King Cricket

December 18, 2012 England / India

England’s rich and femmer tourists – and also the journeymen

3 minute readWe’ve always wondered how an England team could win in India. Winning in Australia always seemed impossible because of how good they were and because a squad on a long tour always seemed to unravel like the stitching in our rucksack. Winning in India seemed equally impossible, but for different

December 17, 2012 England / India

Follow this, watch that

< 1 minute readThis pitch and this match are being slagged off by many people, but we’ve found it compelling because it’s been so alien. It hasn’t been a match that’s been great to watch, but it has been fascinating to follow because cricketers are so rarely tested in such conditions. As a

December 15, 2012 England / India

When MS Dhoni was run out for 99

< 1 minute readTo fall one centimetre short of a hundred is probably a little bit irritating. MS Dhoni is doubtless wishing he had longer arms. We quite like a 99 and to be run out is the best way to do it. There’s a sort of soiled majesty about it – so

December 14, 2012 England / India

Cricket owes James Anderson

2 minute readLike most bowlers, James Anderson is frequently up against it. Modern pitches are generally against him, overseas conditions are often against him and the fixture list is always against him. However, like a fat man’s old belt, Jimmy hasn’t buckled in a long, long time. Fit for purpose Most of

December 13, 2012 England / India

The drab life between the leave and the lofted block

2 minute readOn Sky, Nick Knight asked why England had been scoring at two runs an over, like it was some sort of policy. The truth is that even Kevin Pietersen couldn’t score quicker. Early wickets probably brought added caution, but the pitch seems to have dictated that there will be some

December 12, 2012 England / India

The case for Onions

2 minute readDelicious and versatile. Oh wait, upper-case ‘O’. Let’s start again. Graham Onions is the England bowler everyone rates, but not enough that he’s ever the person they think should play. His qualities are low-octane and harder to see. There’s always a taller bowler or a faster bowler who’s more eye-catching.

December 11, 2012 New Zealand

The Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum captaincy thing

< 1 minute readOkay, we think we’ve got to grips with what’s happened. Mike Hesson said to Ross Taylor: “I don’t like you and I don’t like your face. I’m going to get a new captain.” Ross Taylor replied: “Who the hell are you? When did you become New Zealand coach?” Mike Hesson

December 10, 2012 England / India

England’s Eden Gardens Test win, four-man bowling attacks and Zaheer Khan

2 minute readWe’ll be honest, we’re struggling to know what to say about England’s win at Eden Gardens. Comparing our preview to the scorecard kind of puts things in perspective. The current fashion seems to be to denigrate India, but that’s only half the story. The other half most revolves around Alastair

December 8, 2012 England / India

India have a bad day at the crease

2 minute readR Ashwin is a good batsman, but no-one considers him to be one of the best six batsman in India. In that case, why is it that he seems to be thriving with the bat while the specialists are batting like a big bag of grundle? There’s no simple answer.

December 7, 2012 England / India

India have a bad day in the field

< 1 minute readIndia have an amazing ability to take a bad day in the field and make it look worse. It’s a flat pitch and they managed to take five wickets (although none for the man with ‘the best wrist in cricket’) but yet it seemed far more horrendous than that. Mostly