< 1 minute readEngland have been taking a more individual approach to player development in recent times and we’re all in favour. Monty Panesar’s going to spend some time playing for the Bloomfield club in Colombo. He’ll get more experience of bowling in subcontinental conditions, but more importantly he’ll be dumped there 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.
Robert Key fielding a burger
< 1 minute readAll aboard the Rob-Key-fielding-different-foodstuffs bandwagon. Sam sent us this in response to Vin’s exquisite piece of Rob Key art. We asked Sam if he had anything to add that might enrich our enjoyment of the picture. Sam said: “Not really, I think the picture speaks for itself. He’s fielding a
Continue readingChallenging umpires’ decisions
< 1 minute readThe four Test series between the West Indies and England will feature the umpire challenging system, whereby batsmen can remove one of their gloves, slap the umpire across the face with it and call for lbw shouts to be decided by a duel. Either that or you get a few
Continue readingStuart Law leaves Lancashire
< 1 minute readStuart Law’s contract has not been renewed. Partly because he’s associated with the ICL, partly because he called Lancashire’s members gin-swilling know-nothings, but mostly because he’s 40 this week. The gin outburst came when Lancashire decided to do away with Dominic Cork and we always suspected that it was as
Continue readingShane Watson reckons he’s aggressive
< 1 minute readHere’s a quote from raving metrosexual, Shane Watson: “It’s a good way to challenge them [the Indians], physically and mentally. Not sledging but having an aggressive persona about you – and that’s the way I play my cricket.” Watson’s always saying things like this about how he plays aggressive cricket.
Continue readingIshant Sharma’s hair
< 1 minute read‘I’m gangly, awkward-looking and appear to be halfway through swallowing a Rubik’s cube – how could I make myself look worse?’ This, presumably, is the thinking behind Ishant Sharma’s strange, effeminate mane. Good bowler, great slower ball, but it’s a dire situation indeed when going back to a mullet would
Continue readingYou’re reading about the Test when there’s Twenty20 on?
< 1 minute readThere are two articles. One says Twenty20’s clearly going to kill Test cricket. One says that probably, on balance, that won’t happen. Newspaper editors will tend to publish the first one. The former’s punchier and it provokes debate, so we get to read a disproportionate number of articles about how
Continue readingMichael Hussey loves having the runs
< 1 minute read‘Give me the runs’, he says. Michael Hussey feasts on dodgy bowling and then he has the runs. At the end of the day, he’s exhausted with it all, but he can still muster a weak smile, because that’s how much he likes having the runs. You’ve got to make
Continue readingMashrafe Mortaza takes New Zealand to the cleaners
< 1 minute read“Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram – this is the cleaners. The washing powder’s over there. It’s a quid for a full cycle and 20p for the dryers.” “Thanks Mashrafe.” Mashrafe Mortaza’s 4-44 today set up Bangladesh’s win. Mashrafe now has 116 ODI (one-day international) wickets at 31.78. He’s very
Continue readingRicky Ponting isn’t a different batsman when he’s in India
< 1 minute readThe thing people often fail to understand about batting averages is that they only describe what’s already happened. Ricky Ponting’s average in India was famously bad, but yet he hit a hundred. That’s the thing about historical precedents – they only tell you about the past. The Australians came up
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