< 1 minute readWe’re in the middle of the Twenty20 World Cup and what is considered acceptable batting behaviour is changing by the day. Yuvraj Singh’s 12 ball fifty the other day is only three balls shy of the perfect half-century – the minimum number of balls required to pass the landmark. However,
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.
Another choketastic performance from South Africa
2 minute readWe’re not gloating. England rarely even give themselves a chance to choke. No dramatic knock-outs for England. England exit tournaments quite serenely, moving from ‘performing badly’ to ‘up against it’ then ‘as good as out’ before finally reaching ‘qualification a mathematical impossibility’ – at which point they board a plane
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South Africa choke in 1999 World Cup semi final against Australia
< 1 minute readSouth Africa needed nine off the final over and Lance Klusener – by some way the best batsman in that tournament – belted the first two deliveries for four. South Africa now needed one to win. The third ball went straight to a fielder, but Allan Donald was already half
Continue readingVideo of Yuvraj Singh hitting six sixes in an over
< 1 minute readYuvraj Singh starts the over on 14. He ends it with 50. Herschelle Gibbs managed six sixes in an over in the 50 over World Cup earlier in the year. His efforts were full-blooded across the line slogs. Yuvraj Singh’s were just timed. Just watch the delicate flick for the
Continue readingYuvraj Singh hits six sixes in an over
< 1 minute readHow bloody good are we at saying other people are ace at cricket? We’re really bloody good at it – that’s how bloody good at it we are. Perhaps it’s because we’ve spent our entire life honing our sense of how much everyone else is better than us. Show us
Continue readingJustin Kemp: attacking batsman
< 1 minute readNo headlining effort from us today. World Cup player to watch, Justin Kemp, hadn’t done a great deal since South Africa’s first match, but yesterday he rediscovered runs. Or boundaries, at any rate. 89 off 56 balls is always handy, but when you’re chasing 154 it pretty much does the
Continue readingRob Key hits a Pro40 hundred against Glamorgan
< 1 minute readRob Key‘s 91 ball 107 not out happened 12 days ago. It’s taken us this long to find a prominent expert to comment on the innings. If you’re thinking: ‘Oh no. Not this joke again. This is getting really tired,’ then stop to consider how successful that means Rob Key’s
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq: a Twenty20 specialist
2 minute readThere’s a difference between being a Twenty20 specialist from county cricket and being an international-standard Twenty20 specialist. If you’re the former, you don’t really qualify for consideration in the latter category. There’s a kind of minimum skill level that’s essential. Ask England. We mention Misbah-ul-Haq and his handiness for the
Continue readingStill marching…
< 1 minute readHow refreshing that an England campaign in an international tournament hasn’t ended in meek capitulation for once. A quick note of commiseration for The Colossus who didn’t deserve to be on the losing side after ballsily whopping three sixes off three balls when New Zealand were about 40-4. Craig McMillan
Continue readingShahid Afridi the bowler
< 1 minute readShahid Afridi seems to be quite the Twenty20 bowler. As skchai said in the comments: “Perhaps that is another aspect of his “Afridiness” – he is only effective bowling to other Afridis (not the members of his Pashtun clan, but rather players who play like him).” Perhaps the ‘what would
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