< 1 minute readWe wrote about the various World Cup storylines during the quarter-finals. The stories of Tendulkar and Murali, two ageing greats, seem to be the strongest now, but that’s mostly due to hindsight. All the same, it makes for a good narrative. There’s also a minor subplot that no-one will care
Continue reading< 1 minute readChasing 261 against India, Misbah-ul-Haq didn’t panic. As the run-rate climbed, Misbah kept his cool and as wickets fell, he stood firm, maintaining an almost tangible air of lack-of-intent. Dead-batting the ball again and again, Misbah sought to wear down the Indian attack to the extent that the match had
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe might have made our point in the title. The first match of a seven-match one-day series nobody cares about. There are plenty of matches in which to recover, even if your team loses. The second match of a seven-match one-day series nobody cares about. There’s still plenty of time
Continue reading< 1 minute readSri Lanka were definitely going to win for most of their run-chase, then they went all cagey and it got interesting and we had to give the match our full attention, then they won anyway. The point is, we had work to do and we couldn’t do it because Sri
Continue reading< 1 minute readGetting a new Australia captain is like getting a new Doctor Who. It takes quite a while to get used to the new one because his face is all wrong. As a captain, Ricky Ponting was both hugely admirable and a world-class tool. A Ricky Ponting interview normally features lots
Continue reading< 1 minute readAustralian fast bowler, Shaun Tait, has announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket, saying that at the age of 28 he can no longer subject his body to the punishing two-over spells demanded of him. Tait said: “I’ve never really been the biggest fan of cricket and I just don’t know
Continue reading3 minute readThere are three ways you can approach this. There’s the documentary, the highlights and the box set, which is the first two sold together. We won’t review the highlights, because they’re pretty self explanatory, suffice to say that there are five DVDs and highlights of every day of the series.
Continue reading< 1 minute readWhen Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the bowling, Andrew Strauss couldn’t get him off the square. This was largely because he couldn’t make contact with the ball. When one of the most experienced batsmen in English cricket finds himself in this position against a part-time off-spinner, you have to ask yourself whether
Continue reading< 1 minute readExceptional cricket. That is how you exploit a weakness. At 108-2 chasing 222, South Africa seemed untroubled, but there was a spot on their face. It was very small, but it was there. With the dismissal of Jacques Kallis, they gave it a little bit of a scratch and took
Continue reading< 1 minute readMake a note. This could barely be a bigger deal even if it had a tumour in its pituitary gland. It’s India v Pakistan. It’s Shahid Afridi v MS Dhoni. It’s Pakistan’s lethal bowling attack against India’s jaw-dropping batting line-up. It’s India’s two-and-a-half frontline bowlers against Pakistan’s two-and-a-half competent batsmen.
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