2 minute readOrdinarily we don’t report on injuries – and not just because we don’t report on anything in any meaningful sense. However, Ryan McLaren’s rattled brain is more significant in that it will shine a light on the impact Mitchell Johnson has had on the South Africans. We’re not talking about
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How to react to a Johnsonning
< 1 minute readIt’s not just England then. South Africa have been forcefully Johnsonned and are probably already considering reverting to a more conservative team for the second Test. Five bowlers is great when you’re top of the world and full of confidence, but let’s just see what happens now that they’re rattled.
Continue readingAustralia add boring partnerships to their repertoire
< 1 minute readIf there’s one thing Australia have been lacking, it’s dull, steady, three-an-over partnerships in the middle order. Today they got one and they look like a proper team again. Even while gaily twerking atop England’s comatose body, there was a fragility about the Aussie Test team. How odd that they
Continue readingOff the pace – an alternative South Africa v Australia preview
2 minute read“We’ve got the best fast bowlers.” “No, we’ve got the best fast bowlers.” “Not being funny, but actually, I think you’ll find we’ve got the best fast bowlers.” “Yeah, right, whatever. Have you even seen our fast bowlers?” The build-up to what promises to be a fascinating Test series between
Continue readingDale Steyn: Lord Megachief of Gold 2013
2 minute readSame as 2010. In fact, it’s probably worth reading that article again because much of it still applies. We don’t try and overthink the Lord Megachief of Gold award. We don’t get too fancy with it. It was business as usual for Dale Steyn in 2013 and business brought him
Continue readingThe case for Kallis to be considered the best of the lot
3 minute readBefore we begin, let us just say that we don’t believe in comparing players or ranking them. We’re now going to do precisely that as a kind of academic exercise, primarily to piss off a load of people who will always hold Jacques Kallis in somewhat lower regard than many
Continue readingSouth Africa are bloody annoying to play against
2 minute readWe’re a day late with this and have little to add, but since when has turning up late and contributing little stopped us? Just over a year ago, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers combined to play out an unlikely draw against Australia. Du Plessis made 110 not out
Continue readingFaf du Plessis – incompetent but not immoral
< 1 minute readWe can thank Faf du Plessis for inadvertently giving us the fantastically earnest Cricinfo headline: ‘No zips on cricket kit by 2015’. This brave new world is to be created because he was caught raking the ball across a zip on his kecks, presumably in a bid to rough it
Continue readingOrchestration and delusion
< 1 minute readAfter losing the first Test to Pakistan, South Africa captain Graeme Smith said: “It should hurt. But this team has too much ability to make this a habit.” We immediately thought about the distinction between confidence and delusion and how the only real difference is what happens afterwards. These seemed
Continue readingPakistan cricket likes to stay in balance
< 1 minute readThis is the conclusion we’ve reached. Far from being a see-saw on a roundabout in an earthquake, Pakistan cricket is actually very stable. It’s just that different branches of it have to compensate when there’s upheaval elsewhere so that the whole remains perfectly balanced. Last month, Pakistan lost a Test
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