King Cricket

July 16, 2013 England

Is Steven Finn currently baking pies to chuck in the second Test?

< 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

July 15, 2013 Australia / England

Australia bat all the way down to number 11

< 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

July 14, 2013 Australia / England

Trent Bridge Ashes Test climax holding post

< 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

July 13, 2013 Australia / England

We were at Trent Bridge today

< 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

July 12, 2013 Australia / England

I.Ron Bell puts overs into Aussie legs

< 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

July 11, 2013 Australia / England

Ashton Agar’s first Test innings could have gone worse

2 minute readWas it only last year when we wrote about how enjoyable it was to watch a number 11 batsman make a record Test score? ‘Cricket at its best,’ we wrote, completely forgetting that a lurching Ashes Test makes us want to vomit until we’re right down to the lung butter.

July 10, 2013 Australia / England

Peter Siddle doesn’t concern himself with hype

2 minute readWho’d have thought that it would be Peter Siddle taking all the wickets? Who’d have thought that in Australia’s brave new world of James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and shiny new Ashton Agar, it would be tired old veteran Siddle, with his 150 Test wickets, proven record and exceptional fitness who’d

July 9, 2013 Australia

Australia’s seam bowlers for the 2013 Ashes

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

July 9, 2013 Australia

Australia’s spin bowlers for the 2013 Ashes

< 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

July 8, 2013 Australia

Australia’s wicketkeepers for the 2013 Ashes

< 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