King Cricket

February 28, 2009 Australia

Mitchell Johnson, all-rounder?

< 1 minute readMitchell Johnson, batting at nine, launched the South Africa attack to all parts on his way to 96 not out. He then took 4-25, making light of the fact that Australia have only selected three-and-a-half bowlers. Johnson’s respective averages have just swapped places, so his batting average is now higher

February 27, 2009 England

Alastair Cook, please stop hooking

< 1 minute readSomeone should look into irregular betting patterns surrounding ‘Alastair Cook caught hooking’ because he seems to be hell-bent on getting out this way. In the last Test, he leant back and poked one into the air in an enticingly gentle parabola. In yesterday’s innings, he popped one up towards Sulieman

February 27, 2009 Australia

Phil Hughes’ Australia debut

< 1 minute readPhil Hughes has now faced four balls in Test cricket. Hopefully in his next innings he’ll score his first run. We mentioned Phil Hughes a month or so ago when we pondered whether Australia were the worst team in the world or not. He was one of many reasons why

February 26, 2009 England / West Indies

Andrew Strauss – a fitting end to a top innings

< 1 minute readThe pitch may have been as flat as a well-ironed pancake, but Andrew Strauss has continued his spectacular winter form. This was his fourth hundred for eight times out. He attacked as well. Strauss scored 142 of England’s 301-3 and he was out almost immediately after tea. He batted so

February 26, 2009 England

Giles Clarke – this is what we think of you

< 1 minute read“It’s true that I have received a lot of criticism in the media, some of it hysterical and utterly irrational, some of it immensely rude. I discard those people.” Everybody ready? Let’s get discarded. Giles Clarke is the public face of the ECB. He is there to be ridiculed. He

February 25, 2009 West Indies

Momentum in cricket

< 1 minute readChris Gayle knows how important momentum is in cricket: “After the first game, we picked up that momentum but after that disaster at the Sir Viv Stadium and the change of venue, it kind of put us on the back foot.” He also seems to know how quickly you can

February 25, 2009 Regulars

A cricket hat on an unusual head

< 1 minute readThis is more like it. Pictures of cricket bats and cricket items in unusual places to king@kingcricket.co.uk please. Dan writes: Here is my entry for ‘cricket related things in unsual places’. The item in question is Shane Warne’s hat and the unusual place is ‘on my head’. I’m a primary

February 24, 2009 Pakistan / Sri Lanka

Younus Khan hits 300-and-whatever

< 1 minute readYounus Khan is a sublime batsman, but this innings has little to do with that. All this innings has shown us is that Younus has even more concentration and resolve than we thought he had. A triple hundred’s always impressive, but in a match that’s already had two individual double

February 24, 2009 England

Ravi Bopara should be allowed to have a bat

< 1 minute readRavi Bopara or Ian Bell? We’re saying Ravi Bopara. If you’re going to drop someone, you have to do it properly. Ian Bell has been dropped like a hot pan full of cymbals that’s been grasped with bare hands. Bopara might be crap at tiling and even worse at promoting

February 23, 2009 Match report

West Indies v England at Sabina Park match report

< 1 minute read668 Neighbour of the Beast writes: Me and my friend opted for the cheap seats. They were only twice as expensive as a cider at the Oval. As a new travelling supporter, I took an England flag newly purchased from the Notting Hill Housing Trust charity shop. We sat near