3 minute readThis is an area where you find yourself being dragged along by the consensus. So many people are saying that Australia’s seam bowling is strong that you tend to think it must be true. Frequently, people will talk about the attack as a whole, which is usually a sign that
Continue reading< 1 minute readAustralia’s spinners are both better and worse than people seem to think. Let’s first be clear that, as it stands, neither Fawad Ahmed nor Ashton Agar are actually in the squad. Furthermore, both benefit from being to a large extent unknown and untested. In a barren land, the distant man
Continue reading< 1 minute readBrad Haddin has primarily been brought back as child minder, but he does average 45 in Ashes Tests and he does look like an Australian wicketkeeper, which is more important than you might think. There’s a chance that Matthew Wade might play as a batsman, so it’s safe to assume
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe meant to let you know a couple of days ago that the Ashes crossword answers are now up. There’s a link on that page to an Excel document containing explanations as well. We’ve also added a link to the answers on the original page in case you don’t read
Continue reading2 minute readWe’d say that Australia were one crankshaft short of an engine room if we knew what constituted ‘the engine room’ or what an engine room contained or what a crankshaft was. Also, they appear to be missing more than that. Flicking through our Big Book of Cricket Clichés, we find
Continue reading2 minute readWith his perpetually tear-filled eyes and propensity to snap tendons while waxing body hair, Shane Watson always appears a figure of fun. Add in his comedic insistence on throwing his wicket away before he reaches three figures and the boy-man becomes symbolic of how Australia has fallen. On the other
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe used the term ‘echo chamber’ in reference to the UK cricket media the other day. That was in response to Joe Root worship, but it applies just as much to the way the Australia team is assessed. Half the experts out there are simply rehashing the last thing they
Continue reading< 1 minute readThis County Championship coverage is hanging by a thread. Honestly. By. A. Thread. 1st – Yorkshire Yorkshire now have an eight-point lead. Like Sussex in our last round-up, they failed to beat Surrey and had to make do with a draw. We may at some point have to consider the
Continue reading< 1 minute readJoe Root’s geting comfortable in his bowling boots. Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann are enjoying the feel of their batting gloves. Except for the fact that the batsmen aren’t making runs and the bowlers aren’t taking wickets, everything’s going exactly as planned in England’s warm-up match against Essex. But who
Continue reading2 minute readSam writes: Please find attached a picture of several cricket bats in an unusual place, namely a glass case in a shop in Jinja, Uganda. I took this picture as I was walking along the main road in Jinja, which is a fairly small town about an hour’s drive away
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