King Cricket

April 30, 2010 England

The odds on England winning the World Twenty20

< 1 minute readWell, they’re not great, but that’s largely due to the fact that there are a whole bunch of teams in the tournament rather than because of any massive shortcomings on England’s part. If there were only one team in the tournament, England’s chances would be far better. If there were

April 29, 2010 County cricket

Sajid Mahmood actually takes five wickets

< 1 minute readDo you know how rare that is? Lots of smart-arse Mahmood critics will say that they do know, but that’s not really the point we’re making. Saj Mahmood has spent a good portion of his career bowling first-change for Lancashire. When there are good bowling conditions, he might pick up

April 28, 2010 County cricket

Back to England and back to county cricket

< 1 minute readHow come the rolling 24 hour news channels aren’t telling us everything Giles Clarke’s said in the last five minutes? How come Gordon Brown hasn’t stepped into the debate about possible restructuring of the county game? It’s a strange land we’ve returned to. Following the IPL, we’ve got the World

April 26, 2010 India / Match report

Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings, IPL final match report

< 1 minute readAlex writes: I watched the pre-match sunglasses-fest/pose-athon while tucking into Kashmiri lamb shank rogan josh. Unfortunately, my reluctantly embraced ‘no beer’ policy meant I enjoyed the main event in my room, accompanied by a bottle of Bisleri bottled water. What I like to call “the IPL ad endurance challenge” really

April 25, 2010 India

Indian media coverage of the IPL and the fans’ view

< 1 minute readIndian newspapers and 24 hour news channels are awash with stories about Lalit Modi and the income tax investigations into all aspects of the IPL. The bombs at Chinnaswamy Stadium get a few mentions as well. We get the impression that most people here don’t particularly care about this; that

April 25, 2010 India / Match report

IPL third place play-off match report

< 1 minute readAlex writes: Is there any sequence of words in the English language more exciting than ‘third place play-off’? I’m currently working on the horrifying theory that my internal issues might be caused by beer. This is not a theory I’m keen to see proven.

April 23, 2010 India / Match report

Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings, IPL semi final match report

< 1 minute readAlex writes: British Airways have given me the gift of time. First they offered me a flight 10 days after the one that was cancelled. Now, their phone line is so busy I am not even allowed to wait on hold. What to do with this time? I decide to

April 22, 2010 India / Match report

Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL semi final match report

< 1 minute readAlex writes: Having made my daily and pointless call to British Airways, I set about persuading myself that it was somehow acceptable to stay in a hotel far more expensive than any I’d ever spent a night in before. Having accomplished this to some extent, I prepared for my evening

April 21, 2010 India / Match report

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers match report

2 minute readAlex writes: I wanted to watch an IPL match, so I went to India. I made Tronco come with me. Tronco is a massive cricket fan. Asked to name some England players, he managed three in 30 minutes: Ian Botham, Graham Gooch and Adam Gilchrist. Arriving at Bangalore Airport on

April 20, 2010 Regulars

Testing on cricketers

< 1 minute readAnimal testing facilities have recently taken to using cricketers in place of guinea pigs, mice and the like. They make them joust and then the loser gets his leg taken off. Don’t ask why.