4 minute readThere are a lot of optimists in the world and the problem with positive people is that they assume that positivity itself is some sort of positive. It’s all well and good swanning about thinking everything will work out, but really you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.
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Declarations unforeseen on paper
2 minute readAustralia will get to declare again. Maybe this is presumptuous on our part. Maybe they were batting for a declaration but have now got a taste for scoring at ten an over and will carry on tomorrow. It seems unlikely though. If there’s one thing Australia like more than scoring
Continue readingYou’re probably wondering why we haven’t written about Inzamam-ul-Haq this week
< 1 minute readThe answer is because Pakistan aren’t playing. Also, he retired seven years ago. Fortunately, our Kings of Cricket feature over at All Out Cricket helps us overcome these minor hurdles as we’re allowed to write about pretty much anyone we like. Last week, we chose Inzy for his ‘souplesse’ as
Continue readingMight and will in Twenty20 and Tests
3 minute readOur friend who was once known as Uncle Jrod has written a piece for Cricinfo about the impact of the IPL on India’s Test performances. We can’t work out whether he’s been done up by the site’s subeditors or whether the headline and teaser are part of the general mischievousness
Continue readingKane Williamson wins the combativity prize
2 minute readIt’s a double-post day today. Maybe we’re all backed-up after slacking off over Christmas. A few words about New Zealand first and then this afternoon we’ll turn to Australia v India, so hold your commenting horses if that’s what you want to talk about. In cycling, there’s a thing called
Continue readingKumar Sangakkara and the magic numbers
< 1 minute readRemember The Magic Numbers? Are they still going? Wikipedia says they are. Chart positions say they aren’t really. But this post isn’t about The Magic Numbers. It’s about Kumar Sangakkara’s magic numbers. Scorecards never tell you the full story, but when a batsman’s made 203 out of 356 in response
Continue readingBrendon McCullum and Angelo Mathews: Conjoined Lord Megachiefs of Gold 2014
4 minute readWe’re never sure why people are so averse to comparing apples and oranges. They’re both fruit, after all. It’s not like comparing ox heart and communism. Like apples and oranges, Brendon McCullum and Angelo Mathews are quite different, but also have rather a lot in common. Why a dual award?
Continue readingMS Dhoni and the will to be in India’s best eleven
2 minute readThe normal reaction when one of cricket’s biggest stars retires from Tests is a kind of pained collective whine, mourning their departure. Never again will we get to see them do all those things that we’ve only just realised we took for granted. But MS Dhoni is different. Everyone –
Continue readingWhen should a team start planning for the World Cup?
< 1 minute readIn this new Morganian one-day world, with its unexpectedly stumbling approach to a major tournament, we’d like to ask: when should a team start planning for the World Cup? England have often cobbled together a strategy at the 11th hour, bringing in players with little or no experience of high
Continue readingIs Alastair Cook a plodder? How long does it take to diagnose ploditis?
3 minute readAlastair Cook says that he’s doing everything he possibly can to try and turn his form around. This begs a rather obvious question. If you’re practising really, really hard and doing everything you possibly can to prepare, but you’re still not scoring runs – what does that actually say about
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