< 1 minute read Completely missed this. Personally, we blame those who call for and schedule public decisions on matters of national importance for distracting us from the chance to witness a spectacular England run-chase. Except where the opposition for some reason fold, 10 wicket England one-day victories come around, what, once every thousand
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England cricket greats to be reclassified as “bad immigrants” in wake of referendum
2 minute read Large numbers of England cricketers, both past and present, will be recategorised as non-England players as a result of plans being drawn up in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. A member of the Leave campaign explained: “One thing this referendum has told us is in
Continue readingMop-up of the day – in, out and not out
< 1 minute read An inadvertently topical but quite possibly inaccurate-by-the-morning headline for UK readers. In Anil Kumble’s… well, he’s not exactly back. He’s back in the public eye, we suppose. He’s India’s new coach. Kumble is a hard, smart and determined man. Coaching India demands more than those qualities, but it’s a fair
Continue readingThe next Ben Stokes
< 1 minute read England have long been on the lookout for someone who might one day fill the gigantic, timeless boots of Ben Stokes. Ever since the combative all-rounder suffered a knee injury in May 2016, they have yearned for a frontline bowler who can also play memorable major innings. In many ways,
Continue readingEngland are eight up with 12 points still available
< 1 minute read Is that the score in the Super Series? Cricinfo helpfully – and somewhat surprisingly – provides a points table for Sri Lanka’s current tour, but you then have to check the fixture list and guess at each match’s value to work out what’s still to come. We’ve said that a
Continue readingFollowing the protagonist through the formats – players and audience in the T20 era
2 minute read We had an interesting (to us) chat to Charles Dagnall of Test Match Special (TMS) via Twitter yesterday. At one point he said something closely related to a number of our recurrent themes/hobby horses on this site and we were faintly annoyed with ourself for not having put the thought
Continue readingHow many players choose to become a one-format specialist?
2 minute read Stuart Broad wants to state his case for inclusion in England’s one-day side. Unfortunately for him, this is difficult as he doesn’t actually play one-day cricket. According to Ali Martin, Broad’s played one 50-over game for Nottinghamshire in the last 18 months. The opposite applies to Jos Buttler, who is
Continue readingAlex Hales’ disappointed face after being dismissed
< 1 minute read Yesterday Alastair Cook played far and away the most entertaining reverse sweeps and ramp shots we’ve ever seen. Proof, if it were needed, that context is everything. With 10,000 runs of back story, this was a proper plot twist. In contrast, Alex Hales’ daddy fifties are a new story. This
Continue readingIt’s the Lord’s Test – you know what that means, right?
< 1 minute read It means it’s time for great swathes of flowery sentimental guff about what is, at the end of the day, a load of grass surrounded by plastic seats, overlooked by blocks of flats. The only way we can get through the misty-eyed paeans to Lord’s these days is to turn
Continue readingWeather to play cricket – talking points from Colin Graves’ recent interviews
2 minute read Meant to do this the other day. Midway through the first Test, England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves smooshed around all of the various media present, saying the same things to different people. The two main things that he said were that the T20 Blast is “mediocre” and
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