3 minute readIt may feel like Australia lost the series against Pakistan 4-0, but actually it was only two. No matter how you play, you can’t lose more than two matches when you only play two. This has allowed Michael Clarke to somewhat disingenuously plead that his captaincy shouldn’t be judged on
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.
Misbah-ul-Haq and the golden robot
< 1 minute readIt’s a difficult gear change from second to 14th, but today Misbah-ul-Haq managed it. Doctor Deadbat transformed into Professor Pulverise and equalled Viv Richards’ record for the fastest-ever Test hundred off 56 balls. For some batsmen, quick scoring is a numbers game. They play aggressively all the time and a
Continue readingSpeaking of Pakistan…
< 1 minute readBecause surely you are. Australia are 136-5 in reply to Pakistan’s 570-6 at the time of writing. Younis Khan is averaging over 200 in the series. Unless this current partnership really goes somewhere, that’s better than Australia’s top six combined. But never mind unheralded Pakistani bowlers ripping through top Test
Continue readingMop-up of the day – Younus Khan’s bat and Murali’s balls
2 minute readYounus Khan’s just made his third Test hundred on the bounce. We mentioned that he was underrated after the first one. Let’s revisit that. We all know Younus averages some way north of 50 and that he’s now made Test hundreds against every nation, but let’s dig a little deeper.
Continue readingEngland coaching news: someone to do something for a bit
< 1 minute readFans of inexplicable additional consonants in first names rejoiced today when it was announced that one of England’s former bowling coaches will be returning to the setup, albeit on a short-term basis. No, it’s not Allan Donald – it’s Ottis Gibson. Gibson may or may not have said: “I was
Continue readingJonathan Trott joins Yorkshire
< 1 minute readAt least we think that’s what’s happened. As far as we can tell, Trott and a handful of others have signed for Yorkshire in time for the county’s tour to South Africa. Weirdly, there doesn’t seem to be any explanation why only seven of last year’s Championship-winning squad will be
Continue readingThe head-wobbling ghosts of Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah
2 minute readIt can be hard to keep up with Pakistan’s playing staff. Mitchell Marsh gets a debut and great tracts of webspace are devoted to him, explaining what this decision means and why it’s such a monumental event. In contrast, Pakistan players ghost into the side and it’s only when they’ve
Continue readingPakistan thrive on hardship and chaos
< 1 minute readPakistan. Is there any sporting team in the world for which the link between sound preparation and performance is less meaningful? Having lost what was arguably the best new ball attack of its time as a result of that spot fixing thing, Pakistan rebuilt their bowling around Saeed Ajmal. Being
Continue readingEngland v Sri Lanka at Lord’s Day three match report
3 minute readGed writes: When Daisy and I go to a day of international cricket at Lord’s these days, I apply for seats in the Lower Compton or Lower Edrich, as Daisy likes to hide from the sun. These seats are relatively unpopular with the county members, so we tend to get
Continue readingMop-up of the day – stealth, Siddle, celebrations and social media
2 minute readFirst up, Pakistan v Australia where the ‘home’ side appear to be doing a reasonable job of putting a score on the board. It’s always hard to tell what’s a decent first innings total, but with Pakistan’s flaky batting, you reckon they’d be pretty happy already. Stealth The major contributor
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