< 1 minute readRyan McLaren plays an immaculate cover drive for four. James Anderson bounces him with the next ball and the one after that. McLaren ducks them both. Will it be three in a row? Yes, it will. This time McLaren attempts a hook, but misses and the ball strikes him 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.
Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith – South Africa’s foulweather batsmen
< 1 minute readThe ball has swung in this match. There has been seam movement, some bounce and good turn. On top of that, South Africa need to win this game. Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith have been the standout batsmen. This is not surprising. Most players play worse in these situations. A
Continue readingEngland v South Africa fourth Test post mortem
< 1 minute readWhat do you mean it’s still moving? It’s as good as dead. It can’t feel pain any more. Did England listen to all the media coverage that said they’d done well in the series even if they lost this Test and ease off as a consequence? We say no. We
Continue readingWhat strikes you about Dale Steyn?
< 1 minute readIf you told us that we had to use a tired cliché to describe the effort that Dale Steyn puts into bowling or you’d force us to do a dance in front of other humans, we’d hang our head, sigh softly and mutter “sinew-straining”. Dale’s certainly wholehearted. Perhaps too wholehearted.
Continue readingAt least it wasn’t like that other time at The Wanderers when England were 2-4
< 1 minute readAtherton 0, Hussain 0, Butcher 1 and Stewart 0. Now that’s a bad start. Morne Morkel is mint, by the way; a big gallumphing lankatron of genial ferociousness.
Continue readingIs Monty Panesar hearing voices?
< 1 minute readPanesar’s current coach at Highveld Lions, Dave Nosworthy, says: “Somewhere along the line he had lost who Monty Panesar is.” This does seem to be the case. Panesar says: “What happened last year is that I had so many external voices to listen to … When I was searching for
Continue readingMonty Panesar to take control of his own mind
< 1 minute readIf you’re not in charge of what you’re thinking, just what ARE you in charge of? A recent interview with Monty Panesar reads like a philosophical follow-up to MS Dhoni’s comments that led us to ask: Do you control the mind or does the mind control you? “My mind was
Continue readingPositive thinking is for people who enjoy popular television and the company of other people
< 1 minute readWe all know that life is essentially just one long series of downers. You get the occasional event that gives rise to a small degree of optimism, but these are only there to discourage you from ending it all, thus ensuring that you can experience even more of the bad
Continue readingUmar Akmal won’t play if Kamran Akmal doesn’t play
< 1 minute readJust when you think that international cricket can’t get any more like the playground, it does. It’s only a matter of time before someone breaks a window with a shit shot on goal and everyone gets bollocked for it. There are mutterings that Umar Akmal isn’t really injured, that it’s
Continue readingRicky Ponting: It’s possible to inflict self-inflicted problems on your opponents
< 1 minute readIs there no limit to Ricky Ponting’s powers? Pakistan are currently in some disarray. Ponting says: “I guess a lot of the stuff that is happening around their side at the moment was probably stuff they brought on themselves.” He then adds: “If you play really well, you can create
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