< 1 minute readEngland have faced Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty and a guy who looks a bit like Harbhajan Singh in the last year. They haven’t really had to combat any spin bowlers. Saeed Ajmal is a spin bowler – he’s a good spin bowler, in fact. He’s not a 7-55 on day
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An unlucky 13 things that explain how bad English cricket was in the Nineties
2 minute readEngland fans: You don’t know how lucky you are right now. This is what it was like in the Nineties… 1. English batsmen who averaged over 40 during the Nineties (The Smudge’s suggestion) This is the FULL list. Alex Tudor – 55.33 (six innings) David Gower – 53 Graham Gooch
Continue readingWe haven’t forgotten the Nineties thing
< 1 minute readIt’s just taking a while to put together because there’s so much disappointment to wade through. Our potted history of English cricket in the Nineties should appear later today and if you’re English, it can’t help but make you appreciate how lucky you are right now. If England lose their
Continue readingIndia bad enough to draw attention from Tendulkar milestone
2 minute readThe India team as a whole has been pleading for attention for a while now. Not content with being overshadowed by Sachin Tendulkar’s apparently forever imminent 100th hundred, they’ve sought the spotlight through rank incompetence. Well, the good news is that after getting within a handful of runs of conceding
Continue readingChris Gayle to play Twenty20 for someone
< 1 minute readIn a not-entirely-surprising move, Chris Gayle has signed to play for Somerset in next season’s Twenty20 Cup. Gayle’s ‘people’ released a statement quoting him as saying: “I’m delighted to be heading to [insert name of cricket team]. Hopefully I can make a key contribution to their T20 campaign this year.”
Continue readingHow bad were England in the Nineties?
< 1 minute readWe’re concerned that some English people don’t fully appreciate their team’s success. Specifically, we worry that younger cricket fans don’t have perspective. We want to provide that perspective by documenting English cricket in the Nineties. Why would we do this? Well maybe if these people can appreciate how bad the
Continue readingTravel time reclaimed from County Championship
2 minute read“Hi, I’ve only got seven quid. Could you cut 80 per cent of my hair?” Some things have to be done in full. Incompletion is unsatisfactory. As another example, if you have some sort of sports competition, it’s preferable to have everyone competing on an equal footing. If each team
Continue readingWhen did England last have to deal with good spin bowling?
2 minute readEngland are overrated. We’re not saying they don’t deserve to be considered the best Test side around at the minute; we’re saying the best Test side isn’t automatically the favourite to win a given series. While England have mullered most sides in home conditions, it’s been a while since they
Continue readingJacques Kallis is fitter than he looks
< 1 minute readJacques Kallis bowled a ball at about 90mph today. Generally speaking, he was bowling faster than Philander, Steyn and Morkel. Despite looking more like a rugby player, Kallis has always been pretty slippery when the mood’s taken him. It’s astonishing that he can still do this when he’s 36-years-old. Few
Continue readingVernon Philander takes wickets for fun
< 1 minute readOther than Angus Fraser, few bowlers have appeared to do it as penance. Many people’s definition of an all-rounder is that they should average more with the bat than they do with the ball. Vernon Philander isn’t a million miles away from that and his batting average is only 7.75.
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