2 minute readWe previewed the Boxing Day Tests. We may as well take a look at what happened in them. Australia v South Africa Signs of an upturn for South Africa, who finally passed 200 for the first time in many attempts. Their second innings 204 all out was enough to secure
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3 minute readWe don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from players’ debuts – but we report on them anyway. We have a track record of getting overexcited about 18-year-old leg-spinning all-rounders. It worked out last time though, so the way we see it, it makes perfect sense to get completely overexcited again.
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3 minute readWhile England’s hell-for-leather batting approach of the first Test was again seen in the second, it was often tempered by either (a) conditions or (b) getting out. What we can conclude from this is that pitches matter. So what can we expect from the National Stadium in Karachi for the
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5 minute readThe second Test was “a differently played game” according to Ben Stokes. It still resulted in England winning in Pakistan though, which is not a thing that had happened too often until this month. The match has left us with quite a few half-baked thoughts rolling around our largely empty
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2 minute readWe don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from players’ debuts – but we report on them anyway. How very Pakistan to fight fire with magic. How very Pakistan to have a random pile of spare magic just lying around waiting to be used in a Test match – this time
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3 minute readEngland’s win over Pakistan in Rawalpindi has given rise to several highly annoying articles asking whether Ben Stokes’ team are changing Test cricket forever. Maybe a bit, maybe not so much. Does it matter? Can’t it just be a great Test victory on a fairly awful pitch? Because that really
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3 minute readIt was a win that England were racing to catch from the outset. The Test began with Zak Crawley hitting three fours off Naseem Shah’s opening over and it ended with the light meters out. Ben Stokes’ men never really slowed in between. Even if England hadn’t won, you’d have
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2 minute readWe don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from players’ debuts – but we report on them anyway. England have a long and rich history of travelling to the subcontinent and handing out caps to spin bowling all-rounders who they wouldn’t ordinarily pick for either their batting or their bowling. These
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2 minute readWell it definitely, definitely wasn’t the wild shits. The first day of England’s first Test in Pakistan since 2005 saw them reach 500 quicker than any Test team ever before. Peak dominance of bat over ball came when Harry Brook hit six fours in one Saud Shakeel over. We put
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2 minute readYou can take your own chef with you (Omar Meziane, if you’re wondering), but if you’re in a part of the world you don’t visit too often, there’s a decent chance you’ll come into contact with viruses that your immune system doesn’t know all that well. What we’re saying here
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