King Cricket

May 31, 2012 England

Kevin Pietersen retires from the shorter international formats but not from Tests or the IPL

< 1 minute readWith his finishing school posture and his languid prancing, Kevin Pietersen always looks fine when he’s ambling around the outfield. But who knows what’s going on inside those 30-something limbs? Maybe he’s got age-related shitty knee. You need to rest your stupid, failing joints for longer as you get older.

May 30, 2012 England

Something about squad rotation

< 1 minute readThere’s plenty of talk about resting England’s bowlers now that the series is won. We predicted squad rotation years ago and while we don’t disagree with the practice, we do disagree with the world that necessitates it. If the first XI were exactly that in every international cricket match, the

May 29, 2012 County cricket

Count Cricket’s county cricket round-up – May 29th

< 1 minute readGood day to you all. Last week, I, Count Cricket, attended Sussex v Nottinghamshire. Nottinghamshire won and so went to the top of the table. The weather was good, so I protected my pallid skin by withdrawing to Hove’s toilets where I quaffed brandy from my thermos. Very pleasant it

May 28, 2012 England

How many swing bowlers did England need to win this Test match?

< 1 minute readWhen asked about the make-up of England’s bowling attack for the second Test at Trent Bridge, Andrew Strauss said it was a ground where the ball tended to swing, so they’d selected the three best swing bowlers. This begs the question, just what is the optimum number of eggs to

May 26, 2012 West Indies

Three reasons to like Marlon Samuels

2 minute readWe’ve really warmed to Marlon Samuels a short way into a short series. There are three main reasons for this. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, his favourite cricketer is Nasser Hussain. Anyone with such an inexplicably unlikely role model is someone to be admired. Secondly, he’s funny. Jimmy Anderson is

May 24, 2012 England

Something about Steven Finn that isn’t really worth saying

< 1 minute readWe’ve been meaning to say this since the middle of the last Test, but having just seen “Steven Finn can provide England with the answer to Chanderpaul problem | Mike Selvey” on our home page, we’ve realised we’ve probably missed our window. Unfazed, we’re going to say our bit anyway.

May 23, 2012 County cricket

Why the County Championship is like a good Test match

2 minute readA good Test match should change in character as the pitch changes character. Early on, there might be a bit of moisture for seam bowlers to exploit; then it might flatten out, favouring the patient batsmen; and eventually the pitch should deteriorate so that there’s uneven bounce and plenty of

May 22, 2012 County cricket

They’re going to broadcast county cricket in Asia

< 1 minute readThe ECB have sold the rights to broadcast county cricket in Asia for about £135m. It seems oddly vague to talk about ‘Asia’ in this way. It’s an entire continent. We can’t imagine people in Japan or Mongolia are particularly interested in Arul Suppiah’s back foot defence right now, but

May 21, 2012 West Indies

A second Shiv

< 1 minute readFor all that cricket is a team game, West Indies are only one Shiv away from being literally unbeatable. England basically took wickets at one end only throughout this match and Marlon Samuels gave an indication what would happen were a second Shivnarine Chanderpaul to come to the crease. In

May 20, 2012 County cricket

Count Cricket’s county cricket round-up – May 20th

< 1 minute readGood day to you. I am Count Cricket. This week I was at Edgbaston where batting conditions were so friendly even Lancashire passed 300. Following a draw, Warwickshire remain top of the table. One of the most notable performances was that of Rikki Clarke. During one of my visits to