King Cricket

August 3, 2023 England

In Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley England finally have an opening partnership that doesn’t play each ball on its merits

7 minute readPlayers and commentators talk a lot about playing each ball on its merits, but actually it’s not always that good an idea. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley gave an illustration why in the 2023 Ashes. It’s a mad but completely true fact that England haven’t had a settled opening partnership

August 1, 2023 Australia / England

Ashes predictions that were very wrong

3 minute readIt’s almost time to start looking ahead to the Ashes again, but before we get back to that, let’s first look back on the Ashes. Specifically, let’s look back on ‘looking ahead to the Ashes’ by revisiting our 10 things to watch out for from before the series, so that

July 31, 2023 Australia / England

Pretty sure that was a fantastic Ashes, but what do you actually remember of it?

3 minute readThe 2023 Ashes has sogged and then at the last moment unexpectedly fizzled to its conclusion. With five Tests in 46 days, immediately following on from the World Test Championship final, it’s been a lot to take in. What do you actually remember of it? The series itself resulted in

July 30, 2023 Australia / England

Night-night, Nighthawk: Stuart Broad’s final shot in Test cricket

< 1 minute readIt’s a weird feature of cricket that you can go out in style but then still carry on playing for the whole of the rest of the day and probably a good chunk of the next day as well. Stuart Broad ended his batting career gloriously. Never mind the artifice

July 29, 2023 Australia / England

Did you see… Marnus Labuschagne score a run?

2 minute readIt’s quite possible you didn’t. He only scored nine of them in 82 balls after all. You have options in Test cricket. You can choose how you go about things. We would argue that England’s hare approach to batting at the minute is actually a lot more interesting for being

July 26, 2023 Australia / England

An England v Australia Oval Test preview with Rick Dangerous

4 minute readIt’s late July and that of course means the end of the Test summer. With no more England men’s fixtures scheduled until the tour of India from the end of January 2024, you should probably try and make the most of the Oval Test. The nights are drawing in, as

July 24, 2023 Australia / England

Does Zak Crawley’s 189 matter?

4 minute readIt was only one innings, but two Zak Crawleys batted at Old Trafford last week. The first was what we call in these parts “a jousey bastard” who cemented his reputation as the most gifted inside-edger in world cricket. The second was an almighty destroyer of worlds who flickered into

July 20, 2023 Australia / England / Match report

What’s it like in the Old Trafford temporary stand? (a match report)

4 minute readSend your match reports to king@kingcricket.co.uk. We’re only really interested in your own experience, so if it’s a professional match, on no account mention the cricket itself. (But if it’s an amateur match, feel free to go into excruciating detail.) Our eternal lack of enthusiasm for doing absolutely anything before

July 18, 2023 Australia / England

Old Trafford Test pitch preview with Private Hudson

4 minute readEngland and Australia have arrived in Manchester for the last northern Ashes Test until 2031. The tourists lead 2-1, but fatigue is starting to tell for both teams. What can we expect in the week ahead? Pat Cummins has bowled 140 overs in the last six weeks, and may conceivably

July 17, 2023 England

Got some random job that needs doing? Maybe see if Moeen Ali fancies stepping in

2 minute readFirst published in 2016 and now republished without changing a word – although we did update the lead image and add a link at the bottom. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can ask Moeen Ali to do

You could. Less jetlag. Meanwhile, er, didn't I always say Australia shouldn't take this tournament for granted...

Suppose you could argue it reduces flight times and mitigates time zone adjustment.

Fair point! I think there has been some talk of strategy associated with these NZ games, but I'm sure you're…

Reading that again, it's an interaction where it's pretty easy to imagine his tone and demeanour.

Not sure international men's cricket scheduling should ever be associated with strategising. The NZ tour is more just the particular…

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