< 1 minute readEngland picked the ganglesome trio of Steven Finn, Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett for this Ashes tour specifically in order to exploit hard, bouncy Australian pitches. Perth is the hardest, bounciest pitch of all and it seems reasonably likely that none of these bowlers will play. Assuming they don’t, what
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The state of the cricketing nation
2 minute readWe’ve a growing problem with what might be called the ‘dissection of the nation’s cricket system’ piece. More specifically, we’ve a problem with the increasing readiness to publish such articles. The state of the cricketing nation piece is when a writer draws far-reaching conclusions about the way the sport is
Continue readingEngland’s batting improves a bit
2 minute readLet’s not go overboard. There are two ways to look at England’s second innings. The first is to see it as indicative of an upward curve, which gives hope for the rest of the series. The second is to say that standards are now so low that it would actually
Continue readingThe tufty-haired boulder and the blancmange
< 1 minute readThe escape route outlined in yesterday’s article? England evaded it perfectly, opting instead to stand their ground, whereupon they were flattened by the giant, tufty-haired boulder which has been rumbling after them since they landed Down Under. The most frustrating thing is that, for all the devastation, Mitchell Johnson only
Continue readingSame faces, different players – but an opportunity for England
3 minute readToday was a nice little primer in how to approach Test cricket in Australia. It called for extremes. England didn’t really have any. It was all a bit fast-medium. We blame Steven Finn for this. On England’s last Ashes tour, he was exactly the right kind of bowler for Australian
Continue readingWho is Ben Stokes?
< 1 minute readAnd what does he look like? Just Google it… You can always rely on Google.
Continue readingScrawniness and self-floggery
< 1 minute readSo where are we? No-one knows – which is the way it should be. What we do know is that England could have had one, two and, in theory, three more wickets if they’d caught better. We also know that England’s batting looks lighter than Michael Rasmussen. Stop going on
Continue readingJimmy Anderson doing an impression of Nasser Hussain
< 1 minute readWe can only do one impression and it’s an impression of our friend Neal doing an impression of himself. Not only are there very few people who could potentially appreciate it – it also isn’t particularly good. We are therefore filled with admiration for Jimmy Anderson and his note-perfect mimicry
Continue readingBrendon McCullum hits an actual hundred
< 1 minute readBrendon McCullum is a man whose batting achievements don’t exactly tally with his profile. He’s bolstered his reputation with captaincy and wicketkeeping and the peculiar nature of his one-day assaults, but he basically has a very middling record with the bat. However, he has just scored his eighth Test hundred
Continue readingEngland can’t bat and Australia can’t bat
2 minute readOkay, let’s take stock. England can’t bat and Australia can’t bat. Generalising masks specific truths, but this is actually a fair summary of where we stand. Mo’tchell Johnson has gathered headlines, but England also failed to score off Ryan Harris (forgivable) and shed middle order wickets against Nathan Lyon (probably
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