The mythology of Johnson

2 minute read That sounds a little like a crude and edgy, deliberately controversial Off-Broadway show. But it isn’t. It’s a reference to the eldest Mitchell; the man who apparently compels English batsmen to dash their own brains out in fear. Mitchell Johnson is currently the man with the fifth-best bowling average and

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Ian Bell is only 33

2 minute read This isn’t really about Ian Bell. It’s about English cricket’s attitude to age and the impact of the international schedule as it is now. When an England player has a spell of poor form, it is generally described in one of two ways. Young players are ‘found out’ while older

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Why David Warner doesn’t do ‘reading’

< 1 minute read This week David Warner gave many people the impression that he thinks the activity known as ‘reading’ is some bizarre pastime reserved for 17th Century English gentlemen. Of the differences between himself and Chris Rogers, he said simply: “He reads a lot of books – I wouldn’t read a book.”

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Resolve is a finite resource

2 minute read Absolutely true. You don’t possess a bottomless pit of willpower. It’s why New Year’s resolutions fizzle out. It’s why you can only resist easily-accessible snack food for so long. Anything that takes mental effort drains your resources and without time to recuperate, eventually you’ll have nothing left. Winning is easy.

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