King Cricket

November 27, 2017 Australia / England

We’re pretty sure we know why Jonny Bairstow headbutted Cameron Bancroft

2 minute read You can fight hard for a couple of innings, but when all seems lost it can become really hard to summon the enthusiasm and make any real effort. You can’t judge people too harshly on what happens in these circumstances. You might consider that a comment on England’s later efforts

November 26, 2017 Australia / England

Are England on the brink of defeat or the verge of defeat?

< 1 minute read Judging by the headlines, this seems to be the main question remaining from the first Test. Brinks are outnumbering verges from what we’ve seen. We’re yet to see a cusp. Despite fielding fewer bowlers than England, Australia have had a greater number of effective ones in this Test. Chris Woakes

November 25, 2017 Australia / England

BT Sport are doing a free daily 10-minute Ashes highlights package

< 1 minute read It’s Ronseally named The Ashes Catch-Up Show and it’s available on their website from 7pm each day. 10 minutes isn’t exactly life-changing but it’s better than the proverbial kick in the teeth and far, far better than a literal kick in the teeth. It’s also a very dense, action-packed ten

November 25, 2017 Australia / England

Steve Smith named man of the series as Australia fans laud captain’s attacking approach

2 minute read Fans and pundits alike are agreed that Steve Smith will be the difference between the two sides in this year’s Magellan Ashes (movement rate of all ships is increased by two). He has therefore been named man of the series, even though we’re barely halfway through the first Test. Some

November 24, 2017 Australia / England

Steve Smith erodes delight

2 minute read Steve Smith is a very boring batsman these days. There’s so little jeopardy about his play that it’s hard to feel interested. For much of the latter part of the day, events progressed along a railroad with no possibility for detours. Some would say he’s the best batsman in the

November 23, 2017 Australia / England

Massive weaknesses and massive strengths – the first few pages of the story of James Vince and Australia’s bowling attack

2 minute read On the first day of the first Ashes Test, James Vince made what Reese described to us as ‘a daddy 30’. No-one expected Vince to make 83 and what’s so marvellous about that is that it undermines a number of pre-series certainties to leave us all watching a nice, unpredictable

November 22, 2017 Australia / England

Shaun Marsh’s back

2 minute read We’re so glad we went with Shaun Marsh is back last time around because now that he’s suffering a back complaint we can use a totally new headline. Totally new. Marsh may or may not be fit for the first Test, but the development still has the potential to muddy

November 21, 2017 Australia / England

Pace and sustained pace – Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are half an attack

2 minute read As the pre-Ashes war of words hits a dizzying peak of meaninglessness, it’s worth reflecting on something said long after a previous series had finished. Reflecting on the team’s modus operandi during The Mitchell Johnson Ashes, Peter Siddle said: “The key stat for us is maidens. The more maidens you

November 18, 2017 Cricket books | reviews and recommendations

Books to read at the cricket? Herding Cats: The Art of Amateur Cricket Captaincy by Charlie Campbell

< 1 minute read Edwardian writes Charlie Campbell is the captain of the Author’s XI. I’ve seen these roosters a couple of times at the Wormsley ‘Words and Wickets’ festival. In 2014 there was a tent displaying the latest Jaguar cars and the food was provided by Jamie Oliver. I marvelled at the burgers

November 17, 2017 Australia / England

Australia win the bloody Ashes

< 1 minute read In shit news, Australia have retained the Ashes. They won the first T20 international to give them a four-point series lead with only four points left to play for. Test centurion Ellyse Perry was at one point on a hat-trick for Australia as England slipped to 16-4. From there, the

Only one phrase can describe this day's cricket: it's astounding.

Time will tell. Indeed, I am shivering with antici…pation.

Three spinners currently feels a lot, in that three bowlers might actually leave a team overstocked.

Rawalspindi it is, KC. Well done. But standards are surely falling when you to resort to pitch reports from Riff…

Three cheers for England playing three spinners. You should always play three spinners.

Hats off to Harry Brook’s very particular ‘steamrollered pancake pitch’ set of skills

Let’s pick the All-Time Greatest Middle-Aged XI

Less than the sum of their parts: Six Test batting partnerships that invariably disappointed

Five Graham Thorpe innings that were equal parts silly, brilliant and vital

Show me the money. Inattention and monetisation in Major League Cricket, The Hundred and Test cricket