King Cricket

June 17, 2011 Extras

You have the right to question Aleem Dar

< 1 minute readBut it isn’t recommended. At the Rose Bowl yesterday, Andrew Strauss opted to review a possible edge. This was a ridiculous decision. Not because Paranavitana hadn’t nicked it (he had), but because if Aleem Dar couldn’t detect an edge with certainty, technology certainly wouldn’t be up to the task. The

June 16, 2011 Sri Lanka

Return of Sangakkara – this time it’s temporary and he doesn’t really want to do it

< 1 minute readIt’s not a great film title, but we’d watch. We will watch, in fact. Kumar Sangakkara had two years as captain, but, like Mahela Jayawardene before him, jacked the job in because of the pressure. Unfortunately, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s minced thumb has meant Sri Lanka need a stand-in and after much

June 15, 2011 County cricket

Phil Mustard and Twenty20 averages and statistics

< 1 minute readCricket has generally got more time for stats than for its own personal hygiene, yet those for Twenty20 are surprisingly useless. A good batting average can be counterproductive if not allied to a decent strike-rate. A decent bowling economy rate can be misleading if it’s just the result of that

June 14, 2011 Match report

South Africa v Zimbabwe World Cup warm-up match report

3 minute readGed writes: Daisy and I happened to be staying near Chennai on the day of the South Africa v Zimbabwe warm-up match. It must have been fate. At least, that’s what I told Daisy. We had arranged to tour Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram that day, with a recommended early start and

June 13, 2011 Australia

Simon Katich dropped – the understated reaction

< 1 minute readThis is a quote from Australia’s federal defence minister, Stephen Smith. And yes, you read that job title correctly. “Well historically of course there have been a series of atrocities committed by the Australian Cricket Board or Cricket Australia or the Australian selectors against Western Australian cricketers but this one

June 11, 2011 Match report

Hampshire v Surrey CB40 match report

2 minute readSam writes: It was a bank holiday, the latest in what seemed like a never-ending string of bank holidays. The weather was clear and breezy. We put our washing out to dry using a makeshift washing line running from the window of our first floor flat and tied to an

June 10, 2011 Sri Lanka

Benevolent Uncle Sanath is back

< 1 minute readAt the age of 41. Sam emailed to say: “I might write something about how he’s really old and he’s like everyone’s uncle and he’s, like, properly old.” We asked what he might conceivably add to that sentence. Sam concluded that there was nothing to add.

June 9, 2011 Regulars

Edwin being conspicuously indifferent to plenty of cricket

2 minute readGot this ages ago. Didn’t dare ask what ‘OnZud’ meant in case it was something cool that we should have known. However, we also don’t want people to think we haven’t done our editing properly, so we’re having to draw attention to our ignorance in this opening paragraph anyway. Jayne

June 8, 2011 England

Broken-window-at-Lord’s-gate – the truth

< 1 minute readMatt Prior: I feel a profound sense of frustration at the cruel manner of my dismissal. What ought a man do to combat this uneasy sensation? Andrew Strauss: Smash that window, innit, brother. Matt Prior: Alas, my calm disposition prevents me from committing such brutish acts. At that exact moment,

June 7, 2011 Extras

Some players won’t get to play a Test at Lord’s – who cares?

< 1 minute readThe West Indies won’t be playing at Lord’s in 2012. Forget the rights and wrongs of Cardiff being the beneficiary, the issue here relates to the accessibility of live Test cricket. Cricket matches aren’t played for the benefit of the players. They’re played for spectators. As such, it makes little