2 minute readThe Champions League is on. We managed to watch half of one innings, but it’s such a stupid, managed tournament, it isn’t really sport in any meaningful sense, so it’s back to county cricket. First-class but second-rate In these triple-format days, is first-class status as meaningful as it once was?
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Yorkshire’s County Championship summed up in one line
< 1 minute readNot one of ours, unfortunately. It’s by Cricinfo’s David Hopps – a Yorkshireman hisself. “Their first Championship win for 13 years is a lesson to English cricket, based as it is on a strong commitment to player development – among all ethnic groups, and extending beyond the privileged classes.” Which
Continue readingVent your feelings about Ravi Shastri
< 1 minute readIn a recent comment, Bert revealed that he had something of earth-shattering importance to say about Ravi Shastri arising from this week’s Cricket Badger (sign up here). Unfortunately, he didn’t have a place to say it. Let this be that place. It also occurred to us that many of you
Continue readingMop-up of the day – spreading Roses
< 1 minute readThe Pennines have long separated good from bad, but there’s been an odd inversion in county cricket this year. White Rose good Nottinghamshire were the only team who could have prevented Yorkshire from winning the County Championship. Being as Yorkshire are positively monstering them with just one more game to
Continue readingThe ICC flexes its elbow muscles
< 1 minute readWell this is news. Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal has been banned from bowling. Ajmal was tested once before and had his action cleared. But not this time. This time he has been found guilty of the greatest crime in cricket. People will whisper the word whenever he is near and he
Continue readingMop-up of the day – England won two games
< 1 minute readEngland finally found a modicum of limited overs success. They’ve analysed the stats and apparently scoring hundreds and making big totals will give them a better chance of success in the World Cup. Common sense might also tell you such a thing. The fifth one-day international Joe Root became the
Continue readingOvertraining in cricket – a plea for an off season
3 minute readWe’ve written a rather hefty piece for Cricinfo about overtraining in cricket. We think it’s a big deal, but we get the distinct impression that no-one else really does. It’s partly that people don’t really understand the concept. Understandably, they think it just means training too much, but overtraining is
Continue readingFaf du Plessis has grown weary of getting hit in the nads
< 1 minute readAside from batting all day at one run an over to save Test matches, Faf du Plessis’s other thing is getting hit in the balls. You might say that he’s a specialist. In the video below, he talks you through the countermeasures he has been forced to take. Here’s a
Continue readingName England’s first choice one-day bowling attack
< 1 minute readMoeen Ali made 44, 10 and 55 in his first three one-day internationals (ODIs). He was opening the batting. Then they dropped him. Today he made 67 batting at seven. Chris Woakes opened the bowling at Cardiff and took 4-52. He also opened the bowling in Nottingham. Today he was
Continue readingThe hidden reason why England won’t win the World Cup
2 minute readThe main criticism of England’s one-day batting approach recently has been that they lack the dynamic hitting which is supposed to characterise the modern game. While that’s true up to a point, we actually don’t think that it’s the worst of their problems. There’s something else going on during the
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