King Cricket

November 8, 2007 India / Pakistan

Shahid Afridi the right man in the right place at the right time does the right thing

You need two runs a ball. Who do you want at the crease? Of course only one nation are lucky/unfortunate enough to have the unusual, though not inconsiderable, talents of Shahid Afridi at their disposal: Pakistan. Midway through this match, we were thinking to ourself that this Pakistan side aren’t

November 8, 2007 India

Sachin Tendulkar – nervous in the nineties?

No-one in the history of cricket – NO-ONE – has scored more international hundreds than Sachin Tendulkar. 78 times he’s got into three figures. 78! That’s loads! So why in the name of all that is good and pure is he suddenly getting out in the nineties all time? In

November 8, 2007 Australia / Sri Lanka

Phil Jaques surprises no-one

There was one other Australian retirement last year, Justin Langer’s. There was no real worry about replacing him, however. That’s not to dismiss Langer, who was as tough as biltong at the top of the order, it’s just that great Australian batsmen seemingly DO grow on trees. So Australia called

November 7, 2007 Australia / Sri Lanka

Australia’s new era lurches into view, wild-eyed and frightened

This Australia v Sri Lanka series might only be two Tests long, but it’s one of the most intriguing series in ages. That’s largely because there haven’t been any series in ages, but it’s more because Australia have lost the handiest half of their bowling attack. Glenn McGrath and Shane

November 7, 2007 County cricket / England

Nick Compton and some other people attempt to break ‘Everest record’

That’s what the BBC say. What image does ‘Everest record’ conjure up? Are you imagining a group of people playing cricket on the Gorak Shep Glacier at 5,184m? No? Well, you should be, because that’s what they’re doing. (Actually, we reckon it’s the Khumbu Glacier – Gorak Shep appears to

November 6, 2007 County cricket

Rob Key as various cinematic characters

You might think that early November would be a dry time for Rob Key posts, but you’d be wrong, for Robert Keyes was one of the conspirators in the gunpowder plot. Also, AP Webster sent us these, saying: “Apologies for the dodgy photoshopping. Sometimes it’s hard to know which of

November 5, 2007 India / Pakistan

India beat Pakistan in Guwahati (and series prediction)

Barely any international cricket to speak of for weeks and then they only sneak in the biggie. It’s India v Pakistan time again. It’s time to make flippant comments about players from both sides and hopefully get some vitriol in the comments. Even the biggest series has to be constricted

November 2, 2007 Regulars

Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann engage in some combat mime sparring

Combat mime is a form of theatrical art whereby two combatants battle one another by expressing certain physical actions without sound. Here Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann are locked in a stirring head-to-head, where both combatants are doing ‘the window’. Shortly after this picture was taken, Paul Collingwood opened his

November 1, 2007 Regulars

Carlo and Granville being conspicuously indifferent on the field of play

Miriam says: Now that I know you’re still doing animal posts, here are some pictures I took of the cats a little while ago. I tried to play cricket with them, but they were uninterested. In fact, they were indifferent. In FACT, they made such a point of making their

October 31, 2007 England

Duncan Fletcher’s crappy book

It is if the extracts are anything to go by. Duncan Fletcher’s book is called ‘Behind The Shades‘ – a reference to his inscrutable public appearance. Fletcher didn’t care what the media said about him and he didn’t have a lot to say to them. Well, it turns out that

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