4 minute readThe ‘nice problem to have’ cliché klaxon is ringing out deafeningly this week. England need to take two full seam attacks and turn them into one. Three of the six pace bowlers to have appeared in this series so far will be selected for the third Test and three of
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Let’s rate the ‘serious face’ of every England player in the trailer for The Edge
4 minute readHere’s a trailer for The Edge, that documentary about the England team that got to number one in the world and then fell apart. We had ten questions about an earlier trailer, but this second one really ramped up the seriousness. NO ENGLAND TEAM FELL HARDER says one of the
Continue readingTwo cricketers in one? Let’s count how many cricketers Ben Stokes was in this Test alone (and then let’s name them)
3 minute readPeople often say that Ben Stokes is two cricketers in one. This seems very disrespectful. If you’ve never seen or read Altered Carbon, the story is set in a future where people can transfer their consciousnesses into different bodies or ‘sleeves’. The technology was originally devised so that people could
Continue readingWhat can we learn from Dom Sibley’s not-very-exuberant hundred celebration?
2 minute readLate in the morning session of day two of the second Test between England and the West Indies, Dom Sibley once again awoke from his fitful batting slumbers and actually hit the ball. This particular diversion from his default approach of not hitting the ball took him to a 312-ball
Continue readingLooking back on the rarely-that-highs and not-especially-lows of Joe Denly’s Test career
4 minute readJoe Denly is an unbelievable Test cricketer. You’ll note that we’re saying ‘is’ and not ‘was’ there. That’s because of the specific way in which Joe Denly is/was unbelievable. Sometimes you only need to do so much to get the gig. And sometimes you only need to do so much
Continue readingChoose Your Weapons with Ben Stokes and Jason Holder
4 minute readLet’s talk about picking bowling attacks. Let’s use the first Test between England and the West Indies as a case study and, for an extra frisson of excitement, let’s do this halfway through the game – that way any specifics we use can turn out to be very wrong. Because
Continue readingHow much more responsibility could Jason Holder possibly take on?
< 1 minute readThe answer is ‘none’. None more responsibility. Jason Holder is a parsimonious line bowler of immaculate line and length. He is also a two-metre strike bowler, who seams the ball plenty. He’s a decent bat too, not to mention an absolutely peerless anti-Lumbergh of a captain. Now it turns out
Continue readingBBC2 Test highlights: First impressions
2 minute readTonight was the first episode of the BBC’s new Test highlights show. It’s called Today at the Test, which is a great name (although given today’s rain and its 45-minute running time, this first one should probably have been called Today at the Test Plus Quite a Bit of Other
Continue readingThe cult of digging in: The almost impossible psychological trick the batsman must pull off when you want him to play a rearguard
4 minute readDo you know the only way you can successfully ‘dig in’ as a batsman? Completely and utterly mindlessly. Any other approach is far too much mental hard work and means you’ll make a bad decision sooner rather than later. We wrote a long thing for the Nightwatchman, Wisden’s quarterly publication,
Continue readingThree things to watch out for when England play the West Indies this week
2 minute readCricket’s back. As in ‘returned’. It hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. England play the West Indies at the Rose Bowl, starting tomorrow (Wednesday). It’s on Sky Sports (which you can get one month at a time via Now TV) with highlights on BBC2 at 7pm. Here are three things
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