King Cricket

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,

November 22, 2011 Australia / Extras

Back to what’s important

< 1 minute readWe’ve got behind Australia to a quite sickening degree in recent days. We’ve intimated that South African defeats can be enjoyable and we’ve sympathised – SYMPATHISED – with Australians when they weren’t able to win a Test series after one little catastrophe. Well enough of that. Let’s get back to

November 21, 2011 Australia / South Africa

A two match Test series that was a success on every level

< 1 minute readAustralian defeats, South African defeats, brilliant fast bowling, feisty batting, 47 all out and everyone feeling profoundly irritated at being massively short-changed by there only being two matches – this was the perfect Test series. It was better than anything. It was better than turning up at a restaurant and

November 21, 2011 Australia / South Africa

When the fifth day of a Test match has the right ingredients

< 1 minute readThe fifth day of a Test can be dreadful. It can also be the best thing ever. When you get the right ingredients, it’s rich and intoxicating, like a creamy mustard sauce laced with smack. The second (and final) Test between South Africa and Australia is set up perfectly. South

November 18, 2011 Australia / South Africa

One down in a two Test series

< 1 minute readIt’s a generalisation to say that long-term cricket fans gravitate towards the longest format, but it’s not an outrageous generalisation, like saying that all left-handed people are agents of Lucifer. We’ve twice this year had perfectly civil interaction with someone who has later revealed themselves to be sickeningly wrong-handed, but

November 17, 2011 South Africa

Jacques Kallis’s odd days

< 1 minute readEvery now and again, Jacques Kallis has an odd day where he suddenly starts thrashing the ball around like he’s been possessed by one of Shahid Afrid’s many personalities. He holds the record for the fastest Test fifty off 24 balls. Yes, it was against Zimbabwe, but plenty of other

November 16, 2011 India

Duncan Fletcher’s India team

< 1 minute readHaving extracted our face from the dent in our desk, we did manage to catch much of today’s play, our view unobscured by tears of frustration. What we saw was India’s bowling attack and it looks a damn sight better than it had in England. Bizarrely, the man who emerged