< 1 minute readMany of you will say Alastair Cook proved us wrong by hitting 95 off 75 balls against Sri Lanka. Our point was actually that you shouldn’t open with an anchor in one-day cricket. We say that your sensible batsman, your banker, should come in at three or four. Wrong pigeonhole?
Continue readingMonth: July 2011
England v India Oval tickets – competition result
< 1 minute readWe asked which player top-scored with 110 not out in the 2007 England v India Oval Test. The answer was Anil Kumble. We didn’t do the names-in-a-carrier-bag draw in the end, because there were too many entries and we didn’t have enough ink. We instead opted for the spreadsheet and
Continue readingThe anchor role in one-day cricket
2 minute readThis isn’t repeat until funny. This is repeat because you haven’t said it in a while and people seem to be missing something pretty obvious about one-day cricket – English people mostly. It’s about anchors and openers. A batsman’s ‘range’ No batsman likes to be stereotyped, but let’s be honest,
Continue readingOld Trafford cricket ground development might actually happen
< 1 minute readThe on-off redevelopment of Old Trafford is on. Lancashire chief executive, Jim Cumbes, may or may not have said. “Thank Christ for that. This whole thing’s been so bloody annoying – I’m absolutely sick of it. Now, finally, we can do summat about the piss-smelling toilets. Some other stuff too.
Continue readingScoring enough runs in one-day cricket and defending not quite enough runs
< 1 minute readIdeally, a one-day side should be able to do both of those things. England can do neither. They’re not a hundred million miles away from competence, but combine both those shortcomings and you’ll struggle to win many matches. We’re starting to think that it’s nothing to do with players, tactics,
Continue readingPredictable scheduling of Test matches
2 minute readIf 922 people turn up for a day at a Test match when you’re offering free entry, you’re going to struggle to raise the £2.5m you bid for the match in question. Dark skies poison people’s enthusiasm for watching cricket, but even so, very few tickets for this year’s Cardiff
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