2 minute readThat’s ‘players to watch in 2014’. We don’t have 2,014 players to keep an eye on. In fact, we’ve got fewer than ever before – just five. A reminder of the qualification criteria: Qualified to play for England No established internationals Youngish Playing in the first division of the County
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England Squad Watch – part three
< 1 minute readThe fight for England spots continues to a soundtrack of very gentle applause from a smattering of supporters who didn’t happen to have much on that day (activity-wise). Top order Jonathan Trott made 37 against Sussex – although to be fair, that has been the second-highest score in two completed
Continue readingEngland Squad Watch – part two
< 1 minute readEveryone knows that the key to a strong international side is ‘competition for places’. It absolutely isn’t the case that ‘competition for places’ is really just a synonym for ‘the first XI’s turned crap’. Yesterday’s England Squad Watch ended rather bleakly with the specialist batsmen seemingly competing only for a
Continue readingEngland Squad Watch – part one
2 minute readWho 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 readingNon-demented county cricket fixture list confirmed for 2014
< 1 minute readSunday starts for County Championship matches and Twenty20 matches on a Friday night. It ain’t all bad. The latter could even become ‘a thing’, as detailed here. Shall we try and make it a thing? What should it involve? Perhaps we could try and source beer brewed in the counties
Continue readingExclusive celeb gossip scoop
< 1 minute readA secret source writes: I thought this might interest you. It’s just like the 3am Girls in The Mirror, only with better grammar and more discussion about the state of County Championship wickets than they normally have. Overheard at the gym at the weekend – a regular first-team Lancashire player
Continue readingCounty Championship 2013 – statistical epilogue
< 1 minute readCricket fans adore statistics. For most of you, the sport itself is just a convenient means of generating data. Numbers are your true love. Here are some. Most runs Gary Ballance (Yorkshire) – 1,251 Wayne Madsen (Derbyshire) – 1,221 Sam Robson (Middlesex) – 1,180 Best batting averages (at least 10
Continue reading2013 County Championship – the final chapter
2 minute readLet’s wrap things up. As ever, all fixtures and team names may be incorrect. The writer accepts no responsibility for factual accuracy. 1st – Durham Having won the County Championship, Durham promptly lost to Sussex. 2nd – Yorkshire Yorkshire beat Middlesex with a young scamp by the name of Ryan
Continue readingDerbyshire are down
< 1 minute readWorcestershire Northamptonshire are up. Surrey have an 18-year-old who can score double hundreds and may finally stop dicking about hoovering up ageing stars from other counties. We’re thinking of rebranding King Cricket ‘the home of in-depth inaccurate county cricket coverage’.
Continue readingSurrey are down
< 1 minute readLancashire are up. Nottinghamshire have won the one-day competition. Never let it be said that we can’t do “news”. If Reuters or Associated Press want to offer us a lucrative contract to churn out those inspid pieces which clog sports pages, we’re open to offers. It would be a dream
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