King Cricket

December 18, 2010 Australia

Why does Shane Watson always get out in the 90s?

< 1 minute readWhy DOESN’T Shane Watson always get out in the 90s? Would it be unfair to suggest that for some players personal milestones bring more pressure because the player in question is – how shall we put this – massively self-involved with an overinflated sense of their own importance? It is

December 17, 2010 Australia

Never feel sorry for Australia

< 1 minute readThere are some English people who have had sympathy for Australia during the first half of this Ashes series. We won’t hesitate to call these people idiots. Imagine being hunted by a carcharodontosaurus and then when you’ve somehow managed to trap it after spending 20 years digging an absolutely enormous

December 17, 2010 Australia

Tips for fast bowling

< 1 minute readOne, befriend Troy Cooley. Two, hang out with him for a week. Last week, we said that Cooley didn’t seem to have done a lot for Australia’s bowlers. We partly retract that. Overall, they’ve had a pretty woeful series, but to teach Mitchell Johnson how to swing a cricket ball

December 16, 2010 India / South Africa

What have India made of their first Test innings in South Africa?

< 1 minute readA balls. They have made a balls of their first Test innings in South Africa. 136-9 is a rubbish score for a side that relies so heavily on its batting, whatever the conditions. Is ‘Steyn and Morkel’ a thing yet, like ‘Wasim and Waqar’ or ‘Lillee and Thomson’? It’s probably

December 16, 2010 Australia

Australia’s implosion – it’s not the players, it’s the situation

< 1 minute readAustralia have brought in four players and nothing has changed. This series could serve as a case study for sporting depression and panic. Rational decision-making has gone out the window at every level, from selectors down to players and it’s formed a vicious circle. Players aren’t sure of their places

December 16, 2010 Uncategorised

Mitchell Johnson owes Ryan Harris an apology beer

< 1 minute readJames Anderson and Mitchell Johnson were involved in a little verbal to and fro today. It culminated in Johnson saying: “Yeah, and what are you going to do about it, mate?” About 10 seconds later, Anderson yorked Ryan Harris.

December 15, 2010 Australia

Phillip Hughes and the short ball

< 1 minute readAn opening batsman who averages over 50 in Test and first-class cricket has not been ‘found out’ if he makes a right royal hash of a couple of short balls. Phillip Hughes had three Test innings in England in 2009 and got dropped. Had Don Bradman been found out in

December 14, 2010 Match report / Pakistan

England v Pakistan at the Rose Bowl – match report

2 minute readWe told Sam that we would ‘get this one up before the Ashes at the very latest’. Sam writes: I finish work early on Wednesdays, so I dashed home in order to catch the remainder of the final one-day international between England and Pakistan. Being far too brassic to afford

December 13, 2010 Australia

What is Troy Cooley doing?

< 1 minute readWhen England were given a comprehensive shoeing in 2006-07, everyone in England was up in arms that they’d let their bowling coach, Troy Cooley, leave for a post with Australia. Now that Australia’s fast bowlers have turned into long hop machines set at 80mph, we’ve all forgotten about him, but

December 12, 2010 Australia

Shane Warne and Liz Hurley in the News of the World

< 1 minute readWe had rather foolishly assumed that the ‘Shane Warne might make a comeback’ story would be the stupidest Shane Warne story of the week. But no. Apparently, model and actress-who-gets-by-pretty-much-solely-on-her-looks, Liz Hurley, has been having ‘an affair’ with our favourite swollen-looking Antipodean cartoon character. What constitutes an affair? If people