< 1 minute readA few people will say that Jonathan Trott‘s 175 not out at Lord’s means nothing, because it’s against Bangladesh. Slightly fewer people will say he’s proving he’s a Test batsman after an ordinary winter. Why go to extremes? Jonathan Trott’s guts and technique could have been tested more, but his
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Is Eoin Morgan a Test cricketer?
2 minute readEoin Morgan has been included in an England Test squad for the first time after excelling in the shorter formats. However, his first-class average is 36 – and that with a lot of second division cricket. Is he good enough to make runs in Test cricket? We tend to think
Continue readingAndrew Strauss and Mike Gatting have a go at painting
< 1 minute readNot Michael Vaughan style painting. DIY style painting. We all know how rubbish cricketers are when it comes to DIY. Andrew Strauss probably gets a man in to load the next toilet roll. He doesn’t even know which way he’s supposed to face. At least he’s pointing the brush the
Continue readingAshley Giles has a go at DIY
< 1 minute readFirst Ravi Bopara and Charlotte Edwards, now Ashley Giles. Is the King of Spain any better at DIY than those two charlatans? No. You don’t need to know much about plastering to know that Giles isn’t up to the task. Look at his pristine sportswear. What do plasterers look like?
Continue readingEngland win something!
< 1 minute readShit! What are you supposed to do? This is unprecedented. Don’t know about you, but we celebrated by having quite a bad hangover and having to have an early night. Yay! Even more strangely, England were the best team in the tournament. The best team doesn’t necessarily win a Twenty20
Continue readingHow do you feel about the World Twenty20 final?
< 1 minute readWalking through south Manchester last night, we felt very aware of the fact that this World Twenty20 final isn’t particularly registering with the nation. There are England flags on cars and houses, but they’re for the other England World Cup bid. It’s understandable really. This is the more frequent of
Continue readingThe England cricket team has almost run out of chances
< 1 minute readIt’s a scary thought, but England have only got one more chance to resume normal service. They’re in the final of the World Twenty20, so it’s all-or-nothing. Seasoned England watchers know their side has the ability to take this opportunity to get back to normal underperformance, but set against that
Continue readingTim Bresnan could be the yeoman
< 1 minute readEngland haven’t had a bowler who commentators can patronisingly refer to as a ‘yeoman’ since Matthew Hoggard got the boot. Tim Bresnan’s from Yorkshire and bowls a bit of swing. Maybe he can step in and be a doughty northern caricature so that the English cricket establishment can reinforce their
Continue readingEnglish cricket momentum – no-one knows where they’re heading
< 1 minute readEngland’s win over South Africa is proof of the EXTRAORDINARY MOMENTUM that they have gained by losing a game, having one rained off and then winning two. England are pretty much unstoppable now. That’s not to say that they’ll be tearing along down the right path, necessarily. Momentum’s great, but
Continue readingEngland’s Twenty20 batting line-up
< 1 minute readAn Englishman, an Irishman and a South African walk into a pub. “Aren’t you an England Twenty20 middle-order that inspires a surprising amount of confidence in supporters?” asks the barman. “No,” says the Englishman. “We’re three entirely different people who just happen to be of the same nationalities as the
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