< 1 minute readIt’s a shoe. We’re not scared of a shoe, Darren. There’s nothing wrong with having a shoe. It’s not like you’re trying to get us hooked on class A drugs or something.
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Paul Collingwood papers over fragile England batting line-up
< 1 minute readBecause if you’ve got a fragile batting line-up, paper is the greatest disguise. You can conceal all manner of batting sins through judicious use of paper. England’s batting folded at Old Trafford but they got away with it. It happened at Headingley and they didn’t. Paul Collingwood’s innings of 91
Continue readingJames Anderson cruelly overshadowed
< 1 minute readWe have several other points to make about the Old Trafford one-dayer. We didn’t want to overburden you yesterday – our slightly addled hero worship seemed sufficient match analysis for one day. James Anderson bowled really well. Probably better than Stuart Broad. Anderson v Tendulkar is turning into an excellent
Continue readingRavi Bopara and Stuart Broad given the ultimate honour
2 minute readWhat were you doing when you were 21 or 22? We were mostly not leaving our room for weeks on end and feeling kind of numb inside. Not Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara. They were exhibiting extraordinary amounts of steel in rescuing a disastrous one-day international run chase in front
Continue readingStuart Broad has won us over
< 1 minute readWe made Stuart Broad one of our ones to watch this season. Despite that endorsement, we’ve not been fully-convinced of his worth yet. A lot of hyperbole’s been spat in his direction and we weren’t really sure where it was coming from. We think we get it now. It wasn’t
Continue readingAllan Donald preaches aggression
< 1 minute readAllan Donald became England’s bowling coach at the start of summer. Today marks the fiftieth occasion when an England bowler has said something along the lines of: “AD’s just been telling us to go out there and be really aggressive.” It was James Anderson on this occasion, but Ryan Sidebottom
Continue readingIan Bell – ink him in at three
< 1 minute readWe’d planned to write something about how Ian Bell supplied the padding in the ‘meal’ of an England innings – the bulk that everyone takes for granted, without really paying any attention to it. Slightly dull, but integral to the construction of the meal. There were going to be lots
Continue readingPhil Mustard scores runs quickly
< 1 minute readIt’s often said that Philip Mustard is a headline writer’s dream. He’s a nicknamer’s dream as well. The Durham players call him ‘The Colonel’ for obvious reasons. With so many options at our disposal however, it would be lazy of us to use someone else’s creation. That’s why, after an
Continue readingWicketkeepers open the batting in one-day internationals – apparently
< 1 minute readEngland are always on the lookout for a wicketkeeper who can bat and particularly one who can open the batting in one-day internationals. This is because Adam Gilchrist opens the batting for Australia in one-day internationals and Australia are better than England and therefore must be copied in EVERY CONCEIVABLE
Continue readingRahul Dravid’s cool destruction
< 1 minute readSome observers seemed surprised by Rahul Dravid‘s innings of 92 off 63 balls as India won the second one-day international yesterday. Why? Dravid’s more than capable of doing this. People get blinded by his careful approach to Test cricket, but he only plays like that because he thinks that’s the
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