< 1 minute read Tomorrow England meet New Zealand in the second Test at Headingley. The home team will be looking to take a 2-0 series win, while the tourists will be looking to tie the series 1-1. England will settle for a draw and a 1-0 series result, but would prefer to win.
Continue readingCategory: New Zealand
When New Zealand were floored at Lord’s
< 1 minute read In post match analysis, many people have been saying that they thought Graeme Swann was going to be key and marvelling that he didn’t get a bowl. Yes, that’s true, but let’s put this in perspective: Steven Finn didn’t get a bowl either. James Anderson took 2-23 and Stuart Broad
Continue readingStuart Broad ruins our afternoon
< 1 minute read We had it all planned out. We were going to cycle up Mow Cop and then, when we got home, we’d ‘refuel’ with our feet up while watching what promised to be the business end of the New Zealand innings. We’d be exhausted and would therefore be able to sit
Continue readingThe hard-fought fifty and the quick fifty
< 1 minute read Players are always talking about the brand of cricket they’re looking to play, trying to make it sound like there’s some lofty aesthetic ideal with which they should be associated. No-one ever talks about playing a squalid brand of cricket and more’s the pity. Squalid, low-scoring cricket that’s decided by
Continue readingWatchful batting and watchable batting
< 1 minute read We generally approve of England’s somewhat one-dimensional approach to top order batting. However, the fact that it’s highly appropriate for the current era doesn’t mean it’s always the best approach. Against equally patient bowling attacks, it can result in stand-offs less spectacular than when two cats spend three-quarters of an
Continue readingCoverage of the attack on Jesse Ryder
< 1 minute read If you haven’t already seen, Jesse Ryder is in an induced coma after being assaulted. He has a fractured skull. We aren’t going to write too much about this, because the site is the wrong tone for that kind of news and therefore it just doesn’t seem appropriate. For similar
Continue readingThe barometer says England never looked like winning
< 1 minute read Talk of an England win has been unjustifiably common during this Test. You never know what’s likely to happen in a match, but you can tailor conversation according to likelihood and at no point has an England victory seemed probable. Even talking about how they could possibly engineer a winning
Continue readingTwo-metre Peter from New Zealand
< 1 minute read He has one of our favourite nicknames in international cricket, so we’re secretly slightly pleased that Peter Fulton scored a hundred against England because it means he should get a few more matches. Set against that is the fact that he was averaging 23 before the first day’s play, so
Continue readingWhy are we goading Tlaloc?
< 1 minute read You see what happens? You see what happens? This is what happens. This is what happens when you goad Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god who loves Test cricket. Tlaloc has really been looking forward to the series between New Zealand and England, but then he found out about the schedule
Continue readingNew Zealand opt to bowl and then bowl
< 1 minute read Some believe that Brendon McCullum’s decision to bowl in Wellington was partly as a result of his decision to bat and then bowl on the first morning of a Test against South Africa at the start of the year. If so, he’s an idiot. The other alternatives are (1) that
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