< 1 minute readIt’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 readingCategory: England
Quasi-nepotism and the murky lens of hindsight – England’s MD and national selector appraised
2 minute readWe’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 readGuardian 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 readWe’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 readA 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 readAfter 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 readYou 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
Continue readingMop-up of the day – not really as related to cricket as you might think
< 1 minute readMuch as we enjoy writing about administrative staff, what they think and what they may or may not have meant when they said something in an interview, we rather feel that the World Cup is a time for writing about actual cricket. Colin Graves has said some things, the ECB
Continue readingParties, par, pace and predictability
2 minute readIn a run-chase, pressure doesn’t just come from the bowling you face. It comes from the relationship between the bowling you face and the runs you need. We haven’t yet seen England’s defence of 310, but our initial feeling is that Eoin Morgan’s belief that the bowlers were at fault
Continue readingLower orders and the last 10 overs
3 minute readAt the start of the tournament, we highlighted a weakness of South Africa’s – the fact that their batting order “quite quickly becomes a little bit Farhaan Behardien”. This weekend, it just as quickly became a little bit Wayne Parnell. That’s a long tail. South Africa’s best batsmen are so
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