2 minute read We’ve spent the morning reading obituaries of Australian cricket. An England innings victory in Australia is a monumental thing, but it’s not suddenly become the norm. Australia do tend to pick themselves back up again. It’s generally just a matter of how soon. One of the wisest things Special Correspondent
Continue readingMonth: December 2010
Who are Australia’s best bowlers?
< 1 minute read Probably Shaun Tait, Brett Lee and Stuart Clark – but being as they’re all out of the reckoning one way or another, which bowlers will Australia pick for Perth? Having made a point of undermining Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz by dropping them, these players are sure to
Continue readingEngland’s innings victories in Australia
< 1 minute read There will be younger England fans who have seen their team win two of the last three Ashes series who really won’t get the significance of a win like this. For England, Ashes series down under aren’t ordinarily cricket. They’re more like visits to a lab where they can carry
Continue readingMarcus North has plenty to think about
2 minute read Watching England bowl on a wearing Adelaide pitch, it was apparent that while batting might not be treacherous, there is plenty for the batsmen to think about. The ball turns from certain spots, tempting gaps are left and when even Paul Collingwood can prove dangerous, you know you’ve got to
Continue readingAustralian bowlers under threat
< 1 minute read The Test before last, Australia fielded a bowling attack of Hilfenhaus, Johnson, Hauritz and George. In this Test, they have Harris, Bollinger, Siddle and Doherty, who have barely taken a wicket between them. What happens now? Go back to the first lot? The players can’t enjoy this selection drama. They’re
Continue readingWhat use is a flat track bully?
2 minute read The term ‘flat track bully’ isn’t so popular these days. It’s because it’s no longer indicative of a weakness. A batsman who makes the most of flat pitches, bullying bowlers into submission, is basically what you want in Test cricket where 19 pitches out of 20 are basically pretty lifeless
Continue readingAlastair Cook further extends the time between dismissals against Australia
< 1 minute read Alastair Cook is in a Vaughanian run of form down under. When he was batting with Jonathan Trott, it was a case of ‘the bowlers may change, but the batsmen remain the same’. Was it the Ashes or some sort of Cook-Trott conceptual art? Can you detect the passage of
Continue readingThe James Anderson plan
< 1 minute read England showed us Plan A today – James Anderson beheads the innings with the new ball and then returns to sweep away the ankles with the second new ball. But you’re aware how fragile it is. Today it worked, but even after taking three wickets in 2.1 overs, Australia still
Continue readingHigh scores at Adelaide Oval Cricket Ground
< 1 minute read History’s a load of arse. It gives you a slightly better idea as to what might happen, but really all it tells you is what’s already happened. It’s a guide not gospel. We were told that Brisbane would be pacy and this that and the other, but the pitch started
Continue readingDue a big score, due a hundred
< 1 minute read We’ve written about batsmen being ‘due’ a score before. The idea is that if a batsman isn’t scoring any runs, he’s actually stockpiling them for a future innings. The idea seems to be that every batsman has a quota of runs that he can allocate as he chooses. A terrible
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