2 minute readParity on first innings isn’t really parity because one team has to bat last. When England matched New Zealand’s 350, they were behind. Not that this was where the match was decided, but it’s worth noting when so much attention is on fourth innings shot selection. Several days ago… Two
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Wahab v Watson
< 1 minute readTechnically, Shane Watson won this particular duel by surviving, going on to hit the winning runs. But if it really was a victory, it was one characterised by looking like a complete div for a prolonged period. Wahab Riaz’s mistake was that he left himself reliant on the woeful catching
Continue readingPakistan, AB de Villiers, wickets and jeopardy
< 1 minute readCricket needs jeopardy. Jeopardy makes things exciting. You have jeopardy in a tournament – the chance of being knocked out – and lo, the match is exciting. Something is riding on it. Tension’s good. You have jeopardy in an innings – the chance of being bowled out – and you
Continue readingWhy the world no longer truly understands the majesty of Shahid Afridi
< 1 minute readWe watched a bunch of sixes today. Well, we say ‘watched’. What we actually mean is that we heard commentators overreacting to sixes while writing something. We didn’t look up once. We live in a different world, nowadays. We’ve tried to take you back to the old one in our
Continue readingEngland appear to be playing and beating Pakistan
< 1 minute readWe’re struggling with the build-up to the World Cup. We fundamentally believe that a World Cup is a big deal, but at the same time we’re aware of the need to ration our enthusiasm. It might be another month before one of the major teams has to play a match
Continue readingThe other 10 World Cup cricketers to watch
2 minute readWe could do the same Kohli, de Villiers, Johnson list as everyone else or we could pick out 10 players who you’ll actually have to make some effort to watch. So, in no particular order… Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan 40 years old and ostensibly a plodder, Misbah recently matched Viv Richards’ record
Continue readingYou’re probably wondering why we haven’t written about Inzamam-ul-Haq this week
< 1 minute readThe answer is because Pakistan aren’t playing. Also, he retired seven years ago. Fortunately, our Kings of Cricket feature over at All Out Cricket helps us overcome these minor hurdles as we’re allowed to write about pretty much anyone we like. Last week, we chose Inzy for his ‘souplesse’ as
Continue readingThe Kiwi is a fast learner
< 1 minute readIt has to be. Unable to fly and never allowed to play more than three Tests in a series, it has to adapt quickly if it isn’t to be devoured by cats or beaten by Pakistan. Captains and coaches always talk about learning from a defeat, but you rarely see
Continue readingMop-up of the day – rail and radar
< 1 minute readA lot of people were going for the ‘we can land a robot on a comet but we can’t get the trains to arrive on time’ line of reasoning yesterday. Just to let you know, it’s not the same people. Different people are responsible for space missions and rail travel.
Continue readingMop-up of the day – bones, Bangladesh batsmen and battery
< 1 minute readIs MS Dhoni’s arm made out of just one super fast-growing bone? We’re imagining an ever-extending protuberance that requires regular pruning based on the following from Cricinfo: “On the eve of the meeting, a BCCI insider revealed that Dhoni was recovering from a “right forearm” injury. By the time the
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