2 minute read“Please don’t let it be the kid,” said Nasser Hussain at the start of all of this. He spoke for most of us. We wanted Mohammad Amir to be innocent, but it turns out that he wasn’t and believing that he might have become a future great makes no sense
Continue readingCategory: South Africa
New Zealand were the ones who beat South Africa
< 1 minute readExceptional cricket. That is how you exploit a weakness. At 108-2 chasing 222, South Africa seemed untroubled, but there was a spot on their face. It was very small, but it was there. With the dismissal of Jacques Kallis, they gave it a little bit of a scratch and took
Continue readingCricket World Cup storylines
< 1 minute readThe great thing about actual, proper tournaments is the way that narratives develop. Every remaining team already has a good story in place if they eventually go on to become World Champions. Pakistan – Would defy what was a catastrophic build-up to the tournament even by their standards. Being as
Continue readingWhat’s a good World Cup score?
< 1 minute readEngland’s 327 wasn’t enough against Ireland, but 171 was enough against South Africa. It’s not a matter of different opponents, it’s different conditions. This is why between-innings analysis is so often virtually worthless. What constitutes a good score varies because a run doesn’t have a set value – it changes
Continue readingSouth Africa ‘choke’ against England
< 1 minute readEngland could have beaten India and Ireland, but beat neither. They’ve a far better claim to being chokers than South Africa at present. In the last 12 months, Australia have lost a Twenty20 international off the last ball to England; lost a one-dayer by one wicket to Sri Lanka; lost
Continue readingWhen did the South Africa cricket team become exciting?
< 1 minute readSeriously, South Africa have got a worryingly strong claim to being the most exciting team in this World Cup. They pick three spinners, including a devilish leggie and they ask one of them to open the bowling. They have the best player in the world. They have no consistent gameplan.
Continue readingJacques Kallis would genuinely score more runs than you with his eyes closed
< 1 minute readYesterday, we wrote about Steyn and Tendulkar, but there’s another modern great on display in that match. Like Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis seems to have reached an even loftier plane in middle age. You’ll need to go to another website to see the statistics about his recent form, but take it
Continue readingDale Steyn doesn’t have a loosener
< 1 minute readIt’s yet another amazing thing about Dale Steyn that he’s pretty damn likely to slice in and arc the first ball of the day past the batsman’s outside edge. He doesn’t really do looseners. Our own approach to starting work is more like that of Peter Gibbons, who explains how
Continue readingDale Steyn versus Sachin Tendulkar in an abbreviated title bout
< 1 minute readThere’s a great Test series taking place in South Africa at the moment and we’re gutted that we’re missing so much of it because of the Ashes. It’s like when you get carried away ordering takeaway. The leftovers won’t keep for a week, so you’ve got to make some tough
Continue readingDale Steyn: Lord Megachief of Gold 2010
2 minute readIt was MS Dhoni in 2009. It’s Dale Steyn in 2010. Sachin Tendulkar ran him close, hitting seven Test hundreds, but it can’t be a batsman every year. Graeme Swann took more Test wickets, but 44 of them were against Bangladesh and a spattered Pakistan side that barely ever looked
Continue reading