< 1 minute readJonathan Trott is on holiday with his family. They decide to play table tennis – winner stays on. After Trott has won the first 18 games, Mrs Trott quietly suggests that he might like to find a way to let the kids win a couple. Trott says no. After 86
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Playing Sri Lanka will be hard work
< 1 minute readA good first day of Test cricket for England, in the sense that it put them straight. Playing Sri Lanka demands perseverance. It demands perseverance so earnest it comes with a pipe and a scowl. If Sri Lanka’s feisty wins in their warm-up matches hadn’t got the message through to
Continue readingDropping Kevin Pietersen from the England Test team
< 1 minute readWe’re not a fan of this idea. You might say that we’re too easily pleased; that we’d support any batsman who scored thousands of runs for England with unparalleled panache. But you’d be wrong. There’s another thing. We once made Kevin Pietersen say ‘pie’. You can’t buy an experience like
Continue readingHaving Eoin Morgan in the Test team is no bad thing
< 1 minute readNot sure if this opinion is even a slightly different shade of grey to the one the other day. Morgan or Bopara? Sounds like it was close. The national selector, Geoff Miller, said: “The controlled innings that Eoin played just gave him the nod.” When a batsman is being picked
Continue readingHaving Eoin Morgan in reserve is no bad thing
< 1 minute readWe’ve a lot of time for both Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan. Far from feeling it necessary to identify one as being a better bet for the Test team, we’re simply happy that one of them misses out. The true strength of the great Australian Test teams of yesteryear was
Continue readingHow can England have three captains?
< 1 minute readIt’s fine if you have a clearly defined management structure. By defining the hierarchy and outlining key responsibilities for all staff, everyone knows their role and they can all work together to meet key business goals. Team England really needs a corporate motto. That was a link to our latest
Continue readingCraig Kieswetter dominating second-class cricket
< 1 minute readYou have to understand that we’re not criticising Craig Kieswetter. Our issues are with how easily people are impressed and with county cricket in general. Craig Kieswetter scored a hundred again yesterday. Well played Craig. That’s two in a week so SURELY he’s ready to play for England now. Well,
Continue readingEngland Test captaincy play-off
< 1 minute readSo Alastair Cook’s an England captain (one-day internationals) and Stuart Broad’s an England captain (Twenty20). But which one will go on to become the REAL England captain – the one who’s in charge of the Test team? Is this really the way to do it. Is this really the plan
Continue readingWicketkeeper scores hundred
< 1 minute readThat is all it takes. Craig Kieswetter hasn’t really scored runs in quite some time, but he’s a decent batsman and sooner or later he was going to put that right. Today he made 117 and our first thought was that there would be some knee-jerk media coverage. Sure enough,
Continue readingJos Buttler – pros and cons
2 minute readIf you write for a proper newspaper, reporting on county cricket is largely about identifying the English player who did best on the day and then saying that he’s going to get a national call-up before too long. Yesterday, we read a comment from Jos Buttler’s coach at Somerset, Andy
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