King Cricket

January 7, 2008 India / Regulars

Sachin Tendulkar’s helium-filled bat

< 1 minute readEveryone knows about Dennis Lillee’s aluminium bat, but Sachin Tendulkar’s experiment with a helium-filled bat is less well known. Sachin thought the lightness of the bat would allow him to bat freer and longer, but unfortunately, as this picture shows, the excess of helium rendered the bat unusable. During the

January 6, 2008 Australia / India

Michael Clarke does some sort of deal with the devil

< 1 minute readHe must have sold something to Satan to take three wickets in the penultimate over to win this Test for Australia. It can’t have been his soul though, because he must have already sold that to Ricky Ponting to bring him on to bowl in the first place. Maybe it

January 5, 2008 Australia / India

Matthew Hayden continues to personify all that’s wrong with modern cricket

< 1 minute readDo we hate Matthew Hayden because he personifies all that’s wrong with modern cricket or do we just ascribe those traits to him because we hate him? It doesn’t matter. The important part is that we hate him. The whys and wherefores all pale into insignificance next to the sheer

January 4, 2008 England

Matt Prior dropped like an edge from Ryan Sidebottom

< 1 minute readMatt Prior’s been discarded like a greasy pizza box. That’s fair considering his erratic wicketkeeping, but harsh for a man averaging 40 in Test cricket. Tim Ambrose of Warwickshire is his replacement and you’d imagine he’d be in the first XI ahead of Phil Mustard, who’s still providing back-up. It

January 4, 2008 Australia / India

An unbeaten Tendulkar hundred – everything is as it should be

< 1 minute readUp here in the northern hemisphere we need a bit of comfort at this time of year; something warm and familiar to let us know that all’s right in the world and the status quo persists. That’s ‘status quo’ and not ‘Status Quo’, you understand. Francis Rossi et al. have

January 3, 2008 South Africa / West Indies

Dale Steyn spoils things in a pleasing way

2 minute readDespite Shiv’s bat and Dwayne Bravo’s best efforts with the ball, South Africa look like getting a first innings lead. This is a shame because while the Windies might continue to put up a fight while ahead, you feel that they’re liable to crumble if they fall behind. You never

January 3, 2008 Australia / India

VVS Laxman playing his favourite opponents at his favourite ground

< 1 minute readNot many cricketers actively prefer to play Australia, statistically at least. Most prefer Bangladesh. VVS Laxman just might prefer Australia. We always preferred playing the wall of the garage, which could function as batsman, bowler, fielders AND scorecard – with the aid of a bit of chalk. We think that

January 2, 2008 South Africa

Herschelle Gibbs: crap and dropped

< 1 minute readNow we have to admit that we don’t pay the closest attention to South African fortunes when they’re not playing England. Their Tests always seem to clash with crucial fixtures for Bangladesh A. Nevertheless, we were a little bit surprised when Herschelle Gibbs was dropped today. Pretty much the last

January 2, 2008 Australia / India

Andrew Symonds: good enough if you give him a chance or two

< 1 minute readWe’re still not sure about Andrew Symonds as a Test player. We’re sure he is one. Don’t get us wrong. We don’t doubt our own eyes – that would be madness. Just who do you trust, if you don’t trust your eyes? Your ears? Unlikely. Ears are devious. Anyway: Symonds.

December 31, 2007 West Indies

Shivnarine Chanderpaul: Lord Megachief of Gold 2007

2 minute readHe’s got more than his fair share of elbows and knees, but that hasn’t prevented him being given the highest honour in international cricket; the award that the players most respect and yearn for. This year’s Lord Megachief of Gold is Shivnarine Chanderpaul. England might have spent most of winter