< 1 minute readWe thought we should probably mention Durham’s victory in the County Championship. How did they win? The same way all teams win in the longer formats – through their bowlers. Durham can boast of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th highest wicket takers in the County Championship first division. Look
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt was because of the bungee clause. Flintoff’s agent, Andrew Chandler, explains why his client has turned down an incremental England contract which might have stopped him playing in the occasional lucrative Twenty20 tournament: “There were one or two things in it that made it difficult to sign like he
Continue reading2 minute readRicky Ponting must be nearing retirement age because we’re starting to appreciate him. We read a statistic the other day that about one in five top seven Test batsmen average over 50. That’s a ludicrous figure, but players like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting were averaging over 50 long before
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt’s rare that a side scores 299 in a one-day international and yet has such an underwhelming batting card. Who got the runs? Somehow, it was no-one. To be fair, Eoin Morgan’s 58 off 41 balls was pretty eye-catching, but it still falls slightly short of significance somehow, particularly after
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe’ve watched Chris Read bat several times and we wouldn’t say he wowed us with the pristine aesthetics of his strokes. Nevertheless, he must tire of the way people talk about him like he should come into bat after Devon Malcolm, even if Devon had food poisoning and couldn’t find
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe all knew it was going to happen. The machines have become self aware and they’re revolting against humanity. The odds were on some sort of Skynet style military computer being the first to turn against us, but fortunately it was actually something far less threatening. So instead of facing
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt doesn’t matter that it’s only a one-day international at the arse end of the season. It doesn’t matter that it’s an Australian against England. The simple fact is, proper fast bowling is a fantastic sight. Brett Lee bowled reverse swing yorkers at 95mph. It was just like Waqar Younis
Continue reading< 1 minute readHe’s confident without being arrogant; humble without being meek; aggressive without being irresponsible; watchful without being bogged down. That’s what he’d say anyway. England’s cricketers know they have to say the right things and it’s painful to hear at times. They have to remain positive otherwise the media call them
Continue reading< 1 minute readYou’re an England player. You’ve won the Ashes. You get in touch with your agent: “Commercial opportunities. What have you got for me?” Your agent’s silent a minute and you can hear him shuffling some papers on his desk. “Hello. Are you there? Commercial opportunities. What have you got?” Your
Continue reading< 1 minute readOur knee jerk-reaction to suggestions that day-night Test cricket be played was that it was a shocker of an idea. We’ve always thought of knee-jerk reactions as being worth clinging to in the face of subsequent strong evidence against your point of view, but on this occasion we’re softening our
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