King Cricket

August 9, 2017 England

England should think about playing their main spinner

2 minute readWhen Moeen Ali was first labelled England’s second spinner, it was widely assumed that Liam Dawson must therefore be the first spinner. It stood to reason. However, Moeen supposedly remained the second spinner even when he was the only one of the two selected, which raises the possibility that Dawson

August 7, 2017 England / South Africa

The more batsmen England pick, the fewer they have

< 1 minute readThe big question before this fourth Test was could England’s batsmen start making some runs and maybe win a few more Tests? When the answer revealed itself to be “no and yes” it became apparent that these were actually two separate questions. England somehow cobbled together a half-decent first innings

August 4, 2017 England / South Africa

Old Trafford’s Anderson End

< 1 minute readFew initially remarkable features, but you often get nice swing. If Jimmy has an end, Cricket Badger readers will soon be aware that Vernon Philander has two – a top and a bottom. This week’s Philander ailment is a light case of back knack. Violent full body convulsions can do

August 2, 2017 County cricket / Match report

Keith Pont benefit match report, Ongar Cricket Club, 1986

2 minute readChas and Nick write: Back in 1986, sister/auntie Susan worked in public relations for Rhône-Poulenc (now part of Aventis), in Ongar, Essex. She was asked by one of its cricket-loving executives to organise a cricket day for Keith Pont‘s benefit year at Ongar Cricket Club. It’s worth remembering how popular

August 1, 2017 Regulars

A cat moved from indifference by Toby Roland-Jones

< 1 minute readTom in Keynsham writes: “I know it’s not the usual thing, but it was noteworthy that our cat Olive took note of the cricket for the first time in her two-and-a-bit years on this planet during the emergence of Toe Roe-Joe.” Don’t worry, we’ve already commended Tom on providing a

July 31, 2017 England / South Africa

Moeen Ali, England’s second spinner, takes a hat trick

< 1 minute readWe’ve told you before how we once saw a story in the local paper where a woman had come second in some sort of vegetable growing competition despite being the only person to enter something in that particular category. The judges decided that her entry was only worthy of a

July 28, 2017 England / South Africa

Toby Roland-Jones: first look in Test cricket

< 1 minute readWe don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from players’ debuts – but we report on them anyway. We suppose that if people call you Toblerone, you’re kind of duty-bound to provide the odd peak. 4-39 is pretty useful for a kick-off. Toby Roland-Jones seems to bowl at around 80mph.

July 28, 2017 England / South Africa

What Ben Stokes’ erratic boundary-hitting says about his batting

< 1 minute readKevin Pietersen’s career strike-rate was 61.72. Matthew Hayden’s was 60.10. For all that these are batsmen with a reputation for intimidating bowlers, they chose their moments. This is a large part of the art of Test match batting. It’s about letting bowlers know that you are willing to hit them

July 27, 2017 England / South Africa

Tom Westley: first look in Test cricket

< 1 minute readWe don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from debut performances – but we report on them anyway. If there’s one thing we’ll say for Tom Westley, it’s that he appears to have a pleasing preference for the workmanlike side of the ground. Legside nurdlery has always worked for Alastair

July 26, 2017 England / South Africa

England pick some wheat and chaff and postpone their separation until later

< 1 minute readAs a result of Cricinfo’s redesign, we don’t actually know that a Sri Lanka v India Test is taking place and therefore cannot comment on who has scored hundreds and who has been dismissed for three. We will instead restrict ourself to an observation that England will be picking at