3 minute readThere were three phases to Virat Kohli’s hundred. There was the bit where he kept being beaten by the bowlers; there was the bit where the ball wasn’t doing quite so much but he was still shaken up; and there was the bit where everything went back to normal and
Continue readingAuthor: King Cricket
Otherwise known as Alex Bowden, a lapsed cricket journalist who has written for ESPNCricinfo, wisden.com, Cricket 365, The Cricketer and plenty of other places.
Links to some non-cricket writing and a bit more background here.
Virat Kohli ran out Joe Root and then he did a good thing and then he did a bad thing
2 minute readWe don’t know if the following is fair or not. You could probably prove it one way or the other using ‘statistics’ or ‘facts’. It certainly feels true though and if modern politics tells us anything, it’s that what feels true is of far greater significance that what actually is
Continue readingTo celebrate England’s 1,000th men’s Test match, we ask: which one was the most mediocre?
2 minute readIt’s England’s 1,000th Test match. In honour of this inevitable round number, we thought it would be nice to pick out the most mediocre Test they’ve played. Not poor. Mediocre. Just middling and neither here nor there really. Method We went through all of England’s 999 men’s Test matches and
Continue readingWhich is more likely: a Virat Kohli hundred, an Adil Rashid five-for or a Kuldeep Yadav five-for?
2 minute readMany things will happen when England play India from tomorrow. It’s tempting to imagine that the first Test match is some sort of newspaper headline final which will only feature those who were prominent during the quarters and semis in recent weeks. Viewed from that perspective, which is more likely:
Continue readingThe Lord’s Throdkin dispute
2 minute readYou may or may not remember the Lord’s Throdkin. If you do, you will be very excited to hear that there has been a development… Ged writes: Lancastrian nephew-in-law Escamillo Escapillo is partial to my Lord’s Throdkin cookies. I was to spend the first of three days at Lord’s watching
Continue readingAdil Rashid’s back!
2 minute readAs in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. Is Adil Rashid a bowler who can take wickets when others cannot? Yeah, probably. Sometimes. Does Adil Rashid’s selection for the Test squad having previously jacked in red ball cricket maybe raise a couple of awkward questions? Erm, yeah, probably.
Continue readingThe three main changes you can always make to the England Test team
2 minute readWhen a Test squad’s due to be announced, everyone normally has a default XI in mind and then we all make swaps according to our own prejudices. Typically, everyone wants to make between one and three changes. Change No 1 is when you replace the rubbish batsman you hate with
Continue readingSorry about this but we’re going to report the latest rumours about The Hundred
2 minute readThat joke isn’t funny any more. You know the one. The one where you make up an outlandish format detail about The Hundred in an effort to satirise the ECB. The problem is that while The Hundred seems like rich source material, it really isn’t. The joke suggestions are too
Continue readingWatch the Al Jazeera match fixing documentary
2 minute readIf you want to watch that Al Jazeera documentary about match-fixing (spot fixing, actually) to see for yourself whether the allegations have any merit, here it is (or click here). The film went out in May, but it’s in the news again this week because Glenn Maxwell’s been talking about
Continue readingEssex v West Indies indoctrination of a young mind match report
2 minute readDan writes: My seven year old son looks a demon with the bat in his hands in the back garden, and he actually pays attention when the cricket’s on the TV. He seems to reserve special interest for the Test matches, which is very pleasing. So this summer we signed
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