King Cricket

February 19, 2024 England / India

Is it possible to bat with the conviction of Ben Duckett yet talk with the bleak defeatism of the average England fan?

6 minute readConviction. It’s what Ben Stokes’ England Test team is all about. This is great to watch but cringe-inducing to listen to. Is there any chance they could play the same way without… saying all of those things? The most obviously groansome comment arising from England’s 434-run defeat to India in

February 15, 2024 India

Rohit Sharma’s hat was the real victim when Sarfaraz Khan was run out because Ravindra Jadeja was so keen to get off 99

2 minute readRun-outs are always dramatic, but doubly so when the batter’s on 99. That unignorable need for a single just brings a whole new dimension to the drama. The burning desire to get another run to get you to 100 can even result in collateral damage, like the loss of your

February 14, 2024 England / India

Rajkot Test pitch preview with Captain Ahab

2 minute readBen Stokes’ cap has been looking pretty tatty, but he is due a new one for his 100th Test match in Rajkot this week. The series currently sits at 1-1 with – glory be! – three Tests still to play. Ravindra Jadeja will most likely return for India, while England

February 13, 2024 Extras / Features

How popular are all these Not-Quite-The-IPL franchise leagues actually likely to be?

5 minute readThe birth of a whole new wave of T20 franchise competitions will bring about the death of international cricket according to a great many articles we’ve read in the last six months. We don’t really know about that. We’re pretty certain that they’ll bring about the death of several T20

February 8, 2024 England / Features / India

What has been the most improbable feat by an England cricketer in India?

8 minute readIndia is a place where the impossible becomes improbable and the improbable honestly just may well actually happen. As Tom Hartley showed in Hyderabad, even England cricketers aren’t immune. Below we’ve picked out a few other improbable feats delivered by England cricketers while touring India. You can pick your own

February 5, 2024 England / India

What does Mukesh Kumar tell us about time travel team selection?

3 minute readIf you were to fire up your flux capacitor and hop into your DeLorean, would you go back and pick a different England or India team for the recently-completed second Test? More quick bowlers perhaps? Yes? No? Maybe? We’re assuming that given access to time travel, the first thing you’d

February 3, 2024 England / India

Was Jasprit Bumrah’s yorker to Ollie Pope the best since Waqar Younis?

3 minute readWe’re not saying that the delivery with which Jasprit Bumrah bowled Ollie Pope was the best post-Waqar yorker. All we’re saying is that a decent case can be made and that’ll do for today. First things first, the greatest yorker of all time was bowled by Waqar Younis at some

January 31, 2024 England / India

Vizag Test pitch preview with Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez

3 minute readAfter rather improbably sweeping and spinning a win in Hyderabad, England head to Visakhapatnam hoping to do something similar in the second Test. But can we expect similar conditions? All of the world’s great grounds have big, bold, powerful names that hit you hard and fast: Lord’s, Newlands, Eden Gardens,

January 29, 2024 England / India

Tom Hartley: first look in Test cricket

3 minute readWe don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from players’ debuts – but we report on them anyway. If there was a key moment for Tom Hartley on his debut, it was when Ben Stokes didn’t whip him out of the attack to ‘protect’ him after an over or two in

January 28, 2024 Australia / West Indies

Shamar Joseph’s match-winning wicket: an almost perfect cricket moment

5 minute readThe West Indies beat Australia and the final wicket, when Shamar Joseph bowled Josh Hazlewood, was near as damn it perfect. Perfect dismissal, perfect celebration, perfect story, perfect subtext. The ointment wasn’t entirely free of insect life, but you’ve got to expect a couple of flies when you’re Down Under,