King Cricket

March 30, 2023 India

IPL innovations: is Ben Stokes planning on double-batting it?

2 minute readThe Impact Player substitution thing suggests that the IPL has been reduced to rehashing old ideas in its search for eye-catching innovations/gimmicks. How about being a little more creative? How about letting batters use two bats? When we saw the shot of Ben Stokes above, we immediately thought of a

March 27, 2023 County cricket

Is it starting soon? Where’s Darren Stevens? Who won it last year again? – all your big 2023 County Championship questions answered

3 minute readIt’s almost County Championship time. You’re dimly aware of that, but you’re a bit shaky on some of the finer detail. In fact you’re a bit shaky on some of the major detail. Let’s take a big step back and try and work out where we are. When does the

March 24, 2023 County cricket

The New Originals – Manchester’s latest Hundred signings

< 1 minute readWe literally just wanted to rehash our favourite Hundred joke in the headline. Now we have to follow-through with some semblance of an article. Just as a quick recap for those that don’t know, Manchester Originals are… A couple of years back, they were also new. But that’s no longer

March 22, 2023 England / Features

From the 2019 Ashes to two World Cup finals – which of Ben Stokes’ big three high pressure run-chase innings was the most ridiculous?

10 minute readWith his thin hair and love of whole milk, you could easily mistake Ben Stokes for a baby. But Ben Stokes is not a baby. Ben Stokes is a full grown adult man who plays cricket for a living. He plays it very well with a particular penchant for seeing

March 20, 2023 India

The IPL’s ‘Impact Player’ substitutions are another step in the wrong direction

2 minute readThe 2023 IPL will see the introduction of the Impact Player. This is a player outside the starting XI who can come in to bat, bowl or both – a sub in other words. We put it to you that tactical substitutions make cricket worse. This year’s IPL starts on

March 17, 2023 Extras

Cricket Wordles: Crickdle, Crickle, Nurdle and Stumple

2 minute readWordle has inspired a whole slew of similar puzzle games. Here are four cricket-themed ones we’ve tried: Crickdle, Crickle, Nurdle and Stumple. Crickdle Crickdle’s creator, a British student called Ayush, emailed us about this one. It’s a player of the match guessing game where you’re given the match result and

March 15, 2023 Extras

The BBC wants you to vote against us

2 minute readThe BBC again finds itself mired in conflict after asking people to vote for its cricket podcasts instead of our one. We’re on the shortlist too, you know. How about a bit of balance and fairness? It’s been a turbulent time for the Beeb. First the leader of the world’s

March 13, 2023 New Zealand / Sri Lanka

That game when Kane Williamson’s most exciting contribution was a bye

2 minute readCricket is a mad and contrary sport. In a Test where he masterminded a successful fourth-innings run-chase with 121 not out, Kane Williamson’s most exciting contribution was to completely bloody miss the ball and run a bye. For those that don’t know, Williamson faced the scheduled final ball of the

March 10, 2023 Australia

The Travis Head look is complete

< 1 minute readWe suppose you could plonk him in an 18-wheeler and ask him to drive from Madisonville to Baton Rouge, but other than that, the Travis Head look has basically reached its logical destination. Head’s had a moustache for a while now. We didn’t think to document the history of his

March 8, 2023 England

Joe Root? Dawid Malan? Harry Brook? Which batter isn’t in England’s first choice World Cup XI

5 minute readDo you know England’s first-choice XI for the upcoming 50-over World Cup? Do England? There’s a lot of job sharing in the various England teams these days. Players flit in and flit out to the extent that it’s actually pretty hard to identify the first choice XI. That’s mostly okay

Ah, that's pretty recent. Some of our 'new' clothes are ten years old.

Daisy and I saw a wonderful play entitled (and about) Pomona: https://ianlouisharris.com/2014/11/15/pomona-by-alistair-mcdowall-orange-tree-theatre-15-november-2014/ I was going to write "quite recently", until…

Pomona is not just a stop on the tram, it also gives its name to the Pomona Island Brew Co,…

Oh and looks like Sam Cook's going to be playing the Zimbabwe Test. Probably should have thrown that one in…

Woah there. Stop trying to pin us down to one particular array of opinions.

In praise of the matter-of-fact dynamism of Travis Head

Mark’s wood: Talking joinery and timber with England’s fastest bowler

23 of the best, worst and weirdest cricket moments of 2024

Lord Megachief of Gold 2024

Are we already watching peak Harry Brook?