3 minute readOn June 19, 2018, England took the Australia bowling attack apart as if it were a giant Lego penis and grandma was coming over. The dismantling was rapid, efficient and utterly comprehensive. They made 481-6, the highest total in the history of one-day internationals. We strongly disagree with the idea
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It didn’t always seem so obvious that Liam Plunkett wasn’t Sajid Mahmood
4 minute readThere was a time when Liam Plunkett was spoken about in much the same way as Sajid Mahmood. Then there was another time when Liam Plunkett was spoken about in much the same way as Sajid Mahmood. It seems safe to assume that it won’t happen a third time –
Continue readingWhy aren’t the big teams embarrassed about losing to smaller teams?
2 minute readScotland’s obvious delight at beating England at the weekend was in no way matched by the anger of the England fans or the embarrassment of the players. It’s not an exact mathematical thing, but normally in sport you’d expect similar sorts of weight on both sides. Why was that not
Continue readingWill Jos Buttler prove that the best Test teams contain the best T20 players?
2 minute readThat’s a terrible headline. It labels Jos Buttler a T20 player when a key aspect of the point we’re about to make is that players shouldn’t be categorised. Over at Wisden, we’ve picked up almost exactly where we left off earlier in the week, arguing that England’s Test team would
Continue readingHow Jos Buttler has brought a bit of culture to England’s Test team
3 minute readWe’ve always said that Jos Buttler seems much, much safer at the crease – and a far more reassuring presence for England fans – when he’s just standing there spanking sixes, all bionic eyes and adamantium wrists. We wrote about this in 2015 and Buttler himself seems to have been
Continue readingSam Curran is almost the right choice
< 1 minute readIf Sam Curran could bat a bit better or bowl a bit better, he would definitely be a good addition to the England team. If that sounds dismissive, it’s only because it made for a better opening sentence. Scurran is close. He’s just not quite there. Strengths Left-armer Swings it
Continue readingEngland’s batsmen are insecure and complacent
3 minute readEngland’s batting is bad. England are bad at batting. Bad batting is a thing that England’s batsmen generally do. Before we get into the ins and outs of the badness, let’s contextualise it with the players’ career Test averages because that way we can really get a sense of the
Continue readingWho was your favourite ineffective opening partner for Alastair Cook?
< 1 minute readIf we were to ask, ‘who has been your favourite England Test opener since Andrew Strauss retired?’ the answer is obvious. If you say anyone other than Alastair Cook, you are either (a) a contrarian hipster (b) not an England supporter or (c) mental. That’s an easy one. A far
Continue readingWhat the hell is up with Hasan Ali’s hand?
< 1 minute readWe honestly haven’t got much left to say about England’s batting, so let’s instead turn our attention to Hasan Ali’s hand and whatever the hell is up with it. Here’s Hasan Ali’s hand midway through delivering the (apparently) fiendishly tempting wide one that did for Joe Root. Strapping is a
Continue readingWhat proportion of Mohammad Amir will play the Tests against England?
3 minute readWe were a tremendously big fan of Mohammad Amir even back when he was called Mohammad Aamer. Things have not always been smooth since then. There have been blips. They say that prison changes a man. We ourself have never been incarcerated. One time we accidentally ran a red light
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