2 minute read Shaheen Shah Afridi has a knee injury. So far, so mundane – but if there is one cricket body that can manage a fast bowler’s physical wellbeing in a colourful and unexpected way, it is the Pakistan Cricket Board. Remember when Shoaib Akhtar had genital warts? Of course you do,
Continue readingMonth: August 2022
The Old Trafford mat-fitting scandal – a match report
3 minute read Send your match reports to king@kingcricket.co.uk. We’re only really interested in your own experience, so if it’s a professional match, on no account mention the cricket itself. (But if it’s an amateur match, feel free to go into excruciating detail.) Bert reckons the following match report “reasonably accurately” covers the
Continue readingBen Stokes was at best only partly responsible for the most exciting moment of the second Test
3 minute read We were at Old Trafford on Friday for the Bens’ hundreds. There were some tense moments and some exciting moments and Ben Stokes didn’t play a direct role in all of them. We’re not sure whether his pride was pricked by this old match report, but the day began with
Continue readingOllie Robinson has been given a golden opportunity to develop a new ailment
< 1 minute read That feels the most likely outcome here. You pick Ollie Robinson and generally something goes wrong with him. This time around our money’s on – ooh, let’s see – auto-brewery syndrome. To whisk through Robinson’s last few months once again, it’s gone back spasm, back spasm, tooth infection, food poisoning,
Continue readingWe have one big question about The Hundred TV graphics
2 minute read We watched some of The Hundred last night. We watched it the way we have watched so much cricket over the years: with the sound down slightly too low while having a conversation about something entirely unrelated. The experience reminded us that the on screen graphics remain a major source
Continue readingBen Stokes should probably try and nail a second draft of England’s game before promising to rewrite Test cricket
2 minute read It’s good to be ambitious and open minded and not hidebound by the past. It’s maybe not quite so smart to talk about how you’re going to rewrite how Test cricket is played – particularly if you’re England. Ben Stokes has mostly spoken well since he took on the captaincy,
Continue readingDid you see… Dean Elgar elbowing himself out?
2 minute read The scorecard says Dean Elgar was bowled by James Anderson. The scorecard is keeping a lot of important detail to itself there. To recap what happened, Anderson hit Elgar on the thigh, the ball bounced back towards the bowler, only for Elgar to inadvertently elbow it backwards again. The ball
Continue readingIs England v South Africa a series we should care about?
2 minute read It’s the fun question that now launches all series and tournaments: “Why should I care about this?” When there’s wall-to-wall cricket, nothing can be taken for granted – these days you have to take the time to work out which matches actually matter. No matter how seriously a team says
Continue readingKing Cricket backers rewarded with early access to non-King Cricket thing
2 minute read Here’s a quick update on our Patreon campaign, which we haven’t really mentioned in a while, other than in passing. It’s to do with Pat Cummins. If you don’t know what we’re on about with this whole Patreon thing, the details are here. It’s basically the crowdfunder that keeps the
Continue readingWhere are Jason Roy’s foundations? Do white ball specialists need more time in the middle?
5 minute read Jason Roy isn’t at his best. He’s not even in a place where he can try and bat at his best. How can a white ball specialist like him get back into good batting form these days? Let’s start in the obvious place with a story about a speed skater.
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