< 1 minute readThe 2015 Ashes started with a hail of bouncers. Double-bouncers, triple-bouncers and a few outright grub-hunters. It was intimidating stuff from the perspective of an ankle – although the puddingness of the pitch did at least simplify things for the bowlers, allowing them to both pitch it short and hit
Continue readingCategory: Australia
It’s time for some new source material
< 1 minute readEngland’s players have been treated to an afternoon of Beefy rest day anecdotes, while Michael Clarke’s babbling on about ‘the line’ for the billionth time (“I think everyone knows where the line is,” he said this week – if not, we certainly know where we can hear about it). It’s
Continue readingRetirement – when the time comes, you just know
< 1 minute readThat’s what cricketers always say, as if they received some mystical message from the cosmos informing them it was ‘time’. Ryan Harris has retired because he’s broken his leg by bowling with a knee devoid of cartilage. You might therefore think it was ‘time’ slightly before now, but apparently not.
Continue readingRyan Harris is out
< 1 minute readAs in ‘out of the warm-up match against Essex due to a recurrence of his long-standing knee problems’. Not as in ‘dismissed’ or in that other sense. “My body itself feels really good,” said Harris last week. ‘Good’ for Ryan Harris apparently means ‘at least a few days away from
Continue readingThe lessons Mitchell Starc doesn’t need to learn
2 minute readWe remember seeing a story in the local paper once where a woman had come second in some sort of vegetable growing competition despite being the only person to have entered that particular category. Let’s say she grew a broccoflower – which is apparently a thing. In a world class
Continue readingMagazine aimed specifically at Michael Clarke’s Australia team launched
< 1 minute readAsked about ‘the line‘ earlier this month, Michael Clarke responded: “I probably say this every series but we respect there’s a line you can’t cross. Both teams might head-butt that line, but I’m confident we won’t overstep the mark.” Everyone knows that Clarke would never breach a line, which is
Continue readingSteven Smith is destined to fail says Michael Clarke
2 minute readMichael Clarke has launched an astonishing broadside against his team-mate Steven Smith ahead of this summer’s Ashes series. The Australian captain claims that Smith will struggle to make any sort of impact this summer despite now being ranked the best Test batsman in the world. Responding to Graeme Swann’s assertion
Continue readingHow New Zealand kept their distance from ‘the line’
< 1 minute readNew Zealand’s performance against England in the recently-completed Test series was the most relentlessly aggressive we can remember. There have been examples of individual players adopting a persistent attacking approach before now, but look back on those series and you’ll tend to find obdurate batting and dry bowling from a
Continue readingWahab v Watson
< 1 minute readTechnically, Shane Watson won this particular duel by surviving, going on to hit the winning runs. But if it really was a victory, it was one characterised by looking like a complete div for a prolonged period. Wahab Riaz’s mistake was that he left himself reliant on the woeful catching
Continue readingKane Williamson demonstrates how to hit a six
2 minute readWhen New Zealand played Australia, the bowlers won and cricket was all the better for it. Runs are not a sensible unit of measurement when gauging the value of the ‘product’. AB de Villiers is a genius and deserves every plaudit that comes his way, but Kane Williamson’s 45 off
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