King Cricket

December 4, 2011 Australia

James Pattinson and Australian desperation

2 minute readIt’s been a great period in Australian cricket. There have been so many poor performances that the nation attained that blissful state where everyone’s running around screaming ‘do something!’ without any agreement as to what that something might be. It didn’t matter who was right and who was wrong, just

December 2, 2011 Australia

David Warner’s Twenty20 reputation

2 minute readWe’ve some sympathy for the young, millionnaire cricketer, David Warner – and it’s not just because he’s Australian. We feel that sympathy – just a small amount – because he’s been branded a Twenty20 player. Warner’s done well off the back of Twenty20, but he’s always going to have to

December 1, 2011 Australia

Australia pick the wrong bowlers

< 1 minute readWith New Zealand 176-5, you may disagree with that. That’s not really our point. Our point is that we haven’t got anything to say about James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc. We were hoping Ben Cutting would get the nod. His training revolves around distance running, not weight-lifting – an approach

November 30, 2011 Australia

Michael Clarke’s support for Mitchell Johnson is getting ridiculous

< 1 minute readMichael Clarke concluded early on in his tenure that his man management of Mitchell Johnson would involve unconditional love, no matter what the tufty-haired purveyor of left-arm ineptitude did with the ball. Johnson hasn’t taken many wickets recently, but Clarke’s been steadfast in his support. Someone should tell him he

November 29, 2011 County cricket

2012 Twenty20 Cup schedule

< 1 minute readThere’s little point criticising the 2012 county cricket fixture list. They’d made a report saying how they might change it before it had even been released. That said, we still find the Twenty20 Cup schedule bizarre. They play every day for a month. Then they play quarter finals two-and-a-half weeks

November 28, 2011 Extras

Cricinfo approval rating dips

< 1 minute readShould we take it badly if someone says, “This is the ONLY article that I dont read on Page 2” about our work? Hard to say, isn’t it? If they haven’t read it, they can’t really evaluate the quality. Or maybe they’re saying that they take in the article in

November 26, 2011 India / West Indies

Great draw – in no other sport does that make much sense

2 minute readIt was a glorious and gleefully shambolic finish to the third Test between India and West Indies. West Indies were one wicket away from a tie, India one run away from a win. R Ashwin was run out going for what would have been the winning run and the match

November 25, 2011 India

R Ashwin learns from Harbhajan Singh

< 1 minute readWe like R Ashwin. He seems… keen. He’s talented too, but talented players are ten-a-penny. Who cares about them? No, what we like is a stony face when someone runs in to bowl; a face that says: ‘Shut up, I’m working. No, seriously, stop it. I’m trying to concentrate. I’ve

November 24, 2011 India

Is Tendulkar’s milestone a higher priority than winning a Test match?

< 1 minute readHome ground. Series won. You could be forgiven for wondering whether the Wankhede pitch has been tailored for one man’s benefit – one man and his legion of fans, that is. We could say that placing so much emphasis on one man’s achievement is disrespectful towards the 21 marionettes who

November 23, 2011 West Indies

West Indies have some batsmen

< 1 minute readThere’s a danger of being too bloody sneering about high scores these days. We know we’re as guilty of this as anyone. It’s all too easy to blame the pitch, as if the humans standing on top of it play no part. The Windies have batted like spanners for years,