2 minute readWe’re never sure what to say about declaration batting. It can be hard to watch as the tension is minimal. Even so, it serves important purposes. Bat for a long time and you get a good view of the opposition bowling. You also sap it of strength. Even if there
Continue reading2 minute readTrying to assess the quality of the bowling or the helpfulness of the conditions in this Test is like trying to gauge the contribution of the skinny guy in a tug o’ war team. There may well be something remarkable going on, but the impact’s entirely dwarfed by the efforts
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe normally look forward to Steven Smith turning his arm over. This is partly because of his bowling action, but also because for the most part he’s rubbish. If Smith takes three wickets, this is officially what is known as ‘a balls-up’ on the part of the batting team. The
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe’ve implied many times that Australia’s team is currently weaker than in years gone by primarily because of the rich vein of hairless metrosexuality running through it. However, we were quite surprised to learn that James Pattinson is as guilty of this as anyone. Michael Clarke recently said: “If James
Continue reading< 1 minute readLegal documents associated with Mickey Arthur’s ludicrous AUD 4 million compensation claim against Cricket Australia are said to detail deeply felt emnity between Michael Clarke and Shane Watson. This is, apparently, news. A fairly large proportion of the Australian population has always hated Michael Clarke, seeing him as an image-conscious
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe’ve mixed feelings about whether or not Steven Finn should be dropped. On the one hand, he is reassuringly distinct from England’s other bowlers, but on the other, he did a damn good impression of someone who went to pieces and became a complete liability during the first Test. It
Continue reading< 1 minute readTheir problem is that they don’t bat all the way up to number one. The lower order punches above its weight. The tail frequently wags. It’s the rest of the dog that is sick and lifeless. Lower order resilience can be undervalued – or used as a stick with which
Continue reading< 1 minute readBecause one way or another, it’s going to take us quite some time to make sense. We’re currently working our way through the many stages of tension, from ‘edge of seat’ through to ‘foetal and foul-mouthed underneath a cushion’. Even once the match has been decided, we’ll still need some
Continue reading< 1 minute readHere are some things that happened: 1. Jonathan Trott did some mileage This was probably the most important thing that happened today. When Australia’s openers were in, Trott was fielding at fine leg. Left-hander, right-hander, from both ends, Trott was at fine leg. He covered all four corners of the
Continue reading< 1 minute readMaybe we should consider him two different batsmen – Ian Bell, the guy who chips one to cover, and I.Ron Bell, the guy who plays these sorts of innings. (Make your own metallurgical puns. We had a look at the iron Wikipedia page with a view to coming up with
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