2 minute read Things were so well-poised overnight. Sri Lanka had started their second innings really well, but both openers were out meaning their two best batsmen were at the crease. If England had managed to nick them out, they’d have been odds-on favourites. But being the best batsmen in your team tends
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Sanath Jayasuriya bowing out in style
2 minute read Test cricket is losing its pirate. Sanath Jayasuriya has boomed his last ‘ha-haaaa’ to the point boundary. He’s carrying on in one-day internationals, so it’s not the ‘end-end’. It’s just an end. A bit of a sad one. It wasn’t sad watching him, though. He larruped every ball of one
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq defies India along with Kamran Akmal
< 1 minute read It seemed about time that Misbah-ul-Haq hit a Test hundred. One fifty wasn’t much of a Test record for someone we seem to write about on an almost daily basis. He hit 161 not out against India, largely in partnership with Kamran Akmal who hit 119. Akmal’s innings should ensure
Continue readingMuttiah Muralitharan’s 709th Test wicket
2 minute read It was Paul Collingwood. We’re sure he’s delighted with the honour. Muttiah Muralitharan is now the top Test wicket-taker of all time. Murali’s had this record before of course, but no-one playing at present seems at all likely to overtake him, so we’ll assume that on this occasion, it’ll be
Continue readingLike Matthew Hoggard’s never been away
< 1 minute read Matthey Hoggard says nobody’s a dead cert for the England team. We’d dispute that. Matthew Hoggard’s a dead cert, surely. Today he took four top order wickets for just 29 runs and it’s like he’s never been away. We’ve missed Matthew Hoggard (he was injured over the summer) and we’ve
Continue readingEngland warm-up Sri Lanka
< 1 minute read It’s been very generous of England to attempt to sort out Sri Lanka’s opening vacancy within 24 hours of the retirment of Marvan Atapattu. Upul Tharanga made a hundred for the Board President’s XI and Sri Lanka’s muppets would appear to have an easy decision to make. If there are
Continue readingAustralia uncharacteristically fail to drive home their advantage
2 minute read Sri Lanka have got two really top drawer batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, and both have scored hundreds in this second Test. That’s more top-drawer batsmen than most teams have, but unfortunately Australia aren’t most teams. Andrew Symonds is making up the numbers a bit, but they’re otherwise pretty
Continue readingAustralia opt not to deviate from the template
< 1 minute read Australia bat first and all but remove any chance of a Sri Lankan win by the end of the first day. On the second day they drive home their advantage before declaring at about 550 allowing them a few overs at the Sri Lankan openers. That was the first Test
Continue readingMike Hussey: statistically aberrant and statistically abhorrent
< 1 minute read What? You didn’t think we’d come up with something like that and only use it the once. No way. Statistically aberrant and statistically abhorrent – it’s got a rhythm to it AND it makes sense. At least it does so far. When you’ve read it for the 500th time, all
Continue readingMichael Vandort irritates Australia for a short while
< 1 minute read The BBC called it ‘an easy win’ for Australia, but since when has beating Sri Lanka by an innings been easy? It’s not easy getting Michael Vandort out, certainly. Michael Vandort – or Michael Graydon Vandort as we might start calling him from now on (because that’s his name) –
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