< 1 minute readIf you’ve missed or boycotted this year’s IPL, you have only missed one thing: Sourav Ganguly’s hair. Young Sourav brought himself on to bowl against Delhi and promptly bowled Kevin Pietersen first ball. He then went on a raised-fist jaunt across the field sporting a bizarre bouncing flap of hair.
Continue reading2 minute readNo, it’s not a typo. We were just thinking of how this current West Indies side operates and how it’s completely different to the feckless outfits of recent years. We’re struck by their fecklessnesslessness. They’re still not winning much But they’re not winning in a far more impressive way. They
Continue reading2 minute readWe’re doing these county update posts for our benefit rather than yours. It’s our way of keeping on top of things, because following county cricket is like trying to catch rain – you might get a handful, but you’ll definitely miss most of it. People might also ask you why
Continue reading< 1 minute readWe knew he was worth watching this season. He’s currently 19 not out off 88 balls against Nottinghamshire, including a boundary which we damn well hope was an accident. That’s the stuff. That’s why we picked him. Few players have the iron will required to be less entertaining than a
Continue reading2 minute readForgive the detour into first-person singular, but this is personal, so I thought I’d write normally for once. I’ve just found out that I will no longer be writing the newsletter for The Cricketer. Today’s edition was my last. What newsletter? On the 18th July, 2008, I wrote my first
Continue reading< 1 minute readLet’s get an early moan in about the five-match one-day series that’s taking place between England and Australia this summer. It’s not just the fact that it’s pointless and elbows aside the build-up to a Test series against South Africa. It also sabotages the experience of watching next year’s Ashes
Continue reading2 minute readFollowing county cricket is not easy. Sooner or later it’ll get away from you and you won’t have a clue what’s going on. It might happen when all your attention is on a Test match or it might happen when they squeeze in two rounds of the County Championship while
Continue reading3 minute readRight, let’s get this over with. First, let’s restate the qualification criteria: Qualified to play for England No established internationals Youngish Playing in the first division of the County Championship Think that’s it. There might be other things. Who knows? Presumably us, but we don’t like to scrutinise the workings
Continue reading< 1 minute readAt the start of this sentence, Lancashire were 39-4 in their first innings of the season against Sussex. We fully expect five wickets to have fallen before we click publish. We are not unduly concerned by this. Lancashire won the Championship in an odd way. They didn’t generally look like
Continue reading2 minute readTest cricket is famously hard. Some can’t quite comprehend what that means, thinking a reverse-swinging 90mph yorker is the same no matter what the format. It’s not all about the details though. Sometimes it’s the sheer relentlessness. Test cricket is like cycling uphill. It’s possible to cope with a small
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