2 minute readAn Australia v England series starts this week. The old rivalry. Always an edge to it, bragging rights, a chance to make some sort of statement, yadda, yadda, yadda… The 1986 John Hughes film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off features one of the all-time great film quotes. This is of course
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Adil Rashid’s T20 World Cup final wicket maiden
2 minute readEveryone remembers the big over when a T20 batter lays into a bowler and the boundaries flow like overpriced beer in a cricket ground. What’s less obvious, but arguably more influential, is when an innings goes clanking off the rails with a trickle of downbeat gropes at thin air. Adil
Continue readingThe T20 World Cup final is on Channel 4 on Sunday and possibly also Monday
< 1 minute readUK readers are probably already aware of this, but just in case you’re not: Sky Sports have again done the surprisingly decent thing of agreeing to share the broadcast of England v Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final with Channel 4. The match is due to start at 8am
Continue readingAdil Rashid, India’s top three and a premature death
3 minute readThey talk a lot about ‘the death’ in T20 cricket. We’re not sure it’s an appropriate label for the latter stages of India’s T20 World Cup semi-final innings. They were already on life support after six overs and rigor mortis had pretty much set in by the end of the
Continue readingHyperbole Watch: The Greatest Game on Sky Sports
4 minute readWhat’s Sky’s upcoming documentary, The Greatest Game, about then? It should be obvious really, shouldn’t it? You know, with a title like that. The Greatest Game. Let’s look for some clues. Well, it’s a moodily-lit Ben Stokes kinda documentary. But that doesn’t really pinpoint things. Now here is looking thoughtful-yet-resolute.
Continue readingCook’s captaincy v Clarke’s captaincy and The Summer of Bell
< 1 minute readWe’re a bit behind with our nagging reminders to listen to episodes of our podcast about the 2013 Ridiculous Ashes. So consider yourself nagged and reminded to listen to episode three (about the third Test) and also episode four (about the fourth Test). These are the last episodes before the
Continue readingSlog of the Day: Paul Stirling v England
2 minute readA paean to pace, the pivot-pan and the perils of the pair of them today. If you’re unaware of the shot known as the pivot-pan, it’s probably because we only just labelled it. As you’ve no doubt guessed, the nomenclature in large part arose because we wanted to slot a
Continue readingShane Watson’s legendary front pad, the worst piece of cricket in Test history + more
< 1 minute readEpisode two of the 2013 Ridiculous Ashes has gone up this week. It focuses on the second Test, which England won by a long, long way going by conventional cricket metrics, but which featured a strong showing from the tourists in ridiculous terms. We’ve a couple of videos to share
Continue readingThe 2013 Ridiculous Ashes
2 minute readWe do a podcast with Dan Liebke in which we revisit the funnier moments of historic Ashes series. It’s called The Ridiculous Ashes and the latest series, focusing on England’s memorable 2013 win, is now underway. Have a listen! (Or don’t, if you’re busy. It’s not going to be significantly
Continue readingAll downhill from here | a Pakistan v England T20 series recap
4 minute readA seven-match T20 series wouldn’t ordinarily be an appealing prospect, but the sheer novelty of England playing Pakistan in Pakistan never really wore off. Does this mean that seven-match limited overs series are a legitimate and appealing thing to schedule? Yes, absolutely. Provided you haven’t toured one of the major
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