2 minute readSteve Smith’s run-scoring apparently depends on whether he does or does not know the whereabouts of his own hands. Given Smith didn’t make it out of the foothills in India but then made a hundred in the World Test Championship final, we can only presume he happened across them again
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Hayden and Langer are offering their ‘insights’ on commentary during the World Test Championship final
< 1 minute readIf there was one thing that was highly awful about Test cricket in the early 2000s, it was having to endure Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer opening the batting for Australia. Then they retired and how we rejoiced. Only now Test cricket is even worse because they’re still around and
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2 minute readThere’s a lot of joshing around. We’re now going to try and help you stay on top of it all. Tongue Josh Tongue will play for England against Ireland this week. ‘Tongue lashing’ headlines await (although we’ve been quite disappointed how infrequently he’s been described as ‘slippery’ as this does
Continue readingWhat ‘looking ahead to the Ashes’ tells us about Test cricket’s future (and T20 and the IPL)
4 minute readRajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale has told the BBC that, “We are going to have to think creatively about Test cricket if we want it to work.” This was shortly after he’d said the quiet bit out loud. It’s easy to characterise IPL franchise owners as ravenous financial speculators with
Continue readingDavid Warner is secretly rubbish at cricket
3 minute readIt really doesn’t seem any great surprise that David Warner should be in Australia’s Ashes squad. But actually, for a man who has 103 Test caps and 25 hundreds to his name, his case is oddly weak. Here in the UK, it’s about the time of year when people start
Continue readingThe Travis Head look is complete
< 1 minute readWe suppose you could plonk him in an 18-wheeler and ask him to drive from Madisonville to Baton Rouge, but other than that, the Travis Head look has basically reached its logical destination. Head’s had a moustache for a while now. We didn’t think to document the history of his
Continue readingWhat is a fair Test pitch? Aussie pundits grapple with seemingly unanswerable question
2 minute readAustralian pundits have been left with a lot of difficult questions after their team beat India on a Test pitch that turned from day one. Can a pitch be doctored or unfair when Australia win on it? We invited two high profile Aussie cricket personalities to try and come to
Continue readingPlaying Australia? Try all things and achieve what you can
< 1 minute read“We know that we’re being hunted,” says Australia’s Beth Mooney. Yeah, in much the same way that Moby Dick was being hunted. The harpoon that can kill this white whale is yet to be forged. After the 2023 T20 World Cup, the seas of cricket are again littered with the
Continue readingWhy Ollie Pope is completely wrong that this summer’s Ashes could be like 2005
4 minute read“It could be really entertaining, like that 2005 series, which is what made me fall in love with cricket. The prospect of that is really exciting.” – Ollie Pope, February 2023. Bless him, he’s excited. He’s also completely wrong. The fundamental mistake that Ollie Pope has made here is a
Continue readingThe Sophie Ecclestone displacement factor | a T20 World Cup semi-finals preview
3 minute readA year ago, during the 50-over tournament, we headlined our semi-finals preview piece, Who will lose to Australia in the World Cup final? Even if it’s a different format, it’s tempting to take the same attitude now. But if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that life isn’t an
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