King Cricket

February 21, 2018 England

Eoin Morgan sees first-class cricket as providing important groundwork for short format success

2 minute readThe rarely-sighted White-Clothed Morgan was thought to have been extinct, but there are now hopes that it could return to its habitat at Lord’s as early as this summer. In a week in which Adil Rashid and Alex Hales both pressed pause on their first-class careers, Morgan has once again

February 20, 2018 County cricket / England

Alex Hales is not ‘turning his back’ on Test or first-class cricket

< 1 minute readNot least because he isn’t currently a Test cricketer. But that’s not really our point. Imagine you have three important things to do today, but you’re kind of pressed for time. If you’re anything like us, you’ll favour the ingenious solution of doing a really half-arsed job on all three.

February 18, 2018 Match report

A report on a 2016 England v Sri Lanka match on which we’ve already reported

2 minute readGed writes: It was the first day of the 2016 Lord’s Test between England and Sri Lanka. I was honoured to have His Majesty, King Cricket, among my guests that day in the Lower Compton – as reported here by His Majesty himself. As the predictable shower of champagne corks

February 16, 2018 Australia / New Zealand

New Zealand beat Australia 18-14 at sixes

< 1 minute readHowever, Australia won the fours classification by 19 to 14 and they also scored 20 extras to New Zealand’s 12. The upshot was that Australia won the runs classification by 245 to 243. Wickets also fell – but not enough to be of any real significance. Speaking after the match,

February 15, 2018 County cricket / England

Why is Adil Rashid giving up first-class cricket and becoming a white ball specialist?

3 minute readBecause he’s pressed for time. Adil Rashid has signed a white-ball only contract with Yorkshire for the 2018 season. Some will say he’s looking to become a short format specialist because it’ll allow him to buy a bigger car or house or whatever, but that’s missing the point. The point

February 13, 2018 Extras

Which nation is best at cricket? Combined rankings

2 minute readThe ICC rankings are a much-maligned attempt to derive some sort of meaning from the international cricket schedule. However, it strikes us that they no longer answer the question for which they were devised. Who’s the best in the world? We now have three different answers: the best Test side,

February 12, 2018 England

Test cricket is what Mark Wood wants to play – but even if he’s keen enough and fit enough, modern cricket won’t allow him to do so

< 1 minute readIf you haven’t already seen it, our latest piece for Wisden is about Mark Wood and the weighted, weighty decisions faced by current England cricketers. The crux of it is this: if Mark Wood doesn’t (a) fluke his way into the Test side for the two Tests against New Zealand

February 8, 2018 Match report

A match report from the 2017 Women’s World Cup Final

3 minute readGareth writes: The last time I’d been to Lord’s I’d found the place a bit stifling, and an incredibly drunken young man had capped Glamorgan getting spanked by Gloucestershire by “singing” on the bus the whole way back. That had not been a fun day. This time, I was off

February 7, 2018 Regulars

A cricket bat in the back of a van

< 1 minute readEdwardian writes: Here’s a conspicuous cricket bat in the back of a van. Send your pictures of cricket bats and other cricket stuff in unusual places to king@kingcricket.co.uk

February 4, 2018 Match report

A report from a 2016 Lord’s match between Middlesex and Lancashire

2 minute readGed writes: I was joined for the afternoon by Escamillo Escapillo. Actually, the fact that we were together watching Middlesex v Lancashire was a noteworthy matter in itself, as our previous attempts to do so had been thwarted: In 2009 by circumstances beyond our control – i.e. the perennially lousy