King Cricket

August 31, 2022 Pakistan

What’s happening with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s knee?

2 minute readShaheen Shah Afridi has a knee injury. So far, so mundane – but if there is one cricket body that can manage a fast bowler’s physical wellbeing in a colourful and unexpected way, it is the Pakistan Cricket Board. Remember when Shoaib Akhtar had genital warts? Of course you do,

August 30, 2022 Match report

The Old Trafford mat-fitting scandal – a match report

3 minute readSend your match reports to king@kingcricket.co.uk. We’re only really interested in your own experience, so if it’s a professional match, on no account mention the cricket itself. (But if it’s an amateur match, feel free to go into excruciating detail.) Bert reckons the following match report “reasonably accurately” covers the

August 29, 2022 Match report

Ben Stokes was at best only partly responsible for the most exciting moment of the second Test

3 minute readWe were at Old Trafford on Friday for the Bens’ hundreds. There were some tense moments and some exciting moments and Ben Stokes didn’t play a direct role in all of them. We’re not sure whether his pride was pricked by this old match report, but the day began with

August 24, 2022 England

Ollie Robinson has been given a golden opportunity to develop a new ailment

< 1 minute readThat feels the most likely outcome here. You pick Ollie Robinson and generally something goes wrong with him. This time around our money’s on – ooh, let’s see – auto-brewery syndrome. To whisk through Robinson’s last few months once again, it’s gone back spasm, back spasm, tooth infection, food poisoning,

August 23, 2022 County cricket

We have one big question about The Hundred TV graphics

2 minute readWe watched some of The Hundred last night. We watched it the way we have watched so much cricket over the years: with the sound down slightly too low while having a conversation about something entirely unrelated. The experience reminded us that the on screen graphics remain a major source

August 22, 2022 England / South Africa

Ben Stokes should probably try and nail a second draft of England’s game before promising to rewrite Test cricket

2 minute readIt’s good to be ambitious and open minded and not hidebound by the past. It’s maybe not quite so smart to talk about how you’re going to rewrite how Test cricket is played – particularly if you’re England. Ben Stokes has mostly spoken well since he took on the captaincy,

August 18, 2022 England / South Africa

Did you see… Dean Elgar elbowing himself out?

2 minute readThe scorecard says Dean Elgar was bowled by James Anderson. The scorecard is keeping a lot of important detail to itself there. To recap what happened, Anderson hit Elgar on the thigh, the ball bounced back towards the bowler, only for Elgar to inadvertently elbow it backwards again. The ball

August 16, 2022 England / South Africa

Is England v South Africa a series we should care about?

2 minute readIt’s the fun question that now launches all series and tournaments: “Why should I care about this?” When there’s wall-to-wall cricket, nothing can be taken for granted – these days you have to take the time to work out which matches actually matter. No matter how seriously a team says

August 12, 2022 Extras

King Cricket backers rewarded with early access to non-King Cricket thing

2 minute readHere’s a quick update on our Patreon campaign, which we haven’t really mentioned in a while, other than in passing. It’s to do with Pat Cummins. If you don’t know what we’re on about with this whole Patreon thing, the details are here. It’s basically the crowdfunder that keeps the

August 10, 2022 England / Features

Where are Jason Roy’s foundations? Do white ball specialists need more time in the middle?

5 minute readJason Roy isn’t at his best. He’s not even in a place where he can try and bat at his best. How can a white ball specialist like him get back into good batting form these days? Let’s start in the obvious place with a story about a speed skater.

...on the other hand if your job is to be an athlete then not drinking into the early hours is…

Kane retiring is really big for me. It makes me wonder if i really want those flights to Melbourne and…

Word reaches me that Kane Williamson is not listed to play for The London Spirit either. Perhaps he is returning…

Clearly Kane has decided that dodgy nightspots north of the Thames are not a problem for him, as he will…

You’re not seriously suggesting that the risk would be lower in Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds or (for example) Bristol nightspots,…

Did you see… Harry Brook’s first ball in Melbourne? Unquestionably the 2025/26 Ashes’ finest moment

Sky Sports has boiled its Ashes coverage down to its purest and greatest form: Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain standing there talking about what’s gone wrong

The 2019 Ridiculous Ashes (podcast)

The 50 Most Ridiculous Ashes Moments is definitely out now – you should buy it for someone! (Possibly yourself)

51. Michael Vaughan Declines A Crushing