< 1 minute readIt’s the only conclusion to draw from recent history. The question is, what can other sides learn from the way England approach this format and can England stay ahead of them all up until the next World Cup? In the second one-day international against Pakistan, Abu Dhabi played host to
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England’s one-day cricket elicits jaded optimism
2 minute readNot so long ago, we were in a public house with a friend when his neighbour turned up. This neighbour had been to watch Manchester City win five-nil earlier that day. She said it hadn’t been a good game; that City had seemingly lost interest in the second half. How
Continue readingJames Taylor is busy
< 1 minute readBusy being described as ‘busy’ mostly. The word’s very quickly become a Taylor cliché and today it was used on Sky as early as his first ball – at which point he’d mostly been busy waiting. What does ‘busy’ mean? As far as we can tell, it means the player
Continue readingEssex v Australians at Chelmsford – match report
3 minute readMy name is Ivan. I am Ged’s smart phone. One of the few things I cannot do is take a selfie; my friend Ida took this picture. I wear a protective cover in the style of an old-fashioned calculator. I am told that this is a joke. I went with
Continue readingIs a turning pitch a bad pitch?
< 1 minute readIn our book, all pitches are acceptable unless they result in boring cricket. For what it’s worth, our book is entitled The Book of Unarguable Facts. Some dude in Mohali has curated a cracker (curators curate, yes?) for the first Test between India and South Africa. Flat on a seamer’s
Continue readingEngland cricketers never last – why learn lessons when you’ll probably never return?
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
Continue readingEngland 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 readingShoaib Malik adds to the rich tradition of Pakistani cricketer retirements
< 1 minute readNo-one does retirement quite like a Pakistan cricketer. Mohammad Yousuf’s was a textbook departure, entirely equivocal such that his absence can perhaps only now be considered permanent, some five years later. Or at least it could have been considered permanent if he hadn’t played a number of international matches after
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,
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