King Cricket

June 13, 2013 Australia / New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand are of a similar standard based on minimal evidence

< 1 minute readIn other words, they didn’t get enough overs in for messrs Duckworth and Lewis to put their umbrella-holding hands up and come to the rain-affected party. Aside from David Warner’s performance ferrying drinks, this match was perhaps most notable for Dan Vettori’s immobility. His Achilles tendon problems necessitate saline injections

June 12, 2013 Australia / England

David Warner punching Joe Root – the real reason why it was such a despicable incident

< 1 minute readThey were in a Walkabout. Of all the pubs in Birmingham, David Warner and Joe Root opted to go to an Australian-themed bar which uses the slogan: “Home of the awesome spirit of Australia.” This makes Warner look like a homesick child, desperately clinging to anything even faintly Antipodean, while

June 12, 2013 India / West Indies

India are better than the West Indies

< 1 minute readAnd largely thanks to the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja, of all people. We’re still not quite sure how he gets wickets. This week’s instalment of The Spin was about Jadeja and how fans didn’t value him for a long time. We’re glad he’s no longer getting a hard time, but

June 10, 2013 Pakistan / South Africa

South Africa are better than Pakistan

< 1 minute readLargely because Pakistan never actually got round to chasing the target. Instead, the batsmen just sort of stood there and hoped that it would go away on its own. It didn’t.

June 9, 2013 New Zealand / Sri Lanka

New Zealand are better than Sri Lanka

< 1 minute readBut not by a huge amount. Chasing 139 to win, you’d hope to get there without losing nine wickets. Then again, they didn’t lose ten, so what’s the problem? A really bad run chase is a wonderful thing. A big run chase is faintly absorbing, but for real tension you

June 9, 2013 County cricket

2013 County Championship – chapter eight

< 1 minute readSame teams as last week. Slightly different order. 1st – Sussex Sussex remain top. A draw with Nottinghamshire just about crept into this week’s update. Highly efficient eating device, Samit Patel, made 157 for Nottinghamshire in that match, while highly efficient wicket-gathering device, Chris Jordan, took nine wickets for Sussex.

June 8, 2013 Australia / England

England are better than Australia

< 1 minute readGreat news. We still don’t have to expend mental energy thinking of post titles. It’s tempting to draw all sorts of conclusions after any match between England and Australia. We have just two things to say. The team without a spinner lost The law of scarcity dictates that Aussies will

June 8, 2013 Pakistan / West Indies

West Indies are better than Pakistan

< 1 minute readThis post title policy will come to a crashing halt should England lose to Australia today. An odd and absorbing match at the Oval, where only Misban-ul-Haq and the Jam Shed managed to score more than six runs in Pakistan’s innings. Misbah’s 96 not out was exactly the kind of

June 7, 2013 India / South Africa

India are better than South Africa

< 1 minute readIf we’d have bothered writing a Champions Trophy preview, we might have had India down as fair weather favourites. It’s as much the lack of alternatives as anything else. India have their weaknesses, but despite the absence of some extraordinarily familiar faces they’re experienced and they play to their strengths.

June 6, 2013 England

Jos Buttler and the ramp shot

2 minute readA good few players try the ramp shot these days, but few score as great a proportion of their runs with it as Jos Buttler. At times he seems unaware the pitch has sides, creating a two-spoked wagon wheel behind bowler and wicketkeeper. The Buttler version of the ramp is