< 1 minute read We’ve mixed feelings about whether or not Steven Finn should be dropped. On the one hand, he is reassuringly distinct from England’s other bowlers, but on the other, he did a damn good impression of someone who went to pieces and became a complete liability during the first Test. It
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Australia bat all the way down to number 11
< 1 minute read Their problem is that they don’t bat all the way up to number one. The lower order punches above its weight. The tail frequently wags. It’s the rest of the dog that is sick and lifeless. Lower order resilience can be undervalued – or used as a stick with which
Continue readingTrent Bridge Ashes Test climax holding post
< 1 minute read Because one way or another, it’s going to take us quite some time to make sense. We’re currently working our way through the many stages of tension, from ‘edge of seat’ through to ‘foetal and foul-mouthed underneath a cushion’. Even once the match has been decided, we’ll still need some
Continue readingWe were at Trent Bridge today
< 1 minute read Here are some things that happened: 1. Jonathan Trott did some mileage This was probably the most important thing that happened today. When Australia’s openers were in, Trott was fielding at fine leg. Left-hander, right-hander, from both ends, Trott was at fine leg. He covered all four corners of the
Continue readingI.Ron Bell puts overs into Aussie legs
< 1 minute read Maybe we should consider him two different batsmen – Ian Bell, the guy who chips one to cover, and I.Ron Bell, the guy who plays these sorts of innings. (Make your own metallurgical puns. We had a look at the iron Wikipedia page with a view to coming up with
Continue readingAshton Agar’s first Test innings could have gone worse
2 minute read Was it only last year when we wrote about how enjoyable it was to watch a number 11 batsman make a record Test score? ‘Cricket at its best,’ we wrote, completely forgetting that a lurching Ashes Test makes us want to vomit until we’re right down to the lung butter.
Continue readingPeter Siddle doesn’t concern himself with hype
2 minute read Who’d have thought that it would be Peter Siddle taking all the wickets? Who’d have thought that in Australia’s brave new world of James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and shiny new Ashton Agar, it would be tired old veteran Siddle, with his 150 Test wickets, proven record and exceptional fitness who’d
Continue readingIt’s all coming together perfectly for England
< 1 minute read Joe Root’s geting comfortable in his bowling boots. Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann are enjoying the feel of their batting gloves. Except for the fact that the batsmen aren’t making runs and the bowlers aren’t taking wickets, everything’s going exactly as planned in England’s warm-up match against Essex. But who
Continue readingNo desk for Nick Compton
2 minute read There’s been no announcement that Nick Compton has been dropped from England’s Test squad, but he isn’t in the squad to play a warm-up match against Essex and Geoff Miller, the national selector, said that Joe Root is “currently the best opening partner” for Alastair Cook. It rather smacks of
Continue readingStumped by Dhoni and his experience
< 1 minute read India’s Champions Trophy victory presents a good opportunity to bring this post about Twenty20 wicketkeeping to prominence once again. In a 20-over match, two of England’s top three were stumped by MS Dhoni and he could conceivably have had a third dismissal of that nature towards the end of the
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