< 1 minute readIt’s good to see Jason Roy making hundreds in one-day internationals. Earlier in the year, we were concerned that he wrongly thought he should give himself time in Twenty20. While he ultimately got over that, we’ve since been worried that he might subsequently do the reverse and try take his
Continue readingCategory: Sri Lanka
What shall we do this afternoon?
< 1 minute readYou know, with all the rain and stuff? If you’re actually at the ground, the escapism can continue regardless of whether there’s any play or not. But what about those of us more dependent on the cricket itself for such a thing? Basking in the drizzle at the Oval, spectators
Continue readingShortening cricket matches in anticipation of rain
2 minute readWe were in Bristol to see England play Sri Lanka yesterday. Without wishing to saunter too far into match report territory, we and our companions finished the day by setting a strict departure time when we would cease standing around in the rain and would instead head home. It wasn’t
Continue readingHales and Roy
< 1 minute readCompletely missed this. Personally, we blame those who call for and schedule public decisions on matters of national importance for distracting us from the chance to witness a spectacular England run-chase. Except where the opposition for some reason fold, 10 wicket England one-day victories come around, what, once every thousand
Continue readingThe next Ben Stokes
< 1 minute readEngland have long been on the lookout for someone who might one day fill the gigantic, timeless boots of Ben Stokes. Ever since the combative all-rounder suffered a knee injury in May 2016, they have yearned for a frontline bowler who can also play memorable major innings. In many ways,
Continue readingEngland are eight up with 12 points still available
< 1 minute readIs that the score in the Super Series? Cricinfo helpfully – and somewhat surprisingly – provides a points table for Sri Lanka’s current tour, but you then have to check the fixture list and guess at each match’s value to work out what’s still to come. We’ve said that a
Continue readingIt’s the Lord’s Test – you know what that means, right?
< 1 minute readIt means it’s time for great swathes of flowery sentimental guff about what is, at the end of the day, a load of grass surrounded by plastic seats, overlooked by blocks of flats. The only way we can get through the misty-eyed paeans to Lord’s these days is to turn
Continue readingSwing, seam and no place to go – the joys of touring England as a modern overseas batsman
< 1 minute readTouring England’s never been easy. The conditions, for most overseas batsmen, are as weird and difficult as one of those early-Nineties computer games made by one slightly unhinged bloke in his bedroom. Nothing works how they expect it to and they search for a solution with no real certainty that
Continue readingTurns out we’re really rather delighted that Moeen Ali made a daddy hundred
< 1 minute readA daddy hundred’s anything over 150, right? Sounds about right. Graham Gooch should get in touch to correct us if we’re wrong. Sometimes it’s not entirely obvious how you feel about a player until you’ve seen what they’ve done without actually watching it happen. We were out all day and
Continue readingFringe players and pressure – the Nick Compton story
< 1 minute readYou often get the impression with Nick Compton that if it weren’t for media scrutiny, the doubters and his own desire to succeed, he’d be just fine. That would be some luxury though. Test cricket doesn’t work that way. You don’t really earn a Test place. You earn the right
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