2 minute readWhat about Pakistan, eh? Talk about feisty. They’ve just won a Test match after being bowled out for 99 on the first day. That’s exceptional. Pakistan seem a really hard team. They’re not too flashy; not too dynamic with the bat; but they fight like a sack of drunk badgers.
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Freaky Friday for England and Pakistan
< 1 minute readEngland and Pakistan seem to have swapped identities at some point in the recent past. Pakistan are all obdurate and professional, while England try to make up for their catastrophic batting with ever more spectacular bowling efforts. There’s a limit to what the poor bowlers will be able to achieve
Continue readingSo, Eoin Morgan then?
< 1 minute readHe’s been kind of crap of late and even when he has made runs in Tests, they’ve seemed a bit jousey. However, at the same time, he’s been a pyrotechnic gnarl-dog in one-day internationals and they ain’t ten a penny. Should England drop him? He’s not the only one to
Continue readingEngland’s batsmen and spin in the fourth innings
2 minute readEngland’s second innings batting card looks a bit binary code, but the truth is they weren’t qualified for this job. The batsman v bowler duel generally favours the batsman, but the balance can shift towards the bowler due to the pitch, the weather and the match situation. In Abu Dhabi,
Continue readingMonty Panesar has played one Test X times
< 1 minute readThis statement was made my Shane Warne. He famously said that Monty Panesar hadn’t played X Tests but one Test X number of times. This is accepted as great insight all too readily. It’s a nice catchy soundbite and it’s from Shane Warne, but does it really have much merit?
Continue readingMonty Panesar’s back
< 1 minute readAs in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. It may not be the first time we’ve made that joke – it may not be the first time we’ve made that joke about Monty Panesar – but come on. Some events warrant special attention. So what are the pros
Continue readingPakistan secure narrow win over England
< 1 minute readPakistan held their nerve throughout a challenging 15-run chase on a mostly lifeless day three pitch and secured a narrow 10-wicket win over a thoroughly professional England side. England kept it tight and the pressure built, but with one eye on the clock, Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar timed their
Continue readingBring forth the dobble
< 1 minute readPaul Collingwood’s bowling was always a bit too canny to be proper dibbly dobbly medium-pace. There were too many cutters; too much innovation. You don’t get any of that crap from Jonathan Trott. England’s four bowler policy means the batsmen have to chip in with a few overs. Ravi Bopara’s
Continue readingSaeed Ajmal will bowl a few more overs against England
< 1 minute readEngland have faced Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty and a guy who looks a bit like Harbhajan Singh in the last year. They haven’t really had to combat any spin bowlers. Saeed Ajmal is a spin bowler – he’s a good spin bowler, in fact. He’s not a 7-55 on day
Continue readingAn unlucky 13 things that explain how bad English cricket was in the Nineties
2 minute readEngland fans: You don’t know how lucky you are right now. This is what it was like in the Nineties… 1. English batsmen who averaged over 40 during the Nineties (The Smudge’s suggestion) This is the FULL list. Alex Tudor – 55.33 (six innings) David Gower – 53 Graham Gooch
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