< 1 minute readThis appears to be South Africa’s thinking after picking only four proper bowlers. It should present a vulnerability, but when you then make 408, you find you have a certain amount of breathing space – perhaps even enough that you could field Jade Dernbach and still harbour reasonable hopes of
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.
Samiullah Shenwari really was worth watching
< 1 minute readAfghanistan have won their first World Cup match. It was only the fifth one wicket win in the history of the tournament. With Ireland beating the UAE by two wickets yesterday, it doesn’t need saying that the Associates have provided more than their fair share of entertainment. But we’ll say
Continue readingHow big is Chris Gayle?
< 1 minute readWe’d say that Chris Gayle’s biggest achievement today was looking like a relatively small person. The route to achieving this wasn’t easy. He first had to hit a double hundred and this then allowed him the opportunity to stand next to Ian Bishop at the post-match press conference. Bishop appears
Continue readingLower orders and the last 10 overs
3 minute readAt the start of the tournament, we highlighted a weakness of South Africa’s – the fact that their batting order “quite quickly becomes a little bit Farhaan Behardien”. This weekend, it just as quickly became a little bit Wayne Parnell. That’s a long tail. South Africa’s best batsmen are so
Continue readingWhen Southee and McCullum skinned England
2 minute readSkinned them alive? Probably not. Skinned them undead maybe, for England increasingly seem like zombies. Asked to explain England’s latest defeat, all Eoin Morgan could muster was “braaaains” in a long, drawn-out moan. “Skiiiill” and “caaaaalmness” were also lacking. In contrast to England’s rotting flesh, New Zealand have a surfeit
Continue readingUnity, leadership not a problem – Holder
< 1 minute readWe’re thinking about getting more into uninspired, derivative headlines. This is what we’d have gone with for our latest Cricinfo piece. And while we’re linking, it’s also just occurred to us that we never pointed you towards the latest king added to our pantheon over at All Out Cricket. This
Continue readingMominul Haque’s not a bad number nine
< 1 minute readIf you’ve been around this site for a couple of years and have properly been paying attention, you’ll know that we have a slight obsession with Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque on the not-at-all flimsy grounds that his name sounds a bit like a drunk person saying a team-mate’s name – a
Continue readingHow many World Cup hundreds has Virat Kohli scored?
2 minute readWe suppose we really should at least acknowledge that the biggest cricket match of recent years took place. You know the one – Virat Kohli scored a hundred (as usual) and Misbah-ul-Haq made a futile 50 (as usual). It was Kohli’s 22nd one-day international hundred, a number that is both
Continue readingWho is Andy McBrine?
< 1 minute readHe’s kind of like a McBride, but saltier. With all of one first-class match and three one-day internationals to his name before today, he delivered the stupid figures of 0-26 off 10 overs against the West Indies – this in a match in which Ireland chased down 305 inside 46
Continue readingEngland hit the ground, not running, but with exceptional conservation of energy
< 1 minute readThis World Cup’s a marathon not a sprint. The last thing you want to do is hit the ground running. You want to hit the ground with a wet splat; look up; slowly get your bearings; and then start crawling in about a fortnight’s time. You want to reach a
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