2 minute read When New Zealand played Australia, the bowlers won and cricket was all the better for it. Runs are not a sensible unit of measurement when gauging the value of the ‘product’. AB de Villiers is a genius and deserves every plaudit that comes his way, but Kane Williamson’s 45 off
Continue readingMonth: February 2015
How bad can a fifth bowler be?
< 1 minute read This appears to be South Africa’s thinking after picking only four proper bowlers. It should present a vulnerability, but when you then make 408, you find you have a certain amount of breathing space – perhaps even enough that you could field Jade Dernbach and still harbour reasonable hopes of
Continue readingSamiullah Shenwari really was worth watching
< 1 minute read Afghanistan have won their first World Cup match. It was only the fifth one wicket win in the history of the tournament. With Ireland beating the UAE by two wickets yesterday, it doesn’t need saying that the Associates have provided more than their fair share of entertainment. But we’ll say
Continue readingHow big is Chris Gayle?
< 1 minute read We’d say that Chris Gayle’s biggest achievement today was looking like a relatively small person. The route to achieving this wasn’t easy. He first had to hit a double hundred and this then allowed him the opportunity to stand next to Ian Bishop at the post-match press conference. Bishop appears
Continue readingLower orders and the last 10 overs
3 minute read At the start of the tournament, we highlighted a weakness of South Africa’s – the fact that their batting order “quite quickly becomes a little bit Farhaan Behardien”. This weekend, it just as quickly became a little bit Wayne Parnell. That’s a long tail. South Africa’s best batsmen are so
Continue readingWhen Southee and McCullum skinned England
2 minute read Skinned them alive? Probably not. Skinned them undead maybe, for England increasingly seem like zombies. Asked to explain England’s latest defeat, all Eoin Morgan could muster was “braaaains” in a long, drawn-out moan. “Skiiiill” and “caaaaalmness” were also lacking. In contrast to England’s rotting flesh, New Zealand have a surfeit
Continue readingUnity, leadership not a problem – Holder
< 1 minute read We’re thinking about getting more into uninspired, derivative headlines. This is what we’d have gone with for our latest Cricinfo piece. And while we’re linking, it’s also just occurred to us that we never pointed you towards the latest king added to our pantheon over at All Out Cricket. This
Continue readingMominul Haque’s not a bad number nine
< 1 minute read If you’ve been around this site for a couple of years and have properly been paying attention, you’ll know that we have a slight obsession with Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque on the not-at-all flimsy grounds that his name sounds a bit like a drunk person saying a team-mate’s name – a
Continue readingHow many World Cup hundreds has Virat Kohli scored?
2 minute read We suppose we really should at least acknowledge that the biggest cricket match of recent years took place. You know the one – Virat Kohli scored a hundred (as usual) and Misbah-ul-Haq made a futile 50 (as usual). It was Kohli’s 22nd one-day international hundred, a number that is both
Continue readingWho is Andy McBrine?
< 1 minute read He’s kind of like a McBride, but saltier. With all of one first-class match and three one-day internationals to his name before today, he delivered the stupid figures of 0-26 off 10 overs against the West Indies – this in a match in which Ireland chased down 305 inside 46
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