< 1 minute read We’ve another thing. It’s a fortnightly column for All Out Cricket called The Shire Horse. It’s non-serious, so you don’t have to sigh and roll your eyes at our making an attempt to ‘say something’. We hope you’re okay with the fact that we’re increasingly linking to stuff we’ve written
Continue readingCategory: County cricket
The Liam Plunkett thing
< 1 minute read If you read about county cricket much, you’ll be familiar with this kind of thing. A player you hadn’t thought about a right lot suddenly starts worming his way into every second article, even though he doesn’t seem to have done anything especially eyecatching. In May 2014, that person is
Continue readingOr how about Samit Patel?
< 1 minute read This early season is taking us back. Before Panesar and then Swann, picking an England spin bowler was like buying discounted fruit and veg. There was something wrong with whatever you chose, but could you find a way of using it somehow? You needed the vitamins, after all. We feel
Continue readingWho’s got gloves? Have you got gloves? Okay, you’re picked
< 1 minute read Say what you like about Craig Kieswetter’s work behind the sticks, at least he owns a pair of gloves. We’ve half a mind that he’ll end up as England’s Test wicketkeeper simply because he’s the only one who spends any time actually keeping wicket. Today’s Yorkshire report on Cricinfo centres
Continue readingWho says this site doesn’t serve a valuable purpose?
< 1 minute read Just a quick update to draw your attention to an old post which a lot of you won’t have seen because it’s from 2009. It’s about Jim Foat. If you don’t know Jim Foat, it’s hopefully worth a read, but that’s not the main reason why we’re reviving it today.
Continue readingYou’re in the wrong place
< 1 minute read Because honestly, what’s the point updating this website on a day when someone else has published a Rob Key interview? It reminds us why we like him. What is the best thing about playing cricket at Canterbury? There’s a Sainsbury’s at the ground. Ever since 2008, we’ve had a draft
Continue readingSharpen the England Test team pencil
< 1 minute read Third seamer – Chris Jordan? Can we start assuming this now, or is that going too far? It’s just it would mean one less thing to keep track of, and the less we have to keep track of, the more we can concentrate on the important stuff, like moaning about
Continue readingEngland players are better than county players
2 minute read We know that’s kind of the point, but it’s worth cementing this notion while everyone’s moving in similar circles. It’ll prevent confusion later in the season. There will come a point – probably at some point in July – when Ian Bell will have made a couple of ducks against
Continue readingSteve Magoffin and MacGuffins
< 1 minute read In film, a MacGuffin is something characters strive for which rather conveniently drives the plot. As often as not, its exact nature is unimportant. What matters is that at least one of the characters wants it. People aren’t fighting to acquire Sussex’s Steve Magoffin, so he doesn’t really fit the
Continue readingOne batsman and a bit of pace bowling
2 minute read Refreshingly manageable levels of information this week with very little of note happening with regards to candidates for the England squad. Gary Ballance This is probably the headline event. Gary Ballance made 174 against Northamptonshire. Reading between the lines written by better-informed people than us, it’s possible that England have
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