2 minute read Yesterday morning, our cat Monty did a more than passable impersonation of Mark Wood’s backwards press run-up as he exited the house. Despite his unutterably poor track record of predicting cricket matches, we took this as a clear sign that England would beat Ireland. And so it proved. We’ve just
Continue readingCategory: England
Zafar Ansari’s “other ambitions” and other tales of premature retirement from cricket
2 minute read Each to his own and all that, but the “new chapter” in Zafar Ansari’s life sounds dull as shit to us. He’s retired from cricket at the age of 25 to pursue another career, “potentially in law”. We’ve been here before. We’ve been here several times. There was James Bruce,
Continue readingThe format of the new ECB T20 competition
2 minute read Here’s a coagulation of plans, proposals, assumptions and best-guesses for the format of the ECB’s new 20-over competition which is due to begin in 2020. Eight sides Eight group matches each Home and away local derbies (to permit that eighth match) IPL style play-offs ECB-produced TV coverage with some matches
Continue readingJason Roy wants England to be worse at one-day cricket
2 minute read It’s happened again. Jason Roy wants to do things that will make England worse at cricket. Ahead of the World T20, Roy appeared to lose sight of his role at the top of the order, which we likened to tinder. He said he wanted to give himself time, apparently unaware
Continue readingA new source of images – so obviously we just went and found a load of Rob Key photos
< 1 minute read Getty has got a thing that allows us to embed images. They say it’s free to use and entirely legal – although with Getty being famously litigious when it comes to unauthorised use of their photographs, we still feel a little nervous, like they’re luring is into a trap or
Continue reading
How much does Rahkeem Cornwall weigh?
2 minute read All across the UK, people are waking up and asking: ‘Who is Rahkeem Cornwall?‘ after the majestic blob of cricket damn near beat England in a tour match. It is for precisely this reason that we always try and stay abreast of the world’s fat cricketers long before they rise
Continue readingWhy did Tymal Mills go for so much at the IPL auction? Because he’s fit for purpose
2 minute read Tymal Mills has been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4m. In response, many have felt inclined to ask what Ian Botham, Viv Richards or Ian Austin might have gone for. This seems to us to be somewhat missing the point. In the UK, the phrase ‘Twenty20 specialist’ still has
Continue readingA bit of advice for Joe Root
< 1 minute read If there’s one thing the England captain generally lacks, it’s advice from random members of the public. Fortunately for Joe Root, we are prepared to step in and fill that void. It’s a little-known fact that our critically-acclaimed Club Captain’s Handbook for All Out Cricket was originally penned as a
Continue readingWere Alastair Cook (and his family) ‘let out to dry’ by the ECB?
2 minute read Alastair Cook has said that the ECB “kind of let me out to dry a little bit” over Kevin Pietersen’s sacking and the ensuing brouhaha. Being ‘let out to dry’ makes him sound like a cat who’s mistaken bubble bath foam for solid land and now needs the back door
Continue readingEoin Morgan to be Ireland Test captain?
< 1 minute read “Even more than making it in Twenty20 or 50‑over cricket my real ambition has been to become a Test player,” said Eoin Morgan when England first gave him a shot at the five-day stuff. After 16 Tests and two hundreds, it seems highly unlikely they’ll give him another go, but
Continue reading