< 1 minute readThis post title policy will come to a crashing halt should England lose to Australia today. An odd and absorbing match at the Oval, where only Misban-ul-Haq and the Jam Shed managed to score more than six runs in Pakistan’s innings. Misbah’s 96 not out was exactly the kind of
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India are better than South Africa
< 1 minute readIf we’d have bothered writing a Champions Trophy preview, we might have had India down as fair weather favourites. It’s as much the lack of alternatives as anything else. India have their weaknesses, but despite the absence of some extraordinarily familiar faces they’re experienced and they play to their strengths.
Continue readingJos Buttler and the ramp shot
2 minute readA good few players try the ramp shot these days, but few score as great a proportion of their runs with it as Jos Buttler. At times he seems unaware the pitch has sides, creating a two-spoked wagon wheel behind bowler and wicketkeeper. The Buttler version of the ramp is
Continue readingDavid Gower is both right and wrong about Aussies
< 1 minute readDavid Gower has said in an interview in the Radio Times that Australia has no culture and that their cricketers have ‘an animal mentality’. He’s partly right, but probably for the wrong reasons. Culture This one’s lazy and wrong. Australia has plenty of culture. Arguably too much. Plenty of websites
Continue readingThe Chris Woakes quandary
3 minute readHow long does it normally take James Anderson to make 28 runs? The answer is four years. Don’t scrutinise that. Today, Jimmy made 28 off 19 balls. If you didn’t see the match, that should tell you something. Run scoring was not difficult. We’d go so far as to say
Continue reading2013 County Championship – chapter seven
< 1 minute readWe missed a week. We’re not apologising. 1st – Sussex Sussex have moved into the top spot after positively obliterating Somerset last week. The central figure was 33-year-old Aussie seamer, Steve Magoffin, who returned positively ludicrous match figures of 12-31. Those numbers look so unfamiliar as bowling figures you’re inclined
Continue readingEngland v New Zealand 2013 Test awards
2 minute readProbably should have exercised a little editorial restraint with that last post and gone straight to this one instead. Then again, what’s the internet for if not for failing to exercise editorial restraint? Here are some awards. Ploddiest bastard The ploddiest bastard award recognises the batsman who played the most
Continue readingHigh expectations and low scores
< 1 minute readWe’re not honestly sure how much we’ve learnt during these two Tests that we didn’t already know. This appears to be reflected in the fact that people are still talking about the lack of follow-on and the late declaration. The topic appears to be filling something of a void. You
Continue readingEngland’s priorities and Parkinson’s law
< 1 minute readWork expands to fill the time allotted. We remember one particularly undemanding week where we made a plan to buy a toothbrush on one day and toothpaste the following day. Good times. Credit to England’s bowlers then for not performing as if they’ve got 468 runs to play with. These
Continue readingFootmarks for the spinner
2 minute readIt’s a strange and wonderful sport where two members of the opposition who aren’t even on the pitch can aid your cause, but Graeme Swann can thank Trent Boult and Neil Wagner for three of his four wickets. The two left-armers created some beautifully scruffy turf for him to aim
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