2 minute read People forget about the one-day series that preceded the 2005 Ashes, but they were a key part of it. They were ingeniously scheduled before the Test series, so that tension mounted. In 2009, they’re afterwards, like vegetable soup after a six-course meal. Twenty20 match England won the Ashes because they
Continue readingTag: Ashes
What happened in the 2005 Ashes?
< 1 minute read We’re going on holiday in a bit. The ECB have foolishly left a minuscule window between the end of the World Twenty20 and the start of the Ashes and we’re using it. We’ve done stuff for you though, so that you don’t miss us. Coming up this week, we’re taking
Continue readingAndrew Flintoff’s strengths as a bowler
< 1 minute read Bit of pace, bit of bounce, good control and then there’s what the lazy among us refer to as ‘presence’; or worse, an ‘X-factor’. The concept of an X-factor always pisses us off. It’s not that there’s some mystical, unknowable attribute. It’s just that you haven’t bothered to find out
Continue readingWhy is Michael Vaughan not in England’s Ashes squad?
< 1 minute read Because he’s busy scoring tens of runs for Yorkshire and pensively rubbing his knee when in the field. Seven first-class innings, 147 runs at 21 with a top score of 43. County cricket can consider itself safe from combustion. It’s common for people to say that Michael Vaughan has ‘class’,
Continue readingMitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark reveal the extent of institutionalised avian molestation in Australia
< 1 minute read “It’s interesting to see each other’s balls.” So said Mitchell Johnson this week. Apparently the Aussies have been discovering that the balls in England aren’t like the ones they’re used to back home. Stuart Clark explained further: “I think it’s just we’ve grown up playing with Kookaburras for so long
Continue readingRichie Benaud appearing on Channel 5’s Ashes highlights show but unfortunately it’s a no-go zone for viewers
< 1 minute read Richie Benaud is going to be on British TV this summer. He is going to be working as Channel 5’s analyst during the Ashes. We’ve heard that Richie’s recent commentating has gone downhill a bit, but this role must surely be perfect for him and it must be perfect for
Continue readingCricket bloggers – advice about covering the Ashes | part one
< 1 minute read With the Ashes on its way, the internet will see a huge number of cricket blogs being started in the next month or so. Most will die on their arses within a few weeks, but some will stick around. We’ve been doing this since January 2006 and in new media
Continue readingA reason and a half why England have already won the Ashes
< 1 minute read Swing bowling Give an Australian bowler the solidified lump of blancmange known as a Kookaburra cricket ball (which is used in Australia) and he’ll pound in and bowl at off stump until the batsman deliberately misses one to save himself from the boredom. Give an Australian bowler an English Duke
Continue readingThe Australian cricket team has landed
< 1 minute read Impartiality is a worthy quality, but as of this minute our love-hate relationship with many of Australia’s players has clarified into a hate relationship. There might be a World Cup before the first Test, but let’s be honest, this Ashes series has started. It began the minute our pensioner-skinned cousins
Continue readingAndrew McDonald instead of Andrew Symonds
< 1 minute read If you don’t know who Andrew McDonald is, imagine a side’s seventh batsman and their fifth bowler. Now imagine he bowls medium-pace. Now wake up again. If it weren’t for having hair that’s such a bright shade of red that it clashes with life itself, Andrew ‘Ronald’ McDonald wouldn’t be
Continue reading