< 1 minute readAs abysmal as England’s batsmen have been, the team would stand a pretty decent chance of beating Sri Lanka if they didn’t spend most of their time in the field attempting to dismiss just one of the two batsmen at the crease. If they’re in Sri Lanka, England are probably
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.
Monty got a raw deal
< 1 minute readEngland drop Monty Panesar readily. Whether it’s because of form, the pitch or ‘the balance of the side’, they don’t seem shy about leaving him out. Maybe the decision will be vindicated, but he seems to have been collateral damage following a line of thinking that betrays England’s lack of
Continue readingWhy was Michael Holding’s over to Geoff Boycott so special?
< 1 minute readIt’s that time of the week when we link to an article at Cricinfo in which marzipan gets a mention and you all scour the comments hoping we’ve been ripped apart by a dissatisfied reader. Nothing yet, but let’s give it time. Pretty sure England’s number one ranking will get
Continue readingTim Bresnan near a pirate’s fantasy
< 1 minute readNot as exciting as it sounds, but probably a little bit funnier. Damith of The Fly Slip drew our attention to a photo of Tim Bresnan standing near a really expensive cake called Pirate’s Fantasy. We’ve always felt that Tim Bresnan isn’t as chunky as people think he is. We
Continue readingEngland haven’t become a bad Test team
< 1 minute readBut there’s a fair distance between ‘bad’ and ‘good’. Even further between ‘bad’ and ‘the best’. England are in that grey netherland now and no-one really cares about shades of grey when you’ve arrived there from somewhere altogether brighter. England’s batting was a lighter shade of grey in the second
Continue readingLahiru Thirimanne makes himself big
2 minute readBrace yourself, we’re going to mention football. One thing we learned from our years watching that soap opera-cum-sport is that a goalie should ‘make himself big’ when a forward is bearing down on him. The purpose of this is not, as you might think, to ward off predators. It is
Continue readingAndrew Strauss – Test specialist
< 1 minute readSay what you like about the cheap, oversized banquet that is one-day international cricket – at least it gives batsmen a bit of practice for the matches we give a toss about. When Andrew Strauss played one-day cricket, he scored more Test runs. He’s averaged 25.50 since he decided he
Continue readingEngland’s batsmen give the bowlers a rest
< 1 minute readIan Bell was the only batsman not to be toss today. He said: “We all know we have to get better at playing in the subcontinent. It’s a long-term goal and it isn’t going to just happen overnight.” This is a shame, because England will almost certainly be batting again
Continue readingJames Anderson’s 30 this year
< 1 minute readThis might not seem all that significant. After all, not a year – not one single year – goes by without some international cricketer or other turning 30. This is different though. James Anderson was one of those players who loomed into view early in life and we still think
Continue readingPlaying the long game in Sri Lanka
< 1 minute readSamit Patel’s cricket statistics are being weighed against his vital statistics even more frequently of late. Is he fit enough for five-day cricket? It’s an interesting question, but we’re actually more interested in how the other England players cope. Even if Patel plays, we can’t see a debutant playing the
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