< 1 minute readOne to watch veteran, Mark Davies, has finally been called into the England squad. If he plays a Test, it is not acceptable to use mundane exclamations like ‘well bowled!’ The obvious substitutes are ‘hammer of Thor!‘ and ‘great Odin’s raven!‘ but if you tire of shouting those, here are
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Three ways in which we’ve been right in the last 24 hours
< 1 minute readThis is quite unusual. We’re not usually right about stuff. Normally, you can ask us questions about things that have happened to us and we’ll get the answers wrong. “Did Dan tell you he was moving to Australia?” “No!” [Long pause] “Don’t think so.” [Another long pause] “Well, maybe…” Dwayne
Continue readingVirender Sehwag is a bastard and here’s why
< 1 minute readVirender Sehwag is a bastard because he plays too many good innings to keep track of and there aren’t enough superlatives to spread among them. Consider this: Sehwag’s last Test innings was 131. That was a failure. His first four Test hundreds were all under 150; all failures. After that,
Continue readingVirender Sehwag is what Test cricket is all about
< 1 minute readVirender Sehwag: 284 not out overnight. This was Test cricket. The Sri Lankan players couldn’t just soak it up for 20 overs before seeing if they could do better. This problem wasn’t going away. But what they had to endure almost all day, the crowd got to enjoy all day
Continue readingThe five best all-rounders over the next five years
< 1 minute readNot sure we’ve got Imran Khan or Garry Sobers on the cards, but it’s not looking bad. Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh, age 22 As a cricket-writer, we’re worried there’ll be no words left in a few years time, because they’ll all have been eaten by Bangladesh criticisers. Shakib Al Hasan
Continue readingBeware the fury of Sussex County Cricket Club
< 1 minute readThe BBC are reporting that Sussex are furious with Surrey because the latter approached one of their players. Sussex chairman, Jim May, was red-faced with fury, ranting: “The approach is unwelcome and the timing very unfortunate.” Peppering the interviewer with flecks of spit and bile, May’s rage later reached its
Continue readingMark Boucher at six? This isn’t South Africa
< 1 minute readWhen England took the fourth wicket of what seemed like a mesmerisingly unstrenuous dismantling of the South African batting line-up, we wondered where the real South Africa were. Mark Boucher at six? Where was the breathtaking conservatism for which South African cricket is so renowned? Think back to the glory
Continue readingInnings victories in cricket – good or bad?
< 1 minute readIt’s good if it’s your side that’s won, but if you’re impartial, it means that a Test has been one-sided. Australia’s innings victory over West Indies also raises uncomfortable and unwelcome questions about the future of the West Indies as a Test team, even if their best player, Adrian Barath,
Continue readingAdrian Barath hits a hundred against Australia on his debut
< 1 minute readWe didn’t see Adrian Barath’s hundred against an Australia bowling attack that we feel professionally obliged to describe as ‘rampant’. Was it any good? Brian Lara though Barath was some prospect when he saw him batting in the nets, aged 11. Being as Barath’s 19 now, he must have been
Continue readingThe five best batsmen over the next five years
< 1 minute readThe big names are generally old bastards. Who’s next? Ross Taylor, New Zealand, age 25 Ross Taylor tends to look like he’s the man who’s going to win the match for New Zealand shortly before doing something slightly spacky. Pretty soon those fifties will become hundreds and those hundreds will
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