< 1 minute readIt had to happen eventually. Today was the day James Vince finally managed to avoid edging one to slip. And it was so easy to avoid. All he had to do was persuade an opposition bowler to aim a 90mph delivery about a foot wide of leg stump only for
Continue reading2 minute readThe pitch is flat, say tetchy England fans. This is the short version of the recurring Test match question: the pitch is flat, so what are you going to do about it? England went with a bit of fast-medium. After that, they tried a bit more fast-medium, then a bit
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< 1 minute readThings getting a bit fast-medium is pretty much our worst nightmare when it comes to watching England. We might start using the phrase in other contexts. “How was dinner?” “It was… fine…” “Fine? What does ‘fine’ mean?” “Well, you know. It was just…” “What? It was just what?” “It was
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2 minute readSteve Smith is not a good batsman. Not always. Very rarely, in fact. As far as we can tell, he’s generally only half-decent at the moment bat strikes ball and only very rarely before or afterwards. Here are the four stages Smith passes through for every single delivery he faces.
Continue reading2 minute readThe most significant question ahead of the Waca’s final appearance as an Ashes venue was not whether or not it would recover the pace of old – because it clearly wouldn’t – it was whether or not the ball would turn. The Waca is Australia’s most over-hyped pitch and the
Continue reading2 minute readCan we be the first to accuse them of that? People reflexively go the other way, accusing losing teams of lacking commitment, determination or heart, but it’s almost always the exact opposite. As we’ve written before, passion is not a cure-all. Passion drives you to things like losing all perspective,
Continue reading< 1 minute readGed Ladd writes: A Sunday at Lord’s with Daisy. We sat in the Mound Stand, next to a charming South African gentleman and his Zimbabwean friend. We chatted with them. In particular, the Zimbabwean gentleman explained the currency chaos prevailing in Zimbabwe at that time; sacks full of bank notes
Continue reading< 1 minute readSay so. They should say “Ben Duckett tipped a drink over someone’s head.” This occurred to us while we were watching BBC news this morning and the reporter was listing England’s “alcohol-related incidents.” The terminology conjured a real ‘everything’s totally out of control’ feel, even though at least one of
Continue reading< 1 minute readMoeen Ali is the only member of the second Test team who will play England’s latest warm-up match. He will do so because a side strain at the start of the tour left him short of overs. He won’t bowl. England are presumably of the opinion that Moeen will be
Continue reading2 minute readAustralia do like to collapse. Amid all the talk of conditions, bowling attacks and Steve Smith’s runsome proclivities, this is the one thing in favour of the tourists. England like to collapse too, of course. They just have to hope that they do it less frequently – or at least
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