2 minute readTime was, your ‘finisher’ batted at six in one-dayers. Then it was seven. Today, Australia had a man who now averages 53 in 50-over internationals batting at nine. It worked out okay for them. The last wicket partnership At 244-9, Australia were some way from victory, but James Faulkner engineered
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Cut by the thunder
< 1 minute readThat’s a quote from Chris Rogers which appeared in this week’s Cricket Badger. We’re hereby forewarning you that this phrase is to become an official part of the King Cricket vernacular. It comes about from Rogers being deemed surplus to requirements by The Sydney Thunder, a Big Bash team. He
Continue readingFaith in your batting tactics
2 minute readEngland ended this Ashes series much as they’d begun – bowled out for sod all. There’s been no progress. If anything, they’ve looked worse and worse as time has gone on. It actually feels like they’ve refined bad batting, settling on an approach which guarantees a low score every time.
Continue readingGiving up on the old boys
2 minute readThere’s a lot of talk of it being the end of an era for England; how many of the familiar faces won’t be around for the next Ashes in 2015. It’s not surprising many of us want to throw all our old toys away and buy new ones, but you
Continue readingDay of the gnarl-dog
< 1 minute readThere is a chance that James Anderson isn’t the nightwatchman, you realise. He might be the new number three. But while the batting may have changed considerably, life’s the same for England in the field. Today’s backdrop for the Brad Haddin counterattack was 97-5. We all know the drill by
Continue readingShuffling bread
2 minute readHave we all made realistic New Year’s resolutions? No more drinking on Wednesdays? One takeaway a week, but you won’t deliberately order enough for breakfast the next morning as well? Or maybe you’ve resolved to stop playing Australia quite so frequently. Vivisection’s tempting, but let’s not reach for the scalpel
Continue readingBeing overtaken in a 10-Test series
2 minute readYou’ve got to pace yourself. Australia started this 10-Test series so woefully that they could only ever improve. In hindsight, that was a masterstroke. It’s tempting to talk about momentum, but we’ll stick to a different M-word – motivation. Nothing keeps you going like knowing that you’re gaining on someone.
Continue readingReverse swing?
< 1 minute readYeah? Maybe? 20-odd overs onwards? Bit of something? Yeah? It’s been a low scoring match; it’s been hard to score; so a bit of movement might make the run chase a bit tense? Yeah? It’s hard to appear entirely positive when you’re using so many question marks.
Continue reading“They started it”
< 1 minute readAre England and Australia ever going to comprehend the concept of hubris? Australia finished day one shushing the Barmy Army. Have they not been paying attention to the way things have worked this year? They finished day two on 164-9. Sportsmen aren’t exactly shot-through with dignity, but the Ashes seems
Continue readingFinding food in an Astramax van
< 1 minute readFor a team whose coach mocks England for having a boring approach to the game, Australia are hypocritically wedded to maidens. As the series wears on, it’s clear that Mitchell Johnson is just a go-faster stripe on an Astramax van. He distracts us, gains our attention, but this bowling attack
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