2 minute read We’ve a slight concern that the ECB’s new chief executive referred to ‘the England Cricket Department’ in announcing Paul Downton’s sacking, as if English cricket really were a corporation in which broad, curved desks were every bit as important pieces of equipment as bats and balls. Nevertheless, it’s hard not
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The multi-coloured Excel monster that is the English domestic season
2 minute read Each year, The Cricketer produces a wall chart detailing all of the summer fixtures. It works well as a visual representation of the way the English domestic game is organised. White space is in short supply. It is as much an assault on the senses as a paper wall chart
Continue readingWho is Rahkeem Cornwall?
< 1 minute read He’s this guy. And here’s his Cricinfo page which currently features a spectacularly poor headshot (and we of all people know one when we see one). It’s rather as if the photographer has instructed the Antiguan: “Make a sad face. Now do some mouth-breathing. Perfect!” According to Tony Cozier, Rahkeem
Continue readingAdil Rashid braced for more knocks
< 1 minute read It’s always faintly harrowing when England select a leg-spinner. The way they’re treated tends to be geared towards absolute decimation of their confidence. Adil Rashid himself has benefited from this once before. Eight years ago, we promised Rashid that we’d always be nice to him – even if he got
Continue readingQuasi-nepotism and the murky lens of hindsight – England’s MD and national selector appraised
2 minute read We’ve written about just what a monumental achievement it was for England to get knocked out in the group stages. The more we think about it, the more we’re impressed at how they managed to prevent even one cylinder from firing. There is talk that Paul Downton may get the
Continue readingCounting England cricketers who went to state schools
2 minute read Guardian writer Toby Chasseaud provided us with a shocking revelation the other day. In 1987-88, of the 13 players who represented England on a tour of Pakistan, only one had attended a private school. Did that really happen? Was that really the way things once were? We don’t want to
Continue readingHow England tried to drink chai but found itself with the hot milky skin draped across its chin
4 minute read We’ve never been a huge fan of the phrase ‘more than one way to skin a cat’. Cats are decent sorts and while yours would happily eat you if you were dead, that doesn’t mean he wishes you harm – it merely reflects his no-nonsense attitude to the difference between
Continue readingIn defence of Peter Moores
2 minute read A lot of people – seemingly a majority – are saying that Peter Moores ‘has to go’. There is probably some truth in this because the pressure and scrutiny he will be subjected to should he be allowed to remain would most likely be crushing for the team. However, we
Continue readingFive different four-year plans in every World Cup cycle – the illusion of stability in English cricket
5 minute read After six months of solid one-day cricket, England started the World Cup with a different side. Chris Woakes had been opening the bowling and doing well – he came on first change. Gary Ballance hadn’t played one-day cricket for six months – he came in at number three. James Taylor
Continue readingEngland World Cup feedback
< 1 minute read You probably have something to say about England getting bundled out of the World Cup by Bangladesh’s seam bowlers. You can leave your thoughts in the comments of this article while we keep ourself busy writing some sort of… actually, we’re not too sure what you’d call it. To quote
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