King Cricket

April 28, 2017 County cricket / England

Zafar Ansari’s “other ambitions” and other tales of premature retirement from cricket

2 minute readEach to his own and all that, but the “new chapter” in Zafar Ansari’s life sounds dull as shit to us. He’s retired from cricket at the age of 25 to pursue another career, “potentially in law”. We’ve been here before. We’ve been here several times. There was James Bruce,

April 27, 2017 County cricket / England

The format of the new ECB T20 competition

2 minute readHere’s a coagulation of plans, proposals, assumptions and best-guesses for the format of the ECB’s new 20-over competition which is due to begin in 2020. Eight sides Eight group matches each Home and away local derbies (to permit that eighth match) IPL style play-offs ECB-produced TV coverage with some matches

April 27, 2017 Pakistan

No, turns out Younus Khan is retiring after all

< 1 minute readLove reporting on Pakistan cricketer retirements. After floating the idea that he might play on if someone asked him to, Younus Khan has now deployed a magnificent barrage of third-personnery to confirm that he really will retire. “Younus Khan will retire even if he scores a hundred in every innings

April 26, 2017 Extras

Laurence Elderbrook refines his method

2 minute readPrevious instalment from Laurence Elderbook Chastened by my uncharacteristically ineffectual performance the previous week, I resolve to prepare properly. Before I depart to find a team in need, I carry out my exercise regime to get the blood pumping. I essay twenty to thirty mad gambols followed by a series

April 25, 2017 County cricket

The Hampshire-incinerating inferno that is Gary Ballance plus Lancashire’s lethal pelt

2 minute readSurrey are still top Despite drawing with Warwickshire who had attained just three points from two Championship games before this fixture. The most striking development was probably Ian Bell’s dismissal for 99. Was this more or less painful than Misbah-ul-Haq being left stranded on 99 not out yesterday? The Curran

April 23, 2017 Pakistan

Younus Khan, the world’s oldest 39-year-old, might yet play on

< 1 minute readAin’t no retirement like a Pakistan cricketer retirement, because a Pakistan cricketer retirement is highly conditional. For a man who’s already resigned, quit, been rested, stood down, walked and been banned for life, Younus Khan is still strikingly present. He is due to call it a day (again) following this

April 20, 2017 County cricket

Video: How Ben Coad takes his wickets

< 1 minute readThe ECB doesn’t get everything right when it comes to social media. Earlier this week, they captioned an Alastair Cook highlights reel “Terrific to watch!” which is palpably untrue. But at least they do sneak out nice bite-sized chunks of County Championship footage these days. Here’s Ben Coad taking ten

April 19, 2017 Extras

Laurence Elderbrook embarks upon a career as a ‘cricketer errant’

2 minute readPrevious instalment from Laurence Elderbrook It strikes me that if I am to become a cricketer errant, I will need a squire. I walk next door and ask to speak to Darron-with-an-O. When Darron appears, I inform him that he is my squire. We immediately depart in my motorcar. We

April 18, 2017 County cricket

Great performances from Shiv, Coad, Footitt and no-one from Warwickshire, no-one whatsoever

2 minute readScreen-grabbed Championship table. Ain’t you a bunch of lucky basts. Surrey v Lancashire Surrey remain top of the table despite not having done anything of consequence. Mark Footitt continued being worth watching by again taking five wickets, Lancashire’s Shivnarine Chanderpaul continued being a majestic agglomeration of elbows and knees, and

April 15, 2017 Extras

Roll up, roll up for our last ever Twitter round-up on Cricinfo

2 minute readIf there’s one thing we can say for our Twitter round-up column on Cricinfo, it’s that it clung on. But no more. This week’s edition is the last. Of all the cricket writing we’ve done, the Twitter round-up was the strangest. We can’t begin to explain the psychological impact of