King Cricket

June 3, 2017 India / Pakistan

India and Pakistan resolve to fulfil fixture obligation despite Abdul Razzaq’s retirement

< 1 minute readThe cliché is that cricket is a religion in India, which has always seemed to us to greatly overstate the importance of religion in a country where such things are basically ten a paise. Pakistan’s pretty keen on the sport too. It’s good to find things you have in common.

June 1, 2017 Bangladesh / England

England go with a bit of right-arm fast-medium

2 minute read‘Will four right-arm fast-medium bowlers be sufficient?’ England apparently asked themselves before the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy. ‘No, better make it five,” they concluded, for reasons that were clear to no-one. It was very odd. One of the few things we said about England’s likely strategy for

May 31, 2017 Extras

Laurence Elderbrook warms up for action

3 minute readPrevious instalment from Laurence Elderbrook Nerves are good. Nerves are a sign that a batsman cares, and a batsman with such passion is more likely to be sharp and effective when his moment arrives. I, Laurence Elderbrook, am not by nature a nervous man, but the tempestuous nature of cricketer

May 30, 2017 Extras

A free Champions Trophy fantasy league – because, why not?

2 minute readWe’re going with the ICC’s own fantasy league this time around. It’s free. If you want to join the King Cricket private league, you’ll need to get a team selected by 10am Thursday, UK time. There’s then a ‘join/create league’ link in the Leagues dropdown. The private league code for

May 29, 2017 England / South Africa

England need some E45 cream

< 1 minute readAfter snatching the second one-day international, England decided to test the notion that they can now win from any position by giddily launching themselves towards 20-6 in the third. Now 20-6 is definitely a score you can win from, but ideally you’d be fielding when it occurred. South Africa got

May 27, 2017 County cricket / Sri Lanka

So Kumar Sangakkara’s in form then (and not even put off by snapping his bat in half)

< 1 minute readKumar Sangakkara’s last five County Championship innings have been 136, 105, 114, 120 and 200. Today’s double hundred came in a team total of just 369. And he wasn’t even put off by snapping his bat in half. SNAP. Sanga’s bat ends up in two pieces off the bowling of

May 25, 2017 County cricket / Match report

Cambridge MCCU v Middlesex CCC – match report

2 minute readEdwardian writes: Cambridge is heaving at the best of times, but taking the quiet back streets from the station to Fenner’s was very pleasant. A few ‘good mornings’ and I was there by 10.30am. I was there to meet my wife’s uncle Spike who said he would do his best

May 24, 2017 England / South Africa

South Africa have already choked

< 1 minute readWe were quite keen to be first off the mark in using the word “choked” to mean “lost a cricket match” in reference to South Africa this summer. Hopefully we have achieved our aim. When you see the term deployed by others in the weeks to come, be sure to

May 24, 2017 Extras

Laurence Elderbrook fights and defeats nerves

2 minute readPrevious instalment from Laurence Elderbrook I have concluded that it is irresponsible to open the batting. I am a gifted, match-winning batsman and to expose myself to the vagaries of the new ball is to introduce an element of chance to proceedings when a fair fight would always see me

May 23, 2017 County cricket

A featherbed of Roses – The County Championship round-up

< 1 minute readThey bothered playing some of the County Championship this week. Need they have? The Roses match After little more than a day, Jimmy Anderson had succumbed to groin knackage, Jack Brooks had made a hundred and this match already seemed like it was no longer a going concern. All that