2 minute readWe learnt a lot through Graeme Hick. We learnt that nothing’s preordained. We learnt that heroes can let you down. We learnt that huge talent isn’t the sole ingredient for Test success and we learnt that if you mess about dropping and reselecting players it doesn’t help them one bit.
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Peter Moores talks balls
< 1 minute readWe mean that how you think we mean it. He’s not been going on about Kookaburras or whatever. Talking about Andrew Flintoff Peter Moores said: “When it gets tight he takes a deep breath and delivers his skills.” Maybe that doesn’t bother you, but all sorts of alarm bells started
Continue readingEngland continue to combat pessimism
< 1 minute readAll is not right with the world. England are dominating another side at one-day cricket. Wins are expected and are being delivered. We are in equal parts delighted and utterly horrified that some fundamental element of existence has been reversed. It’s as if gravity were making objects roar skyward or
Continue readingStuart Broad wins a match
< 1 minute readStuart Broad hasn’t really been taking wickets in Tests, but in one-day internationals he’s been increasingly incisive. Even so, 5-23 against South Africa is a Will Jefferson step for him. He hasn’t got any more talent than he had this time last week, but hopefully this kind of domination of
Continue readingKevin Pietersen’s captaincy secret
< 1 minute readFirst there was the win, then there was the other win and then there was the cold, dead-eyed, relentless slaughter. England have murdered a top order before, but they rarely follow it by sweeping up the tail and leaving everywhere really nice and tidy. South Africa 85 all out and
Continue readingMike Selvey leaves TMS
< 1 minute readOr rather, Mike Selvey is asked to leave TMS. We’ve had a few goes at writing this where we’ve tried to compare Selvey to his likely replacements, but that’s not the point. The point is simple. Mike Selvey has spent a lifetime thinking about cricket. He has interesting thoughts on
Continue readingWe made Kevin Pietersen answer a question with the word ‘pie’
< 1 minute readWe’ve never been so proud. The Wisden Cricketer requested questions from their readership and we asked: ‘Why haven’t you adopted a comedy English accent, like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins?’ After some thinking out loud, Pietersen concluded that he says ‘pie’ with a northern accent. Sometimes the stars align
Continue readingWho is England’s best one-day opener?
2 minute readThat’s a rhetorical question. We were experimenting with lots of ‘suck it and see’ type headings, but couldn’t find one that wouldn’t give rise to unsavoury comments. We touched on the ‘suck it and see’ selection policy the other day. Essentially, we think England’s selectors take a look at players
Continue readingKevin Pietersen on Mark Ramprakash
< 1 minute readNot literally. That would be hideous. (No, we’re never going to spurn an opportunity to make that joke.) In this month’s issue of The Wisden Cricketer, Kevin Pietersen is asked whether Mark Ramprakash deserves a place in the England side. “You have a look at his results since the media
Continue readingKevin Pietersen’s outrageous natural talent
2 minute readWe’re always suspicious of ‘natural talent’. Kevin Pietersen always seems to attract this commendation – usually from Mark Nicholas. Nicholas closes his eyes and purrs every time KP hoicks one to leg and it’s surely only a matter of time before he affixes himself to the captain’s leg like a
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