King Cricket

August 19, 2014 India

Shastri is the boss

< 1 minute readThere have been some major revelations about Ravi Shastri this summer. Apparently, he can be interesting and insightful and also possesses a sense of humour. Who knew? We learned this while watching Sky’s oddly watchable Test discussion programme, The Verdict, on which he has been a regular guest. Before that,

August 18, 2014 Regulars

Mop-up of the day – an unappealing slice of Beef

2 minute readIt seemed logical to assume that India’s batting at The Oval would be the most repulsive and upsetting thing any of us saw this week. Then Ian Botham put everything in perspective. Sir Beef has a history of advertising meat. This morning he appeared to be promoting pork sword via

August 17, 2014 England / India

Blood and panned

< 1 minute readWe think you’ll agree that it’s been very difficult to watch England methodically pan India without concluding that they are vampires. If you see Alastair Cook in your neighbourhood, don’t invite him into your home. While England have found ever greater vitality, India have been looking more and more tired.

August 15, 2014 England / India

MS Dhoni has lost everyone

< 1 minute readHere’s a question: can you lead by example if no-one follows that example? If there’s no-one behind you, you’re not really leading, are you? You’re just ambling around on your own while everyone else sits around having cakes and tea. In the first innings at Old Trafford, MS Dhoni played

August 14, 2014 Regulars

Mop-up of the day – who cares wins

< 1 minute readOr, more accurately, in the eyes of many: who wins cares and who loses doesn’t. We touched on this a couple of days ago. India’s batting at Old Trafford warrants scrutiny, but we’re still wary of drawing conclusions about the players’ motives and feelings based on what happened. After all,

August 13, 2014 Regulars

Mop-up of the day – the blurred art of cricket

2 minute readThat’s Joe Root’s work above. It’s one of a number of portraits produced by players and commentators which are being auctioned off to raise awareness of Cricket United Day. Cricket United Day is on Saturday and will see funds raised for a handful of cricket-themed charities. You can donate here.

August 12, 2014 Regulars

Mop-up of the day – chucking in the towel

2 minute readThere’s quite a bit of Test cricket going on at the minute. Savour it, because it’s not long before we make a sharp turn and embark on the long, straight approach to the 50-over World Cup. After this week’s final Test, England don’t play the longest format again until the

August 11, 2014 England

England send out high-vis messengers like nobody’s business

2 minute readIt’s a common criticism of modern cricket that there are too many disruptions; too many conferences and unscheduled drinks breaks. On Sky, David Lloyd has taken to drawing attention to them with an impassioned: “Get on with the gaaaame.” You can hear the frustration in his voice when he says

August 10, 2014 England / India

India unveil a new breed of collapse

< 1 minute readSometimes the bowling’s good and the ball’s moving around and the fall of wickets seems inevitable. At other times, relentless pressure causes a side to break. Then there are those other days when it seems like you need to take every opportunity presented to you. Day three at Old Trafford

August 9, 2014 England / India

Will Pankaj Singh ever get a Test wicket?

< 1 minute readLuckless at the Rose Bowl, mediocre at Old Trafford, Pankaj Singh has thus far found two ways to avoid taking a Test wicket. Our worry is that two will prove enough; that he’ll fail to take a wicket in this match and will never return to the team. It’s become