< 1 minute readNew Zealand drew with South Africa because it pissed it down on the last day. As a result, the Saffers cannot secure the 3-0 series win they would need to become the top-ranked Test side. This is a highlight. This is better than a Test championship. England have retained the
Continue readingCategory: England
Why is Samit Patel in the England Test squad?
< 1 minute readLife’s about compromise. That’s what we’ll tell our kids when we take them to Lancashire v Yorkshire and buy them an ice cream between them instead of splashing out on Alton Towers tickets. If the Battotron 9000 averages 50, but has to be bolted to the floor in order to
Continue readingTaking stock of England’s tour against Pakistan
< 1 minute readWell, we would take stock, only there’s NO TIME. England announce the squad for their next tour later today. England’s fixture list frightens us. We once planned to buy a toothbrush one day and toothpaste the following day because we needed to spread out our tasks to fill the week.
Continue readingEngland might keep their one-day openers
2 minute readYou go away for a few days and the unthinkable happens. England at least appear to have settled on a pair of one-day openers. It’s like we’ve been to a faraway planet and have returned to a parallel earth. We had to switch Radio 1 on for a minute just
Continue readingEngland’s one-day victory template
< 1 minute readA hundred from Alastair Cook, a fifty from Ravi Bopara and four wickets for Steven Finn. As templates go, it’s quite specific. It’ll never last. Templates get worn out. Give us a bottle of Tab Clear, some prawn crackers and a copy of Sensible Soccer and we would NOT have
Continue readingAlastair Cook seems to be England’s best one-day batsman at the minute
< 1 minute readAnd after all of 12 matches, Steven Finn would seem to be their best bowler. How do you feel about these things? Angry or amazed? Before this series, each of Sky’s commentary team picked their preferred England one-day side. We weren’t really paying attention (cooking, eating, playing games or just
Continue readingA team with England in its name is going to win
< 1 minute readWe’re not quite sure what’s going on in Abu Dhabi and we’re not sure we want to know. England Lions made 96 all out in 28.3 overs. This apparently means that an England XI are chasing 230 in 50 overs. It is not clear at this stage whether you get
Continue readingJos Buttler one-day call up shocks no-one
< 1 minute readJos (short for Joseph) replaces Ian Bell in the squad. Bell actually had a pretty good one-day tour of India compared to most of his team mates. However, this was largely because he only played in one of the matches. Sadly for him, neither of the runs he scored on
Continue readingWhy we enjoyed England being thrashed by Pakistan
2 minute readWhat about Pakistan, eh? Talk about feisty. They’ve just won a Test match after being bowled out for 99 on the first day. That’s exceptional. Pakistan seem a really hard team. They’re not too flashy; not too dynamic with the bat; but they fight like a sack of drunk badgers.
Continue readingFreaky Friday for England and Pakistan
< 1 minute readEngland and Pakistan seem to have swapped identities at some point in the recent past. Pakistan are all obdurate and professional, while England try to make up for their catastrophic batting with ever more spectacular bowling efforts. There’s a limit to what the poor bowlers will be able to achieve
Continue reading