2 minute readWe couldn’t remember whether we did anything on the site for Christmas. Turns out we don’t. The closest we’ve come is wishing everyone a happy Boxing Day Test Eve. The Boxing Day Test is a great tradition. There are a great many things that make cricket better than other sports
Continue readingCategory: Australia
Ed Cowan and other good Australian batsmen
2 minute readWe told you Australia had bottomed out. Logic has penetrated their camp and infected a handful of people. We’re worried it might spread. First of all, Ed Cowan comes into the side (or “Cricket With Balls’ own Eddie Cowan” as Jarrod would have us refer to him). He replaces Phillip
Continue readingIs everyone TOTALLY PSYCHED about the Big Bash?
< 1 minute readThere’s another Twenty20 league on the horizon. Kieron Pollard’s in it. Shahid Afridi’s in it. Alfonso Thomas is in it. Chris Gayle’s in it too. He’ll be playing in Sydney and he’s really looking forward to being there. “What do you call it: Bond Beach? Bondi? I will be there.
Continue readingPJ Hughes c Guptill b Martin
< 1 minute readMaybe if you’re very lucky this Christmas, you’ll get a gift that is so good, you simply don’t know what to do with it. That’s how we feel about Phil Hughes being caught by Martin Guptill off the bowling of Chris Martin for the fourth time in four innings. It’s
Continue readingHas the Australia cricket team bottomed out?
2 minute readOn balance, we still think that they already had. Others will argue that being bowled out by New Zealand for 136 represents a further low, but we think it’s an improvement on being bowled out for 47. That’s how bottoming out works. It’s not like bouncing back. When you bottom
Continue readingTechnically we haven’t seen Phil Hughes’ latest dismissal
< 1 minute readBut only technically. “I’d love him to be in the team,” said Ross Taylor before the second Test. “I think his technique has improved out of sight,” said Michael Clarke. “If Hughes plays in Tasmania then obviously Chris Martin will be bowling at him and hopefully Martin Guptill takes a
Continue readingAndrew Symonds – reality TV star
< 1 minute readAndrew Symonds: he’s just a hard-drinkin’, fishin’, pig-wrestlin’ Aussie who’s only happy doin’ outdoors things in the bush. He loved cricket, but life in the public eye was too much for him. The intense glare of the media made him crack. Thankfully, all that’s behind him now and he can
Continue readingThe ball is coming out of the hand well
< 1 minute readWe were reading about Australia’s latest call-up, Daniel Trevor Christian today. Aside from wondering whether a West Indian cricketer could trade him a surname for one of his first names, we were also struck by his use of the phrase ‘the ball is coming out of the hand well’. We
Continue readingJames Pattinson and Australian desperation
2 minute readIt’s been a great period in Australian cricket. There have been so many poor performances that the nation attained that blissful state where everyone’s running around screaming ‘do something!’ without any agreement as to what that something might be. It didn’t matter who was right and who was wrong, just
Continue readingDavid Warner’s Twenty20 reputation
2 minute readWe’ve some sympathy for the young, millionnaire cricketer, David Warner – and it’s not just because he’s Australian. We feel that sympathy – just a small amount – because he’s been branded a Twenty20 player. Warner’s done well off the back of Twenty20, but he’s always going to have to
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