< 1 minute readThis statement was made my Shane Warne. He famously said that Monty Panesar hadn’t played X Tests but one Test X number of times. This is accepted as great insight all too readily. It’s a nice catchy soundbite and it’s from Shane Warne, but does it really have much merit?
Continue reading2 minute readAs well as being from a different generation, Tendulkar, Dravid and them are also significantly older than the likes of Virat Kohli. What we mean by this is that people change over time. They grow up. We say this not because we’re competing in a hotly-contested online state-the-obvious competition, but
Continue reading< 1 minute readTheir wheel nuts. Don’t be crude. It’s not so much that India keep losing Test matches that’s depressing, it’s the way that they lose them: the wheels keep coming off. In England and Australia, India have collectively averaged 24.5 with the bat and 56.97 with the ball. To put that
Continue reading< 1 minute readAs in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. It may not be the first time we’ve made that joke – it may not be the first time we’ve made that joke about Monty Panesar – but come on. Some events warrant special attention. So what are the pros
Continue reading< 1 minute readEight counties, 14 matches, home and away against everyone else in the division. Yeah, we’d be okay with that. Our official stance is that the second division doesn’t count, so it would seem a bit odd to get all het up about them having some mix-and-match half-arsed fixture list of
Continue reading< 1 minute readSome people seem to think there’s a bit of “yeah, well, see how you like it,” about this. That’s understandable. Gambhir’s had a couple of bad tours, so you can’t really blame him. However, he’d do well to remember that home success doesn’t negate failure away from home. It only
Continue reading< 1 minute readHow’s that for a recommendation? That’s a Cricinfo comment about the fifth and final part of our short story set in the not-so-distant future. If you can’t remember what’s happened already, here’s a full set of links. Part one Part two Part three Part four Part five
Continue reading< 1 minute readPakistan held their nerve throughout a challenging 15-run chase on a mostly lifeless day three pitch and secured a narrow 10-wicket win over a thoroughly professional England side. England kept it tight and the pressure built, but with one eye on the clock, Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar timed their
Continue reading< 1 minute readPaul Collingwood’s bowling was always a bit too canny to be proper dibbly dobbly medium-pace. There were too many cutters; too much innovation. You don’t get any of that crap from Jonathan Trott. England’s four bowler policy means the batsmen have to chip in with a few overs. Ravi Bopara’s
Continue reading< 1 minute readEngland have faced Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty and a guy who looks a bit like Harbhajan Singh in the last year. They haven’t really had to combat any spin bowlers. Saeed Ajmal is a spin bowler – he’s a good spin bowler, in fact. He’s not a 7-55 on day
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