< 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
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Name 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
Continue readingSuresh Raina v England – what this means for the World Cup
2 minute readBefore today, Suresh Raina had made three ODI hundreds in 193 matches. He made them against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong. But Raina bats in the middle order, so that doesn’t tell us a lot. Let’s look at fifties instead. Against New Zealand, he has one in 11 innings;
Continue readingVictory for a city in the summer
< 1 minute readCities disappear in the summer. Winter has cities, summer has counties – or at least that’s the way it used to be. Now Birmingham have won a cricket tournament and we don’t know where we are. The weather has been unseasonably cool this last week. Even the climate’s confused. Our
Continue readingFist forming and extreme hat retrieval
2 minute readIt’s the fashion these days to look back on a losing streak and say that you were playing well in patches and that you knew all it would take would be a slight improvement and everything would be hunky-dory again. This always gets on our nerves, because of course you
Continue readingNo you can’t come up for air
2 minute readTomorrow, a view on India’s Test series, but today let’s look at England’s – or at least at how it finished. Some of the later events are being ruled ineligible for analyss on the grounds that India were too crap, but we found England’s approach quite interesting. 178 all out,
Continue readingShastri is the boss
< 1 minute readThere have been some major revelations about Ravi Shastri this summer. Apparently, he can be interesting and insightful and also possesses a sense of humour. Who knew? We learned this while watching Sky’s oddly watchable Test discussion programme, The Verdict, on which he has been a regular guest. Before that,
Continue readingBlood and panned
< 1 minute readWe think you’ll agree that it’s been very difficult to watch England methodically pan India without concluding that they are vampires. If you see Alastair Cook in your neighbourhood, don’t invite him into your home. While England have found ever greater vitality, India have been looking more and more tired.
Continue readingMS Dhoni has lost everyone
< 1 minute readHere’s a question: can you lead by example if no-one follows that example? If there’s no-one behind you, you’re not really leading, are you? You’re just ambling around on your own while everyone else sits around having cakes and tea. In the first innings at Old Trafford, MS Dhoni played
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