< 1 minute readWe can thank Faf du Plessis for inadvertently giving us the fantastically earnest Cricinfo headline: ‘No zips on cricket kit by 2015’. This brave new world is to be created because he was caught raking the ball across a zip on his kecks, presumably in a bid to rough it
Continue reading4 minute readYesterday, the man they used to call Nohit Sharma made a one-day double hundred, but even eight wickets down, Australia seemed in with a chance of chasing their 384 run target. Ludicrous totals seem to have become the norm in one-day internationals (ODIs) and even India’s captain has been complaining
Continue reading< 1 minute readIt’s okay. Panic over. England are once again the greatest team in history. That whole ‘going for five an over’ bowling performance is over and the England batting machine is running perfectly. The second day’s play saw England intimidate the Western Australia Chairman’s XI into declaring at 451-5, batsmen eight,
Continue reading< 1 minute readBut only by accident. Yesterday we wrote about the reception England used to get upon arriving Australia for Cricinfo; how they’d be rubbished in print and beaten in the warm-up matches. Our point was that this didn’t happen any more. But lo, England have had quite an embarrassing day against
Continue reading2 minute readEvery year they change the rules for one-day internationals and every year the highest-scoring matches become even higher scoring. That’s where the effects are most keenly felt – at the top end. If there’s one man you want in your team in a modern world where targets of 350 and
Continue reading< 1 minute readApparently Alastair Cook developed a bad back while flying. This is an ability we didn’t know he had. Those who have been fortunate enough to witness an airborne Cook say he spurns dramatic swoops in favour of steady progress at a consistent altitude and that when bad weather is forecast,
Continue reading2 minute readWe haven’t really given much thought to Australia’s other five batting slots which means we can pitch Bailey v Warner as being a battle for the sixth one. They’ll almost certainly both play in the first Ashes Test, but let’s gloss over this so that we’ve got something to say
Continue reading2 minute readGed writes: An occasional, regular feature of my summer these days is to spend a few evenings with friends in the nets at the Lord’s Indoor School. 29 July was our third net this year; me, Escamillo Escapillo and Charley “The Gent” Malloy. I was sporting my new “Thirst Extinguisher”
Continue reading< 1 minute readPeople latch onto particular players for all sorts of odd reasons, developing long, intense, one-way relationships with them. Maybe you attended the one match where an otherwise poor player achieved momentary competence or perhaps they were the first player you saw responding to ‘give us a wave’. It can be
Continue reading< 1 minute readAfter losing the first Test to Pakistan, South Africa captain Graeme Smith said: “It should hurt. But this team has too much ability to make this a habit.” We immediately thought about the distinction between confidence and delusion and how the only real difference is what happens afterwards. These seemed
Continue reading