< 1 minute read Batsmen always want to play at the top of the order. This might be because they realise that you get more recognition up there. Well we’d like to recognise Ian Bell’s middle-order skills. Runs equal plaudits and while top-order batsmen face the new ball, they can also approach batting however
Continue readingMonth: June 2011
Pietersen, Strauss and recent Test innings
< 1 minute read Kevin Pietersen’s out of form. Andrew Strauss has developed a problem against left-arm pace. Those were the stories at the start of yesterday’s play and the evidence came in the form of their recent Test records. When play did occur, Pietersen looked amazing, but he made the grave error of
Continue readingChris Tremlett should open the bowling for England
< 1 minute read Lots of people have said this, saying Tremlett is more consistent than Stuart Broad and pitches the ball further up. Those things are true, but our point is much simpler: Just look at him. Chris Tremlett is terrifying. It actually doesn’t much matter that he rarely tops 85mph. If you
Continue readingYou have the right to question Aleem Dar
< 1 minute read But it isn’t recommended. At the Rose Bowl yesterday, Andrew Strauss opted to review a possible edge. This was a ridiculous decision. Not because Paranavitana hadn’t nicked it (he had), but because if Aleem Dar couldn’t detect an edge with certainty, technology certainly wouldn’t be up to the task. The
Continue readingReturn of Sangakkara – this time it’s temporary and he doesn’t really want to do it
< 1 minute read It’s not a great film title, but we’d watch. We will watch, in fact. Kumar Sangakkara had two years as captain, but, like Mahela Jayawardene before him, jacked the job in because of the pressure. Unfortunately, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s minced thumb has meant Sri Lanka need a stand-in and after much
Continue readingPhil Mustard and Twenty20 averages and statistics
< 1 minute read Cricket has generally got more time for stats than for its own personal hygiene, yet those for Twenty20 are surprisingly useless. A good batting average can be counterproductive if not allied to a decent strike-rate. A decent bowling economy rate can be misleading if it’s just the result of that
Continue readingSouth Africa v Zimbabwe World Cup warm-up match report
3 minute read Ged writes: Daisy and I happened to be staying near Chennai on the day of the South Africa v Zimbabwe warm-up match. It must have been fate. At least, that’s what I told Daisy. We had arranged to tour Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram that day, with a recommended early start and
Continue readingSimon Katich dropped – the understated reaction
< 1 minute read This is a quote from Australia’s federal defence minister, Stephen Smith. And yes, you read that job title correctly. “Well historically of course there have been a series of atrocities committed by the Australian Cricket Board or Cricket Australia or the Australian selectors against Western Australian cricketers but this one
Continue readingHampshire v Surrey CB40 match report
2 minute read Sam writes: It was a bank holiday, the latest in what seemed like a never-ending string of bank holidays. The weather was clear and breezy. We put our washing out to dry using a makeshift washing line running from the window of our first floor flat and tied to an
Continue readingBenevolent Uncle Sanath is back
< 1 minute read At the age of 41. Sam emailed to say: “I might write something about how he’s really old and he’s like everyone’s uncle and he’s, like, properly old.” We asked what he might conceivably add to that sentence. Sam concluded that there was nothing to add.
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