2 minute read“Root or Compton? Let’s have both and, er, James Taylor can go elsewhere to make room. He didn’t do much right or wrong, so maybe no-one will notice that he’s gone.” Root and Compton. It’s nice to see a 21-year-old and a 29-year-old both being selected for the first time
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.
ICC World Twenty20 post-match analysis
< 1 minute readWhen each match finishes, you can simply switch off the TV. We’ve saved you from post-match analysis with our team guide for Cricinfo. It explains why your team lost. When Bumble says “start the car” – that’s your cue to switch off the box. You can go and do something
Continue readingICC World Twenty20 format
< 1 minute readWe may be cynical and world-weary, but we’ve always rather enjoyed the World Twenty20. By and large we’re a fan of grey, but in some contexts you can’t beat a bit of black and white brutality and the tournament provides just a little of that. We’re not talking about rogue
Continue readingDerbyshire and Yorkshire promoted
< 1 minute readLancashire go down and their two neighbouring counties go up. So it goes. We haven’t been following division two, so we don’t really know how this has happened. Judging by the table and Jason Gillespie’s Twitter updates, Yorkshire have mostly been rained off and picking up points for draws. They
Continue readingJos Buttler dismantles Wayne Parnell
< 1 minute readWayne Parnell went for 37 off two overs yesterday. He conceded five in the first. In the second, Jos Buttler took him apart as if he were an old, rotten shed which had tried to have sex with his daughter. We’re not exactly sure how a shed would go about
Continue readingWhat are England and South Africa playing for tonight?
< 1 minute readAre they playing for pride, honour, a trophy? No! They’re playing for momentum. Going into the Twenty20 World Cup with this batting line-up, England will need as much momentum as they can get, because it rather feels like they’re about to roll into a brick wall rather than a little
Continue readingHashim Amla WILL NOT GO AWAY
< 1 minute readWe really like Hashim Amla, but by the box of Dujon, will he EVER stop batting? There’s one more match this summer and we have every reason to believe that he’ll bat out the overs and make a hundred. It seems the most likely outcome, even if it’s another nine
Continue readingWe have now published the answers to Bert’s crossword
< 1 minute readThey are on a separate page from the crossword itself. That way, if you happen to meet someone who’s into both cricket and cryptic crosswords (at your next AA meeting, for example) you can send them a link and they can attempt the crossword without having the answers staring them
Continue readingHow did Warwickshire win the 2012 County Championship?
2 minute readBy being better than everyone else. They’ve won a few matches and when they haven’t won, they’ve generally drawn. They’ve only lost once. That’s easily enough to win the County Championship in a wet summer. Batting One thing Warwickshire players have been particularly good at this year is hitting the
Continue readingWhy we love Matt Prior
< 1 minute readRob Smyth is waxing lyrical about Matt Prior in The Spin, this week. We’re inclined to agree with him and not just because of Prior’s magnificent beard and love of cycling. Last week, we had a conversation with someone who has had a certain amount of contact with pretty much
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