< 1 minute readHe must have sold something to Satan to take three wickets in the penultimate over to win this Test for Australia. It can’t have been his soul though, because he must have already sold that to Ricky Ponting to bring him on to bowl in the first place. Maybe it
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Matthew Hayden continues to personify all that’s wrong with modern cricket
< 1 minute readDo we hate Matthew Hayden because he personifies all that’s wrong with modern cricket or do we just ascribe those traits to him because we hate him? It doesn’t matter. The important part is that we hate him. The whys and wherefores all pale into insignificance next to the sheer
Continue readingAn unbeaten Tendulkar hundred – everything is as it should be
< 1 minute readUp here in the northern hemisphere we need a bit of comfort at this time of year; something warm and familiar to let us know that all’s right in the world and the status quo persists. That’s ‘status quo’ and not ‘Status Quo’, you understand. Francis Rossi et al. have
Continue readingVVS Laxman playing his favourite opponents at his favourite ground
< 1 minute readNot many cricketers actively prefer to play Australia, statistically at least. Most prefer Bangladesh. VVS Laxman just might prefer Australia. We always preferred playing the wall of the garage, which could function as batsman, bowler, fielders AND scorecard – with the aid of a bit of chalk. We think that
Continue readingAndrew Symonds: good enough if you give him a chance or two
< 1 minute readWe’re still not sure about Andrew Symonds as a Test player. We’re sure he is one. Don’t get us wrong. We don’t doubt our own eyes – that would be madness. Just who do you trust, if you don’t trust your eyes? Your ears? Unlikely. Ears are devious. Anyway: Symonds.
Continue readingBrett Lee’s actually good nowadays
2 minute readStuart Clark got the better figures, 4-28 and got the best batsmen out, but the story’s about Brett Lee today. He took his 250th Test wicket, but there’s more than that. This is Australia’s third Test since Warne and McGrath retired and every time Australia’s opponents have batted, Brett Lee’s
Continue readingIndia’s young fast bowlers – it’s a bit overwhelming
3 minute readIndia used to really struggle for quick bowlers. These days they seem to have a new Next Big Thing just about every week. We can think of six young, decent, Indian quick bowlers from a standing start and with only three brews powering our tiny little brain cells. We’ve assumed
Continue readingVirender Sehwag sidles up to Yuvraj Singh looking all serious and that
2 minute readIndia have named their squad for the four Test tour of Australia. It’s not totally straightforward. We’ll talk about the bowlers separately, but batting-wise the big news is the return of Virender Sehwag. We’ve read that India can’t pick Sehwag in the squad and not play him, which is technically
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq – another glitteringly sedate hundred
< 1 minute readMisbah-ul-Haq’s one of those players who gets his own post even if we’ve got nothing to say now. He got 133 not out in a match where runs are as inevitable as weekend overeating. He did his best to stand out from the crowd though – for much of his
Continue readingSourav Ganguly’s double hundred
2 minute readWell, at least his highest Test score’s higher than his highest one-day international score now. We saw his highest score in one-day internationals, 183 against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup, and there are similarities with yesterday’s knock. On both occasions Ganguly was largely overshadowed by his batting partner
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