2 minute read The answer is no. But let’s explore the question anyway. England have just added Liam Dawson to their squad. He joins Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid in one of the most all-rounderly squads England have ever assembled. He also replaces Zafar Ansari, another spin bowling all-rounder.
Continue readingMonth: November 2016
England get a grip, but India keep a grip
< 1 minute read Yet again, it’s one of those win the toss, win the match, if you’re India pitches. The sheer predictability of proceedings only being disrupted when the coin ended the other way up. There’s an illusion of inevitability when India bat first, but the play is coerced down a certain path
Continue readingNeil Wagner sacrifices the opportunity to run in for a small fragment of the final session
< 1 minute read Pakistan had already lost six wickets in the final session of the match when Kane Williamson brought forth The Great Neil Wagner. Three ducks later, the series was over. This isn’t going to help Wagner’s reputation one bit. How the hell are you supposed to run in all day when
Continue readingToday’s Ben Stokes-induced happenings
< 1 minute read At one point in the afternoon session, Ben Stokes accidentally spat on his own shirt. You’d think this would be a low point, but he plucked off the deposit with no obvious display of emotion. Perhaps he knew that things were about to get significantly worse. Shortly after spraying a
Continue readingGood evening, Mr Kohli?
< 1 minute read Before tea, Che Pujara and Virat Kohli, neither of whom had looked too troubled, started to hit a few more fours. It felt predictable and seemed to foreshadow a long evening session for England. After tea, Pujara – perhaps concerned that he might partially obscure Kohli’s halo – needlessly looped
Continue readingWhere would India be given another half-revolution of the coin?
2 minute read When trying to assess the state of play after the first day’s play, it’s often tempting to imagine a parallel world where the toss-winning captain has opted for heads instead of tails, tails instead of heads, or just totally gone off on one and gone for arms or thoraxes or
Continue readingEven if you’re not normally much into this sort of thing…
< 1 minute read It’s worth pointing out that David Gower makes an appearance in our latest Cricinfo Twitter round-up. Yes, that’s right – Gower. David Gower. On Twitter. His contribution is every bit as wonderful as you would imagine.
Continue readingHow to dismiss Faf du Plessis – make friends with him
< 1 minute read Faf du Plessis is a competitor. That’s the kind of thing people say. It’s a shorthand way of saying that he only seems capable of playing to his full potential when there’s a stronger taste of conflict to proceedings. Performing in what is never called the crucible of county cricket,
Continue readingRishabh Pant is not India’s wicketkeeper – what possible reason is there for this?
< 1 minute read Wriddhiman Saha is injured. India’s selectors said it was too early to hand a debut to Rishabh Pant who is still only 19 years old. They instead picked Parthiv Patel, a 31-year-old who made his Test debut against England in 2002. In seven innings this season, Pant has made four
Continue readingSomerset v Glamorgan, Royal London One-Day Cup match report
2 minute read Sam writes: It rained on the drive from Cornwall to Somerset. We had left our 18-month old son at home, and brought along our 34-year-old friend instead. He turned out to be slightly lower maintenance. The seating rules were not clear, so we plonked ourselves behind the bowler’s arm underneath
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