< 1 minute readMany of you will say Alastair Cook proved us wrong by hitting 95 off 75 balls against Sri Lanka. Our point was actually that you shouldn’t open with an anchor in one-day cricket. We say that your sensible batsman, your banker, should come in at three or four. Wrong pigeonhole?
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe asked which player top-scored with 110 not out in the 2007 England v India Oval Test. The answer was Anil Kumble. We didn’t do the names-in-a-carrier-bag draw in the end, because there were too many entries and we didn’t have enough ink. We instead opted for the spreadsheet and
Continue reading2 minute readThis isn’t repeat until funny. This is repeat because you haven’t said it in a while and people seem to be missing something pretty obvious about one-day cricket – English people mostly. It’s about anchors and openers. A batsman’s ‘range’ No batsman likes to be stereotyped, but let’s be honest,
Continue reading< 1 minute readThe on-off redevelopment of Old Trafford is on. Lancashire chief executive, Jim Cumbes, may or may not have said. “Thank Christ for that. This whole thing’s been so bloody annoying – I’m absolutely sick of it. Now, finally, we can do summat about the piss-smelling toilets. Some other stuff too.
Continue reading< 1 minute readIdeally, a one-day side should be able to do both of those things. England can do neither. They’re not a hundred million miles away from competence, but combine both those shortcomings and you’ll struggle to win many matches. We’re starting to think that it’s nothing to do with players, tactics,
Continue reading2 minute readIf 922 people turn up for a day at a Test match when you’re offering free entry, you’re going to struggle to raise the £2.5m you bid for the match in question. Dark skies poison people’s enthusiasm for watching cricket, but even so, very few tickets for this year’s Cardiff
Continue reading< 1 minute readDhoni was caught off Fidel Edwards, but umpire Iain Gould thought it was a no-ball and asked the third umpire for confirmation. It was a no-ball, but the broadcaster showed the third umpire the wrong footage and Dhoni was wrongly given out. What does this tell us? It tells us
Continue reading< 1 minute readHave we updated the site today? No. Did we forget? Yes. Will this be one of our all-time greatest updates? Definitely not. India and England will play five-Test series in 2014 and 2018. That’s good, isn’t it? Five-Test series allow for a proper narrative to develop. The term ‘five-Test series’
Continue reading< 1 minute readSanath Jayasuriya has finally bowed out of cricket just three days short of his 70th birthday. He departed how he had thrived, with a ferocious cut shot. Asked to reflect on his career, Jayasuriya may or may not have said: “Eh? What? Speak up. Why does everybody mumble these days?
Continue reading< 1 minute readDunno. Give him a chance? The best players are adaptable, but we can’t shake the feeling that even if Alastair Cook can survive as a one-day batsman, he isn’t an opener. Batsmen sometimes get branded as being ‘openers’ in England, but one-day opening is different. Successful one-day openers generally come
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