< 1 minute readYes, Bangladesh lost again, but Shakib al Hasan had an all-round good game and that warrants coverage. He took 2-50 as Pakistan pummelled their way to 308 and then he hit 75 off 73 balls. Shakib now averages 32 with the bat in one-day internationals and 33 with the ball.
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A generic ‘Bangladesh lose’ update
< 1 minute readThe opposition’s best batsman, Mohammad Yousuf, scored a hundred. Shahid Afridi hit 27 off 11 balls. Bangladesh’s top scorer was their number ten, Mashrafe Mortaza. Shakib al Hasan was out first ball. There are four more of these fixtures. How are we going to get through them? Does anybody know
Continue readingShoaib Akhtar “banned” again
2 minute readThe hyper-extensible elbows, double joints, injuries and banned substance-taking couldn’t stop Shoaib Akhtar. Unfortunately, the one thing he’s never been able to protect himself against is his own idiocy. Shoaib misses matches for a million reasons, the million-and-first reason, his mouth, is the biggest problem. If only someone could have
Continue readingHampshire lose Warne while Sussex keep Mushtaq
< 1 minute readWell that’s made the County Championship a damn sight easier to predict. Mushtaq Ahmed has played more of a part in deciding the competition than any other single player in recent years. He’s being allowed to play for Sussex despite competing in the naughty Twenty20 league, the ICL. He’ll be
Continue readingNasir Jamshed – official stance pending
< 1 minute readOur toast is dry and the larder is empty. To the jam shed! This is tricky. Nasir Jamshed’s made a fine start to his career, walloping a 48 ball 61 and now a 64 ball 74. The problem is that both innings have been against Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe aren’t actually
Continue readingTwenty20 wicketkeeping
2 minute readDo you want the better batsman or the better wicketkeeper behind the stumps for your team? That argument’s been represented by any number of individual duels over the years. Recently though, we think you’ll all agree that the better batsman’s been winning out, in general. Blame Adam Gilchrist. He’s a
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq – another glitteringly sedate hundred
< 1 minute readMisbah-ul-Haq’s one of those players who gets his own post even if we’ve got nothing to say now. He got 133 not out in a match where runs are as inevitable as weekend overeating. He did his best to stand out from the crowd though – for much of his
Continue readingSourav Ganguly’s double hundred
2 minute readWell, at least his highest Test score’s higher than his highest one-day international score now. We saw his highest score in one-day internationals, 183 against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup, and there are similarities with yesterday’s knock. On both occasions Ganguly was largely overshadowed by his batting partner
Continue readingYuvraj Singh in Test cricket
< 1 minute readSo Yuvraj Singh finally gets a Test match. It’s a fairly rare occurrence. Ridiculously rare. He arrived at the crease with India 61-4 and proceeded to smear 28 fours and a six, finishing with 169 off 203 balls in a partnership with Sourav Ganguly that was worth 300. It was
Continue readingMore centurions than the Roman army
< 1 minute readBecause there were only five centurions in the Roman army, weren’t there? There were six in the second Test between India and Pakistan. Younis Khan was the latest. High-scoring draws are what India v Pakistan’s all about. Fear of losing led to some classic exhibitions of stone-walling in series gone
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