< 1 minute readA run doesn’t have a set value. That is a recurring theme of this website. The value of a run derives from the game in which it is scored and in all honesty can only accurately be gauged with hindsight. Up until the moment a match is finally decided, all
Continue readingCategory: India
Chris Jordan’s pitch and Virat Kohli’s hat – an India v England T20 series recap sorta thing
2 minute readEngland just played a handful of T20s in India ahead of the World T20 in India later this year. How did it go? Did anyone learn anything? The headline stat is that India won 3-2. The standfirst stat is that they managed that while testing out more players than England.
Continue readingDawid Malan, selfish gambles and why the T20 rankings don’t seem fit for purpose
3 minute readWhen it comes to T20 batting, the ICC’s rankings reward selfishness – but teams often benefit more from selflessness. The Dawid Malan debate is an interesting one. There’s a pretty strong case for saying T20 batting rankings aren’t worth the webspace that stores the algorithms that generate them. Because what
Continue readingWhy Eoin Morgan got his first-choice team against India when Joe Root didn’t
5 minute readEngland are finally putting out their first team. And people aren’t happy. Speaking ahead of the T20 series against India, Eoin Morgan came as close as anyone has so far to articulating the principles underpinning England’s 2021 squad rotation policy. (We’re not going to call it a ‘controversial’ squad rotation
Continue readingThe Rishabh Pant campaign for longer Test series
2 minute readHere’s a thing we noticed about Rishabh Pant. He’s terrible in adverts. Now here’s another thing we noticed about Rishabh Pant. In 2018, Pant made 114 in the fifth and final Test at the Oval. In 2019, he made 159 not out in the fourth and final Test at the
Continue readingHow Dom Bess has massively improved his game since he last played
2 minute readDom Bess didn’t play the last two games. Joe Root said that he had used the time to work on a few things. We saw some evidence of that today. We’re not quite sure what it is, but we seem to be writing about Dom Bess a lot this winter.
Continue readingThe Dom Bess situation, Afghanistan on your telly + more | Mop-up of the day
3 minute readThe England men’s team are about to play the fourth Test against India, with Dom Bess apparently set to get another game. Meanwhile the England women’s team have started beating New Zealand in a new format, while Afghanistan and Zimbabwe are trying to get in on the current trend for
Continue readingWhat Shane Warne’s bowling tactics tell us about spin and the pink ball
3 minute readShane Warne said he always used to try and really rip a leg break when he first came on to bowl. This wasn’t to try and dismiss the batsman – although sometimes it did – it was really just to sow a seed of doubt. Warne wanted to maximise the
Continue readingThe best part of Joe Root’s weird-arsed 5-8 v India at Ahmedabad
2 minute readBusy day. Lots of wickets and even one or two deliveries that didn’t result in wickets. Somewhere in amongst it all, Joe Root took 5-8. For many people, the best part of Root’s spell was the moment when he had 3-0. For other people, the best part was the perfect-o-ball
Continue readingMaybe it doesn’t matter how many seamers/spinners England picked
< 1 minute readIt’s always exciting to try and guess what day one talking points will be. When India picked three spinners and England picked one, it seemed like maybe that would be a thing. But you don’t always get to a point where the composition and quality of your bowling attack will
Continue reading