King Cricket

March 21, 2024 England / Features

Five times Joe Root made a Test hundred and no-one really noticed

5 minute readJoe Root has been so reliably and frequently excellent that at times it hasn’t even felt that interesting. Today is a celebration of Root’s overlooked brilliance. “Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven

March 20, 2024 Extras

Thanks to new (and longstanding) King Cricket patrons

2 minute readThose of you who’ve been paying attention and reading to the ends of articles will know that we recently floated the possibility of switching off display advertising for a year. This was predicated on attracting a few new Patreon backers. We can’t remember the exact number. We think it was

March 18, 2024 England

Who should be England’s wicketkeeper against the West Indies in July? You have to choose NOW

4 minute readBeing a cricket fan isn’t about following players’ development, weighing their ability at different points in their career. Being a sports fan is about picking a favourite early on and sticking with them, contriving explanations why they’re actually the best, even when they’re performing terribly. There is plenty of cricket

March 15, 2024 Australia

Hand-finding with Steve Smith

2 minute readSay, do you ever try to grab hold of a thing only to be knocked sideways by the sudden realisation that you actually have nothing to grab hold of it with? You’ve lost your hands! Fear not though, Steve Smith is coming to the rescue… Smith has done a video

March 13, 2024 Match report

A Quokka at the WACA – an Australia v South Africa match report

3 minute readSend your match reports to king@kingcricket.co.uk. We’re only really interested in your own experience, so if it’s a professional match, on no account mention the cricket itself. (But if it’s an amateur match, feel free to go into excruciating detail.) Olaf writes… My esteemed colleague Ged had been right all

March 11, 2024 England

Why does Joe Root always seem to work it out and no-one else does?

4 minute readThe vast majority of the time since he made his debut in 2012, England’s batting has been Joe Root and a revolving cast of team-mates who seem to have it in them to play a decent innings, but most likely won’t. In the recent five-Test series in India, only one

March 8, 2024 England

Did you see… Ben Stokes ceasing to be a specialist batter?

2 minute readIt is halfway through day two. The score is 275-1. The last 28 wickets in the series have all fallen to spin. Ben Stokes hasn’t bowled in a match since June. Rohit Sharma faces on 103, thinking about 203 – maybe even 303. Stokes knocks his off stump back first

March 6, 2024 England

Remember Jos Buttler? He’s almost certainly played his last Test… hasn’t he?

3 minute readAs Jonny Bairstow prepares to play his 100th Test and Ben Foakes closes in on a nice fresh cap for his 25th, we can’t help but think of the third prong of England’s red ball wicketkeeping trident – the missing prong, the ghost of a prong – Jos Buttler. In

March 5, 2024 England / India

Dharamsala Test pitch preview with Fiona Bruce

3 minute readAnother Test series, another touring team dashed on the Indian rocks. Even a lighthouse won’t save you, because merely seeing the danger is not enough. The currents in this part of the world are simply too strong. Have you seen The Lighthouse, by the way? We recommend it if you’re

March 1, 2024 Regulars

Cricket stumps at Chelsea Flower Show (+ more)

2 minute readSend your pictures of cricket bats and other cricket stuff in unusual places to king@kingcricket.co.uk. It is more than okay to put the cricket thing in the unusual place yourself if you want. In fact we urge you to do precisely that. Matthew writes… I spotted John Emburey at Chelsea