King Cricket

July 28, 2015 Australia

The mythology of Johnson

2 minute readThat sounds a little like a crude and edgy, deliberately controversial Off-Broadway show. But it isn’t. It’s a reference to the eldest Mitchell; the man who apparently compels English batsmen to dash their own brains out in fear. Mitchell Johnson is currently the man with the fifth-best bowling average and

July 27, 2015 England

Ian Bell is only 33

2 minute readThis isn’t really about Ian Bell. It’s about English cricket’s attitude to age and the impact of the international schedule as it is now. When an England player has a spell of poor form, it is generally described in one of two ways. Young players are ‘found out’ while older

July 23, 2015 Regulars

Two dogs being conspicuously indifferent to cricket

< 1 minute readDandy Dan writes: These are my two labs, George and Rufus. They’re just over one year old. I’ve been meaning to introduce them for a while but I’ve been busy. Anyway, their thoughts about Gary Ballance being dropped are difficult to ascertain. They simply don’t appear to be interested. If

July 22, 2015 Australia

Why David Warner doesn’t do ‘reading’

< 1 minute readThis week David Warner gave many people the impression that he thinks the activity known as ‘reading’ is some bizarre pastime reserved for 17th Century English gentlemen. Of the differences between himself and Chris Rogers, he said simply: “He reads a lot of books – I wouldn’t read a book.”

July 21, 2015 England

At number three you will find only an exit door

< 1 minute readTime was, if a batsman needed to get a drink in the Last Chance Saloon, he donned his whites and went to number six. If he turns up there now, he’ll find that Ben Stokes has taken out a long-term lease on the premises. The Last Chance Saloon has moved

July 21, 2015 Match report

First of the summer whine – Middlesex v Nottinghamshire match report

3 minute readGed writes: Considering that this was to be my first day of cricket in the new season, the day did not start well. The day actually started very badly. Around 5.30 in the morning we took a call from the Duchess of Castlebar, Daisy’s mum, who had been hyperventilating for

July 19, 2015 Australia / England

Resolve is a finite resource

2 minute readAbsolutely true. You don’t possess a bottomless pit of willpower. It’s why New Year’s resolutions fizzle out. It’s why you can only resist easily-accessible snack food for so long. Anything that takes mental effort drains your resources and without time to recuperate, eventually you’ll have nothing left. Winning is easy.

July 19, 2015 Australia

Who’s your favourite Mitch? And who’s your least favourite?

< 1 minute readNot much is happening in the cricket at the minute, so we might as well busy ourselves tackling the difficult philosophical questions. If three Mitches play cricket for Australia, is it possible to have a favourite? For us, this is the order in which we’d place them – best at

July 18, 2015 Australia / England

Pitch flatter than Snowdonia, more uneven than billiard table

< 1 minute readYou may have noticed that we didn’t complain about the pitch after day one. That’s something we only allow ourself to do once both teams have batted. Sadly, this policy appears to have been vindicated. Sometimes it’s not a dead pitch. Sometimes it’s merely in a deep, deep sleep and

July 16, 2015 Australia / England

Chris Rogers in the 21st Century

< 1 minute readThere is a famous oak tree in the middle of a field near Bakewell in Derbyshire. It is weathered and gnarled and its enormous branches reach halfway to the road. Some say it is lucky. Some say it is cursed. The only thing that is known about it for certain