King Cricket

March 1, 2017 Australia / India

A poor pitch? And Australia won?

< 1 minute readThe Pune pitch on which Australia beat India was rated poor on the grounds that it gave too much assistance to spinners. This is a paradox. Australia made 260 and 285. Australia did. Australia. Australia, with their leaden hands and their be-aggressive-but-patient-and-show-a-bit-of-mongrel-and-play-in-this-one-specific-way-but-find-your-own-method approach to facing spin bowling. They managed to

February 28, 2017 England / West Indies

How much does Rahkeem Cornwall weigh?

2 minute readAll across the UK, people are waking up and asking: ‘Who is Rahkeem Cornwall?‘ after the majestic blob of cricket damn near beat England in a tour match. It is for precisely this reason that we always try and stay abreast of the world’s fat cricketers long before they rise

February 27, 2017 Australia / India

Australia and spin bowling – all of their problems are completely solved

< 1 minute readIt’s hard to see how India’s batsmen could possibly learn to play Steve O’Keefe any better than they did on the one occasion they’ve faced him. Compounding this is the 100 per cent true fact that they’ve already committed to playing on pitches identical to that used in the first

February 24, 2017 Australia

The experts say Steve O’Keefe doesn’t spin it enough

2 minute readTerry Jenner said that Steve O’Keefe bowled blancmanges. If you for some reason think that was intended as a compliment, O’Keefe himself recalls: “He’d just look at me in disgust about how putrid these things were that were coming out of my hand.” Jenner’s greatest protégé Shane Warne feels similarly.

February 23, 2017 Australia / India

Matt Renshaw retires hurt because of the wild shits

< 1 minute readMatt Renshaw might think that ‘while batting during day one of a Test match’ is the worst time to realise that you’ve been struck down by a case of the wild shits. All we’d say is at least it wasn’t the start of an overnight train journey with no hotel

February 22, 2017 Extras

A cricket book in an unusual place

< 1 minute readIt’s been a while since we had a cricket thing in an unusual place – so long, in fact, that many of you won’t even know that it’s supposed to be a regular feature. Ged sent us the following photo and said only: “Sphere Of Influence By Gideon Haigh, spotted

February 21, 2017 England / India

Why did Tymal Mills go for so much at the IPL auction? Because he’s fit for purpose

2 minute readTymal Mills has been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4m. In response, many have felt inclined to ask what Ian Botham, Viv Richards or Ian Austin might have gone for. This seems to us to be somewhat missing the point. In the UK, the phrase ‘Twenty20 specialist’ still has

February 19, 2017 Extras

Innovative T20 scorecards – new ways to tell the story of a cricket match

3 minute readWe were talking T20 scorecards on Friday and this led to a discussion about whether the traditional form is actually fit for purpose. Our point was that in a T20 match, it’s not just ‘how many’ and ‘how quickly’ – it’s also about when runs are scored and when wickets

February 17, 2017 Extras

Do you click through to T20I scorecards?

2 minute readWe’ve just realised we quite often don’t. Unlike some, we’re actually into Twenty20 cricket. Its formulaic nature means that a team’s strategy is easier to perceive and assess. But at the same time, unless we’re actively following a series it seems we don’t have any interest in looking at a

February 15, 2017 England

A bit of advice for Joe Root

< 1 minute readIf there’s one thing the England captain generally lacks, it’s advice from random members of the public. Fortunately for Joe Root, we are prepared to step in and fill that void. It’s a little-known fact that our critically-acclaimed Club Captain’s Handbook for All Out Cricket was originally penned as a