< 1 minute readFive! A full five! This would appear to be the upside to the fact that Test cricket is pretty much only played by England, Australia and India these days. We finally get a full length series that isn’t the Ashes. When did that last happen? No, really – when? We
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.
The physiques of batsmen for Twenty20 and Tests
3 minute readAaron Finch and sixes. That’s the story of the first Twenty20 international between England and Australia. Finch hit the first ball he faced over the ropes and pretty much stuck with that approach, hitting 14 sixes in all. He even managed to push one over point while falling onto his
Continue readingAshes Cricket 2013 videogame preview
< 1 minute readThere’s always an Ashes cash-in game. The latest is somewhat unsurprisingly titled Ashes Cricket 2013. Only it’s not out yet. As far as we can tell, they decided they’d make the game from scratch, rather than doing the usual thing of updating the database and recording three more lines of
Continue readingLooking back on looking forward at Australia’s Ashes side
2 minute readEveryone’s reviewing the Ashes. It’s a bit tiresome, so we thought we’d instead review our preview. It amounts to much the same thing, but don’t tell anyone. The subheadings link to the original previews should you wish to do what pretty much no-one does and read more than one page
Continue readingThe players England are sort of maybe half-interested in for proper cricket
< 1 minute readIt’s one-day squad announcement day! It’s when we get to find out some of the players that England are sort of maybe half-interested in for proper cricket at some indeterminate point in the future! But actually, it’s not as clear-cut as that. A one-day squad is actually a blend of
Continue readingTest standard boos before celebratory booze
< 1 minute readThe moment, when it came, was hugely exciting. Connoisseurs of booing had spent quite some time nervously anticipating it. A full series build-up and then a full day’s play where the prospect of a home win grew ever more likely. Just what would it sound like when Megatron finally turned
Continue readingEven the highlights were boring
< 1 minute readOver rates and now run rates. England are in no hurry. Whatever the motivation, it doesn’t make for much of a spectacle. A team batting for a draw can make for riveting entertainment, but it’s tension that makes the cricket so compelling. When a team is batting for a draw
Continue readingWhat do you make of Steve Smith’s batting?
2 minute readWe’ve been struggling with this for months and we’ve still not reached any firm conclusions. We asked an Australian friend for his view and he just said: “He’ll be fine,” which didn’t really help clarify things. We’re probably verging towards this: In good conditions in the first innings, Smith’s head’s
Continue readingShane Watson’s muscle and skull
< 1 minute readOne of the reasons why it’s been so enjoyable to watch Shane Watson’s hapless summer is because he generally looks like the kind of batsman who can rifle a long series of chanceless fours. Yesterday, he actually did this. His drives were crisper than neglected bacon blackening under the grill
Continue readingInvesting in poor debuts
< 1 minute readHow much does the ability to handle debut nerves have an impact on whether or not a player might one day thrive in Test cricket? Answer that question and you go a long way towards deciding how much attention to pay to the performances of Chris Woakes and Simon Kerrigan.
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