4 minute read In another universe, these five cricketers are the backbone of the England Test team. A handful of players make it in Test cricket. Others get picked and aren’t good enough. Then there are the weird ones; the ones who get a few games, look the business and then for some
Continue reading2 minute read If James Taylor’s public pronouncements betray an admirable desire to retain a sense of humour about things, his retirement from cricket at the age of just 26 due to arrhythmogenic right ventricular arrhythmia is anything but funny. It’s easy to point to his having had a job as a professional
Continue reading2 minute read Based on their returns in this series, many are calling for some combination of Alex Hales, Nick Compton and James Taylor to be dropped. Then again, based on their returns in this series it’s equally valid to suggest that Alastair Cook and James Anderson should be dropped. It’s almost as
Continue reading< 1 minute read Sky just broadcast a slow-mo of James Taylor plucking the ball out of his arse. That’s what it looked like anyway. Kneeling down, he reached behind him and lo, there it was. South Africa were doubtless already wary of Taylor’s short leg fielding after a couple of shots ended up
Continue reading2 minute read Back in August, Stuart Broad tore Australia a new one. But that was last year. How many new ones had he torn in 2016? Not a single one. Disgraceful. He doubtless wanted to address this grave situation in South Africa’s first innings, but was apparently struck down by the wild
Continue reading< 1 minute read Busy being described as ‘busy’ mostly. The word’s very quickly become a Taylor cliché and today it was used on Sky as early as his first ball – at which point he’d mostly been busy waiting. What does ‘busy’ mean? As far as we can tell, it means the player
Continue reading< 1 minute read England in UAE middle-order partnership shocker. Who’d have Liam Plunkett (thunk it)? Fours and sixes are all well and good, but it’s important to cater for fans of the nurdle as well. Today was a most nurdlesome day. Nudges, leaves, jabs into the offside, works to the legside – all
Continue reading2 minute read It’s hard to argue that this wasn’t the perfect England one-day performance. One, England won, which satisfied most of their fans; and two, there was enough evidence to suggest that England will never win one-day games with Alastair Cook at the helm, which will have satisfied his detractors. The ideal
Continue reading2 minute read The optimum moment to select a batsman is not when he thinks he deserves a place in the side; it’s when he’s completely irritated because he can’t quite believe he isn’t getting a game. This is probably the main difference between James Taylor now and a few years ago. Taylor
Continue reading< 1 minute read You wait and wait for a drawing of the diminutive James Taylor batting with gangletastic Will Jefferson and then you get two in two days. Angy was responsible for this one: Hope everyone’s starting to get a decent sense of just how small James Taylor is. Sorry if it’s still
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