< 1 minute readThat title’s tongue-in-cheek. You know that, right? You do now. Ian Bell hit 172 for Warwickshire as part of his bid to return to the England side. It’s a handy start and we’d be tempted to get ever-so-slightly agitated about it, if it weren’t for the fact that he scored
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Simon Jones, Worcestershire – one to watch in 2009
< 1 minute readSimon Jones isn’t one to watch for the reasons you think. A lot of English (and Welsh) cricket supporters think Simon Jones is England’s Imran Khan or something; a master of fast swing bowling who can destroy any batting line-up. On top of his game, he’s a great bowler, but
Continue readingWill Smith, Durham – one to watch in 2009
< 1 minute readWe decided to make Will Smith one to watch this season in August last year. That was before he was made Durham captain. Don’t know whether that will affect him. We’d been keeping an eye on him anyway, but the match that decided it was against Hampshire at Basingstoke. The
Continue readingTim Bresnan, Yorkshire – one to watch in 2009
2 minute readTim Bresnan’s 2007 season saw 34 wickets at an average of 32, accompanied by two hundreds and a batting average of 39. His understated 2008 season saw 45 wickets at 28 and 506 runs at 33. It’s solid stuff. He’s an asset to Yorkshire, but he’s not at the stage
Continue readingRobert Key so close to England we can almost taste it
< 1 minute readAt the moment we can merely smell Rob Key being part of England, but soon – oh so soon – we’ll actually get to taste it. It’ll taste like hand-pulled elixir of life and we’ll quaff it like there’s no tomorrow. This is ironic, because the elixir of life kind
Continue readingAdil Rashid, Yorkshire – one to watch in 2009
< 1 minute readAdil Rashid, eh? Bet you’re blown away by our depth of cricketing knowledge and originality. It’s three years since we first tipped Adil Rashid and it’s the third year he’s been one to watch. It’s probably about time things started happening. By ‘things,’ we of course mean England recognition. Spectral
Continue readingSteve Davies, Worcestershire – one to watch in 2009
< 1 minute readTo be honest, we haven’t got much to add to what we said about Steven Davies last year. At least this year he’ll be in Division One. This is the problem with news of earth-shattering importance – it makes writing about Worcestershire wicketkeepers less appealing. Imagine you work in the
Continue readingRob Key is about to become England captain
< 1 minute readHe is, he is, he is, he is, he is, he is, he is. Rob Key is in England’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 tournament, which, considering Andrew Strauss’s absence, puts him in prime position to take up his rightful place as captain/king of England. Most media outlets
Continue readingMark Davies, Durham – cricketer to watch in 2009
< 1 minute readA second Durham player and a second Durham seam bowler. Mark Davies is always one to watch, even if we erroneously overlooked him for the first time last year, thinking he wouldn’t get a game. We’ve a faint suspicion that Davies is the kind of bowler who’d get a lot
Continue readingJim Foat – legend among non-legends
< 1 minute readJim Foat was a batsman for Gloucestershire in the Seventies. You probably haven’t heard of him; he wasn’t a great batsman. Jim Foat played 91 first-class matches and 129 one-day matches. First class average: 18.60. One-day average: 15.19. He didn’t take a wicket. Over 251 innings in first-class matches and
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