2 minute readYou’ve got to break partnerships in Australia. You’ve got to somehow take wickets when the ball ain’t doin’ a right lot. This Australia bowling attack seems ill-suited to the task. Today one wicket fell – to Marcus North. No matter how flat the pitch, no Australian bowling attack should completely
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Batting partnerships in Australia and breaking them
< 1 minute readJames Anderson started with a blinding spell to Mike Hussey, but as we said yesterday, the cricket after the new ball matters too. It’s easy to look on the first hour of the third day as being England’s chance to break the Hussey-Haddin partnership, but Test cricket in Australia is
Continue readingThe cricket after the new ball matters too
< 1 minute readYesterday’s theme was of how bowling success can be about playing well frequently rather than extremely well occasionally. You remember great bowlers for the occasions when they took 7-20; when the ball was swinging or turning a mile. But often those performances aren’t what made those players’ reputations. It’s often
Continue readingWhy Peter Siddle doesn’t need the unplayable delivery
< 1 minute readPre-Ashes analysis tends to treat the players as if they’re machines. If it swings, Jimmy Anderson will be great; if it doesn’t, he’s screwed. Alastair Cook has a technical weakness. He’ll score no runs. But cricket doesn’t work like that. For one thing, pretty much everybody’s shitting themself of the
Continue readingA fact and a question from the Gabba
< 1 minute readWhat we learnt last night: Stew is not a stimulant And here’s a question for you: Shouldn’t Mitchell Johnson’s tattooed arm be ‘the doing arm’?
Continue readingPeter Siddle takes an Ashes hat trick at the Gabba
< 1 minute readWith his Ming the Merciless collar and his mercilessly minging face, Peter Siddle barrelled in and dismissed Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad in successive balls. We got through the experience by pretending it was a cartoon. Siddle looks like a cartoon character somehow.
Continue readingListen to the tin!
< 1 minute readUnsure how to approach opening the bowling in the Ashes? Simply consult ‘the tin’. “Jimmy does what it says on the tin – he swings it both ways at pace with the new ball.” – Peter Moores The tin is clearly very wise.
Continue readingCameras in the Australia dressing room?
< 1 minute readThat is what’s being suggested by Australia’s Channel Nine, who clearly have no regard for people’s desire to keep their dinner down. Even Peter Siddle doesn’t want to see Peter Siddle in his undercrackers. The thought of Simon Katich visibly confirming all jockstrap contents are fully contained sends a shiver
Continue readingAshes contradictions and how we think the series might pan out
< 1 minute readWe have written a piece for Cricinfo about how we are massively pessimistic about England’s chances no matter what the evidence in front of us. We have also said that England will win 3-2 over at World Cricket Watch. The truth is that we are pessimistic by default, but hate
Continue readingNathan Hauritz gets the boot | Australian selectors and spinners
2 minute readWe wrote about how Australia’s selectors don’t know what they’re doing last week. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to spin bowlers. Spoilt by Warne and MacGill for so long, there seems to be a ‘grass is greener’ philosophy, even when the grass in manifestly not greener,
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