2 minute readChas and Nick write: Back in 1986, sister/auntie Susan worked in public relations for Rhône-Poulenc (now part of Aventis), in Ongar, Essex. She was asked by one of its cricket-loving executives to organise a cricket day for Keith Pont‘s benefit year at Ongar Cricket Club. It’s worth remembering how popular
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It rains more at night
< 1 minute readThis is the conclusion we drew from last week’s round of pink ball County Championship fixtures. Only one of four matches in the first division ended in a result – and even that one saw only 23 wickets fall. Despite the experiment only resulting in the confounding situation where Essex
Continue readingBBC to show “some” live cricket from 2020 as highlights move from Channel 5
2 minute readThe England and Wales Cricket Board has recently accepted that it needs to get some live cricket onto free-to-air TV. The question most of us have been asking is what constitutes “some”. From 2020 (appropriately enough) the BBC will be showing two men’s and one women’s T20 internationals each summer.
Continue readingSo Kumar Sangakkara’s in form then (and not even put off by snapping his bat in half)
< 1 minute readKumar Sangakkara’s last five County Championship innings have been 136, 105, 114, 120 and 200. Today’s double hundred came in a team total of just 369. And he wasn’t even put off by snapping his bat in half. SNAP. Sanga’s bat ends up in two pieces off the bowling of
Continue readingCambridge MCCU v Middlesex CCC – match report
2 minute readEdwardian writes: Cambridge is heaving at the best of times, but taking the quiet back streets from the station to Fenner’s was very pleasant. A few ‘good mornings’ and I was there by 10.30am. I was there to meet my wife’s uncle Spike who said he would do his best
Continue readingA featherbed of Roses – The County Championship round-up
< 1 minute readThey bothered playing some of the County Championship this week. Need they have? The Roses match After little more than a day, Jimmy Anderson had succumbed to groin knackage, Jack Brooks had made a hundred and this match already seemed like it was no longer a going concern. All that
Continue readingZafar Ansari’s “other ambitions” and other tales of premature retirement from cricket
2 minute readEach to his own and all that, but the “new chapter” in Zafar Ansari’s life sounds dull as shit to us. He’s retired from cricket at the age of 25 to pursue another career, “potentially in law”. We’ve been here before. We’ve been here several times. There was James Bruce,
Continue readingThe format of the new ECB T20 competition
2 minute readHere’s a coagulation of plans, proposals, assumptions and best-guesses for the format of the ECB’s new 20-over competition which is due to begin in 2020. Eight sides Eight group matches each Home and away local derbies (to permit that eighth match) IPL style play-offs ECB-produced TV coverage with some matches
Continue readingThe Hampshire-incinerating inferno that is Gary Ballance plus Lancashire’s lethal pelt
2 minute readSurrey are still top Despite drawing with Warwickshire who had attained just three points from two Championship games before this fixture. The most striking development was probably Ian Bell’s dismissal for 99. Was this more or less painful than Misbah-ul-Haq being left stranded on 99 not out yesterday? The Curran
Continue readingVideo: How Ben Coad takes his wickets
< 1 minute readThe ECB doesn’t get everything right when it comes to social media. Earlier this week, they captioned an Alastair Cook highlights reel “Terrific to watch!” which is palpably untrue. But at least they do sneak out nice bite-sized chunks of County Championship footage these days. Here’s Ben Coad taking ten
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