King Cricket

< 1 minute readThe great thing about alternative dimensions is that every now and again you can pluck a similar-looking cricket team from one of them and deploy it in your own world. The incarnation of the West Indies seen in this Test was an unusually gritty one. Like a team-mate’s belt within

< 1 minute readIt’s like we always say, to take 12,841 wickets, you need to create 15,516 chances. (We should stick that on a T-shirt). At the time of writing, the second Test between England and the West Indies had seen 12 drops, which is rather more than you’d expect. The Windies were

< 1 minute readShannon Gabriel’s fun, isn’t he? An old school fast bowler who doesn’t half-arse it and who has plenty of arse to deploy. He is a good selection. Gabriel’s efforts have contrasted with those of Chris Woakes in this match. At the start of day one, Woakes was the only one

< 1 minute readIf England could find three really mediocre batsmen, they’d be a hell of a side. They’re after a two, a three and a five. Fill those spots with players like Chris Tavaré, Ravi Bopara and – hell, why not – Jos Buttler and together with the runs from their all-rounder

2 minute readWhen a system’s broken, a large proportion of people will only lose their temper with whoever’s closest. Overworked due to cutbacks? Blame the colleague who just asked you a question. Huge queue of traffic on the motorway? Focus your bad mood on the driver of the car in the adjacent

3 minute readEngland are playing the West Indies at Edgbaston in the first day-night Test match in this country. Everyone’s been wondering what the experience would be like for the fans. We’ve had a handful of early reports and we’ll add any more we get to this page. Day one attendee, Tom