< 1 minute read If there is to be any drama in England’s T20 World Cup campaign, it seems likely that it will come in the form of a very formulaic, second-rate sitcom. We’re expecting the most noteworthy performance in every match to be one of the batsmen making 40-odd off as many balls.
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Jade Dernbach bowls two balls the same
< 1 minute read When a sweaty-palmed Jade Dernbach bowled a wide with West Indies needing seven to win off one delivery, it was easy to forget that his opening spell had been sort of all right. It’s not a big thing, but it’s definitely progress. Someone seems to have persuaded Dernbach that variations
Continue readingShould Jos Buttler bat at five?
2 minute read Let’s overlook all the trivial details, like the omission of England’s best Twenty20 batsman and the retirement of their best-ever Twenty20 bowler (one name in particular crops up very frequently in this list) and instead focus on whether Jos Buttler should emerge with England 26-3, 32-4 or 38-5. It might
Continue readingVivisection on England’s World T20 squad
2 minute read It’s not dead yet, but let’s take our cleaver and dice it anyway. It’s only a matter of time. Batting No Kevin Pietersen, the man of the tournament the only time England won a big competition, so who’s going to pick up the slack? Well not Joe Root. He’s got
Continue readingDemanding loyalty or earning support
2 minute read ‘How about we put together a nice cosy environment where everyone goes along with everything Alastair says?’ Imagine we’re not talking about cricket for a second and put yourself in a position where someone’s just said that to you. How do you feel? Do you think that sounds like a
Continue readingThe art of being a team player, Pietersen-style
2 minute read In our experience, the employees most likely to be considered ‘team players’ are the obedient, unquestioning ones. Management may make great show of inviting feedback – and they may honestly believe that they’re open to it – but the truth is that no-one makes a decision thinking it is the
Continue readingHow do you carry out long-term planning? (a Pietersen post)
2 minute read Remember when England dropped Nick Compton? At the time, we thought maybe they were getting a little bit ahead of themselves. People said Joe Root was amazing and there were loads of other amazing batsmen queuing up to play for England and come on, come on, bring us the future;
Continue readingKevin Pietersen and the lost specifics
2 minute read Granted, we work for them, but we’ve been very impressed with Cricinfo recently – specifically with regards to their near-refusal to report on the latest ‘Kevin Pietersen situation’. They’ve pretty much restricted themselves to one ‘it’s being reported that senior figures are to meet on Tuesday to decide the future
Continue readingTravelling without wheels
2 minute read It’s hard to pinpoint precisely when the final wheel fell off. It was probably a couple of months ago, but England’s cricketers have had to continue shoving “it” along anyway. No wonder they ended up going round in circles. It’s not been the best tour. In a vain effort to
Continue readingHonestly, you go for one lunchtime pint…
< 1 minute read And England give their coach the boot. At least that’s the case according to ‘reports’. We’re not actually suggesting that the two events are linked. We’re just struck by the fact that we’ve been sitting around checking the cricket news once every four minutes for the whole of the last
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