people are actually dying. We went to the India-Pakistan border once. It was 20-odd years ago

May 8, 2025 India

Rohit Sharma: all over the place as a Test batter, less annoying than Virat Kohli as a Test captain

3 minute readThey called him Nohit, they called him Hitman – honestly, just make your bloody minds up. When a specialist batter’s feted for the central act of hitting the ball, but also infamous for completely failing to do so, you know he’s covered a bit of ground over the course of

May 7, 2025 County cricket

Two remarkable things about Ethan Bamber as Warwickshire move up to second

2 minute readIf there’s one thing you can confidently say about Warwickshire’s Ethan Bamber, it’s that his father played Hitler in a Tom Cruise film. The film in question was Valkyrie, about a failed attempt by German army officers to assassinate Hitler. As is for some reason traditional when Hollywood needs people

May 2, 2025 England

Cook with gas: England’s parallel quick and not-quite-so quick bowling queues

4 minute readIt looks like Essex’s Sam Cook is finally going to get a Test cap. “About time!” you might be thinking. Or maybe you’re thinking, “Okay, that makes sense now – although which other bowlers is he going to be playing alongside?” With 318 first-class wickets at 19.77, Sam Cook’s statistical

April 29, 2025 County cricket

Fergie time is over – Rocky times still await

2 minute read“When you go, your footprints will fill with grass. Moss shall cover your tombstone, and as the sun rises, green shall spread over all, in all its shades and hues. This verdigris will overtake your swords and your coins and your battlements and, try as you might, all you hold

April 24, 2025 County cricket

Drawsome: County Championship battle for mid-table mediocrity rages

1 minute readThere’s another top of the table clash looming in the County Championship this week. That’s not as dramatic as it sounds though because as tables go it’s something of a chabudai. Quite a lot of teams have only managed one win so far this season – and they’re the high