< 1 minute readWith New Zealand 176-5, you may disagree with that. That’s not really our point. Our point is that we haven’t got anything to say about James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc. We were hoping Ben Cutting would get the nod. His training revolves around distance running, not weight-lifting – an approach
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Michael Clarke’s support for Mitchell Johnson is getting ridiculous
< 1 minute readMichael Clarke concluded early on in his tenure that his man management of Mitchell Johnson would involve unconditional love, no matter what the tufty-haired purveyor of left-arm ineptitude did with the ball. Johnson hasn’t taken many wickets recently, but Clarke’s been steadfast in his support. Someone should tell him he
Continue readingBack to what’s important
< 1 minute readWe’ve got behind Australia to a quite sickening degree in recent days. We’ve intimated that South African defeats can be enjoyable and we’ve sympathised – SYMPATHISED – with Australians when they weren’t able to win a Test series after one little catastrophe. Well enough of that. Let’s get back to
Continue readingA two match Test series that was a success on every level
< 1 minute readAustralian defeats, South African defeats, brilliant fast bowling, feisty batting, 47 all out and everyone feeling profoundly irritated at being massively short-changed by there only being two matches – this was the perfect Test series. It was better than anything. It was better than turning up at a restaurant and
Continue readingWhen the fifth day of a Test match has the right ingredients
< 1 minute readThe fifth day of a Test can be dreadful. It can also be the best thing ever. When you get the right ingredients, it’s rich and intoxicating, like a creamy mustard sauce laced with smack. The second (and final) Test between South Africa and Australia is set up perfectly. South
Continue readingOne down in a two Test series
< 1 minute readIt’s a generalisation to say that long-term cricket fans gravitate towards the longest format, but it’s not an outrageous generalisation, like saying that all left-handed people are agents of Lucifer. We’ve twice this year had perfectly civil interaction with someone who has later revealed themselves to be sickeningly wrong-handed, but
Continue readingThere is nothing big or clever or grown-up about wallowing in other people’s misery
2 minute readSo says Bert, who continues: Fortunately, nobody here has ever claimed to be big or clever or grown-up? Anyone like to take a guess at what the following sequence of numbers is? 245, 304, 268, 309, 98, 258, 280, 281, 273, 210, 411, 316, 488, 284, 47 Yes, that’s right
Continue readingBrad Haddin’s wicket was our favourite
< 1 minute readWhen they manufacture a girl band or a boy band, they often work on a simple principle: put enough reasonably attractive people in one place and it’s hard to assess the visual merits of any one individual. When it comes to girl bands, we subconsciously take the best features of
Continue readingAustralia’s lowest Test total of all time
< 1 minute readAs we write, Australia are 22-9 in 12.5 overs. Their lowest total ever is 36 and the lowest Test total of all time is New Zealand’s 26 (both those scores were against England, incidentally). Bizarrely, Australia are actually 210 ahead, thanks to Michael Clarke’s increasingly spectacular 151 in the first
Continue readingA good pitch in Galle in Sri Lanka
< 1 minute readWe haven’t seen today’s play in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia, but having seen yesterday’s we’re opting to be quietly impressed rather than blown away by Nathan Lyon’s debut, despite the fact that he took 5-34 in Sri Lanka’s first innings. Why? Because he is bowling on
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