2 minute readIt was MS Dhoni in 2009. It’s Dale Steyn in 2010. Sachin Tendulkar ran him close, hitting seven Test hundreds, but it can’t be a batsman every year. Graeme Swann took more Test wickets, but 44 of them were against Bangladesh and a spattered Pakistan side that barely ever looked
Continue reading2 minute readYou can ask any England fan what qualities a bowling attack needs to bowl the opposition out in Australia. We all know. You need as many as possible of the following: Extreme pace Freakishly tall bowlers Mystery spin Reverse swing How many of those can you find in the current
Continue reading2 minute readLet us say that we don’t actually think that Australia’s batsmen are all that bad. They are good players playing badly, which is slightly different. Batsmen under pressure are exposed more than bowlers because they don’t get second chances. You do something stupid that gets you out and that’s your
Continue reading2 minute readThe more we think about it, the more these two things go hand-in-hand. The situation was this. Nathan Hauritz got the boot because he got wellied in India like just about every other spinner who ever goes over there. Demented selections ensued. Maybe Hauritz offended Ricky Ponting by suggesting that
Continue reading< 1 minute readAs an Englishman in his thirties, there’s nothing we don’t know about pointing out a team’s flaws after it’s failed to win the Ashes. Might as well put our skills to more joyous use this year. Today, captaincy and spin bowling. Tomorrow, batting and pace bowling.
Continue reading< 1 minute readThis is another good way of celebrating the retention of the Ashes. If you don’t know about ‘the sprinkler’, it’s become the England cricketers’ official dance of the tour. It’s a stupid dance and they’re all awful at it, but you can’t help but warm to them even more when
Continue reading< 1 minute readYou’ve got to pull out all the stops at a time like this. So here’s a Venn diagram made by someone else: Never let it be said that we don’t make the effort. Thanks Ged.
Continue reading< 1 minute readMore specifically, Tim Bresnan, England’s fifth-choice seamer, is Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle rolled into one. Bresnan has the fitness, pace and accuracy of Siddle. He also bowls away swing with the new ball and reverse swing later on like Ben Hilfenhaus. Oh, and he can bat. Bresnan’s reputation as
Continue reading< 1 minute readGenerally being unarsed about stuff is a fantastic quality for a Test batsman to have. Jonathan Trott’s got it in spades. You can have all the shots and the best hand-eye co-ordination, but if you wobble when things don’t go perfectly, you’ll never make it as a Test batsman, because
Continue reading< 1 minute readWhinging Poms? Has the world ever seen a whingier cricketer than Ricky Thomas Ponting? Sport needs a bit of ‘us and them’ so that you can enjoy it properly, so it was perversely enjoyable to see Ponting spend three-quarters of an hour bending Aleem Dar’s ear. As he stamped his
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