2 minute readWe’re having one of those bizarre moments of doubt. Do cricketers play in the Ashes? It sounds wrong to say they ‘play the Ashes’ but ‘play in the Ashes’ suddenly sounds like the person’s a gleeful pyromaniac dancing in the aftermath of their latest deed. We’ve started a new feature
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I Don’t Like Cricket, I Hate It – the upcoming Ashes tour edition
3 minute readA semi-regular feature in which we ask a fella going by the name of Prince Prefab about cricket – even though he hates cricket. We are in bold. Prince Prefab is not. It strikes us that a looming Ashes tour is one of the few times when the sport might
Continue readingEngland to win the Ashes via airy off-side drives
2 minute readIs that a dripping tap way off in the distance? No, it’s actually James Vince gently knocking on the door to politely request selection, if that wouldn’t be too much trouble. Quite how the selectors heard him is beyond us. Vince wasn’t thought to be good enough at the start
Continue readingWith the Ashes decided, England and Australia will look to determine which has the better ODI second XI
< 1 minute readEngland and Australia fans who enjoy answering the question “so why isn’t this the Ashes then?” will be delighted to hear that the two sides are going to do that thing where they follow the Test series with five don’t-give-a-toss one-day matches six months later in the other country. The
Continue readingBritish Weather through to semi-finals of Champions Trophy
< 1 minute readAfter a dominant performance against Australia/New Zealand and a narrow victory over Australia/Bangladesh, the British Weather has booked itself a place in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. After displaying dreadful, relentlessly sunny form throughout May, UK meteorologists were left fearing that their side would be knocked out during the
Continue readingThe India v Australia sitcom
< 1 minute readEmbed from Getty Images This series has finally bucked its ideas up. We’re not sure at precisely what moment things turned – possibly when Steve Smith played on – but at some point somebody pressed the lever on the View-Master, the slide wheel clicked round and the picture changed. The
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Steve Smith woefully out of form in the nets
< 1 minute readThat’s what we’ve heard. We’ve heard that Steve Smith can’t find the middle of the bat when he’s batting in the nets. Smith may or may not have commented: “I’ve been hitting it really well out in the middle, so I don’t think I’m out of form. If I can
Continue readingDavid Warner is totally bossing net cricket
< 1 minute readDavid Warner says: “I couldn’t be hitting the ball any better but it’s just that the runs aren’t coming for me at the moment.” In this week’s Cricket Badger, we point out that this runs counter to Temba Bavuma’s matter-of-fact observation that, “you can’t be playing well and not scoring
Continue readingSteve Smith’s shonky technique keeps him hiding in plain sight
2 minute readThe notion of a ‘best batsman in the world’ is stupid. You rate them based on what’s already happened and it counts for nothing the next time they’re pitched into competitive cricket. Cricket is not a prolonged personal odyssey, it’s a series of matches between teams. A high ranking gives
Continue readingMop-up of the day – the batsmen in and out of form
< 1 minute readAustralia drew with India, but let’s not focus on how admirably they’re performing. Who the hell wants to read about that? Let’s instead concentrate on tangentia. David Warner has said that “it will turn around” for him with regards to his recent poor form. We agree. If he keeps being
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