King Cricket

July 27, 2014 England / India

Test match start days and the concept of ‘appointment to view’

< 1 minute readThis year they moved the Twenty20 Cup to Friday nights to create an ‘appointment to view’. The premise is if people know when matches are being played, there’s a better chance they’ll watch. This year also sees a five-Test series taking place between England and India which boasts four different

July 25, 2014 Extras / Regulars

Mop-up of the day – two very different retirements

< 1 minute readThe first is the unflappable maestro, Mahela Jayawardene, who is giving up the five-day game. Fun fact, stats nerds: his first innings hundred in the ongoing Test against South Africa has tipped his average over 50. He’s actually got another series after this one yet though, so don’t get too

July 24, 2014 Extras / Regulars

Mop-up of the day – an overreaction checklist

< 1 minute readWe’ve produced a valuable guide just in case any England fans aren’t overreacting sufficiently. It can be found over at Cricinfo. Tick all the boxes and you too can call yourself a true England supporter. Andy Caddick’s ears Sam was greatly disappointed that they didn’t get a mention in another

July 22, 2014 England

Alastair Cook should stick to the day job

2 minute readCaptaincy is an odd thing. It always strikes us that becoming captain is like being a writer promoted to a management position. We’ve had jobs where a senior colleague with a stupid job title has come up to us and basically said: “Your writing and editing is so good that

July 22, 2014 England

Another England cricketer eroded

< 1 minute readAfter Matt Prior missed one particular catch in the second Test, a Sky commentator – possibly Mike Atherton – suggested that the wicketkeeper might be having trouble moving to his right due to all his accumulated injury problems. In his statement announcing that he was standing down for the rest

July 21, 2014 England / India

Ishant Sharma with the short ball at Lord’s

2 minute readIt’s an unlikely Cluedo solution, but it happened. We saw it with our own eyes. Joe Root was the third caught attacking the short ball after lunch and he did a cracking Charlie Brown slope upon being dismissed. It was really, really first class. We were in awe. We don’t

July 20, 2014 England / India

And again England concede runs to the lower order

< 1 minute readIt’s okay to start headlines with ‘and’ when you’re emphasising the repetitive nature of something. Ravindra Jadeja isn’t exactly the tail, of course. Even if you play half your domestic matches on the world’s flattest pitch, scoring three triple hundreds shifts you out of the tail-end category never to return.

July 20, 2014 England / India

Alastair Cook failed to ration his runs

< 1 minute readVirat Kohli’s due a score, isn’t he? And how many runs has Alastair Cook got in his bag, just waiting to be plucked out? Or is it more that Cook’s now suffering the inevitable consequences of frittering runs away earlier in his career. There was a complete lack of rationing

July 19, 2014 England

Gary Ballance bares his teeth

< 1 minute readA lot. It seems to be his default facial expression while batting. It’s a little disconcerting. But on the plus side, we’ve already started thinking to ourself: “At least Ballance is still in,” as if he’s the most reliable of the England batsmen. Like Jonathan Trott, you don’t really feel

July 18, 2014 India

Ajinkya Rahane v Suresh Raina

2 minute readOkay, turns out we do have something else to say. It’s to do with who’s a good batsman. We don’t want this to become a Suresh Raina bashing thing, because we’ve a certain amount of time for him. He does certain things better than almost anyone. The issue is that

A Test starting on a Sunday (local time) just feels a bit odd. England have played a Sunday-starting Test at…

This one, that is... https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/memo-to-australia-and-england-honour-the-format-that-has-elevated-you-1517475 He goes too far (Chappelli? Too far? Never) but actual Test cricket breaking out occasionally…

Well said. I'm skirting the edge of churlishness regarding McCullumism when I say this but I have some sympathy for…

We don't mind a two-day collapse-off every now and again, but only as a noteworthy aberration. Two in one series…

The most frustrating aspect of this whole series, I now reflect, is that so little of the last few weeks…

Sky Sports has boiled its Ashes coverage down to its purest and greatest form: Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain standing there talking about what’s gone wrong

The 2019 Ridiculous Ashes (podcast)

The 50 Most Ridiculous Ashes Moments is definitely out now – you should buy it for someone! (Possibly yourself)

51. Michael Vaughan Declines A Crushing

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