King Cricket

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

Review: How to Win the Ashes (BBC)

3 minute readBilled as “a deep dive into one of the fiercest rivalries in sport,” How to Win the Ashes is available now on the BBC iPlayer. Regular King Cricket contributor Sam Blackledge has had a watch. This is his take on it. Documentaries like this are not really aimed at people

July 12, 2023 Match report

A new era of Test cricket (a match report)

2 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.) Regular King Cricket contributor Ged Ladd writes… The self-styled Heavy

July 10, 2023 Australia / England

Why Stokes and McCullum aren’t worried about bad shots, only bad innings

3 minute readBad shots are bad shots, but in an age when the dumbest moments are endlessly replayed and dissected, it’s important to at least try and take in the bigger picture. A batter who sometimes plays the wrong shot is nowhere near as bad as a batter who’s always worrying about

July 7, 2023 Australia / England

Did you see… Joe Root blaming the ball for his drops?

2 minute readWhen Joe Root drops catches, Joe Root blames the ball. Remember when English commentators were talking up Josh Tongue’s “extra pace” because he was bowling 85mph? That seems even more nonsensical now after Mark Wood made the Headingley crowd gasp at not just the obvious threat of his bowling but

July 5, 2023 Australia / England

Why the word ‘Bazball’ is not helping any of us

3 minute readBazball is a completely annoying word because any time it’s used – which is basically every other sentence these days – everybody is talking at cross purposes. The foundations for this ongoing noisy surround sound argument lie in the fact that almost no-one knows or acknowledges the definition that Cricinfo

July 5, 2023 Match report

Meeting people is easy – an Edgbaston 2023 match report

2 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.) King Cricket contributor Sam Blackledge writes… ‘Meeting People is Easy’,

July 2, 2023 Australia / England

Ben Stokes’ 155 v Ben Stokes’ captaincy – which was more irregular?

2 minute readBen Stokes’ incredible attempt to play a twice-in-a-lifetime innings has tragically overshadowed the Lord’s Test’s most extraordinary passage of play: England spending two-thirds of a day bowling nothing but 80mph bouncers and it somehow working out for them. Forget day five. We’ve all seen a Stokes special before and everyone

June 30, 2023 Australia / England

Do England want Pat Cummins to bowl?

2 minute readThe attitude of England’s top order batters appears to be that if you aren’t Pat Cummins, you’re going to the fence. It’ll be interesting to see the impact of this as the series wears on. Australia’s most accurate bowler, Scott Boland, conceded 147 runs in 26 overs in the first

June 28, 2023 Australia / England

It’s a bit grim when Josh Tongue is talked up as the quick one

2 minute readIt’s not just that England have fielded five right-arm seamers in this Test, it’s that the one bowling 85mph is being lauded as the quick one. Where’s all the pace gone? It’s there a leak somewhere? Let’s pull back the carpet and see if there’s 5mph pooling somewhere under the