3 minute read One is English, one is Pakistani. One is young, one is old – or at least he is in cricketing terms. For much of last summer’s Test series between England and Pakistan, Alex Hales and Younus Khan trod a similar path. Come the last Test, their journeys diverged markedly. Hales
Continue readingMonth: May 2017
Normal service not really resumed
< 1 minute read There’s been a daughter! Her name’s Niamh. She’s basically the best thing of all. Obviously she’s not our sole creation, so please resist the temptation to assign her some sort of royal cricket title. Niamh and her mother are the main reasons why we’ve been a trifle pressed for time
Continue readingAn acceptable way to finish a cricket match and an unacceptable way to report on one
2 minute read We’ve been having some absolutely belting weather for the last week or so in these parts – but only on the sly. The gale force winds that have been partially masking things finally abated today and the lull revealed one of those perfect spring days that make you slightly less
Continue readingEngland’s bowling and some clarification on the current condition of Aleem Dar’s lower face
2 minute read Yesterday morning, our cat Monty did a more than passable impersonation of Mark Wood’s backwards press run-up as he exited the house. Despite his unutterably poor track record of predicting cricket matches, we took this as a clear sign that England would beat Ireland. And so it proved. We’ve just
Continue readingShannon Gabriel nicks one for the Windies
< 1 minute read Maybe this is why people have started saying ‘snick’ to mean ‘nick’ – to prevent headlines like this one from being ambiguous. Shannon Gabriel – arguably the finest fast bowler called Shannon currently plying his trade – took 5-11 as the West Indies dismissed Pakistan for just 81 to win
Continue readingLaurence Elderbrook confronts a new challenge
< 1 minute read Previous instalment from Laurence Elderbrook Life as a cricketer errant continues to be wearying, but it is the path I have chosen and a path I will continue to walk. This week my squire, Darron-with-an-O, must have asked at more than a dozen clubs whether any team required a dashing
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq – King of the Daddy Fifty
< 1 minute read Embed from Getty Images Last week Ian Bell was dismissed for 99 and we wondered whether that was more or less painful than Misbah-ul-Haq being left stranded on 99 not out against the West Indies. Well, it seems Misbah was wondering the same thing. One Test later, he executed a
Continue readingBen Stokes or Sunil Narine?
2 minute read Ben Stokes played a handy innings yesterday. With his team, Rising Pune Supergiant, chasing Gujarat Lions’ 161, Stokes made 103 not out, batting at five. Cricinfo said that Stokes “owned the MCA Stadium” – although their use of the past tense implies that he’s since sold it or perhaps had
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