3 minute readOne is English, one is Pakistani. One is young, one is old – or at least he is in cricketing terms. For much of last summer’s Test series between England and Pakistan, Alex Hales and Younus Khan trod a similar path. Come the last Test, their journeys diverged markedly. Hales
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Shannon Gabriel nicks one for the Windies
< 1 minute readMaybe this is why people have started saying ‘snick’ to mean ‘nick’ – to prevent headlines like this one from being ambiguous. Shannon Gabriel – arguably the finest fast bowler called Shannon currently plying his trade – took 5-11 as the West Indies dismissed Pakistan for just 81 to win
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq – King of the Daddy Fifty
< 1 minute readEmbed from Getty Images Last week Ian Bell was dismissed for 99 and we wondered whether that was more or less painful than Misbah-ul-Haq being left stranded on 99 not out against the West Indies. Well, it seems Misbah was wondering the same thing. One Test later, he executed a
Continue readingNo, turns out Younus Khan is retiring after all
< 1 minute readLove reporting on Pakistan cricketer retirements. After floating the idea that he might play on if someone asked him to, Younus Khan has now deployed a magnificent barrage of third-personnery to confirm that he really will retire. “Younus Khan will retire even if he scores a hundred in every innings
Continue readingYounus Khan, the world’s oldest 39-year-old, might yet play on
< 1 minute readAin’t no retirement like a Pakistan cricketer retirement, because a Pakistan cricketer retirement is highly conditional. For a man who’s already resigned, quit, been rested, stood down, walked and been banned for life, Younus Khan is still strikingly present. He is due to call it a day (again) following this
Continue readingThe hefty, graceful Inzamam-ul-Haq is slightly older
< 1 minute readEmbed from Getty Images Apparently it’s Inzy’s birthday today. We know this because All Out Cricket linked to an old Kings of Cricket piece we wrote about him on that basis. If recycling content on a Friday because it’s someone’s birthday is good enough for All Out Cricket, well it’s
Continue readingWhat does Australia’s Test series win over Pakistan actually mean?
2 minute readDoes it amount to a hill of beans? A fell of discarded iPhone covers? A mountain of offcuts of plasterboard? Just before Christmas, we said that Pakistan are, essentially, a swing bowling side, and therefore pretty much always do terribly Down Under. There has been more to the series than
Continue readingDid Australia win or did Pakistan lose? YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE
< 1 minute readOne of the rules of cricket coverage is that Australia, England and India have results and the other teams are merely inactive participants. In 2016, India beat New Zealand, Australia lost to Sri Lanka, and England drew with Bangladesh. Technically, this also means that New Zealand lost to India, Sri
Continue readingMop-up of the last couple of days – Angelo Mathews still has work to do
< 1 minute readFor a good long while you could accurately gauge Sri Lanka’s score by whether or not Angelo Mathews was walking out to bat or not. If he was, they were 22-3. If he wasn’t, it was some other score. A couple of recent batting finds had encouraged the notion that
Continue readingNeil Wagner sacrifices the opportunity to run in for a small fragment of the final session
< 1 minute readPakistan had already lost six wickets in the final session of the match when Kane Williamson brought forth The Great Neil Wagner. Three ducks later, the series was over. This isn’t going to help Wagner’s reputation one bit. How the hell are you supposed to run in all day when
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