2 minute readIt’s a truism that the England players will learn from this series defeat to Pakistan. You could actually see it happening before your eyes at times: Jonny Bairstow fighting his impulses or Ben Stokes seemingly devising a batting method on the fly. We just wonder whether these players will ever
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England poised to make some sort of history
< 1 minute readIt might be an unlikely series-levelling victory; more likely it’ll be a defeat. Either way, someone somewhere will make a note and history will be made. History is always being made. On a personal level, we have a history of drinking tea and typing that stretches back at least as
Continue readingJames Taylor – middle order giant
< 1 minute readEngland in UAE middle-order partnership shocker. Who’d have Liam Plunkett (thunk it)? Fours and sixes are all well and good, but it’s important to cater for fans of the nurdle as well. Today was a most nurdlesome day. Nudges, leaves, jabs into the offside, works to the legside – all
Continue readingEngland’s strongest unit supported by England’s biggest unit
2 minute readAt lunch, Samit Patel had 0-33 off nine overs – neither here nor there. Fortunately, lunch is Samit’s secret weapon. Popeye gains superpowers when he consumes spinach. In much the same way, Samit Patel gains superpowers when he eats pretty much anything. “Bring forth the pastries!” he cried. After lunch,
Continue readingWhy Samit Patel should play in place of Mark Wood
< 1 minute readMark Wood’s duff ankle means he won’t play the third Test against Pakistan. So who should replace him? Over at Cricinfo, Andrew McGlashan argues that Liam Plunkett is the logical choice. Being as Chris Jordan was only a late call-up to replace Steven Finn, Plunkett is the next pace bowler
Continue readingIs it okay to drop Jos Buttler?
2 minute readYeah, why not? It’s not like he’s scoring any runs at the minute. We’re also a great believer in the redemptive power of “I could do better than that.” Have you ever found yourself believing you weren’t qualified to carry out a given task, only for someone else to complete
Continue readingWahab Riaz achieves the impossible
< 1 minute readThe formula for deciding on the man of the match is as follows: Which team won? Which of that team’s batsmen scored the biggest hundred? And that’s your man of the match. In the event that no-one made a hundred, you pick the guy who took most wickets. However, in
Continue readingEngland’s batsmen roll onto thorny hedge cuttings
< 1 minute readGood bowling exacerbates uncertainty. This is a very inexperienced England batting line-up and it therefore has good cause for self-doubt – particularly in unfamiliar conditions. When confronted with the contrasting threats of Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah, it was no surprise that it collapsed in on itself like a cheap
Continue readingJoe Root’s back
< 1 minute readNot as in ‘returned’ because he hasn’t been away. We’re more worried that he might have ankylosing spondylitis. If Alastair Cook doesn’t get the runs, Joe Root will, and if Joe Root doesn’t get them, then England fans better hope that the team can cobble together a good number of
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England unclear on whether or not Ben Stokes has been suffering ‘the wild shits’
< 1 minute readYou’d think with all their well-paid medical staff they’d be able to distinguish between the wild shits and the common-or-garden variety, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Alastair Cook said: “He’s had a 24-hour bug, he didn’t look very well yesterday apparently but he’s here now and we’ll
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