6 minute readNo man is an island and no team is either. The team you support is only part of the equation. Opponents elevate a match. Opponents like Shane Warne. Many words have been spoken and written about Shane Warne in recent weeks; about why he was such an incredible leg-spinner; about
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2 minute read“I had my plan,” said Kraigg Brathwaite after batting for five minutes short of 16 hours against England in the second Test in Bridgetown. “They bowled well, but I stuck with my plan and it paid off.” Whatever Brathwaite’s plan is, getting out doesn’t seem to be a major component.
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3 minute readEvery bowler has their own bowling action, but Dan Lawrence’s is more obviously his own than most. These are the three best moments in it. (3) The flail-and-drag Not wishing the batter to be under any illusions that he might be about to see a normal bowling action, Lawrence commences
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2 minute readWe believe every international cricket team should be issued with at least one superhero. It keeps things interesting. In the years leading up to the creation of this website, in the 1990s and early 2000s, the standard of Test cricket was pretty variable. There were – as there always are
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2 minute readWhen we think about Jonny Bairstow and how England have used him over the years, it reminds us of a moment in Airplane! There was a time back in 2019 when England dropped Jonny Bairstow and tried to frame it as a kick up the arse that might potentially drive
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3 minute readIt’s common to assume that we accurately value all-rounders as the sum of their parts, but more often than not, we value each part separately and sneer at each of them a bit. Ravindra Jadeja is a pretty good example. To many people, Jadeja is a fill-in bowler who takes
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< 1 minute readYou’ve no doubt seen the shocking news that Shane Warne’s died. This is by no means the first gasp he’s induced from us, but it’s by far the least welcome. We will, of course, write something longer in due course, but for now we just want to acknowledge what a
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2 minute readAccording to the rankings, Australia are the number one men’s Test team. They also have the number one batter (Marnus Labuschagne) and number one bowler (Pat Cummins). They’ve achieved this without playing a single match away from home since 2019. Now Australia are in Pakistan of all places. Pakistan, where
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< 1 minute readGalvanisation is a tricksy process. Sometimes you need an extra ingredient. A week or so ago, we pointed out how going on tour with a coach who’s been charged with gross misconduct didn’t seem to be having a galvanising effect on the South Africa team – which is what captain
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3 minute readEngland’s tour of the West Indies gets underway on Tuesday with the hotly-anticipated match against TBA. Three Test matches follow during which we may or may not get answers to these five fiendishly difficult questions. (1) Is this a ‘development tour’ or not? Development tour? Who said ‘development tour’? Actually,
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