< 1 minute readIf you’ve developed a taste for fifth Ashes Test dead rubbers then good news! We’ve a contrived one to tell you about. The final episode of the latest series of our Ridiculous Ashes podcast is now up and (spoiler!) there was nothing to play for but pride (in one’s own
Continue reading
5 minute readHarry Brook walked out at 8-3 in England’s first innings in Melbourne. Mitchell Starc ran in and bowled at 145.1km/h. Brook ran at it, swung with all his might… and completely missed it. It was one of the most glorious arrivals we can ever remember seeing. This was, let’s be
Continue reading
5 minute read“I hate doing it,” claimed Steve Smith at the toss. “But as I’ve said, we keep producing wickets that we don’t think is going to spin.” As it turned out, the more accurate assessment came from Ben Stokes. “We try and act like we know what we’re doing when we’re
Continue reading
2 minute readFinally, belatedly, on day three of the fifth Test, the normal Ashes began: flat pitch, hot sun… how are you going to handle this? Australia handled it with bats in their hands. England handled it the way they’ve so often handled it in the past: with an endlessly rotating cast
Continue reading
4 minute readYou expect the unexpected in this Ashes, but we didn’t see the prospect of Jamie Smith getting bounced out by Marnus Labuschagne mentioned in any of the previews. This was obviously gloriously awful cricket all round, but which was the worst (and therefore also, in some weird sense, the best)
Continue reading
3 minute readSydney has a reputation for being spin friendly, but it’s a reputation like your fat, wheezing mate who used to be good at gymnastics. Some of the raw ingredients are presumably still in there somewhere, but no-one’s seriously expecting anything. Shane Warne is the top Test wicket-taker at this ground
Continue reading
3 minute readThe Boxing Day Test is looming and despite the already terminal series scoreline, we are very excited indeed. Nevertheless, our default approach to covering the sport’s biggest Test match is to wish you all a happy Festivus and then bugger off… so that’s what we’re doing. The long and short of it
Continue reading
7 minute readHow do you feel about this one England fans? We feel like the team went from monochrome dreadful four years ago to at least striving for technicolour peaks. The bleak truth is that they’re 3-0 down after three Tests and we’d still chalk it up as progress. Let’s quickly recap
Continue reading
6 minute readGive us this day our daily treat: 15 to 20 minutes of two 50-something former England captains broadcasting their grey area opinions with a sense of humour and a lack of ego. Sky Sports doesn’t have the rights to this Ashes series because they were again snaffled up by what
Continue reading
6 minute readIt’s confirmed then. England have put themselves in a position to lose the Ashes without ever once playing the spinner they fast tracked into the team at least partly because they thought he could perform well in Australia. With no great career record and no real form to speak of,
Continue reading