< 1 minute readThey completely did. They fully did. What do you make of that? And as a bonus talking point, Michael Clarke seems likely to retire at the end of the series. We presume he’s only waiting that long lest Steven Smith feel the pressure to follow suit immediately after leading the
Continue readingAuthor: King Cricket
Otherwise known as Alex Bowden, a lapsed cricket journalist who has written for ESPNCricinfo, wisden.com, Cricket 365, The Cricketer and plenty of other places.
Links to some non-cricket writing and a bit more background here.
David Warner’s short-armed jab
2 minute readNot the one from Walkabout, but the weird, pathetic quasi-pull shot he plays when he gets a short ball with two men on the fence. The one that’s twice cost him his wicket in this series and which near enough got him out on the two or three other occasions
Continue readingA homogenous batting line-up with the same strengths and weaknesses
3 minute readThis is the closest representation of Australia’s innings we can find. But why? Why would men whose job it is to bat – and who have been selected because they are supposedly the best at that task – repeatedly try and edge balls that weren’t going on to hit the
Continue readingStuart Broad tears Australia a new one
< 1 minute readEarly wickets are always key and with his 19th delivery, Stuart Broad struck. Of course he already had four wickets by that point and it didn’t take him too much longer to pick up another three. Was it a rain delay? Were these actually just highlights? No, because rain delays
Continue readingBread in the toaster, kettle on and OH DEAR LORD NO!
2 minute readYou can run out of some foods without too much of a problem. You can always use a different kind of vinegar. You can make that marinade without oregano. Chilli con carne without kidney beans is perfectly acceptable. On the other hand, playing a Test match without James Anderon is
Continue readingA budgerigar being conspicuously indifferent to cricket
< 1 minute readBalladeer writes: Recently my friend acquired a budgerigar, named Amigo. The second photograph I saw of said budgie was this: Crammed himself into his feeder. An Australian species of parrot, wearing the green-and-gold, with David Warner’s intelligence. Could you get more of an obvious Australian fan? I asked my friend
Continue readingEngland v Australia Edgbaston in 2005 – a 10th anniversary match report
2 minute readDandy Dan writes: The week before this Test, Will and I had been on a stag WEEK in Dublin. During the planning stages of this trip we had both been excited about this prospect. However, the reality was somewhat disappointing. The kindest thing to say is that the rest of
Continue readingCricket needs to embrace independent governance rather than allowing itself to be run like some sort of 19th Century gentlemen’s club
2 minute readA couple of months ago, jaynefrancis pointed out to us that large parts of our bleak dystopian episodic cricket story about cricket administration had actually come true. As satire goes, it wasn’t the most subtle. Again and again, short term decisions are taken by caricatured men in suits with godawful
Continue readingThe latest Ian Bell update has been released and it’s full of bugs and new features
< 1 minute readWe’re way past Ian Bell 2.0. Being as he’s 33 and batting at three, we’re going to call this incarnation Ian Bell 33.3. Hopefully that won’t prove to be its batting average. Most of the previous Ian Bells have looked solid only to get out in infuriating fashion when you
Continue readingMitchell Johnson rocks England, Steven Finn rolls Australia
2 minute readOnce again, Mitchell Johnson rocked England. He took 2-66. (Wickets taken via bouncers count double, it seems.) After that, it was back to England dismissing clueless Australian batsmen, which was really rather delightful. This Test has brought back memories of the magical folding Australia side of a few years ago.
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