< 1 minute read Generally being unarsed about stuff is a fantastic quality for a Test batsman to have. Jonathan Trott’s got it in spades. You can have all the shots and the best hand-eye co-ordination, but if you wobble when things don’t go perfectly, you’ll never make it as a Test batsman, because
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Ricky Ponting talking to the umpires
< 1 minute read Whinging Poms? Has the world ever seen a whingier cricketer than Ricky Thomas Ponting? Sport needs a bit of ‘us and them’ so that you can enjoy it properly, so it was perversely enjoyable to see Ponting spend three-quarters of an hour bending Aleem Dar’s ear. As he stamped his
Continue readingA Boxing Day Test thank you letter
< 1 minute read Dear Father Christmas, Thanks for all the presents you brought us. You really outdid yourself. We know we’ve been good this year, but some of the things you got us were just plain ridiculous. Thanks for the house. We’re not sure we need quite that many bedrooms and we really
Continue readingBoxing Day Test through the night thread
< 1 minute read Ah, the magic of WordPress scheduling – giving anyone interested a Boxing Day Test post on which to comment without the author having to interrupt his Christmas drinking. We wrote this in advance because Coachhouse’s Posthorn will have got the better of us by now. We’re staying away from the
Continue readingWishing Ricky Ponting’s finger all the best
< 1 minute read This is a slightly weird feeling, but we really want Ricky Ponting to play at the MCG. Much as we want England to win easily, beating a side captained by Michael Clarke just wouldn’t be right. Ricky Ponting is the most significant player on either side and it brings the
Continue readingDo the English not enjoy winning?
< 1 minute read Sometimes we feel utterly disconnected from this great nation. The attitude towards beating Australia at cricket being a case in point. A week or so ago, it seemed like a number of England fans were feeling sorry for Australia. This is mental. Never feel sorry for Australia. Now there are
Continue readingAustralia could get better or they could get worse
< 1 minute read Don’t come to this website if you don’t prefer inconclusive grey to black or white certainty. Australia’s batting could certainly get better. At the minute, England will feel like dismissing Mike Hussey for under 50 would win them the series, so there’s room for improvement there from Australia’s perspective. Their
Continue readingDifferent ways to lose a Test match
< 1 minute read Never write off the Aussies. They’re never down for long. When England lose this Test match, the score will be 1-1, but you can lose a match in different ways. You can affect opposition players to the extent that they’ll have a different outlook in the next Test and a
Continue readingWhy does Shane Watson always get out in the 90s?
< 1 minute read Why DOESN’T Shane Watson always get out in the 90s? Would it be unfair to suggest that for some players personal milestones bring more pressure because the player in question is – how shall we put this – massively self-involved with an overinflated sense of their own importance? It is
Continue readingNever feel sorry for Australia
< 1 minute read There are some English people who have had sympathy for Australia during the first half of this Ashes series. We won’t hesitate to call these people idiots. Imagine being hunted by a carcharodontosaurus and then when you’ve somehow managed to trap it after spending 20 years digging an absolutely enormous
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