2 minute read As the pre-Ashes war of words hits a dizzying peak of meaninglessness, it’s worth reflecting on something said long after a previous series had finished. Reflecting on the team’s modus operandi during The Mitchell Johnson Ashes, Peter Siddle said: “The key stat for us is maidens. The more maidens you
Continue readingMonth: November 2017
Books to read at the cricket? Herding Cats: The Art of Amateur Cricket Captaincy by Charlie Campbell
< 1 minute read Edwardian writes Charlie Campbell is the captain of the Author’s XI. I’ve seen these roosters a couple of times at the Wormsley ‘Words and Wickets’ festival. In 2014 there was a tent displaying the latest Jaguar cars and the food was provided by Jamie Oliver. I marvelled at the burgers
Continue readingAustralia win the bloody Ashes
< 1 minute read In shit news, Australia have retained the Ashes. They won the first T20 international to give them a four-point series lead with only four points left to play for. Test centurion Ellyse Perry was at one point on a hat-trick for Australia as England slipped to 16-4. From there, the
Continue readingWhen did Kolkata become dibbly-dobbly military-medium paradise?
< 1 minute read If you were India and had access to a time-and-place machine capable of replacing a nearby patch of land with one from elsewhere and elsewhen, then when and where would you choose to play Sri Lanka at Test cricket? It’s unlikely that you answered ‘Derby last April’ but that is
Continue readingShaun Marsh is back
2 minute read It occurs to us that people are far more likely to say “Shaun Marsh is back” than use the contraction “Shaun Marsh’s back” when referring to his return. This rather undermines an excellent joke we were going to make. Never mind. We’re sure we’ll one day get an opportunity to
Continue readingCricket’s doping crisis hasn’t arrived yet
2 minute read This week’s edition of The Spin reports that the ICC “stepped up” its dope testing at this year’s Champions Trophy when it started conducting blood tests. As someone who spends a significant proportion of his working life reading about the shortcomings of even blood testing, the idea that a sport
Continue readingJoe Root crushes the ‘targeting’ cliché
< 1 minute read Joe Root has done many great things in international cricket. He launched England’s rebound in 2015 and kicked off the last Ashes with a magnificent hundred later the same summer. Now he’s shone a light on the fundamental bullshittery of ‘targeting’ the opposition’s captain/best batsman. “I’ve heard a lot of
Continue readingEllyse Perry takes a rare opportunity and makes it very difficult for England to win the Ashes
< 1 minute read Ellyse Perry’s long wait for a Test hundred lasted nine years and seven Tests. If you don’t get too many opportunities, you might as well make any hundred a double – she finished on 213 not out. The first women’s Test match was between Australia and England in December 1934.
Continue readingWho is Tom Helm?
2 minute read We experienced a delightful nostalgic moment earlier this week when we read that Tom Helm had narrowly lost out to Tom Curran for an Ashes call-up. “Who’s Tom Helm?” we thought. We knew the name, we knew he was a bowler, but it’s been a long, long time since we
Continue readingA match report from the Eric Hollies stand
2 minute read Nigel writes (with pictures kindly supplied by Charles): A group of us, The Heavy Rollers, have been going to Edgbaston for every Test match since the last century. We enjoy our cricket in the peace and relative tranquillity of the Priory Stand or latterly the Raglan. But in 2008, Charles
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