King Cricket

June 26, 2009 Australia

Matthew Hayden approves of Phil Hughes

< 1 minute readMatthew Hayden has given Phil Hughes, his successor as Australia’s opener, his seal of approval. We know what you’re all wondering: How has Hayden expressed this? The answer, of course, is ‘badly’: “He’s got all the evidence and the skillsets he needs. His humbling personality and how respectful he is

June 25, 2009 West Indies

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s business partners

< 1 minute readHere’s one: No-one with a moustache could ever be evil.

June 25, 2009 Australia / England

Andrew Flintoff’s strengths as a bowler

< 1 minute readBit of pace, bit of bounce, good control and then there’s what the lazy among us refer to as ‘presence’; or worse, an ‘X-factor’. The concept of an X-factor always pisses us off. It’s not that there’s some mystical, unknowable attribute. It’s just that you haven’t bothered to find out

June 24, 2009 County cricket

Bring forth the Mongoose

< 1 minute readIf we wanted to build a life-size replica of the Arndale Centre made out of press releases, we could do it at the minute. We’d have to print them all off first, obviously; and then we’d have to actually find a way of building the thing, but we’ve got the

June 24, 2009 Regulars

Various beasts being conspicuously indifferent to cricket

2 minute readSW 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 readDo 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 readBecause 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 readOut 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 readWe’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 readInternational 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