< 1 minute read It’s funny how things change. Time was, England’s one-day batting started with a bang/Banger and then burnt out. Nowadays they light tinder, wait patiently while the kindling gently crackles and then chuck on some logs which have spent eight months marinating in petrol right at the end. The first scenario
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English spin bowler takes wickets
< 1 minute read No, honestly. An actual spin bowler as well, not just a batsman specialising in round-arm dob. It was the second division, but these are desperate times – we have to make the most of whatever we can find. We’re basically Wombles. The spinner in question is Monty Panesar and at
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 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 hire a Maxonian
< 1 minute read Is it a good idea for a team that can’t bat to hire the coach of a team that can’t bat? It’s probably okay. The England coach is basically just a management figure, after all and Peter Moores seems pretty good at that side of things. He brought in many
Continue readingBen Stokes and the cure-all that is ‘passion’
< 1 minute read One worrying, but entirely predictable, revelation from Ben Stokes’ recent interview in the Guardian is that he’s broken bones punching inanimate objects before. He reckons he’s going to learn this time. “I don’t think punching lockers is the way forward for anyone. There’s only going to be one winner there.”
Continue readingEngland Squad Watch – part one
2 minute read Who plays for England these days? NO-ONE KNOWS. They don’t even have a coach and the uncertainty pours down from there, covering everyone in a sticky, unctuous goo that at first you think might be some sort of over-ripe berry that’s fallen from a tree, before realising that there’s no
Continue readingOf new eras and transitional periods
< 1 minute read We wrote for someone else. Since we stopped writing for The Cricketer’s website a few years back, we haven’t really had an outlet for non-satirical longer articles, so we reckon that’s what we’ll do for Cricket365 and we’ll link to anything that goes up there. This first piece is about
Continue readingOh for complacency to be an option
< 1 minute read Stuart Broad cited batting complacency as the main reason for England losing to the Netherlands. Ashley Giles agreed, saying that was the only possible reason for the defeat. “They’re not playing well enough to be complacent,” pointed out Mike Atherton. We’re not as downbeat as you might think about this
Continue readingDeath by seam bowling
2 minute read We’re not in favour of demonising individuals. But three runs, Jade. Three runs. That’s all that was in it. Couldn’t someone have saved three runs somewhere along the way? Maybe Jos Buttler’s missed stumping proved costly. Would a specialist wicketkeeper have made the difference, or would that merely have meant
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