< 1 minute readThey were in a Walkabout. Of all the pubs in Birmingham, David Warner and Joe Root opted to go to an Australian-themed bar which uses the slogan: “Home of the awesome spirit of Australia.” This makes Warner look like a homesick child, desperately clinging to anything even faintly Antipodean, while
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England are better than Australia
< 1 minute readGreat news. We still don’t have to expend mental energy thinking of post titles. It’s tempting to draw all sorts of conclusions after any match between England and Australia. We have just two things to say. The team without a spinner lost The law of scarcity dictates that Aussies will
Continue readingJos Buttler and the ramp shot
2 minute readA good few players try the ramp shot these days, but few score as great a proportion of their runs with it as Jos Buttler. At times he seems unaware the pitch has sides, creating a two-spoked wagon wheel behind bowler and wicketkeeper. The Buttler version of the ramp is
Continue readingDavid Gower is both right and wrong about Aussies
< 1 minute readDavid Gower has said in an interview in the Radio Times that Australia has no culture and that their cricketers have ‘an animal mentality’. He’s partly right, but probably for the wrong reasons. Culture This one’s lazy and wrong. Australia has plenty of culture. Arguably too much. Plenty of websites
Continue readingThe Chris Woakes quandary
3 minute readHow long does it normally take James Anderson to make 28 runs? The answer is four years. Don’t scrutinise that. Today, Jimmy made 28 off 19 balls. If you didn’t see the match, that should tell you something. Run scoring was not difficult. We’d go so far as to say
Continue readingEngland v New Zealand 2013 Test awards
2 minute readProbably should have exercised a little editorial restraint with that last post and gone straight to this one instead. Then again, what’s the internet for if not for failing to exercise editorial restraint? Here are some awards. Ploddiest bastard The ploddiest bastard award recognises the batsman who played the most
Continue readingHigh expectations and low scores
< 1 minute readWe’re not honestly sure how much we’ve learnt during these two Tests that we didn’t already know. This appears to be reflected in the fact that people are still talking about the lack of follow-on and the late declaration. The topic appears to be filling something of a void. You
Continue readingEngland’s priorities and Parkinson’s law
< 1 minute readWork expands to fill the time allotted. We remember one particularly undemanding week where we made a plan to buy a toothbrush on one day and toothpaste the following day. Good times. Credit to England’s bowlers then for not performing as if they’ve got 468 runs to play with. These
Continue readingFootmarks for the spinner
2 minute readIt’s a strange and wonderful sport where two members of the opposition who aren’t even on the pitch can aid your cause, but Graeme Swann can thank Trent Boult and Neil Wagner for three of his four wickets. The two left-armers created some beautifully scruffy turf for him to aim
Continue readingJoe Root and canned excitement
< 1 minute readThere’s no excitement quite so depressing as mandatory excitement. Compare and contrast the following. Joe Root strides to the crease and a large crowd rumbles with enthusiasm A batsman strides to the crease and Somebody Told Me by The Killers plays Joe Root takes a quick single and a large,
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