< 1 minute readCan’t be bothered doing the maths, but it’s looking like Lancashire might be the ones slipping into second division invisibility and inconsequence next season. Before this last round of matches, Lancs needed quite a lot to go against them to be relegated. And lo, it came to pass. They’re currently
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.
Nick Gubbins claws at the filthy damp earth
< 1 minute readIf Middlesex, Yorkshire and Somerset were represented by three individuals face down in mud, slithering towards a MacGuffin, we’d have the Middlesex bloke half a yard ahead after the first day’s play in the final round of matches. Nick Gubbins has offset the pantsness of his team-mates and hauled his
Continue readingWho needs to do what to win the County Championship?
< 1 minute readIt’s the last round of the County Championship and three teams could win it: Middlesex, Yorkshire and Somerset. We rather like the ‘there’s been a bonus point at Taunton which changes EVERYTHING!’ chaos of a close finish in this competition, but if you don’t enjoy the baffled-surprise emotion quite as
Continue readingCounty cricket’s spin ecosystem
2 minute readIn recent years there has been much talk about how county cricket hasn’t been producing spin bowlers. A corollary of this is that county batsmen have been facing less spin. With just a bit of a nudge, the latter becomes something that can be exploited. This year in the County
Continue readingJonathan Trott and no ice age
< 1 minute readA lot of you will have assumed that England’s domestic 50-over competition had been and gone. The group stages barely outlasted July and the semi-finals took place three weeks ago. The final, however, was scheduled for the arse end of the season, long after anyone could remember what preceded it.
Continue readingWhy England have selected Gareth Batty
2 minute read“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” At the age of 38, we have genuinely never been fitter in our entire life. We had however assumed that our chance of playing international cricket had passed. Not so! Almost as if England were Australia and Gareth
Continue readingThis is not about the England squad for the Bangladesh tour
< 1 minute readWe can’t remember what time our own email goes out. Is it 11am? We could just check the timestamp on an old one, we suppose – but who’s honestly got time to do that? We suspect it’s actually 10am, but on the offchance it’s an hour later, here’s a link
Continue readingI Don’t Like Cricket, I Hate It – the city-based T20 edition
3 minute readA semi-regular feature in which we ask Prince Prefab about cricket – even though he hates cricket. We are in bold. Prince Prefab is not. We were talking about fat cricketers last time around. It was pointed out to us that the team that won this year’s T20 competition ‘likes
Continue readingThe County Championship state of play a few crucial minutes before the end of the second day
2 minute readWe could wait until the end of the day’s play before giving the latest round of County Championship matches a mid-point once-over, but why wait? Whatever we write will be out of date soon enough anyway. Might as well allow it to become so almost instantly. Keep on Keaton on
Continue readingWhat is the point in the County Championship?
2 minute readWas it a batting point or a bowling point? Was it one arising from a win, or did it come about through a draw? The dream scenario would be for it to have come about thanks to a penalty for a slow over rate, but neither Middlesex nor Yorkshire has
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