King Cricket

September 25, 2011 England

The English cricket backslapathon and what it means for Ravi Bopara

2 minute readWe sometimes experience this phenomenon where the girl driving the car behind seems to be the most beautiful woman in the world. This is true when we catch a glimpse of her for a fraction of a second, from a distance, while we’re both moving, but then she pulls up

September 23, 2011 England

Remembering Dominic Cork

< 1 minute readRetiring from cricket at the age of 40 is a bit like dying at a grand old age. People naturally focus on what’s fresh in the memory. People remember your interests as being duck-feeding and ailment comparison with your peers, even though you were once a fighter pilot and later

September 22, 2011 Extras

We wrote about India losing over at Cricinfo

< 1 minute readWe’re hoping to attract some decent ill-feeling in the comments section, but there’s little so far. Maybe there’s a great pile of vitriol just waiting to be approved by a moderator. We did have a bit about Sachin Tendulkar failing to score his hundredth international hundred, but something similar had

September 21, 2011 Match report

Surrey v Middlesex match report

2 minute readSam writes: Angry clouds greeted my arrival at the second day of the Guildford cricket festival. A colleague had promised a press pass would be waiting for me “at the gate.” Predictably, no such pass materialised, and said colleague was incommunicado, away on an all expenses paid trip to Spain.

September 19, 2011 County cricket

Glen Chapple might be superhuman

2 minute read1992. It was the year that Jimmy Nail would top the charts with Ain’t No Doubt. It was also the year that Glen Chapple made his debut for Lancashire. While the halcyon days of Spender and Crocodile Shoes are gone for Nail, Chapple soldiers on. He’s 37 now, but seems

September 19, 2011 County cricket

The art of coming second

< 1 minute readIf ever you happen to find yourself in the final of a coin-tossing competition against Somerset, put all your money on yourself. Technically, the odds are even. In practice, this is Somerset and it’s a final. Somerset have now lost four of the last four domestic short format finals. If

September 16, 2011 County cricket

Okay, there are going to be some changes around here

< 1 minute readFor clarity, ‘around here’ means ‘the world’. The County Championship brings with it certain privileges. This year, the champions have the right to dictate what everyone in the entire world should eat for breakfast. Lancashire are champions, so there will be no more muesli, no more toast with jam, no

September 15, 2011 County cricket

Ghosts vanquished, aliens driven out, earth back on axis

< 1 minute readIt’s all going to be okay. Lancashire have won the County Championship. Moments after it was confirmed, we got into our car, turned on the radio and were greeted with the perfect party music: Paranoia Man In Cheap Shit Room by The Fall – perfect if, like us, your idea

September 15, 2011 County cricket

Just a few more hours and then maybe we’ll all be safe

< 1 minute readWe’ve lived near Manchester Airport for most of our life and we have never seen a light in the sky quite like the one we saw last night. It was off-white, indistinct and almost certainly an alien spacecraft. Aliens have, quite understandably, come to earth to see whether Warwickshire can

September 14, 2011 County cricket

We all have to wait for the County Championship to be decided

2 minute readWe ate some sauerkraut last night and there was something not quite right about it. We’ve not had the jar all that long and sauerkraut keeps, so it’s a bit weird. Most of you will have reached the obvious conclusion upon hearing this news. Clearly someone, somewhere, is so impatient