Hotwiring Jonny Bairstow

< 1 minute read Despite recent media coverage, Alex Hales is not actually in competition with Moeen Ali. He is, we’d guess, competing with Jonny Bairstow. Alastair Cook wants plenty of bowlers in 40 degree heat which means Adil Rashid will finally get to play a Test in the UAE. In which case who

Continue reading

Does R Ashwin overthink his cricket?

2 minute read He says he doesn’t. He says the fact that he asks questions indicates only that he’s ‘a learner’. It’s hard to disagree with this assessment, but then you read his recent interview with Sidharth Monga for Cricinfo and you start to wonder. He has a way of talking about bowling

Continue reading

Samit Patel’s back

< 1 minute read As in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. Or maybe he has. Maybe he’s not fat and it’s chronic inflammation. Big boned and all that. He’s also back in the England squad. We’ve said it about Samit Patel before and we’ll say it again, but sometimes picking an

Continue reading

In the cold September rain

< 1 minute read Apparently it’s been slatting it down all day in the South-East. Bad news for Surrey, who are pushing to become second division ‘champions’ in one of the few matters left unresolved this domestic season. We use inverted commas around ‘champions’ in much the same way as if we were saying

Continue reading