< 1 minute readMuch has been made of the fact that MS Dhoni wants seven batsmen and four bowlers in his Twenty20 side, even though you have to use at least five bowlers. ‘Sacrilege’, people cry. Not really. Batsman number seven might not contribute much, but the value of a specialist bowler isn’t
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Cricket can help rebuild Afghanistan society
2 minute readBefore you start criticising us for getting carried away and not appreciating the depths of the problems facing a war-torn nation, let us just say that those aren’t our words. They’re the words of Afghanistan’s minister of finance, Dr Omar Zakhilwal and you’d hope he’d have half an idea what
Continue readingWhy 10 World Cup teams won’t make the tournament any better
< 1 minute readIn sport, excitement comes from tension. In a knock-out competition, the excitement comes from the danger of being knocked out. You can’t just have India play every other day and expect people to get worked up about it. Something has to be at stake. This is the basic principle behind
Continue readingDarron Reekers – Netherlands opening batsman and short-term cult hero
< 1 minute readIs there anything on earth that can’t be improved by the presence of a fat man who achieves his ends using amateurism and brute force? No, of course there isn’t. Think of Walter in The Big Lebowski. “You see what happens, Larry? You see what happens?” Incidentally, here’s a surreally
Continue readingMahaboob Alam takes ten wickets in a one-day match
< 1 minute readMahaboob Alam plays for Nepal. He took 10-12 from 7.5 overs against Mozambique. Mozambique made 19, so Mahaboob Alam was quite expensive. Still, on balance, well bowled Mahaboob Alam.
Continue readingSri Lanka win a record
< 1 minute readIt’s the oh-so-rare 12″ version of Blue Monday by New Order. No, not really. They just won a game by a record margin. ‘Win’ is a noun in this instance. Oh the fun of pretending that nouns are in fact verbs. Don’t say you don’t get value for money at
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