King Cricket

February 24, 2023 England / New Zealand

Against all odds Jonny Bairstow might have to make a different spot his own

3 minute readWe once joked that England’s plan for Jonny Bairstow was to keep him guessing. It always seemed like the aim was to treat him as inconsistently as possible to keep him on his toes. After scoring four hundreds and a fifty in five innings last summer, it seemed safe to

Why Ollie Pope is completely wrong that this summer’s Ashes could be like 2005

4 minute read“It could be really entertaining, like that 2005 series, which is what made me fall in love with cricket. The prospect of that is really exciting.” – Ollie Pope, February 2023. Bless him, he’s excited. He’s also completely wrong. The fundamental mistake that Ollie Pope has made here is a

February 22, 2023 Australia / England / India / South Africa

The Sophie Ecclestone displacement factor | a T20 World Cup semi-finals preview

3 minute readA year ago, during the 50-over tournament, we headlined our semi-finals preview piece, Who will lose to Australia in the World Cup final? Even if it’s a different format, it’s tempting to take the same attitude now. But if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that life isn’t an

February 17, 2023 England / New Zealand

Peak Nighthawk? Let’s not be too hasty

2 minute readWith 15 minutes to go on day two, Stuart Broad walked out to bat at number four as England’s “Nighthawk”. Second ball he skied a hook that fell to earth after bowler and keeper left it for each other. It is hard to envisage a more Broad passage of play.

February 16, 2023 England / New Zealand

How do you stop Harry Brook? We’ll tell you how

< 1 minute readThere was a moment during the first Test against New Zealand when England’s number five, Harry Brook, boasted a Test average and strike-rate that were both 94. Either of those would be ridiculous. Both is preposterous. Then he got out. How did Harry Brook get out? We could have told

February 15, 2023 England / New Zealand

Scott Kuggeleijn over Trent Boult? Really?

3 minute readWhen the weather allows New Zealand to get onto the field for the first Test against England, their attack will be without Kyle Jamieson (stress fracture) and Matt Henry (looming child). It will also be without Trent Boult because apparently no one has really decided on a selection policy for

February 13, 2023 Australia / India

Ashwin and Jadeja. Again.

2 minute readIt must be getting on for 10 years now that touring Test teams have been arriving in India expecting to have to combat R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on pitches that will more than likely turn a bit. No-one’s really worked it out yet. 10 years, man! 10 years! And

February 8, 2023 Australia / India

R Ashwin is vulnerable to actual chess

3 minute readMarnus Labuschagne recently described facing R Ashwin as being “like a chess game”. It was an interesting choice of words as actual chess could prove to be the off-spinner’s greatest weakness. Labuschagne was alluding to that to and fro of decision-making between himself and a thoughtful bowler like Ashwin who

February 7, 2023 Australia / India

Steve Smith’s mountain-toppling attempt and Rohit Sharma’s potential landslide | an India v Australia preview

2 minute readMountains crop up a lot in metaphors. They’re forever being scaled, climbed or conquered. Steve Smith has come up with his own way to reach the summit of the mountain that is a Test tour of India though. “If we are able to topple that mountain, that’d be huge,” he

February 6, 2023 West Indies

Chanderpaul not out – one way Tagenarine could prove more useful than Shivnarine

2 minute readIn 2012, we wrote a piece for Cricinfo about Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s patient wait for a West Indies Test team worthy of his contributions. Little did we know he wasn’t just waiting; he was taking active steps. ‘Taking active steps’ is an interesting euphemism because what we’re saying is that Shiv’s