2 minute readAs in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. To think it’s been almost a year since we last made that joke. How time flies. James Anderson has a bit of a reputation for – and you have to use these exact words – ‘spraying it around’. While this
Continue reading< 1 minute readJonathan Agnew wrote today: “Tim Ambrose might be one of the shortest men currently playing Test cricket, but this man can bat.” We’d go further than that. We’d say, ‘Tim Ambrose might have attended Merewether Selective High, but he managed to hit two sixes’. We like a good non-sequitur. Before
Continue reading2 minute readThe graph doesn’t lie. Steve Harmison’s performances have been deteriorating for ages now. There wasn’t going to be an upturn. Last week Allan Donald revealed that Harmison had been scared while playing for England. There have been a lot of similar stories over the last year or so and they
Continue reading2 minute readThis is a bit of a weird one. What do you make of this? In a climate where senior players are being unjustifiably indulged, Matthew Hoggard’s had a bad game and he’s out on his ear. The long, slow descent towards Harmison’s dropping now seems unnecessarily cruel in its inevitability,
Continue reading< 1 minute readDimi is quoted as saying: “I only hope that people will look back in 20 or 30 years time and say that I gave everything for a franchise I’ve supported since I was a boy.” He didn’t really say that. But someone might before too long, because people are, on
Continue reading< 1 minute readThey’re going to be the Kolkata Knight Riders. Brilliantly, this isn’t even a joke. Writing this site gets easier by the day. This time next week, we fully expect Sohail Tanvir to change his name to Optimus Prime. But the Knight Riders aren’t the best-monikered IPL outfit. That honour has
Continue reading< 1 minute readThe Swalec Stadium is going to host the first Ashes Test, but don’t worry, Lord’s and The Oval have still got their Tests and that’s the main thing. Actually, Edgbaston and Headingley have still got theirs as well. There hasn’t been a change in venue for the Ashes Tests at
Continue reading2 minute readWe expected England to lose. They’re an insipid outfit at the minute. We didn’t expect them to get thrashed though. And they were thrashed. Getting bowled out for 110 is never too smart, but on this pitch it was jaw-dropping. Don’t let New Zealand’s 177-9 fool you. Runs were the
Continue reading< 1 minute readThree Ryan Sidebottoms, that’s what we’ve been campaigning for. He’s exceptional. Sidebottom actually started on a hat trick, having taken two wickets in two balls at the end of New Zealand’s first innings. He failed, but no matter, another hat trick opportunity soon arose. They’re nothing special. There’s nothing out
Continue reading< 1 minute readWell we’d probably only have a go if England’s batsmen had got themselves out playing aggressively – let’s say that. We’d have bemoaned their lack of application and their inability to read a pitch and react accordingly. We’d have wondered where the old-fashioned virtue of patience had gone. We are
Continue reading