2 minute readOne of our batsmen has fallen sick, so I am asked to fill in at the pivotal number six position. Nobody else feels up to the task, but I, Laurence Elderbrook, step up. Our top order find the pitch difficult and while they manage to keep wickets in hand, they
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt was over two years ago that we first pointed this out. However, exactly what Mark Davies is doing right we don’t know. Cutting the ball both ways to make his bowling unplayable seems to be the gist. It’s on a bit of a juicy club pitch at Basingstoke, but
Continue reading< 1 minute read668 Neighbour of the Beast writes: Cricket festival season and so to the outground of Guildford – a venue where you and the boundary rope can become acquainted. It’s quite spiritual to sit on the grass and not look at the back of an advertising hoarding. Sadly, on a less
Continue reading< 1 minute readMushtaq Ahmed may not quite have been THE BALLS, but he was most definitely ‘the county balls’. Every match he’d stumble in and take as many wickets as there are atoms in the universe (about nine) and every season he’d decide The County Championship. It is very, very bad that
Continue reading< 1 minute readStuart Broad hasn’t really been taking wickets in Tests, but in one-day internationals he’s been increasingly incisive. Even so, 5-23 against South Africa is a Will Jefferson step for him. He hasn’t got any more talent than he had this time last week, but hopefully this kind of domination of
Continue reading< 1 minute readFirst there was the win, then there was the other win and then there was the cold, dead-eyed, relentless slaughter. England have murdered a top order before, but they rarely follow it by sweeping up the tail and leaving everywhere really nice and tidy. South Africa 85 all out and
Continue reading< 1 minute readAs you probably know, that person is Usain Bolt, a Jamaican giant who can run quickly. Matthew Hayden has responded, which rather pleasingly means he’s had another go at ‘talking’. First of all, we’ll remind you why it is FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG to like Matthew Hayden. The first thing he said
Continue reading2 minute readOur fragile top order frequently lands the middle order in trouble. In a bid to rectify this, I am asked to bat at five to add a bit of experience and resilience. On this occasion I am fortunate enough that the top four all get good scores, so when the
Continue reading< 1 minute readPaul Horton. That is all. Put it this way, Iain Sutcliffe has been keeping Mark Chilton out of the side and Sutcliffe’s been batting so unbelievably wretchedly that he’s actually gone so far as to retire from cricket. His season average of 14 is superior to Chilton’s 12. However, both
Continue reading< 1 minute readOr rather, Mike Selvey is asked to leave TMS. We’ve had a few goes at writing this where we’ve tried to compare Selvey to his likely replacements, but that’s not the point. The point is simple. Mike Selvey has spent a lifetime thinking about cricket. He has interesting thoughts on
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