3 minute readObviously we’ll be covering England’s Test tour of New Zealand and India’s of Australia whether you buy us a pint or not… but hey, we wouldn’t say no… Sorry about all the Patreon-related posting of late. We’ll get back to the actual cricket after this one, we promise. We just
Continue readingCategory: England
Did you see… Jos Buttler’s biggest six?
3 minute read“Room for improvement” has become such a desirable attribute among England players that a “high ceiling” now feels like almost a mandatory requirement for selection. It’s instructive then to remember how England’s greatest ever white ball batter, Jos Buttler, came into the national side with almost zero headroom. If you
Continue readingGolden duck-off: Which was this week’s funniest? Mohammed Siraj’s or Jamie Overton’s?
3 minute readGolden ducks are always funny, but some are funnier than others. We’ve had two absolute classics in the last 24 hours and we honestly can’t choose between them. Imagine you’re a tennis player. You drive down to the club where you play. You get changed. You walk on court. Your
Continue readingLet Noman wheel away unchanged
2 minute readZahid Mahmood took a wicket today. That was quite a big moment. It’s been a while since anyone other than Noman Ali or Sajid Khan took one for Pakistan. Zahid was lucky to even get a bowl, quite frankly. In the second Test, Noman Ali bowled 44.3 overs and Sajid
Continue readingRawalpindi Test pitch preview with Richard O’Brien
2 minute readEngland are in Rawalpindi for the third and final Test of this series against Pakistan with the scoreline currently 1-1. Last time they were here, they made 500 on the first day. Will we see a repeat of that? To quickly recap, England’s last Test in Rawalpindi began with Zak
Continue readingThe Salman of doubt – are Pakistan making full use of Salman Ali Agha?
4 minute readFielding sides loathe few things more than a really, really good number seven batter. So why is it so rare that a player is specifically picked to do the job? “Initially, I used to complain,” Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha told Sky Sports this week about coming in at number seven.
Continue readingDid you see… the butter/dragonfly that tried to run out Zak Crawley?
3 minute readLook, we’re not an entomologist and grainy, low quality social media footage isn’t helping us here. All we know is a flapping insect tried to run Zak Crawley out, only for Sajid Khan to get to the stumps first, where he made a right royal hash of things. You think
Continue readingHats off to Harry Brook’s very particular ‘steamrollered pancake pitch’ set of skills
5 minute readThis Multan pitch is flatter than a pancake that’s gone under a Looney Tunes steamroller. That doesn’t mean you can score infinite runs on it though. Even Harry Brook had to settle for a mere 317 – and he’s so far made a hundred in every Test he’s played in
Continue readingAs a batter, Joe Root honestly isn’t much fun to write about any more
3 minute readJoe Root reached his latest hundred with one of those reverse sweeps of his. We’ve seen them plenty of times before, of course. We’ve seen all of it plenty of times before. It doesn’t stop being impressive, but it’s become a nagging, cumulative impressiveness that never really leaves you, rather
Continue readingChris Woakes’s back, Jack Leach’s back, James Anderson isn’t – three obvious talking points from day one of Pakistan v England
3 minute readEngland did really well last time they toured Pakistan. Now they’re back without their captain or any of the quick bowlers who did well in that series. Chris Woakes’s back As in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. When England toured and won in 2022, they used four
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