< 1 minute readBert writes: I have a standing bet of twelve bottles of red wine on the Ashes with an Aussie mate, so I sent him this picture this morning – nothing else, no comment, no title. I find that gloating is best done in a minimalist way.
Continue reading2 minute readIt’s the shape of a club with nails sticking out of it and he’s clumping towards Australia with it, looking like Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York (although Strauss hasn’t got the nauseating stench of an unbearably dull film accompanying him). It seems such a long, long time
Continue reading< 1 minute readWhen Australia first landed in the UK, we renounced level-headed reportage in favour of mindless jingoistic cheerleading. Many of you might have thought that this reached a peak when we asked ‘are England going to win the Ashes?‘ last week and concluded ‘yes, of course they are’. But they did,
Continue reading< 1 minute readThat was nice, wasn’t it? Did you enjoy it?
Continue reading< 1 minute readBy any stretch, Jonathan Trott’s Test debut has gone okay. Making a hundred on your debut is generally considered to be satisfactory. Making a hundred when you arrived at the crease with the score reading 39-3 on a day when 15 wickets fell – that’s better than satisfactory. Doing all
Continue reading< 1 minute readThere’s a big step up from county cricket to Test cricket, which means there’s a big step down when you get dropped. Ravi Bopara’s returned to Essex and has promptly made 201 against Surrey. Essex play in the second division, so it’s no so much a step down as a
Continue reading< 1 minute readAndrew Flintoff should keep a close eye on all his cricket gear. Stuart Broad will have his bats, his pads and even his box given half a chance. He’s not waiting until the big man’s gone before taking over. When Swann got North, we yelped like a female coati. When
Continue reading< 1 minute readAlways play a spinner. Always. Always, always, always. It offers variety; a change of pace that might unsettle the batsman. Maybe the odd ball will turn more than you think. Or maybe – just maybe – a batsman who’s untroubled by pace will, for some inexplicable reason, be totally unable
Continue reading< 1 minute readIan Bell appears to have a bit of a moustache at the minute. If there were such a thing as a “my middle name’s Ronald” moustache, this would be it.
Continue reading< 1 minute readNot in the sense that they vex you with their occasional incompetence. We mean, are they annoying enough to truly challenge the opposition? We’ve always been a great believer that you can achieve a lot through being really annoying and we don’t see why that wouldn’t apply in international cricket.
Continue reading