King Cricket

August 20, 2008 India / Sri Lanka

Zaheer Khan wins an ODI with the ball

< 1 minute readAnother one-day international is decided with the ball. Huzzah. It went the other way this time, however. Zaheer Khan took 4-21 and Sri Lanka crumpled like a supermarket receipt to 142 all out. We’re increasingly thinking that if there’s swing, you want Zaheer Khan in your side. Bowlers continued to

August 20, 2008 England

We made Kevin Pietersen answer a question with the word ‘pie’

< 1 minute readWe’ve never been so proud. The Wisden Cricketer requested questions from their readership and we asked: ‘Why haven’t you adopted a comedy English accent, like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins?’ After some thinking out loud, Pietersen concluded that he says ‘pie’ with a northern accent. Sometimes the stars align

August 19, 2008 England

Who is England’s best one-day opener?

2 minute readThat’s a rhetorical question. We were experimenting with lots of ‘suck it and see’ type headings, but couldn’t find one that wouldn’t give rise to unsavoury comments. We touched on the ‘suck it and see’ selection policy the other day. Essentially, we think England’s selectors take a look at players

August 18, 2008 India / Sri Lanka

India change their batting faces to no great effect

< 1 minute read‘Bye bye Sachin, Rahul, Sourav and VVS, the new generation are here now. You guys are past it, but we’ll conquer Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan with ease.’ This is what India’s glittery one-day batting line-up might have said, but it would have been followed by a bit of a

August 18, 2008 County cricket / England

Kevin Pietersen on Mark Ramprakash

< 1 minute readNot literally. That would be hideous. (No, we’re never going to spurn an opportunity to make that joke.) In this month’s issue of The Wisden Cricketer, Kevin Pietersen is asked whether Mark Ramprakash deserves a place in the England side. “You have a look at his results since the media

August 17, 2008 County cricket

Essex win Friends Provident Trophy

< 1 minute readBit disappointing that lots of southern Africans hit runs and pretty much nobody English did. Bit disappointing that Rob Key didn’t get to celebrate. Rob’s had a lot of near-misses this season, what with this, the Twenty20 Cup and his being mentioned regarding the England captaincy. Near misses are still

August 15, 2008 Regulars

Laurence Elderbrook accommodates an extra opener

2 minute readWe have one too many openers in this match, so I offer to move down to number four to allow one of them to bat at three. He doesn’t have the range of shots to profit in the middle order, whereas I do. The second wicket falls and the slight

August 14, 2008 Extras

Summer’s not over

< 1 minute readThe Tests are over, the weather’s cooling down, we’re nearly out of bank holidays. It’s about this time of year that all our thoughts turn to suicide – but wait! Before we wade through the pessimism of another laboured one-day series, there’s a redeeming feature. There it is, midway down

August 14, 2008 Match report

England v South Africa match report

2 minute readOur inbox is perilously close to empty. One of you better go to a cricket match or something. D Charlton writes: I have recently become an associate member of MCC. This means I can sit in the pavilion at Lord’s and watch all but the biggest match days. I can’t

August 13, 2008 County cricket

Rikki Clarke resigns Derbyshire captaincy

< 1 minute readEven by our knee-high standards Rikki Clarke’s selection as ‘one to watch’ has been ill-judged. He has been worth watching in a faintly soap opera kind of way, we suppose. It’s one thing to play badly (in the second division), it’s another to resign the captaincy, but it’s really going