< 1 minute readAt one stage South Africa were 6-3, effectively 6-4, as Graeme Smith had been hospitalised. The man who did this was Mitchell Johnson and he forced Jacques Kallis to retire hurt shortly afterwards. Johnson provided bounce, swing and crucially, pace. Mitchell Johnson is a fast bowler. We’d say a ‘genuine’
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Phil Hughes needs to work on his timing
< 1 minute readPhil Hughes has hit a duck, a fifty and now a hundred. Where does he go next? Well he might want to consider scoring a hundred on a weekday. People do stuff at weekends and his runs might not get as much attention. On a weekday, people come back from
Continue readingNot so statistically aberrant or statistically abhorrent
< 1 minute readWe’ve long had a problem with Mike Hussey’s ludicrous batting average. Finally, after a long wait, South Africa have started dragging it back towards being something more sensible. Hussey now averages 57.11 after 35 Tests, which is still offensive, but not as offensive as hearing the general public give opinions
Continue readingPhil Hughes scores runs when others don’t
< 1 minute readThose of you who haven’t irreparably damaged your memories through inadequate preparation may remember that we told you this about Phil Hughes the day before yesterday. Phil Hughes top-scored for Australia with 75. The next highest score was 37.
Continue readingMitchell Johnson, all-rounder?
< 1 minute readMitchell Johnson, batting at nine, launched the South Africa attack to all parts on his way to 96 not out. He then took 4-25, making light of the fact that Australia have only selected three-and-a-half bowlers. Johnson’s respective averages have just swapped places, so his batting average is now higher
Continue readingPhil Hughes’ Australia debut
< 1 minute readPhil Hughes has now faced four balls in Test cricket. Hopefully in his next innings he’ll score his first run. We mentioned Phil Hughes a month or so ago when we pondered whether Australia were the worst team in the world or not. He was one of many reasons why
Continue readingSimon Katich grabs Michael Clarke by the throat
< 1 minute readSimon Katich went for Michael Clarke in the dressing rooms after Australia beat South Africa at the SCG last month. You can’t blame him. If we were in the same team as Michael Clarke, we’d probably have drawn up some sort of schedule as to which days we were going
Continue readingAndrew Symonds continues to embrace tooldom
< 1 minute readIt’s difficult to escape the feeling that Andrew Symonds is being punished by Cricket Australia for just generally being a bit of a pillock. Symonds isn’t being selected for Australia’s upcoming tour of South Africa. It’s partly because he went on radio half-cut and called New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum ‘a
Continue readingRicky Ponting’s match-fixing shame
< 1 minute read“So one thing I always do is I gotta run myself out early on – it’s much more fun being an Andrew Symonds or someone.” Don’t fear, people. Ponting is talking about playing Ricky Ponting Pressure Play on the PSP, which is known as Brian Lara Pressure Play in the
Continue readingHaydos: gone but not forgotten
< 1 minute readIn many ways, Matthew ‘Haydos’ Hayden is irreplaceable. Not his batting, obviously, Aussie opening batsmen are ten-a-penny. We’re thinking more about his way with words and the way he never lets the faintest whiff of self awareness enter his consciousness. What was your career highlight, Haydos? “Singing the team song
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