2 minute read It’s generally best to avoid writing about Chris Gayle, because he seems to draw admiration – and therefore blog comments – from the biggest dickheads on the planet. It’s not that there’s nothing to admire about Gayle’s batting. It’s just that a rich seam of knobheadery sits alongside rational, justifiable
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The next Chanderpaul
< 1 minute read Normally, when someone talks about ‘the next so-and-so’ it’s a load of old cobblers, but there really is another Chanderpaul – it’s Shiv’s son. Even better, he’s almost, but not quite, named after a fruit. Tagenarine Chanderpaul is set to make his first-class debut in February, even though he’s only
Continue readingMarlon Samuels v Lasith Malinga
2 minute read We’ll be honest. Sri Lanka were steady-for-one when we got in the shower. We thought we’d timed it well. We hadn’t. The World Twenty20 final was an odd one. Sri Lankan run-scoring was stymied and they appeared to be waiting for a particular bowler to hit. He never turned up,
Continue readingTino Best’s training video – the best bit
< 1 minute read Tino Best has made a video of himself training in the gym. You can watch it all if you want, but for those who can’t be bothered, this is the best bit. “This is cake!” Shortly after that, Tino goes into ‘animal mode’ and then ‘super animal mode.’ We are
Continue readingChris Gayle takes a look
< 1 minute read Much has been made of the fact that Chris Gayle has become consistent at Twenty20, because many mistakenly believe the format is all about luck. Clearly it isn’t, as Gayle has shown. His has been a calculating method: See off the good bowler; cane Joe McMilitary-Medium. However, this execution of
Continue readingEngland v West Indies first XIs
< 1 minute read There have been a lot of ifs over the course of this West Indies tour. ‘If Sunil Narine, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were here…’ Those four players found their way into the team one by one, so that yesterday they all played. What happened? West Indies got
Continue readingAllen Stanford’s sentence
< 1 minute read Moustachioed Texan supervillain, Allen Stanford, has been sentenced to 110 years in prison. We’re pretty sure he hasn’t been ‘jailed for 110 years’ as the headlines read at Cricinfo and the BBC. That seems to imply he’ll serve the entire sentence. He won’t. Prosecutors will be gutted though. They were
Continue readingHighest Test score by a number 11 batsman – Tino Best
2 minute read It’s very difficult to be both arrogant and likeable, but Tino Best manages it. It’s something to do with having just the faintest awareness of how absurd you are – and make no mistake, Tino best is ludicrous. He’s like a cartoon character. His answer phone message proclaims him the
Continue readingThree reasons to like Marlon Samuels
2 minute read We’ve really warmed to Marlon Samuels a short way into a short series. There are three main reasons for this. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, his favourite cricketer is Nasser Hussain. Anyone with such an inexplicably unlikely role model is someone to be admired. Secondly, he’s funny. Jimmy Anderson is
Continue readingA second Shiv
< 1 minute read For all that cricket is a team game, West Indies are only one Shiv away from being literally unbeatable. England basically took wickets at one end only throughout this match and Marlon Samuels gave an indication what would happen were a second Shivnarine Chanderpaul to come to the crease. In
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