King Cricket

March 27, 2015 Extras

The non-meal-defining carbohydrates of Aaron Finch

< 1 minute readThere was a long and rambling food analogy that didn’t make it into our review of the second semi-final. It would have been something about Finch’s innings providing a decent amount of substance without really affecting the quality of the meal/Australia’s performance to any great extent. We also highlighted where

March 26, 2015 Extras

Which of India’s batsmen are ‘due’?

< 1 minute readSteve Smith was due. Famously, he’s barely scored a run these last few months. Definitely due. As you all know, whether or not a batsman’s ‘due’ is a watertight method of predicting who will and won’t perform. This morning we gave the denizens of Mumbai the benefit of our expertise

March 25, 2015 Extras

The joys of mishits, dropped catches, failed run-outs and overthrows

< 1 minute readOr, in other words, the semi-final report we promised you yesterday. It’s also worth noting the contribution made by Dan Vettori. Thanks Dan for being one of the few players to keep his side of the bargain after being named one of our World Cup cricketers to watch. Shame on

March 24, 2015 Extras

Crowd-pleasing lesson number 468

< 1 minute readWe know what you guys are like. The last thing you want to hear about after a fantastic semi-final is that fantastic semi-final. You’d rather wait at least 24 hours to hear what we have to say on the subject, until a point at which the emotion’s faded and you’re

March 23, 2015 Extras / India

MS Dhoni’s conviction isn’t swayed by anything so prosaic as evidence

< 1 minute readThat’s what we’ve written about for the Mumbai Mirror. It’s not just about Dhoni though. It’s also about conviction in general and how an epidemic of uncertainty can sweep through a side at a major tournament. In other words, it’s yet another piece about stuff England did wrong masquerading as

March 22, 2015 Extras / New Zealand

We tried to write about Martin Guptill

< 1 minute readBut it seemed to come out as a Dan Vettori piece. Big beardy Dan. Back from retirement. Keeping it tight like one-day cricket hasn’t changed at all in the last decade and leaping about like a man roughly the same age but not quite so decrepit.

March 21, 2015 Australia / Pakistan

Wahab v Watson

< 1 minute readTechnically, Shane Watson won this particular duel by surviving, going on to hit the winning runs. But if it really was a victory, it was one characterised by looking like a complete div for a prolonged period. Wahab Riaz’s mistake was that he left himself reliant on the woeful catching

March 20, 2015 Extras / India

For India a run a ball seems to be enough

< 1 minute readThe players, the coaches, the fans and the media told England that they needed to be making 350-plus scores to do well in this tournament. The 2015 World Cup wasn’t just going to be about run-scoring; it was going to be about phenomenal, unimaginable run-scoring. Look at what India are

March 19, 2015 Extras / South Africa

Hat-tricks are handy

< 1 minute readThis and other insights in our latest piece for the Mumbai Mirror which is about the South African team, why it’s good and why it’s bad. For all that the Saffers have some great batsmen and a strong pace attack, there’s also another version of the side that’s fragile with

March 18, 2015 England

Adil Rashid braced for more knocks

< 1 minute readIt’s always faintly harrowing when England select a leg-spinner. The way they’re treated tends to be geared towards absolute decimation of their confidence. Adil Rashid himself has benefited from this once before. Eight years ago, we promised Rashid that we’d always be nice to him – even if he got