2 minute read Whenever a Test is decided late on the fifth day, there’s much talk about how that kind of tension and excitement wouldn’t happen with four-day Tests. It’s half true. This is why. If you move a deadline, you don’t negate it. Even if a Test match has no fifth day,
Continue readingCategory: South Africa
Danish Kaneria or Dane Vilas – who is most Danish?
4 minute read Danish Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer who has been banned from the sport for life for spot-fixing. Dane Vilas is a South African cricketer who currently plays for Lancashire. Despite what their names suggest, neither player is from Denmark. So who is most Danish? Let’s measure the two men against
Continue readingFour of the weirdest eight-fors of the last 25 years (plus one nine-for and one ten-for)
8 minute read There have been 28 occasions in the last 25 years when a bowler has taken eight wickets or more in a Test innings. Some of these were weirder than others. At what point does a bowling performance become really, truly, freakishly remarkable? We’d say at the seventh wicket. Five-fors are
Continue readingRoot’s Moose Cup Powered by Daraz | Mop-up of the day
3 minute read Three things, okay? Thing 1 Just as with Botham’s Ashes, the 2021 Moose Cup Powered by Daraz seems destined to be forever remembered as Root’s Moose Cup Powered by Daraz. In the first Test, Sri Lanka made 135 and then Joe Root made 228. In the second Test, Root made
Continue readingDawid Malan has used ‘being the best batsman in the world’ as a stepping stone to competence
< 1 minute read It’s like they always say: being the top-ranked batsman in the world can be a real confidence-booster and may even help you secure a place in the first team. When Dawid Malan became the number one batsman in T20 internationals in September, the general reaction could be summed up as,
Continue readingTemba Bavuma’s ramp shot is not polished
2 minute read Temba Bavuma has contributed all of 18 runs to the current T20 series between South Africa and England, so it’s odd that he should be responsible for one of the recurring highlights. His ramp shot is undeniably that though. This is how Temba Bavuma played a ramp shot in the
Continue readingJonny Bairstow proves he should open and also bat at four
2 minute read Our rule with white ball cricket is that if you’re bearing down on a World Cup, you pay attention to that particular format, and then immediately stop paying attention afterwards. The competition currently known as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is due to take place in October 2021. Being
Continue readingBreaking down David Warner and Nathan Lyon’s run-out of AB de Villiers – one of the most disrespectful dismissals in history
4 minute read Many things happened during Australia’s win in the first Test of their ill-fated 2018 tour of South Africa. Some of them were cricket, some of them were David Warner falling out with people. The thing that interests us the most – AB de Villiers’ second innings run-out – fell somewhere
Continue readingHow good a six was the sliced six in Moeen Ali’s 11-ball 39 against South Africa?
2 minute read Moeen Ali hit four sixes in England’s last ball victory over South Africa in Durban. Because he’s Moeen Ali and hasn’t even heard of ugly batting, each and every one of them was a languid, spaghetti-armed thing of wonder. In all, Moeen hit seven lovely boundaries in his 11-ball innings.
Continue reading