King Cricket

April 21, 2009 England

Andrew Strauss loses the Ashes

< 1 minute read Why, Andrew? Why? Why do you say these things? Have you never watched a film? You’ve just turned yourself into the character who overlooks a minor detail in the first scene, unaware of the DIRE CONSEQUENCES your seemingly minor oversight will have. Strauss was speaking about how Australia’s Phillip Hughes

April 20, 2009 England / India

Andrew Flintoff v Kevin Pietersen in the IPL

< 1 minute read They hate each other. They just outright loathe each other. Everyone knows they never speak to each other EVER. Both players have been just busting for a chance to show that they’re the one that’s worth more millions than the other. It’s about status. It’s about money. It’s about who’s

April 20, 2009 County cricket / England

The worst batsman in England

< 1 minute read That Ian Bell, eh? Rubbish, isn’t he? First he cashes in on a flat deck at Taunton and expects everybody to be all impressed. Then he follows it up with another hundred against the same opponents, as if that’s somehow proving something. You can’t play against Somerset every week, Ian.

April 19, 2009 India

IPL fantasy cricket team league

< 1 minute read A whole host of sites offering free fantasy IPL cricket have sprung up. We’ve entered one and set up a league, which you can join if you want. League members won’t be playing for a cup or even a plate. We’ll be playing for The King Cricket Takeaway Box. It’s

April 18, 2009 County cricket

James Hildreth hits a MASSIVE hundred

< 1 minute read James Hildreth actually hit three hundreds in succession without being dismissed against the same set of irritated and increasingly despairing bowlers. This is our way of saying that he hit 303 not out against Warwickshire off 338 balls. This time last year, we spent a long time deliberating over whether

April 17, 2009 County cricket

Paul Horton, Lancashire – one to watch in 2009

< 1 minute read Lancashire’s batsmen were full-on toss last year. Pretty much the sole exception was Paul Horton. Paul Horton is an opening batsman and that’s a position where Lancashire have been short of class for a while now. He’s also 26, which is pretty reassuring in a side which has had a

April 16, 2009 County cricket / England

Ian Bell hits a big hundred

< 1 minute read That title’s tongue-in-cheek. You know that, right? You do now. Ian Bell hit 172 for Warwickshire as part of his bid to return to the England side. It’s a handy start and we’d be tempted to get ever-so-slightly agitated about it, if it weren’t for the fact that he scored

April 16, 2009 Regulars

Harold being conspicuously indifferent to the legacy of Michael Vaughan

< 1 minute read Eva writes: “This is my cat Harold. Here he is, nonchalantly enjoying a meal. (Don’t question that. Cats can be nonchalant. No-one’s ever questioned a cat’s ability to display indifference.) “In doing this, he made a choice. He chose to ignore the legacy of Michael Vaughan. “He’s actually almost sitting

April 15, 2009 County cricket

Simon Jones, Worcestershire – one to watch in 2009

< 1 minute read Simon Jones isn’t one to watch for the reasons you think. A lot of English (and Welsh) cricket supporters think Simon Jones is England’s Imran Khan or something; a master of fast swing bowling who can destroy any batting line-up. On top of his game, he’s a great bowler, but

April 14, 2009 England / India

Ray Jennings and Kevin Pietersen find common ground

< 1 minute read In any working relationship, there’s bound to be a degree of friction. The important thing is that you respect each other and are working towards the same goals. If you have completely different characters, that’s okay, but ideally you’ll have at least one thing in common. Fortunately for the Bangalore

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