< 1 minute readWe’ve read a couple of things today about how English players will struggle with the heat and humidity in Sri Lanka. Graham Gooch described the conditions as ‘unnatural,’ which isn’t strictly accurate. It strikes us that English cricketers should buck their ideas up. Sri Lanka may well be hot and
Continue readingCategory: News
England retain the number one Test spot in fine style
< 1 minute readNew Zealand drew with South Africa because it pissed it down on the last day. As a result, the Saffers cannot secure the 3-0 series win they would need to become the top-ranked Test side. This is a highlight. This is better than a Test championship. England have retained the
Continue readingRahul Dravid: the barometer of class
3 minute readLooking through the archives, we’ve written surprisingly little about Rahul Dravid. Many of his best innings predate the site and also – partly as a result of that – we’ve always just assumed that everyone knew how good he was. Forward defensives They call him The Wall. It’s meant as
Continue readingVernon Philander is still having a fine old time
< 1 minute readWe had suggested that a few away Tests would see Vernon Philander’s bowling average swell like a space hopper at altitude. What we hadn’t considered was that Philander’s first away Tests would be in New Zealand. You get some good Test matches in New Zealand. The home side have secured
Continue readingA half-arsed history of the Stanford Super Series
< 1 minute readAllen Stanford’s been found guilty of greed of the highest order so we thought we’d provide a few links to our coverage of his shitty cricket event from 2008. How we didn’t give a toss One reason why we didn’t give a toss A way we could have been made
Continue readingHow many CB Series finals are there?
< 1 minute readThe CB Series features three finals. This fact led to Mark Taylor saying something almost transcendentally stupid while commentating on the second one. To be fair to Tubby, it wasn’t his fault that what he said was stupid, because it actually made sense. It’s the fact that this phrase can
Continue readingOld cricketer to retire in the future
< 1 minute readThat’s the big news today. Cricinfo have revealed that 35-year-old Mark Boucher is thinking about maybe stopping playing. Possibly even fairly soon. Boucher said: “I would like to go England and then start a process of trying to get another keeper involved.” He didn’t even include a ‘maybe’. “After England
Continue readingLong Test series and dry retching
< 1 minute readThis piece by Ed Cowan is well worth a read, especially if you judge Test cricketers swiftly or dissect techniques, finding fault with minor details. Cowan puts things in perspective. Being a Test cricketer is not so much about being gifted as having the ability to stand still without spontaneously
Continue readingWhy is Samit Patel in the England Test squad?
< 1 minute readLife’s about compromise. That’s what we’ll tell our kids when we take them to Lancashire v Yorkshire and buy them an ice cream between them instead of splashing out on Alton Towers tickets. If the Battotron 9000 averages 50, but has to be bolted to the floor in order to
Continue readingVirat Kohli middles it
< 1 minute readVirat Kohli went a bit Nathan Astle earlier. In fact, we’re pretty sure Mahela Jayawardene said that he ‘batted out of his skins’ which raises the possibility that Kohli isn’t human. India needed to chase down Sri Lanka’s total within 40 overs in order to secure the bonus point that
Continue reading