King Cricket

June 8, 2015 County cricket

Glen Chapple is playing cricket and pretending he’s not great at it

< 1 minute readSo we’re calling him out on it. For every Shivnarine Chanderpaul, trying to convince people he’s still got it at the age of 40, there’s a Glen Chapple, sidling into a coaching position and inexplicably trying to convince everyone that he hasn’t still got it. Chapple’s not fooling anyone. >

June 5, 2015 England / West Indies

This is the way a cricket career ends, not with a bang

2 minute readHurray! Friday! Let’s celebrate by writing about melancholy exits! We’ve sadly had two recently. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s international career ended just as he imagined it would when he first took up the sport as a boy, with a WhatsApp exchange between Test series. Meanwhile, Craig Kieswetter has had to call it

June 4, 2015 County cricket

Leicestershire complete their sentence

< 1 minute readAt some point in 2013, Leicestershire were cut by the thunder. From then on, draws and losses appeared to be the only possible outcomes following four days of championship cricket. That’s a dispiriting world in which to live, sounding almost like something imposed on them by a judge. However, the

June 2, 2015 England / New Zealand / Pakistan

The myths of parity

2 minute readParity on first innings isn’t really parity because one team has to bat last. When England matched New Zealand’s 350, they were behind. Not that this was where the match was decided, but it’s worth noting when so much attention is on fourth innings shot selection. Several days ago… Two

June 1, 2015 England / New Zealand

England’s most influential player puts his hand up and comes to the party

< 1 minute readSometimes the crowd are said to be a 12th man. Sometimes the 12th man is a 12th man. At times, in England, persistent drizzle is the 12th man. Even Brendon McCullum at his most innovative couldn’t get the better of the United Kingdom’s damp, maritime climate today. “What if I

May 31, 2015 England / New Zealand

BJ Watling – not just a weirdly-named man in an oversized jumper

< 1 minute readBradley-John. BJ stands for Bradley-John. We’d have gone with Brad. Or John. Or Bradley. Or Bradley-John. BJ went for BJ. As for the surname, we can’t hear ‘caught Watling’ without thinking it’s some sort of archaic crime. As in: ‘Broad was caught watling behind the keep and was sentenced to

May 31, 2015 England / New Zealand

Adam Lyth and a big noise in Yorkshire

< 1 minute readAfter day two of the second Test, the important question is this: Is Michael Vaughan getting louder? Maybe he was always like this, but it seems to us that he’s crossed the speaking-shouting threshold this season. At the start of Channel 5’s highlights programme, when he’s standing in the middle

May 30, 2015 England / New Zealand

A series of things for which it’s quite hard to come up with an appropriate headline

< 1 minute readQ: What do you call a donkey that was born in New Zealand, grew up in Australia, got a snorter first ball in his first Test but survived and went on to make 88 off 70 balls? A: A Ronchi It’s probably not the greatest joke, but that’s not what

May 28, 2015 England

England are playing

< 1 minute readSo are New Zealand. It’s a Test match. You’ll probably have something to say. Leave your comments on this post while we busy ourself desperately trying to come up with something insightful and pithy to say about the first day’s play. If you’re interested in our thoughts while the match

May 27, 2015 Match report

Lancashire v Middlesex in the County Championship – match report

3 minute readGed writes: It was the last day of the cricket season and I was working that day – mostly from home. I got urgent stuff out of the way first thing, with a view to going to the gym mid to late morning, ahead of my one meeting of the