King Cricket

October 15, 2010 England

James Anderson gets hurt by the ECB

< 1 minute read Complete this well-known phrase: “You boys stop fighting or someone’s going to get…” The ECB are normally so keen to cotton wool their cricketers that the poor sods can barely take a slash without someone checking they don’t direct the stream into their own eyes, blinding themselves. With that in

October 15, 2010 Regulars

Laurence Elderbrook acclimatises

< 1 minute read Having arrived in Perth, I quickly find myself a cricket club. The grade system is meritocratic and I will have to work my way up from the bottom, but that should be no trouble for Laurence Elderbrook. At my first net practice, few if any of the players appear to

October 14, 2010 Australia

Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds and the scented candle – an abbreviated anecdote

< 1 minute read Watson thought the changing room stank and lit a scented candle. Andrew Symonds gave him shit for it. Andrew Symonds comes out of this well; Shane Watson less so. This tale comes from Matthew Hayden’s autobiography. We hope we get a review copy. Buying Matthew Hayden’s autobiography would effectively mean

October 13, 2010 Extras

Does a Test championship need a final?

2 minute read The ICC have announced that there will now be a four year Test championship. At the end of the cycle, the top four teams enter play-offs and then there’s a final. We do understand the significance of a final – the two best teams pitted against each other is always

October 13, 2010 Australia

Nathan Hauritz – number one Australian spinner

< 1 minute read Shane Warne said that Nathan Hauritz was being given a crap field by Ricky Ponting today. Being as Hauritz went for 76 in 12 overs on a fifth day Indian pitch, we’d guess that Ponting was only using four or five fielders. Hauritz is currently said to be Australia’s number

October 12, 2010 Australia

Andrew McDonald endures a duck and then scores a hundred

< 1 minute read Andrew McDonald hit 163 off just 116 balls for Victoria this week, despite a duck before play. “We walked too close to the ducklings and the old father duck attacked me. He got on top of my backpack and started chipping away at my head. It was a savage attack

October 12, 2010 Extras

Off season cricket training – another senseless attempt to make people laugh

< 1 minute read We’ve not had any high-minded criticism of our latest Cricinfo piece yet, which is a bit disappointing. In case you’re wondering what it’s about, it’s about two of our greatest interests: gravy and depression. If we could have squeezed ‘worrying about whether we’ve offended somebody by accident’ in there too,

October 11, 2010 India

Taking Sachin Tendulkar for granted

< 1 minute read It is so easy to take Sachin Tendulkar for granted. He’s 191 not out against Australia. You see that and you think: “Of course he’s 191 not out against Australia. Why wouldn’t he be?” The statistics are everywhere. Picking some pretty much at random, this was his eighth hundred in

October 10, 2010 India

Kings and Royals shunted from their IPL thrones

< 1 minute read There is only one acceptable way to get a royal title: by going along with what everyone’s calling you because you can no longer be arsed explaining that Brian Lara’s the king, not you. Royalty through exasperated resignation. Any other route to a title is flat-out wrong. If you self-apply

October 8, 2010 Regulars

Laurence Elderbrook departs

2 minute read Laurence Elderbrook is beginning his Odyssey and Laurence Elderbrook will return as king of Ithaca. After an unexpected issue with my flights, I instead opt to travel to Australia by ship, the way all the greats did. The long hours during the trip give me plenty of time to practise,

Huh! Interesting cricket in Western Australia... https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/one-day-cup-aus-2024-25-1444469/western-australia-vs-tasmania-10th-match-1444479/match-report Meanwhile, in India...

He certainly has land.

Slight bus conductor vibe c/w an absence of said vibe? I think not. I think of those two spinners in…

Only one phrase can describe this day's cricket: it's astounding.

Time will tell. Indeed, I am shivering with antici…pation.

Hats off to Harry Brook’s very particular ‘steamrollered pancake pitch’ set of skills

Let’s pick the All-Time Greatest Middle-Aged XI

Less than the sum of their parts: Six Test batting partnerships that invariably disappointed

Five Graham Thorpe innings that were equal parts silly, brilliant and vital

Show me the money. Inattention and monetisation in Major League Cricket, The Hundred and Test cricket