< 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< 1 minute readWhat? It’s a simple enough question, isn’t it? Are England going to win the Ashes? The players are all saying that they can. None are saying that they will and obviously none are saying that they won’t. The pundits are weighing things up and talking about pressure and weather and
Continue reading< 1 minute readThe BBC go with “Strauss makes Ashes rallying call”. England’s captain is geeing up the troops with fist-pumping lines such as: “You have to earn the right to be on top in a match and that is why what we did at Headingley was a bit of shocker. We have
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt’s his last Test, so we’re going back to calling him ‘Andy’. That’s what he always used to be, before the media started calling him ‘Andrew’ and then ‘Freddie’. Andy is a good, functional name. It gets the job done. It’s the kind of name you’d be happy to buy
Continue reading< 1 minute readThe Barmy Army are playing Australia’s Fanatics tomorrow. Among the Barmy Army team is, somewhat inexplicably, The Australian, who seems destined to be ‘The Australian’ even when involved in a cricket match featuring a whole team of his kinsmen. You can sponsor him and implicitly condone his defection here. Money
Continue reading< 1 minute readJoe Denly has been picked in England’s Fewer Overs squads for the arse end of the summer. This is pretty good. We get the impression England’s selectors have identified him as an attacking opening batsman who’s actually an opening batsman and not just a sloggy all-rounder who has a bit
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