King Cricket

March 1, 2011 Regulars

Square cut | Batting lessons

< 1 minute readA side-on game of angles, the square cut is to cricket what a near-miss on a red is to a bad game of snooker played by Pagans. Square everything. Square your footwork; square your bat stroke; square your follow-through. Should time allow, a counter-squaring of extraneous footwork will balance the

February 28, 2011 County cricket

Steven Davies is out – gay cricketer number one

< 1 minute readBeing out in cricket is ordinarily a bad thing, but Steven Davies being out is actually quite positive, because he is the first openly homosexual professional cricketer. At times like this, you remember how backwards the world is – particularly the cricket world. It is 2011 and Steven Davies is

February 27, 2011 England / India

India and England World Cup tie – three key points

< 1 minute readWhat a match. Here are three things that struck us about it: Boundaries “People want to see boundaries” – you always hear people say that as if it’s a fact, but this match wasn’t exciting because there were 76 boundaries; it was exciting because it was a close match. Andrew

February 27, 2011 England / India

England v India at Bangalore – where’s your money?

< 1 minute readOurs is theoretically in the bank. We’re going to go down and ask to see it one day. We have our doubts that it’s actually there. In terms of betting, if we could be bothered, we’d bet on India for today’s match at Bangalore. It’s not so much the benefit

February 25, 2011 Extras

Ever played a cricket computer game?

< 1 minute readYou might get something out of our last Cricinfo post then. We have something of a history of playing cricket computer games, but surely we can’t be the only person in the world who knows the value of having Graeme Hick and Graham Thorpe opening the bowling in a World

February 24, 2011 South Africa

When did the South Africa cricket team become exciting?

< 1 minute readSeriously, South Africa have got a worryingly strong claim to being the most exciting team in this World Cup. They pick three spinners, including a devilish leggie and they ask one of them to open the bowling. They have the best player in the world. They have no consistent gameplan.

February 24, 2011 Regulars

Pull shot | Batting lessons

< 1 minute readWitness the greats play the pull shot and you will learn nothing. A good pull shot is played instinctively after careful deliberation and many hours of practice. Whether played off the front or back foot, your weight must be even, progressing and at once forward-moving and retreating. The central pivot

February 23, 2011 Australia

Why did Ricky Ponting smash a TV?

< 1 minute readThere are some great stories going around about Ricky Ponting smashing a telly after being run-out against Zimbabawe. We like the ones that depict feeble tantrums rather than those where he has THE RAGE. Our two favourites so far are: That he threw his gloves at the TV and now

February 22, 2011 England

Complacent England sabotage their own team

< 1 minute readNo Mike Yardy for England’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands? Are they saving him for later in the tournament? Maybe he’s being remoulded as a secret weapon. Although if that’s the case, he’s not very weapon-like. He seems like something altogether more functional, like a spanner or a screwdriver.

February 21, 2011 Match report

Pakistan v Australia Lord’s match report

2 minute readWill writes: Despite being a Thursday, it was actually the fourth day of what is now, with hindsight, the totally ironically named MCC Spirit of Cricket Test Series. I had bought the tickets a year before with the intention of taking clients and having a drunken day out on the