King Cricket

December 19, 2015 England / South Africa

More rehearsals before England face South Africa

2 minute readA friend of ours once played the finest bum note we’ve ever heard while performing Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight at a wedding. It was the very last note and it only sounded so marvellously hideous because he’d played everything flawlessly up until that point. That’s how to get something wrong.

December 18, 2015 New Zealand

Neil Wagner isn’t perfect

< 1 minute readThere aren’t many media outlets where this would be headline news. It is here though. New Zealand’s fourth seamer isn’t flawless. Stop the press! It may only have been the day before yesterday, but it already seems a long, long time since we suggested that Neil Wagner never lets you

December 17, 2015 England

Alex Hales isn’t very warm

2 minute readBy all accounts, the door to Test selection has now been opened by Alex Hales. Barring injury he will take his place in the England side that will face South Africa on Boxing Day. He could do with warming up a bit though. England’s first warm-up match, against a South

December 16, 2015 New Zealand

Neil Wagner never lets you down

< 1 minute readHe’s like an old pair of walking socks, a sturdy side table or a functioning fridge. He doesn’t set your world alight, but at least your feet are warm, your brew is well supported and your veg hasn’t gone off. Last week, against Sri Lanka, Neil Wagner took 3-87 and

December 15, 2015 England

The names and numbers of a modern cricket tour match

< 1 minute readBack in the day, amateurs were given full initials, professionals surname only. Either would be preferable to what we get nowadays: .@thecompdog has an excellent 50 from 107 balls on his return and England have cruised past 100. 128-3 #SAvENG pic.twitter.com/uOQj00385T — England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 15, 2015 Most Twitter

December 14, 2015 Regulars / West Indies

Is Darren Sammy running away from this streaker?

< 1 minute readOr is he running towards him? Is it even Darren Sammy? Who knows? Not us – although we’ve named the image file Darren-Sammy.jpg, so that’s quite a big commitment. Never let it be said that we aren’t a risk-taker. The photo’s from 2007. If you’re wondering why we’re publishing eight

December 13, 2015 Match report

Middlesex v Worcestershire at Uxbridge – match report

2 minute readDumbo, Ged’s Suzuki Jimny writes: Not all that long after taking Ged and Daisy to Ireland, where I got to watch my first snippet of a cricket match at Clontarf CC, Ged asked me to take him to Uxbridge to see day two of Middlesex v Worcestershire. I was very

December 11, 2015 Australia / England / India

T20s, ODIs and Tests – it’s all cricket, so why not treat them as one?

< 1 minute readIn an interview with George Dobell for Cricinfo, the outgoing chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, Angus Porter, suggests that men’s cricket could adopt the points method used in women’s cricket where success in T20Is, ODIs and Tests is combined to decide the best side. Not the worst idea

December 10, 2015 Australia / New Zealand / Regulars / South Africa / Sri Lanka / West Indies

Mop-up of the day – runs down south

2 minute readAfter day-night Tests, the latest innovation in the ongoing Australia v New Zealand Test series has been additional opponents. Sri Lanka and the West Indies have been drafted in to keep things fresh, but they couldn’t tip the balance. Australia still had marginally the better day. New Zealand would have

December 9, 2015 Cricket products

A Nightwatchman for Christmas?

< 1 minute readSend him in. Let him weather the marketing and do all the preparations and cooking. Then you can just swan in on Boxing Day to eat leftovers and get drunk. No, this is Nightwatchman with an upper-case N. The Wisden cricket quarterly is doing gift packages. If you don’t know