King Cricket

June 24, 2009 Regulars

Various beasts being conspicuously indifferent to cricket

2 minute read SW writes: Here are the animals of the SW household demonstrating considerable indifference to key moments of the T20 World Cup. First up there is Jasper (aka Fatty McFat). He is technically the neighbour’s cat, but they don’t feed him and call him Nike so he has rejected this emasculating

June 23, 2009 Australia

Are there no Australians in London?

< 1 minute read Do you think barbecues should be gas powered, even though they really, really shouldn’t be? Does losing at sport make you want to drink to excess? Does winning at sport make you want to drink to excess? Do you own a vest? If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, you’re

June 22, 2009 County cricket / England

Why is Michael Vaughan not in England’s Ashes squad?

< 1 minute read Because he’s busy scoring tens of runs for Yorkshire and pensively rubbing his knee when in the field. Seven first-class innings, 147 runs at 21 with a top score of 43. County cricket can consider itself safe from combustion. It’s common for people to say that Michael Vaughan has ‘class’,

June 21, 2009 Pakistan

Shahid Afridi wins T20 World Cup for Pakistan

< 1 minute read Out of form and out of practice, Pakistan were playing like a cutlery drawer full of spoons at the start of the tournament but literally improved with every game. Shahid Afridi played like a grown-up today, which is again missing the point of Shahid Afridi. But being as he won

June 21, 2009 Pakistan / Sri Lanka

Why support Pakistan in the World Twenty20 final?

< 1 minute read We’ve been quietly supporting Sri Lanka all along – as we often do in these tournaments. They always looked a decent bet with their oddball bowling attack and they’re pretty likeable sorts as well. But then Pakistan turned up. When they’ve actually been allowed to play over the last couple

June 20, 2009 Sri Lanka

Tillakaratne Dilshan largely unarsed by bowling or conditions

< 1 minute read International Twenty20, or T20I, has a short history, so Tillakaratne Dilshan has been able to launch himself into third place on the list of all-time run-scorers largely as a result of this tournament. Dilshan’s scored over half his career runs in the last fortnight and a good chunk of those

June 19, 2009 Pakistan

Umar Gul bowls at the stumps

< 1 minute read There are a lot of cute, overcomplicated theories about Twenty20 cricket: Mix it up. You’ve got to bowl something different every ball. South Africa’s hugely impressive left-armer, Wayne Parnell, showed that if you can bowl yorkers on demand, you can make it very hard to score. But Parnell’s got room

June 19, 2009 Pakistan

Shahid Afridi can bat again even if Twenty20 doesn’t flatter him

< 1 minute read It pains us that a whole generation of young cricket watchers won’t ‘get’ Shahid Afridi. Even after watching him hit 51 off 34 balls, they still won’t get it. Twenty20 has legitimised the Shahid Afridi approach to batting and legitimacy has no place in the world of Shahid Afridi. Shahid

June 19, 2009 Pakistan

Younus Khan thinks Twenty20 is only a fun game

< 1 minute read Does. He. Bollocks. It’s the last over of the semi final and everything’s at stake. The ball goes out to long-off, Fawad Alam slings it in, hits the stumps and Albie Morkel’s run out. South Africa need 16 off three balls and Pakistan have as good as won. Is Younus

June 18, 2009 Pakistan / South Africa

Did South Africa choke in a semi final again?

< 1 minute read No, they got beaten by Pakistan, who were ace. It’s good to have the real Pakistan back. At the start of the tournament, we looked at their team and thought: ‘Where’s the fun? Where’s the Pakistani all-or-nothing genius and chaos?’ Turns out it was in there all along.

Three cheers for England playing three spinners. You should always play three spinners.

Dammit.

I am now hugely>i< confused Enjoyed Into The Tangled Bank very much, Mr P/fiendishly cunning imposter.

@Lev the imposter (maybe). What we do in private stays private ;-) ...and apologies for taking credit for being the…

@KC. Ahh, bu**er. Yes, confused by the birding reference.

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

Various beasts being conspicuously indifferent to cricket

Are there no Australians in London?

Why is Michael Vaughan not in England’s Ashes squad?

Shahid Afridi wins T20 World Cup for Pakistan

Why support Pakistan in the World Twenty20 final?

Tillakaratne Dilshan largely unarsed by bowling or conditions

Umar Gul bowls at the stumps

Shahid Afridi can bat again even if Twenty20 doesn’t flatter him

Younus Khan thinks Twenty20 is only a fun game

Did South Africa choke in a semi final again?

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