< 1 minute readWinning a Test by an innings is not to be sniffed at. What exactly would you expect to smell? England didn’t exactly dominate the series like they dominated this last match though. Overall, the team looks okay, but there are quite a few flaws, the most glaring of which is
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.
Jimmy Anderson: swing bowler
2 minute readAnd batsman. Who knew? Well, we all knew about the swing bowling. Trent Bridge might be the home ground of Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad, but Jimmy Anderson’s the best swing bowler in this England side and he duly played a blinder, taking all six of the New Zealand wickets
Continue readingHopefully it’s just a series of flukes
< 1 minute readWe said that due to the swing-friendly conditions Kevin Pietersen’s hundred might prove handy. For similar reasons we picked James Anderson as England’s top wicket-taker and Kyle Mills to bowl most overs in this match. In the last Test, we picked Daniel Vettori and Monty Panesar to be the top
Continue readingIs James Anderson a nightwatchman?
< 1 minute readAre we right in thinking that James Anderson came in as a nightwatchman in order to protect Ryan Sidebottom? This is beyond reason. Our feelings about nightwatchmen are perfectly clear, but this warrants further comment. If James Anderson is functioning as the nightwatchman, it’s been his job to protect Ryan
Continue readingKevin Pietersen out waving slightly fatiguely
< 1 minute readThat’s what Simon Hughes said on Channel 5’s highlights programme, so that’s what happened. It’s probably wrong to mock commentators’ slips of the tongue when you yourself forget 98 percent of your vocabulary whenever you have to talk in front of more than one person, or to a stranger, or
Continue readingEngland’s middle order shows signs of improvement
< 1 minute readWe all know how important it is to look to the positives. England’s players and coaches have taught us this for years now. Ian Bell batted at five and made a three-ball duck. Paul Collingwood batted at six and made a four-ball duck. England’s middle order batsmen are making tangible
Continue readingRavi Bopara hits a one-day double hundred
< 1 minute readTest duck-scoring shortarse with a point to prove, Ravi Bopara, proved his point weeks ago. Ravi’s now had his point embossed on his batting glove and his systematically punching everyone in the face with it. If you don’t know that Ravi Bopara is serious about playing for England, you’ll see
Continue readingKent v Middlesex Friends Provident Trophy match report
< 1 minute readSarah comma Canterbury writes: I went to bed late on Sunday evening. It was raining. My alarm woke me on Monday morning. It was raining even harder. I had a shower and got dressed; went downstairs; made a coffee; ate a raspberry yoghurt; and looked outside. It was still raining.
Continue readingStuart MacGill retires
< 1 minute readStuart MacGill was fun. You never quite knew what to expect from him. He wasn’t erratic in a Shane Warne kind of way. There was a certain consistency in Warne’s back page headlines. MacGill was creatively diverse with his odd behaviour. He would shout at team mates like a nutter.
Continue readingSteve Harmison takes a hat trick
< 1 minute readLolloping ganglatron of mental fragility, Steve Harmison, took a hat-trick against champions Sussex over the weekend. We’re more interested in his opening spell during Sussex’s first innings though, where at one point he’d taken 2-7 off 11 overs. Moping about in county cricket in a state of permanent ill-temper will
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